'73 Resto & Suby 6 Conversion, or a primer on "How to convert your 914 to a Subaru 3.0" Options

[76-914]

What's it been? A year since I got Blackie running. I finally get it tuned to a daily driver status and should have been happy as a Lark then but what do I do? I sold the engine (w/90 hour's on the Hobbs) on the last Dawn Patrol GMR run. So I pulled the engine and began preparing Blackie for her transformation.


Before I go any further check out my Jack Stands. Min height 19.5", 12 ton and should hold up to a 6.7 quake or direct nuclear attack.


And out she comes.




One thing you have to love about these cars is that you can remove an interior in 15 minutes. 30 min's if you have a console. This was one shot before the interior is gutted.

and an hour later I'm scraping tar floorboards.

[DBCooper]

If you bought an aftermarket ECU from a company like Outfront it will have a good map already installed. They'll ask you about your engine, any performance modifications, and put in one that will get you up and running well enough that in most cases you won't even need to change anything. Then you can fine tune and pick up some additional power with an hour of dyno time. That's what I did, and had them make the engine harness too, no big deal. If it's a Megasquirt or some other ECU not from Outfront you can usually get a base map from the vendor or someone else for free, then either do the fine tuning yourself (an EXCELLENT learning experience and well worth the aggravation) or pay for an hour or two of dyno time to have it tuned for you. The OEM ECU will have the Subaru map installed, so no issue there.

It's a trade really, the work of modifying an OEM ECU and harness against the expense of buying an aftermarket ECU, harness and dyno time. With an aftermarket ECU you'll have probably better tunability and a leaner car, because you can't incorporate all the features that can come with the OEM equipment. But of course with the OEM you get a tested and proven system that's long-term robust, where a Subaru mechanic or dealership won't be lost if you need help somewhere. As long as your work modifying the OEM harness was done well, anyway.