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]

I got each and every hole filled with a screw, and did my best to fit the panels as snug as possible. My hands sure are not used to driving that many screws!


My AWOL order of weld-thru primer finally showed up, so I undid each and every screw. Which is a bit of a PITA as the self-tapping tip never wants to come out! For some reason this reminded me of the pincushion guy from Hellraiser!


I got the backs of the panels all primed, and primed the bare metal of the longs and lower firewall.


Once they were all screwed back in place, I tested my settings one more time to make sure things were good to go. I got the welder and everything I needed setup inside the car so I did not have to climb in & out any more than needed! I would take one screw out, then fill that hole with weld. Then take another screw out and weld. Then I would move to another panel on the other side of the car and repeat.


My welds are nothing to write home about, but the price is right! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)


Murphy was riding my shoulders once again today - my welding helmet broke and would no longer stay up after I flipped it up between welds. Each time I would go to reposition to the other side of the car, the helmet would fall down, I could not see well and would invariably bonk my head or back on something hard & sharp! Off to HD in the morning for a replacement... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)