PorSTi Project Thread…, Well that was fun, time to make some upgrades! Options

[Rotary'14]

exhaust looks sweet! keep the enthusiasm up! If I go subie,, I'll use your car for inspiration and as a guide.

-Rob

[Amenson]

Not much progress this week...partially because I was waiting on some parts and partially because I had some stitches on my chin to keep clean. I made it 30 years doing careless and generally stupid things without having to be stitched up and I ruin the streak by running into somebody during an indoor soccer game. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bs.gif)

Today my intercooler arrived and it looks like it will fit very well...there is actually room for a much longer one but this one is sized properly and allows access to the dipstick, oil filler and water tank.

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/914/IMG_20060816_0014.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/914/IMG_20060816_0028_small.jpg)

I am probably going to relocate the in/outlets to the end of the tanks pointing toward the rear of the engine. This will make the plumbing much shorter.

The seat also came in this week.

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/914/IMG_20060816_0036_small.jpg)

Hopefully I can get the pressure side of the exhaust done this weekend...although with the Dream Cruise going on this weekend I may not get much done.

Scott

[zaphod750]

Awsome project...I say this because im doing something similar. Was wondering what parts of the harness you plan to keep? I have a 2004 sti engine that I am putting in my 914, and I have gotten rid of everything that doesnt connect to the engine as far as wiring is concerned, and i was interested in what parts you are keeping...cruise, gauges, etc? Cant wait to see how yours turns out...looks like you will be done a lot sooner than me, I got caught up in some rust repair..(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[banksyinoz]

cheers great work on the sti transplant we have an 04 with the six speed over here and it looks nuts,

q: are you bolting the engine bar directly to the block or using the suby mounts, just curious?????

hey your exhaust looks awesome but will it cause boost to be later? not that its a problem.

the wiring is definetly the best way to go, just quietly been lookin at the suby 3.0 six quad cam

great work keep it up (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[GS Guy]

Great looking conversion Scott.
I might be the person Small Car was talking about using their mounts? I bought a set of the side pieces for my Suby conversion, going onto a 914 trans (though not in a 914 vehicle) back earlier this year.
Comment - on the oil pan. As you know, the Small Car mounts severely restrict what kind of oil pan you can use. I went with Outback and they were very specific that I use their "mid-engine" version pan, which wasn't listed in their literature at the time. According to Outback, when you shorten the pan 1.5" and the pickup a corresponding amount, it moves the pickup head forward in the pan. This, in conjunction with the angled shape at the rear of the pan can cause starvation problems during hard acceleration - oil runs back away from the pickup and up the back of the pan. Their mid-engine pan locates the pickup more towards the rear and a small kick-out is boxed at the rear of the pan. Something to think about for your conversion - pic attached.

Question - can you tell me how far below the head exhaust surface the Outback primary tubes hang? I've got limited room below the heads for exhaust routing, couple of lower chassis tubes below the heads.
Great looking intercooler BTW!
Cheers, Jeff

[Amenson]

Not much to report so I will first answer the questions.

-Harness: I am keeping everything that has a corresponding system in the 914. The list of things that will not go in is shorter and includes things like ABS, DCCD, power locks/doors and HVAC. Other than that, the car will think that it is an STi.

-The exhaust should not cause any lag. With smoother bends and merges, and slightly shorter routing (virtually no up-pipe) on the pre-turbo side and a 3", very short, only marginally muffled and cat-less post exhaust, spool up should be a bit sooner. Not that it really matters with the tiny stock turbo.

-Oil Pan: I have not yet decided. I am thinking about doing my own but am considering going with the small car pan+baffling to save a bit of fabrication. The Outback pan sticks down a bit to far for my liking.

-The headers are the Outback Mid-engine "shorty" headers. They stick down about an inch less than the Small Car motor mounts.

GS Guy...what are you building?

It has been over a month since my last update, here is what I have been up to...

-Trip to London, 10 days plus packing/recovery time really ate up garage time. Great fun though.
-Wiring my buddies soon to be 30 psi Audi 200 20v with a stand alone ECU. This ate up much of the last week but turned out great and was quite fun.
-Pulled apart and figured out how to modify and mount the Suby steering column.
-Cut up the shiny new intercooler to move the inlet and outlet to the ends of the end tanks.
-Replaced the alternator and troubleshot a rich condition in my daily driver (Galant VR4). Every time I turn up the boost something seems to go wrong. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)
-...and more weekend social events than I care to think about. Fun stuff but bad for progress.

So, not much progress. I hope to get back at it tomorrow.

Thanks for the kind words.

Scott

[eric914]

I have been in contace with Brian Steel at small car and they will sell the side pieces and hardware from the Van motor mount for $185. No point in paying for a piece you do not need.

[jsteele22]

Just stumbled across this thread. Very nice work. I like the engine mount idea a lot : small, simple, and easy for others to copy.

One thing I didn't quite follow. Where the stock 914 engine bar bolts to the chassis, is there some kind of motor mount (vibration damper) that you inserted ? If not, where are the front engine mounts ? If so, does this lower the bar ?

