Subaru Engine Swap, It is now the 1971 Ivory Car Options

[mgp4591]

Not meaning to gripe too hard, but not fair! The rest of us want to know too... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[AndyB]

I wont disagree with you, however Ronnie G is the only one that responded. I sent out some pm's asking if they could post their set up, but no takers. So Ronnie emailed them and I thank him for that.

[ruby914]

Hi Andy,
Something I have been thinking of for a long time is to move my coolant lines from under the car to under the rocker cover. The thought is to drill a 1.5 ~ 1.7 hole thru to the inside. See photo. I am not sure how large of a hole I can get away with before I hit the heater tube? Anyone have a dissected long? Then the hole would have to be filled with a tube welded onside and out.

[76-914]

Ok to the water cooled 914 crowd, can you please show pictures of your cooling set up, so that I can get some ideas. I am not opposed to venting out the hood like Bob did with Papa Smurf. Thanks for the continued observations and guidance. Oh before I forget I need to talk stand alone ECU since the stock ECU won't work with the turbo. Again thanks for the help.

Look thru the suby build threads here. We've all done it differently. It will take a few hours to peruse this info but I would suggest you do so. Look at everyone else's ideas then form your own. It's how we improve/mutate (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) . I was told you shouldn't run the lines thru the longs. That it would make the cabin hot. Horse Shit Sailor. Can not pick up any discernible heat even when I touch the longs.

[914forme]

Yep I love this idea, I would also like to add low Oil pressure, I seem to have that issue at times. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif)


BTW, if you don't want to mess with gauges Speedhut makes some good options with out the bling from above. I'll go back to lurking now.....

[mgp4591]

I was wondering if all the twists and turns in the coolant hoses for the different builds have affected the head pressure on the stock water pump making it work harder and maybe less efficient? If the hoses are run with fewer directional changes is that going to help some cooling issues? You still want a high point where you fill it and bleed your system and there are several options for that location. That being said, the center console on my car is rotted in some places over an inch off my equally rotted floor so I'm installing a section of rectangular tubing in place of the main console section that I plan to run my hoses through then weld my remaining section of unmolested console on top of. Should give me a straighter path for coolant flow and if properly insulated should work well for my purposes. Still plan on the brake lines and throttle cable through the remaining console section, shift cable too for the automatic. (GASP!)
Thoughts?

[Chris H.]

You're thinking about doing an automatic trans? Not the Subaru AWD auto from the SVX right? It's too long and weighs a TON. The gearing is also very poorly matched to the engine. You'd probably want to find a 2WD Subie trans (pre-1997ish).

[mgp4591]

I've already pulled the tail section from a 2wd 4EAT trans and bolted it on- it makes the trans about 6 to 8" shorter and looks like it will fit. The gearing for that trans in the SVX (3:55) was poorly matched to the AWD setup with a 3700 lb curb weight. That's about the only thing that made those fail prematurely- they're used in Nissan Pathfinders all the time with little issue, but they are geared properly for the weight of that vehicle. With only 2300 lbs to drive, I think it should work just fine even tho it'll be a tad tail heavy but in weight proportionate compared to some other mid engined cars. I eventually want to go with a manual trans but without the 4:88 final drive which limits the top speed to about 120. It's not so much the top speed I'm looking for- it's the low cruising rpm and resultant mileage I'm looking for. Well okay. the top speed would be cool too but not until the chassis and brakes are fully sorted. I also have the piggyback TCU that changes the shift points for better performance. With the overall weight of my car, the engine power and the gearing the car should jump and roll pretty well... I think. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[mgp4591]

You're thinking about doing an automatic trans? Not the Subaru AWD auto from the SVX right? It's too long and weighs a TON. The gearing is also very poorly matched to the engine. You'd probably want to find a 2WD Subie trans (pre-1997ish).

And it looks like all 2WD automatics from 92 on in all Subarus were 4EATs. I pulled my 2WD tail section from a 93 Impreza- it bolted right on to the SVX trans along with the internal shaft, gear and bearing that eliminates the electromagnetic AWD assembly. It was a high point of my day when I found the part and it fit, all for 40 bucks!

[rnellums]

Yep I love this idea, I would also like to add low Oil pressure, I seem to have that issue at times. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif)


BTW, if you don't want to mess with gauges Speedhut makes some good options with out the bling from above. I'll go back to lurking now.....

The way timothy's gauges are set up you could wire it into the oil pressure light instead of the fuel low light and it would turn red when oil pressure dropped enough to light the lamp!

