Safari 914 project, “Sufari” Options

[peteinjp]

Awesome! I love this project!

[tygaboy]

F-ing A, double clutch! That is awesome! Big CONGRATS! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)
This is my favorite build. Seriously. Great work. I hope I get to see it IRL at some point.

[East coaster]

Thanks! I’m so happy with the way it’s running and shifting. This is going to be a really fun car. Now I just need to wrap up a few things before hitting the road…….like putting a windshield in, and giving it a home brew alignment until I can get a real alignment done.

[East coaster]

So today I checked off a long outstanding task on the project. I’ve done everything on this project by myself since the beginning, but couldn’t figure out how to install my windshield with only one set of hands (or at least didn’t think that would be a good idea).

My nephew stopped by and I seized the opportunity to get this done.

[Optimusglen]

Bravo! I love seeing updates on this thread. Such a well crafted and interesting build.

[East coaster]

So yesterday it earned its stripes! I had to remove the flares to do it right. Thankfully, they come off very easily since I used riv-nuts on the fenders.

Now it’s sort of a “crusty creamsicle” (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Freezin 914]

What a great project, looks great!

[tygaboy]

That really does look good/nice/correct/subtle. Excellent design choices, IMO.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[Maltese Falcon]

LMK if you need a passenger (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/number40_914.jpg)

[East coaster]

Managed to get it out in the sun today for a couple pics

[East coaster]

One last item before any street driving. I wasn’t comfortable with the thread engagement between the turbo tie rods and the rod ends (heim joints) I’m using as part of the Safari suspension mod. Although it met the minimum engagement, minimum wasn’t what I was looking for when it comes to steering components.

The rod ends I’m using are fairly common and aren’t too difficult to find. They are 57mm from center of the rod end to the base of the thread area. A couple of companies (Elephant Racing and Tarret) offer bump steer kits with rod ends that have a long thread section (73mm vs 57). These would be perfect to address my concern. However, they will not sell the rod ends separately from the full bump steer kit, which makes it a kinda cost prohibitive and wasteful proposition for me. I tried for weeks to find a similar 73mm rod end but came up dry. I don’t know what folks do who bought bump steer kits from these companies when the rod ends wear, which they will over time.

So, I started looking for another solution and found that the turbo tie rods for the early 911s are 18mm longer that the kits we buy for our 914s. This fixed any issue with thread engagement and allowed use of the more common 57mm rod ends. I actually had to remove 7mm from the tie rods to ensure range of adjustability.

Time for an alignment and some road driving!

I thought I’d share this for anyone who attempts a similar mod or creates their own bump steer kit when lowering their 914.

Standard turbo tie rod on the left, 65-68 911 turbo tie rod on the right…..

[rick 918-S]

One last item before any street driving. I wasn’t comfortable with the thread engagement between the turbo tie rods and the rod ends (heim joints) I’m using as part of the Safari suspension mod. Although it met the minimum engagement, minimum wasn’t what I was looking for when it comes to steering components.

The rod ends I’m using are fairly common and aren’t too difficult to find. They are 57mm from center of the rod end to the base of the thread area. A couple of companies (Elephant Racing and Tarret) offer bump steer kits with rod ends that have a long thread section (73mm vs 57). These would be perfect to address my concern. However, they will not sell the rod ends separately from the full bump steer kit, which makes it a kinda cost prohibitive and wasteful proposition for me. I tried for weeks to find a similar 73mm rod end but came up dry. I don’t know what folks do who bought bump steer kits from these companies when the rod ends wear, which they will over time.

So, I started looking for another solution and found that the turbo tie rods for the early 911s are 18mm longer that the kits we buy for our 914s. This fixed any issue with thread engagement and allowed use of the more common 57mm rod ends. I actually had to remove 7mm from the tie rods to ensure range of adjustability.

Time for an alignment and some road driving!

I thought I’d share this for anyone who attempts a similar mod or creates their own bump steer kit when lowering their 914.

Standard turbo tie rod on the left, 65-68 911 turbo tie rod on the right…..

That is interesting! I would have thought the front suspension would be the same.

[East coaster]

I got the car 4 wheel aligned yesterday at a great shop (Tk Autosports) at the Millville Motor Speedway. These guys are very knowledgeable and have the best state the art equipment. The car car dives great now.

