Suby-engined rustoration, 21-Sep-2024 update: more racing-related carnage! Options

[strawman]

Hi All --

This is my second post, but I've been lurking on this fine website for a while now. I've wanted a 914 since I was in high school, but always seemed to stumble upon other projects... until recently.

My neighbor gave me this 1973 Porsche 914 about a month ago. He told me he blew a head gasket and parked it in his parents' driveway in 1992. When his parents finally told him to move it or they were calling a local junkyard, he offered it to me since he knows I'm a gearhead. In for a penny, in for a pound...

I hauled it home, knowing that it has some rust issues in the battery area and rear trunk. But it appears to have never been in a wreck and it is complete. It turns out that an exhaust stud pulled, so he coulda fixed it for a couple hundred and probably kept another 914 from languishing but I guess all things happen for a reason (namely, so I would undertake this project!).

I sold the engine to a local Craigslister for use in his Meyers Manx dune buggy, and bought a wrecked but running 1993 Subaru Legacy turbo wagon. This is the closed-deck 2.2 liter engine, and 250 hp is easy with boost control and an open exhaust. I've already done a Subaru into a VW Vanagon and my daily driver is a 1992 Suby Legacy, so this won't be too much of a stretch for me. I plan to use the Suby 5-speed transmission (out of a 1998 Suby Forester) with the Aussie-sourced RWD elimination coupler and custom-mated 914/Suby axles.

I've got a suburban home with a crowded two-car garage (my 125 shifter kart and my daughter's FJA kart will likely get lonely!), a MIG welder, and a wide assortment of air/power/hand tools -- so the adventure begins! This project will likely take a year to finish, so please be patient.

I've attached some pics of the car as found in the driveway, some rust areas and the rear trunk repairs I've started. I'll chronicle the build as I go, so feel free to chime in!

Geoff

[strawman]

Finally took some pics of my modified trailing arms (with the lateral tube stiffeners that I welded in a couple of weeks ago), along with a 911 e-brake setup. My e-brake setup is a flagrant plagiarism of Paul Seyegh's setup (you can actually see the Excellence Magazine article in the background of the pictures!!!). Thanks Paul...

The first pic is of the arms, with the relocated e-brake cable mounts and the pivots -- one hooked up, and the other laid out to see the various components. With regard to the latter, I used a 3/8" I.D. bronze shouldered bushing and flat 3/8" bronze bushing, along with a 1/2" I.D. collar welded to a bent piece of 3/16" hot-rolled steel stock. I figure I can use the set-screw hole to inject grease, and use the set-screw in the collar to keep it lubed and to keep out gunk. The bronze bushings should allow an easy/unfettered pivot; the Grade-8 3/8" flanged bolt welded to the trailing arm should provide ample strength.



The second pic is a close-up of the various components of the pivot. The black Sharpie line depicts where the pivot will sit when the parking brake handle is released. Obviously, I haven't yet drilled a hole for the e-brake cable hook-up yet in the pivot in this pic.



The final pic shows the e-brake cable hooked up, along with a 1/4" x 2.5" SS Allen bolt hooking up the pivot to the e-brake expander.



I hope to sandblast the arms and other various components tomorrow, and to epoxy primer everything. I bought some urethane semi-gloss black paint this week, and I hope to also paint all my epoxy primered suspension components tomorrow. I'm gonna forego the Bilstein green on the front struts... I like the idea of black against orange (green and orange would be too "pumpkin" for my liking).