74 Roller rebuild and Subaru conversion, 1974 rebuild and Subaru conversion project Options

[mgarrison]

Hello,

I new around here, but have been lurking for a bit trying to soak up all the 914 knowledge and information I could! I was looking into building a Factory Five 818 kit with the Subaru flat-4, but the cost of entry was a bit too high, and the time & space needed to build a car from scratch seemed overwhelming. But it got me thinking; that's basically a tube-framed 914 with an odd body. I wonder if anyone has put a Subaru flat-4 in a 914? A few Google searches later I learned that a lot of people had, and parts were out there to spend my money on!

Long story short, I found two rollers with no engines or transmissions in Tucson, AZ a couple of hours South of me. Soon I rented a car hauler for a couple of days and my "Craft Project" (my wife's label) was begun.

The rollers were a green 1971, and a red 1974. I wanted to restore the 71 because it just seemed to have more character. The 74 had been partially stripped for an electric conversion project, and seemed less "car like". Sadly, the 71 needed a bit more work than I was setup to handle. So, it had to be the 74 who I have simply labeled as "Red".

I will try to track my build process here as best I can. I tend to get working on things and forget to document things, but will try to keep track.

Here's Red when we got her home on the trailer and tucked away in the back yard for the moment.

Mike

[mgarrison]

Another small update. Progress seems SO SLOW, but I keep trying to plod along!

Once I opened things up with the air saw, I tried to get a better look inside the inner long/suspension console area/frame rail/WTH do they call this area! looks better than I thought it might in there - I know many of you would love to have a 914 with this little rust, so I am grateful. I wire brushed inside as best I could, then vacuumed it out with the shop vac, then sprayed the Eastwood inside frame rail paint in there everywhere I could reach with the little nozzle:



Some of what I have repaired/resurrected on 914World is simply incredible - some real talent out there! I treated all the rust I could get to with rust inhibiter, and then shot it with weld through primer.

It took me quite a while to get my patch shaped, and then fit just right so that I had some chance of being able to weld it in without total disaster occurring (due to my cheap welder, and very limited skills):



My initial welds to tack in place were rather embarrassing! I could not get my welding helmet back into the corner by the firewall far enough to really see exactly what I was doing, and the patch was sloping away from me too. A bit of blind welding ensued!



But after grinding a bit, and filling a bit, and grinding some more, and filling. You get the idea...It will have to do:



My patch on the inner fender came out ok, but sure not great - not sure how you hold/clamp a piece like this in place so that it stays really flat. I think I should have used my butt weld clamps to keep it flatter, oh well...



The patch on the upper portion between the seats came out much better, but still needs a little grinding to make it blend in better.



I drilled the holes in my parking brake pieces, and did my first Rosette welds. I believe they came out ok, and they seem solid. Rosette welds seem much easier than the butt welds on thin metal!



Next up is the frunk floor panel, and then the Mad Dog Inner Long kit...Inch by bloody inch! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif)