My 3.3L Subie Conversion Thread, Got me some 914rubber stuff Options

[BIGKAT_83]

Thanks Bob that would be awesome! I think I might have found a 4 rib but that still might not fix the problem. I don't want it too tight or it will mess up the bearing.

It sounds REALLY good! REAALLLLLY good. Very 911ish but with less whoooshing because there isnt a fan. At idle it's almost silent. I'll try to get a video together....

A three rib belt is fine. The only load on it is the alternater. unless your using the ac compressor now..

[Chris H.]

Nope just running the alternator. The AC runs on a different belt luckily and can be tensioned. I won't get to that til next year.

[76-914]

Wow! Way to go Chris. Your making great time. I'm hoping Mine is ready to start in 3-4 month's. Once that first cut in the trunk happens the others will be easy. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif) I finally made headway with my exhaust though it will be awhile before I post on that. I've been dicking around with the wiring and discovered that blk doesn't always mean ground and some of the wires I cut need to be spliced back in. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) I bought the factory manual and it is awesome, So awesome that I was able to determine that I had screwed up quite a few wires. Thanks for the motivation. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[scotty b]

I was hoping you would be the one that could make an engine lid radiator work. It's a good idea in theory but a PITA in practice. You could try Boxster dual front fender radiators. I might go this route some day. I miss having a front trunk. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Mike, Chris, I think your on to something good. Thanks for the good words on my duct but that is so 2011. You can one up me and use the Boxster dual front fender radiators in the rear fenders. Inter through rear flares and exhaust through the engine bay (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

Have any of you actually looked into this as far as to get the boxter rads and see if they fit ? This was something I had also thought about doing, with Ruby's shroud as my fail safe plan. I tried a 911 fender mounted oil cooler and it is a bit big for the front wheel wells ( in front of the tires at least. ) I haven't tried it in the rear wells yet.

[Mike Bellis]

Have any of you actually looked into this as far as to get the boxter rads and see if they fit ? This was something I had also thought about doing, with Ruby's shroud as my fail safe plan. I tried a 911 fender mounted oil cooler and it is a bit big for the front wheel wells ( in front of the tires at least. ) I haven't tried it in the rear wells yet.

I was at Parts Heaven a couple weeks ago looking at a Boxster that was half stripped. I think it could be done with a Sheridan fender or a similar removable fender. The Boxster rad sits at a 45° angle with the leading edge closest to the center of the car. There is a built in shroud with it. I think it would be possible to use the fog light grills as intakes. The headlight bucket would need some re-working for air flow. With my headlight setup, this area is all wasted space. With a factory setup, maybe a little more work. The Boxster has way more room in the fender well than a 914. So you would have to utilize the space under the headlight bucket for sure, possibly even cut out the bottom of the bucket and have the radiator shroud as the new bottom. I'm just not sure if the flip down headlamp system would fit back in the hole.

My next water cooled project will go this way for sure. Maybe with a water cooled 3.6L flat 6... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.skylersrants.com-10496-1379037400.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.pelicanparts.com-10496-1379037467.1.jpg)

[scotty b]

The front mounted cooler is another thought I had. 2 of those, one in each rear wheel well, behind the wheel. I think airflow in would be o.k., but it would need some sort of exit. Fan setup could be tricky too due to the long thin shape of the front cooler (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[Chris H.]

The Cherokee rad would be great if you could get some space between the front spoiler/valance and the body. It's 36x12, 2 pass. Could work with the Sheridan kit or the IMSA front spoiler thing...

[rhodyguy]

noticed the tank sock is sucked flat. did you replace it?

[Chris H.]

I did Kevin, thanks.

[a914622]

SWEET!! I go hunting for a couple of weeks and you get it running.. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)



jcl

[Chris H.]

Yeah man! Your clarification of the wiring was very helpful...the first time you turn that key it's pretty scary. For anyone who is going to do this soon be advised that the ground wire for the sensors (o2 sensor, etc) is black with white stripe, as is the ignition wire (which is really dumb). Be VERY SURE you connect the right one. Luckily I only twisted the key for a second...the wire got hot, I swapped them, all good.

Hey one question Jeff...so the black with yellow stripe wire that comes from the ECU...the "cheat sheets" identified this as the starter crank wire. When I plugged that into the starter nothing happened when I cranked it. Could only get the starter to spin when I ran a wire directly from the yellow starter wire at the 14 pin 914 harness (that used to connect to the relay board) to the starter. Works great like that, but should I also connect the starter crank wire from the ECU to the starter or leave it as is? Let me know if that makes sense.

[904svo]

Yeah man! Your clarification of the wiring was very helpful...the first time you turn that key it's pretty scary. For anyone who is going to do this soon be advised that the ground wire for the sensors (o2 sensor, etc) is black with white stripe, as is the ignition wire (which is really dumb). Be VERY SURE you connect the right one. Luckily I only twisted the key for a second...the wire got hot, I swapped them, all good.

Hey one question Jeff...so the black with yellow stripe wire that comes from the ECU...the "cheat sheets" identified this as the starter crank wire. When I plugged that into the starter nothing happened when I cranked it. Could only get the starter to spin when I ran a wire directly from the yellow starter wire at the 14 pin 914 harness (that used to connect to the relay board) to the starter. Works great like that, but should I also connect the starter crank wire from the ECU to the starter or leave it as is? Let me know if that makes sense.

Thats the singal wire to the ECU to turn off the fans,ac and other devices that are
drawing power so the starter has full batery voltage.

[Chris H.]

Ah thank you sir! Makes sense.

[a914622]

yep as stated above. that wire tells the ecu the engine is starting.


jcl

[ThePaintedMan]

Hey Chris,
I never could get a very good view of the engine cradle you used in this setup. Any chance you could post more of them?

This is WAY off, but one day I'd like to do the SVX swap as well. The limitation is that I'd have to keep the stock 901 transaxle, which, in theory would really simplify the swap in some ways, but also make it more complex in others (need a VSS sensor, engine adapter, gauges, high torque starter, etc). Is there any way that a cradle that bolted to the stock /4 locations would work without running all the way back to the transmission mounts, since this engine is a bit heavier than the 2.2?

Do I read this right: its essentially the same case as the 2.2, so you'd just use a Kennedy 2.2 transaxle adapter?

[76-914]

George, that is Ian's cradle of Coldwater conversions. He is a member vendor and has a beautiful cradle. They're about $600 and worth every penny, I'm sure. You asked "Is there any way that a cradle that bolted to the stock /4 locations would work without running all the way back to the transmission mounts, since this engine is a bit heavier than the 2.2?" The Suby engine mounts are located at the rear of the engine as compared to the front on a type 4. So much so that it is almost the datum point once the engine and trans are bolted together. That being said, the mount you want would need to be a distorted "C" shape. Don't know how that would hold up w/o some bracing from the body to mount as it would become a "lever" if left in that configuration.

[Chris H.]

Hey George,

Kent is correct, my mount is from coldwater conversions.

It's a very good strong mount. I modified mine a bit because of a clearance issue with the headers. Need to do a bit of work on it in the next few days so I will post some pics of it installed. Just got it shimmed up to the perfect angle last week.

cradle link

You don't HAVE to use a cradle mount if you use a 901 trans, but I would go with one myself because the 3.3L engine is very front heavy and weights quite a bit more than the 4 cylinder engine @ ~350#. With a cradle mount the engine has some additional bracing front to back aside from just being attached to the trans, so your trans ears are under far less stress (reduces the "lever action" that Kent describes).

Other options: You could modify the smallcar mount that is used in Vanagon conversions and mount it to the stock engine bar like Amenson did.

Amenson mount link - mount is on page 1

The thing is that the smallcar mount is $359 for the 3.3 and then you have to modify it. The coldwater mount is $500..much stronger....bolts right in.

You could also do what Kent, Bob (BIGKAT_83) and others have done and that's fab a mount yourself. After seeing your skills on the resto of your car you could definitely handle it.

Give the Subie trans idea a while and you will probably change your mind.

BTW there are 3-4 SVX's up here for sale CHEEEAAAP. Craigslist.

[mepstein]

BTW there are 3-4 SVX's up here for sale CHEEEAAAP. Craigslist.

Same here. $400 on up. The 400 one has a bad trans which is normal in these cars but perfect for the swap.

[ThePaintedMan]

Thanks for the reply guys. That makes a lot of sense, especially the "lever" action of the engine. I really like Ian's cradle, but it's my understanding he isn't doing any more, at least for the time being.

It's one of those tough things, figuring this all out without ever having seen an SVX up close.

Again, I'll preface this with the fact that any kind of conversion is still years away for me, so humor me. But within the Chumpcar rules, these engines are the perfect way to add some power and reliability. The 914 is valued at $250 under the new Chumpcar rules, which extend into 2016. The goal is to keep the car's total value under $500, which means you can swap out another engine, sell the original and if it's under 500, then the car does not receive any kind of penalty. Unfortunately that means that the transmission swap is probably out. In general, this is all theoretical though - more important things to spend money on in life at the moment (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


Chris, have you been keeping a running tally of what you've spent so far? Anyone care to take a stab at a rough estimate of what a bare-bones SVX swap would cost, retaining the original transmission? Here's what I've roughly compiled.

Used engine, ecu and harness - $400
Radiator and fan - $150
Hoses - $100
Cradle - up to $600
TransAdapter and clutch - $800
Exhaust - $150
Fuel pump - $100
Fuel lines - $50
HiPo Stater - $150
Gauges - $150

Neighborhood of $2700 with that. My general rule is to double everything though, so probably closer to $5000?

[d914]

buy a svx cheap,, partially wrecked.. Bob bought one for $400.. scrapped it for $212..

You can weld you can make a engine mounts

tranny?? not in a SVX unless there was a conversion.