Out with the old...in with the new...Britain's Racecar Development, Subaru Engine, Lotus Suspension! Time to go racing! Options

[Britain Smith]

For those who don't know me or the car, I have a '74 914 that is a dedicated AX car. It previously had a high compression 2.7 6-cylinder motor and made 205hp/205ft-lbs at the wheels. This set-up wasn't all that bad considering that it won the 2008 and 2009 914 Shootout events, however the quest for more speed continues.

Here is the car in the 2010 season trim.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/dragracevws.com-364-1291656786.1.jpg)

I have recently sold the 2.7L 6-cylinder engine and all the remaining 914/6 conversion parts. I have used the proceeds to fund the conversion to Subaru power. Now most would say that a Subaru conversion can be done on a budget, however I have found that the money goes flying out the window when doing something like this.

Regarding the engine...logical choice would be to go for a EJ257 2.5L USDM STi engine. However, all the SCCA rules for AX are built around displacement which in turn dictates the minimum weight. Therefore, I have gone with a JDM STi version8 Spec-C engine which is a 2.0L, twin-scroll, hand ported/polished, 8500rpm animal. I will get slightly less hp and torque numbers than the 2.5L, but save 150lbs of weight.

[Britain Smith]

Made a lot of progress today. It is always nice to start bolting things back up to the car.

To mount the radiator, I had tabs welded on the core and made some nice brackets that I welded into the car. Here are the brackets:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734919.1.jpg)

And with the radiator installed and radiator hoses hooked up.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734920.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734921.3.jpg)

I made the bottom radiator support elevated off the floor to ensure that if the car bottomed out or the floorboard got dented then it wouldn't destroy the radiator. The center section of the mount bar was notched to clear the tow hook hump in the sheetmetal.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734922.4.jpg)

Then I worked on how I was going to fit the fuel tank. Admittedly, the fuel take was small to begin with however this was too big to fit in the small space left in the front trunk. I therefore cut off the back of the fuel tank to follow the contours of the trunk floor.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734923.5.jpg)

I need to get some more aluminum, but this will be welded up and will work perfectly.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734923.6.jpg)

There will eventually be a nice shroud to vent the radiator out the hood. As you can see here, everything should clear nicely. I will make a fuel tank filler neck that will extend back and enable filling the tank without having to take off the shroud.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734924.7.jpg)

I also was found a nice place to mount the accusump tank. This will be activated by a manual pull release that is just long enough to route to the front.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-364-1292734925.8.jpg)

Ok, headed back out there now to continue working.

-Britain