I think Cost-wise my setup ends up being $2-300 less than speedhut gauges (depending on how much you spend for the 911 speedo).

[Chris H.]

You're thinking about doing an automatic trans? Not the Subaru AWD auto from the SVX right? It's too long and weighs a TON. The gearing is also very poorly matched to the engine. You'd probably want to find a 2WD Subie trans (pre-1997ish).

And it looks like all 2WD automatics from 92 on in all Subarus were 4EATs. I pulled my 2WD tail section from a 93 Impreza- it bolted right on to the SVX trans along with the internal shaft, gear and bearing that eliminates the electromagnetic AWD assembly. It was a high point of my day when I found the part and it fit, all for 40 bucks!

VERY interesting. Thanks for the info! I was planning an automatic myself at first. I've stopped a few people from saying "I'll make it fit" and "I'll live with the weight", but it's a lot more than that as you have learned. Sounds like you have it all figured out. Nice work. Never thought of using the SVX trans shell and stuffing new internals in it.

The 4EAT was definitely the trans used for all applications until ~2003 when they switched to a 5 speed auto. Work horse. Ford used it too. It's still made today. The 5 speed auto is a very complicated beast BTW that has too much electronic wizardry to convert to 2WD. The computer moves the power around to each wheel pretty regularly so Ian and I figured it might not work at all, or would get weird when the tires slipped because it would try to send power to a wheel that was not there. Plus it's even LONGER.

You gotta update your thread man! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

Andy,

On radiators, Bob (BIGKAT) had a very nice fluidyne radiator in his car that was extremely compact. Seemed like it was about 10" high. We drove it quite spiritedly for a while and the needle never moved at all. Very nice rad. I agree with Kent though, look at everyone's and then do your own based on the ideas you get. Although pricey, it's been said many times that the Renegade kit is proven and will definitely work, so if you just don't want to deal with the fabrication you could go that way.

FYI I have speedhut gauges and really like them, but also sort of miss my stock ones. I picked the speedhut ones because I had a few problems:

- converting to 6
- needed a way to get speedo signal
- wanted a quad gauge

I was convinced I wanted a GPS speedo so rationalized the cost of the speedhut speedo easily and it was all downhill from there. Since you don't have to convert your tach signal from 4 to 6 the cost of staying with stock gauges is much lower for you.

[mgp4591]

Thanks for the kind words but I am FAR from having it all figured out! Just did a little checking around and got lucky I guess. So far as updating my thread, I'm embarrassed to show what I've done. Mainly just BIG holes where my floor used to be and trying to think 4 moves ahead of where the car puts me. Basically, most of it's still in my head but I'm finishing up my trailing arms with Erics' bushings, painting them up and waiting for my new Bilsteins to show up at his shop. Probably Monday he sez. It just doesn't look real pretty right now so when some REAL work gets done, I'll show something. Like everything else in everyones life, it takes so much longer than originally planned. Except for some superhumans here on this forum...!
How's your build coming along? You've hooked me up with some great ideas as well as all the rest of these Suborcshe nutjobs!

[Chris H.]

I'm on phase 2, which means the engine comes back out. Currently building an engine stand/holder for it so it will roll out from under the car easily.

Projects:

1. reseal oil pump where there is a tiny leak
2. flip the intake manifold
3. pretty up the wiring
4. reposition my shifter (copying roachghia70's)
5. install new rad fans
6. Install new fan control switch

My trans also whines a bit more than it should when you take your foot off the gas and the car begins to coast (and I think it has plenty of fluid in it). Have to pick up another one from Bob.

BTW Andy, Bob had an extra radiator a while back IIRC...you might want to check with him.

[AndyB]

Yeah I would of used the original but the deer had other ideas.

[AndyB]

Hi Andy,
Something I have been thinking of for a long time is to move my coolant lines from under the car to under the rocker cover. The thought is to drill a 1.5 ~ 1.7 hole thru to the inside. See photo. I am not sure how large of a hole I can get away with before I hit the heater tube? Anyone have a dissected long? Then the hole would have to be filled with a tube welded onside and out.

Thanks for your input. I already plan on running mine through the longs.

[AndyB]

Ok so much has happened since my last post. I went back and forth on which car to upgrade. After talking with my wife and porschef I ended up choosing the white 1971. I didn't take pictures of what it looked like before I started. It will still be ivory as that's it's original color. Here she is with the 1.7 on the garage floor.

[AndyB]

The passenger long


Drivers long

[AndyB]

Last time it was on the road.

[AndyB]

Don't do it Mark (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[76-914]

This is donor car or your Suby conversion car?