Introducing "Dirty Penny" - Former $2010[$2012] GRM Project, Running. Driving. Boosting. FUN! Options

[jpnovak]

I wanted to introduce myself as a new member to the World. I am new to the 914 but not new to air-cooled. I have two 1971 911s; a T - soft-window targa and an ST-replica track car. I am sure I have seen many of you on Pelican. With the 911 I have done it all, rust repair, paint, engines, transmissions and chassis setup. I felt it was time for something new.

Introducing my new project. "Dirty Penny"

Penny is a 1975 Porsche 914. She has been sitting unattended for a while. I found her at a friends house under the old oak tree. Penny is wearing copper metallic paint and had a white interior. Penny arrived without a heart. I am going to give her new life.

Penny will be built as a Grassroots Motorsports $2010 Challenge car. For those not familiar that means you have $2010 to build a car where it competes in a concours, drag race and autocross. The prize? Notoriety in GRM and ridicule from those who already think you are nuts and cheap. My wife doesn't affectionately call me Fred Sanford for nothing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Here are a few pictures of Penny being unearthed from her previous home. The TX sun has not been kind to the paint, nor the interior. However, the dry climate has left her remarkably rust free. There is rust in the Hell Hole that has been previously cut out yet never welded back in. Rot is almost non-existent.

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How much money I have left to spend on the project.

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The plan is simple to do well at the Challenge. Get a car that handles well. Strip the weight out of it. give it some extra HP. Let's see... A 914 handles well. they are already pretty light. but the Type IV doesn't lend itself to high HP without major $$$.

A bit of late night ebay browsing and I came across a JDM Subaru EJ20G drivetrain. Yes, that's what I need. ITs still a flat-4 - yet has to be water cooled and makes 140+ HP/L in stock trim. I like it. The vendor was in Dallas which means reduced shipping costs. Yep, that's the rule. you must account for ALL purchases.

The new heart and soul... Oh yeah it will have soul!

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to be honest, work has been crazy and I have 13 months to build the car. Progress won't be fast. I am excited to make this go forward. The challenge of swapping the entire drivetrain begins with connections. The engine mounts are easy. Trying to get the shift linkage, clutch linkage and throttle cable done on the cheap is not so easy. I know there is a wealth of information on this site. Thanks to all those who have traveled this road before me.

Until the next update...

Now I have to figure out how to post images on this site rather than link external.

[jpnovak]

I only used the oil pickup. I did not buy the pan nor the windage tray.

In my opinion the early ej20 has a much better oil pan setup in comparison to the later ones.

For example, the newer oil pans have no baffles. Only the STi has a triangulated corner and top baffle to prevent starvation. IN contrast, the early oil pan (circa mid-90s_ has a two layer baffle system. Let's just say, the new oil pickup tube would not clear. The lower rectangular pickup (very well built) was too large to fit inside the circular opening in the lower baffle. I spent 2 hours modifying the oil pan to make it clear. I had to cut the baffles and bend them out of the way to clear. Looks ugly inside but it does clear. Then I had to thoroughly clean the whole thing before putting it all back in. This also gave me a chance to clean out the bottom sludge. Not too bad but noticeable.

I am glad to hear that this solved the problem on the EJ22. I am not planning to shorten the oil pan.

I will just not run super low suspension setup to increase clearance. I will also be building a skid plate that connects the tunnel/firewall to the engine cradle. I would rather skip across an obsticle than rip out the bottom of the motor. I guess some shear bolts would also be an option on the oil pan.

the motor currently hangs down about even with the coolant lines under the car. At least those are flexible with 1/4" wall thickness. They can survive quite a bit of abrasion before having any leaks.

The new stiffer suspension setup will also help ward off compression based contact with the oil pan.

I admit my wife is very supportive of my car habit. I have been looking for an other 911 project and she said. go for it. It will either be an SC/Carrera based rally/rallyX car or a longhood with a small bore turbo flat six. Only the available market will make that decision.