914 Diesel build.... Options

[PatrickB]

Here goes nothin....
Been planning this for a while, but it was supposed to be a winter project. Wasn't quite ready yet. KEP adaptor parts have been sitting here. Timeline moved up because of a failure.
Had a chirp that turned into a BAD miss, valve seat issue on one cylinder.

Had a fresh 1.9 AAZ diesel sitting in my storage trailer that had never been fired. (honed, rings, bearings, injection pump reseal). "new" engine was destined for my daily beater . Same engine in the beater is getting a little tired, I've put at least 350,000 km on it and the compression is getting down. Still runs okay though. Swapped the "new" engine into the beater. 16 year old son is learning...

[914forme]

What wall thickness is the crossbar?

What I don't like, is the bar is notched, and also appears to be bent in the same location. That is the weakest point of that bar. That and the side mount of the engine which would be the rear on the VW is an over hang or fulcrum for the torque to twist that mount.

Make the shifter area a hole and add a section above it and triangulate that area to make it stronger.

Do something, what I am not sure to pickup the rear (side) engine mount better. VW drops that mount right into the lower suspension crossbar. It is a huge piece of metal that takes all that movement and transfers it directly to the wheels.

On Higher HP installs you have to change the factory mount otherwise you get wheel hop as everything fights for grip and to apply the forces induced by the torque wishing to move the entire assembly.

You could also reduce this tendency by using a chain to limit the transfer of torque in the rotational axis. From the drivers side of the frame to the drives side of the engine. Oh and I mean chain, like you want Kerberos to be restrained by when you stumble up the gates he is guarding. You do not want to deal with a 3 headed dog breaking his chain and chasing you across the regions unless your the bait to get others past the gate.

This would be the one install where a cradle might be a great idea to help keep all these forces in check.

What does your side mounts look like from the bar to the chassis? Solid, or stock 914-4 mounts installed back in the 70s?

Since your using the VW mounts in your systems I would swap out to solid mounts on the outboard side. Make these ridged as hell, I mean solid. Steel on steel on steel with new grade 8 or 8.8 hardware or better. Do not skimp on this one area, and you will be happy. Skimping on this area will lead to great deals of pain and frustration.