Subaru Transmission into 914, DAMN that turned out good!! Options

[DBCooper]

Some photos of my 914 being fitted with a WRX transmission. I'm sorry, we replaced bushings, adjusted and aligned three times and that 901 never even got close to being acceptable. The WRX motor was such a huge improvement over the VW that it only seemed logical to make the transmission just as modern. And "while we're in there" the air-to-air intercooler is being replaced by a water to air. You just don't get the air flow in the back of the car you'd want to make big power, and the next step with this car will be an STI motor. Power is addictive. Yes, I know better and you've been warned.

Anyway, the WRX five speed with Quaife gets introduced to engine.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268145993.1.jpg)

The forest of jackstands as positioning is worked out.

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The WRX transmission axle outlets are a little closer to the flywheel than the 901, which meant the engine had to be moved back to keep the axles aligned with the stubs.

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Flipped manifold. Enough space in there now for an EZ30 six, easy. Nice looking hellhole too, don't you think? Still needs detailing of course, but first things first.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268145995.4.jpg)

But moving the engine back meant he had to box a small part of the rear trunk. That's OK, this car isn't for hauling luggage anyway. Or lawn tools. Or groceries.

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Cable shifter at the transmission. Beautiful work.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268145997.6.jpg)

And inside the car, the modified MR2 shifter. Feels notchy, accurate, and good, which is what this is all about. That and more strength, especially in first.

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A video of the shifter, still in the prototype stage, showing the action in the front and the rear.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncmaxYd1WNI


Ask Abby what she thinks of Grandpa's car. She likes to show off those pretty new teeth.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268145998.8.jpg)

The water-air intercooler. It will go just ahead of the engine on the driver's side.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268145999.9.jpg)

In the car, you can see part of the new cradle, just tacked for the moment.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268146000.10.jpg)

Axles are aligned.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i379.photobucket.com-2618-1268146001.11.jpg)

Business end, seen from the rear. It looks so good we'll probably go without a valence, it's gotta be seen. I can't wait until in the rearview mirror I see another 914 guy who's pulled up behind and is trying to figure out what all happened back there.

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This work is being done by a wizard at a shop called 40-Thirteen in Modesto, CA. Quality of work is unmatched. If you're curious there are a lot more pictures of this transmission project, the engine cradle, what the car looked like with just the WRX motor before these changes, or more pictures of that beautiful granddaughter in an album at: http://photobucket.com/Corinthiano

More to come later. It was a monster before, but you had to be real gentlemanly with the shifter. To hell with that. I can't wait.

.

[DBCooper]

OK, I’ve been traveling so haven’t posted, but some serious progress has been made.

We’re now officially past the jack stand stage. Those boxed in areas in the trunk are now painted.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179830.1.jpg)

And the intercooler powder coated:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179831.2.jpg)

It will look good with all the stainless steel inlet tubing. The manifold was re-painted after the bosses were removed:

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How the flipped manifold will look on the engine, pretty clean:

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The inlet pipe so we’ll recirculate instead of dumping it out:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179833.5.jpg)

Nice welds. I grew up in vineyards so when I was younger and thinking about what I wanted to do with my life one of the ideas was to be a cooper. Honest work with good people around good wine. I still think about that sometimes, what if, but if I’d known about welding stainless steel I would have had other ideas. This is extremely cool and I wish I could do as well myself:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179833.6.jpg)

The Tilton fitting for the clutch slave:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179834.7.jpg)

One of the adapter flanges. A little concern here because it fit a bit loosely on the splines compared with the stock Subaru. We’ll see. Hopefully we won’t break them (my son is a specialist in destructive testing) but if we do we may have to try custom axles:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179835.8.jpg)

A broad view of the cradle:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179835.9.jpg)

Genuine OEM Subaru motor mounts ought to keep things in place:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179836.10.jpg)

The rear of the cradle on the transmission end, with the cable shifter brackets:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179837.11.jpg)

And the rear mounts, looking really good with the black powder coating:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179837.12.jpg)

What’s nice about using a cradle is how easy it is to remove the whole assembly. Not that we intend to do that a lot, but when necessary it’s nice to have thought ahead. Quick waterproof connectors on the wiring looms:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i255.photobucket.com-2618-1269179838.13.jpg)

And the water connection in the front:

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Then the axles, throttle cable, clutch hydraulic, gas lines, and the whole thing drops as a unit. Almost as easy as it sounds. I know Jeff ought to be pretty good at it by now, he’s aready had the thing in and out so many times.

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It looks a little weird, but the exhaust should outlet in the “normal” place in the valance, if we use one. I don’t think we will. Normal on the right hand side anyway. When the turbo gets through chopping up the exhaust sound it’s actually pretty quiet before it even gets to the little Magnaflow. I describe the sound as the healthy half of a V8, pretty quiet to 5000 rpm’s but then it begins a seriously nasty howl.

Like I said before, Jeff does some really beautiful work. This is going to be fun.