I thought it was ironic that in a shop full of millions in race Porsches these guys loved my 914 and actually asked if they could take pics for their Facebook. It was cool looking over all the great cars they had in the shop, some incredible no budget constraint builds there.

[East coaster]

I’ve been chasing some cooling issues that I believe are air trapped in the system I thought I wouldn’t have issues with bleeding the cooling system since I put the reservoir at the highest point in the system, but alas, that doesn’t seem to matter.

I’m going to try to get it vacuum bled locally and see if that takes care of the issues. It’s the most bizarre thing I’ve witnessed on a cooling system, the tube feeding coolant from the engine to the radiator (a straight 1-1/4” tube going through tunnel) is so hot at the engine end that I can’t touch it and the front of the tube is ice cold to the touch. I can only assume an air lock is keeping fluid from flowing through the tube.

Can’t wait to get this resolved because the car is so fun to drive.

[East coaster]

So I thought I’d give it one more shot at bleeding manually before giving up and taking it to be vacuum bled. I pulled the top radiator hose and poured antifreeze into the open hose end. I then reattached the hose and filled the radiator and filled the reservoir.

Took it for a test drive and the cooling system is working perfectly. It was 80+ degrees out and the fans don’t even kick on unless you’re parked for a few minutes. The airflow through the opening, duct, and output louvers seems to be perfect.

At idle (parked for a while) the fans kick on and run for about a minute or two and then kick off, so that aspect is working well too.

I got to drive the car about 40 miles and it performed flawlessly. The handling is very good considering the larger tires, and the car is amazingly quiet. I’m really impressed with the muffler. It’s so quiet that I kept thinking the engine stalled when I came to stops, but it’s just so quiet you can’t hear it running. That said, when you tach it up through the gears it sounds nice but without any droning at cruise.

I’m very pleased so far, just need to put more miles on it now.

[tygaboy]

I find the "making it work" a little less fun than the "making it" part, but sooooo satisfying once you nail it. Congrats! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

Now take an epic road trip and document it! May I suggest a visit to the Red Barn? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[technicalninja]

Have you thought about a "fording" snorkel for the air inlet?
Most of the serious off roaders have one.

Snorkel, two spares on the roof rack, a 5-gallon jerry can of water, same can with fuel and you're ready for the Dakar rally!

It is a really neat project!

Would be great if it did well in a real rally.

Starting to look a bit like a group B car...

[East coaster]

Got it out for a top off cruise today before our thunderstorms hit. This is a really fun car, very drivable slow or fast. I’m really impressed with the torque of this little 2.5.

[East coaster]

So, I thought I’d give a brief update. I’ve put about 300 miles on the car now and it’s been behaving very well. I’ve really not had any issues to address other than a temp gauge that reads erroneously (new sender purchased and waiting for install), and some tire rubbing on the front valence (which I reshaped and took care of).

The cooling system seems to work great. We’re in the middle of a heat wave here in NJ and the fans don’t kick on at all unless I’m stopped at a light or something for a pretty long period. As soon as I’m rolling again they shut off pretty quickly.

The car is very “driveable”. It has good torque and drives well down low, but also kicks in nice at higher rpm when you get the urge. I’m not sure on gas mileage yet but I should know soon, as I’m near ready for the 2nd fill up.

I was worried about the roof rack making noise or even the tubes oscillating/humming at speed. As it turns out, it makes no noise at all. In fact, the deflector I built into the front of the rack reduces the buffeting you normally get in a 914 and makes it even quieter than stock…..a lucky win!

The shifting is very good and is still on the initial adjustments, which were just a “good guess” at best. I may tweak it a bit over time but it really works well as is.

As far as the Safari mods, it feels much closer to a standard 914 than I thought it would. I really don’t perceive any ill effects as of yet. The raised height makes it easier to get in/out of the car, which in the future might be an advantage (I’m still pretty limber, but who knows what Father Time will bring in the future).

One nuisance issue is the fuel gauge seems to operate from 1/2 (nearly empty tank) to full (full tank). I guess the Subaru sender float arm needs some adjustment (bending). I’ll get to this some day.

[slowrodent]

Congratulations on your "end" result. Very happy for you. Thus far, it has been an amazing project to follow.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)