Sounds like you're on an ambitious schedule ! Keep up the good work !

[Amenson]

jsteele22: The motor mounts are at the ends of the slightly modified stock engine bar. I gave an explanation in my (long winded) first post. You can see the mounts in most of the pictures.

iric914: Small Car worked out the same deal for me. They are a great supplier.

I made a bit of progress this weekend. The Suby steering column is installed.

Here is the modified shaft:

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/914/IMG_20060930_0002_small.jpg)

Here is the old and the new, notice that the stock u-joint fit the suby spline. The section I removed from the shaft is laying against the wall...it is about half as long as it started:

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/914/IMG_20060930_0008_small.jpg)

Installed, it is positioned very high in this picture...the comfortable position is much lower:

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/914/IMG_20060930_0016_small.jpg)

It adjusts up and down but also rotates around the adjuster so I need to make a pivot at the end of the column. Not a big deal just a little more work. As hoped the suby wheel is closer to the driver than the stock so the driving position should be much more comfortable for me.

I also spent some time on the exhaust but did not finish it so no pictures.

Scott

[Amenson]

Finally finished the pre-turbo exhaust. I think that it turned out pretty well. Still need to finish weld all of the seams.

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/IMG_20061007_0016_small.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.digitaldash.org/images/IMG_20061007_0021_small.jpg)

I started to mount the muffler side of the exhaust only to find that the muffler does not fit behind the skirt very well. I will need to find a smaller one or modify the the one that I have. Now it will be even louder. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Probably will not make much more progress this month. I leave for a 2 week business trip to Japan on Friday.

Enjoy,
Scott

[zaphod750]

any news on the conversion??

inquiring minds want to know..(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Amenson]

Unfortunately there has not been much progress. Due to considerable business and pleasure travel this winter/spring plus a move to a new house, I have not even seen the project much. The good news is that the new house has a big enough garage so that I can set up shop at home instead of using my buddies shop. This should allow me to make progress much more quickly.

I did accomplish a few things since the last post:

Finished welding the header




Modified the intercooler



Hopefully progress will start up again within 2 weeks. My friends have started planning for Power Tour 2007 at the beginning of June and I would really like to take the PorSTi.

Scott

[Amenson]

Well, it's been a while since the last update. Have not stopped working on the project, just too busy to document it.

Moved the car to it's new home at the end of April. Yup, it is sitting next to a potential donor car, my girlfriends '05 Legacy.



Had the header ceramic coated. I went with the silver because it was supposed to be the most durable color. Not a huge fan of the chrome look though. Based on my buddies header with the same coating, after it heats up a few times it should dull a bit.



Decided to take the easy, although expensive route and order a shortened oilpan from Outback Motorsports. Shown next to the stock Suby oilpan.



Ordered an aluminum fuel cell from Summit Racing. Fits really well!






....

[Amenson]

...

Modified the stock turbo flange for the 3" ss exhaust.



New oilpan, exhaust and turbo flange installed.



Mock-up of the exhaust. The outlet of the muffler will be in the stock location of the rear valance...maybe nobody will notice that it is a bit bigger than stock (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)





...

[Amenson]

...

Got engaged...in the nose of a B-17 "Flying Fortresses" flying up the Detroit River!!!





Finished a few more things but can not find the pictures right now. Will post again soon.

Scott

[scotty b]

That's going to be one wicked ride ! What if anything will you be doing to the body? While I am generally in favor of body mods....keeping the stock appearance would be a killer sleeper (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[neo914-6]

Great work! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif) Makes me want to get back to my project...

That must've been fun to fly in a B-17, did you get in the turret?

[bigkensteele]

Congratulations on your engagement! However, you will now need to finish the car asap. Free-time as you know it will cease to exist. There will be wedding planning, which is Hell on Earth if you have to be even remotely involved. After the ceremony, I found that my attendance was required to events that were once optional. We needed to spend more time together. I would rather work on my car than be with her. Yada, yada. Then we had kids, who are currently 5 and 1. While I love them with no bounds, they are not conducive to leisure time in the garage, unless you are married to a true saint.

Was that out loud? Sorry. I think that I might be a little jealous of your free-time and more importantly, your skills. Your project, and work is incredible.

[PeeGreen 914]

Wow that is reat work. I wish I had the talent to do all the fab work you are doing. Keep it up.

PS. tat's cool that you got to fly in a B-17. My grandfather was a belly gunner.

[Amenson]

Thanks to everybody for the kind words and congratulations.

-I am going to leave the body stock for now. Eventually it will need flares of some sort so that I can put some decent rubber on it.

-The only place on the plane that we could not go was the belly turret. I asked several different members of the ground and flight crews hoping that somebody would let me in.

-My free time should be safe until kids come into the picture, which will be a few years yet. My fiancee fully supports work on the 914...she came over and introduced herself for the first time while I was working on it!

-The plane was pretty darn loud. Not so loud though that I could not ask the question (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Scott