Starting a 1971 IMSA 914 Restoration, A privateer run 914 with Sebring and Daytona history Options

[FourBlades]

Cleaning up the a-arms I noticed something new to me, maybe you all can tell
me if this is a common thing.



The rubber bushings on the a-arms were replaced with solid aluminum bushings.

They fit very precisely and once cleaned and oiled they spin freely on the a-arm
with no play in them. There are no grease fittings, which seems like a problem.
Those are 22 mm torsion bars.



Did someone make these and sell them back in the day or were these made
just for this car? Anyone know?

John

[FourBlades]

No one has seen solid bushings like I found on the car?

There are no part numbers on them so someone could have just made these on
a lathe.

John

[dion9146]

Great build John. Can't comment on the solid bushings, but you can be sure they are just about as stiff as you are going to get for front bushings! Are the rears the same?

I might be tempted to keep them and add grease fittings as you noted.

Dion

[gms]

No one has seen solid bushings like I found on the car?

There are no part numbers on them so someone could have just made these on
a lathe.

John

looks interesting, I have never seen it before. it is not a whole lot different than the Elephant Racing PolyBronze Control Arm Bearings. I would put Zerk fittings and have them grooved for grease penetration.

[FourBlades]

Are the Elephant Bushings actually solid? I thought there was a polyurethane
lining inside the bronze?

These things are solid aluminum.

I plan to reuse them if they don't bind.

I guess I could drill some holes and add zerks. Not sure how I would groove
the inside of the bushings. Like cutting an inside thread, maybe it could be
done on a lathe.

I went on a sand blasting and painting frenzy yesterday and restored most of the
front suspension parts.

I have not looked closely at the rear control arms yet. I did notice they had the
driver's side rear spring one notch higher than the passenger side. I am
guessing this is an attempt at corner balancing?

John

[ChrisFoley]

Are the Elephant Bushings actually solid? I thought there was a polyurethane
lining inside the bronze?

Elephant Bushings are bronze bearing sleeves surrounded by a urethane layer in between the sleeve and the support housing.

These things are solid aluminum.

I plan to reuse them if they don't bind.

Thats the key.
As long as they don't bind and you use bearing grease they should work great.

I guess I could drill some holes and add zerks. Not sure how I would groove
the inside of the bushings. Like cutting an inside thread, maybe it could be
done on a lathe.

Easiest would be with a carbide burr in an end grinder. After you locate the zerk hole, create a spiral groove with a small ball shaped burr made for aluminum.

[carr914]

Here are the Elephants

[FourBlades]

Rear control arms appear to have the same solid bushings.

I did not extract them yet, I was busy blasting and painting the rear suspension
yesterday.

John

[tscrihfield]

Love this build! Cant wait to see it moving!

It was good to see that front end come together. Looks like a lot of what I sent was used! Great job fab'n it all in. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[trojanhorsepower]

Update please John.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)

[FourBlades]

Been busy on fine tuning my blue 914, insulating and adding AC to my garage, and going to DEs at Palm Beach, Roebling, and Sebring all in the last couple months. I am working on getting my SCCA racing license.

Byron (racerbvd) helped me get into the Dark Side DE at Roebling at the last minute, which was a really fun and well run event. Great party with live music and a lot of cool people and cars. Byron is a really friendly and helpful guy in person who has been in the 914 scene since the beginning.



Now I am back to getting this IMSA car done. I did a lot of boring sheet metal work to the front of the car that I won't bother detailing. Cut out the late model front end reinforcement and started fitting the oil cooler and shroud.



Packaging all the stuff that has to go in the front trunk is going to be interesting.

John

[FourBlades]

Here are the front trunk tubes, fuel cell, and oil cooler plumbing. This will all work but it makes running the -12 oil lines tight.



Here is the oil cooler and thermostat plumbing concept. The thermostat will be mounted a little higher than shown. The oil return line was originally run through the driver long and then through the boxed section under the gas tank. I'll do it the same way. The line from the thermostat will go to the oil tank. I'll have to cut out part of the reinforcing plate under the head light bucket to make room for the oil lines to the cooler. It will be tight but it should work ok.



I will close up the excess hole in the floor of the trunk. I will probably use stainless wire mesh over the radiator outlet hole.

The oil cooler is the Setrab unit many people use. It will be rubber mounted and shrouded using two fiberglass pieces. I read about 25 threads on oil coolers before putting this plan together. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Any comments would be great before I JB weld it all together. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

John

[Series9]

This is a great build. Please let me know if you need anything.

[FourBlades]

Thanks Joe. I think about dropping all my cars off at your shop and just saying, call me when they are done. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

It may come to that...

John

[carr914]

I wpuld put the T-Stat in the rear.

Also check with HSR, SVRA, PCA about the Legality of the curved front bars

Good seeing you at Sebring, sorry I didn't get much time - mega busy

[Series9]

Thanks Joe. I think about dropping all my cars off at your shop and just saying, call me when they are done. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

It may come to that...

John

That would be cool, but you're doing just fine.

[bam914]

Are you going to do the double school at Roebling to get your SCCA license? I might be down there if my friend goes to get his.

[TurbOH Brad]

This is, by far, my favorite build thread on this forum.

[FourBlades]

Hey TC:

It was great seeing you at Sebring. I had a fantastic time and was told I am about ready to solo. I am done with the stock brakes on my 996 and am thinking of using pagid orange pads next time.

Remember that the original oil tank on this car is in the front where the fuel tank normally is. Doesn't that kind of necessitate putting the thermostat in the front?

Why would curved bars in the front trunk not be legal? I was looking at a 914 at Roebling that is used in VCDA racing that has no bars in the front trunk at all. VCDA is the series I am thinking of doing. There are several central florida people running 914s and 911s in that series. I admit to ignorance of the various series rules and need to study them.

Blake: That is what I am hoping to do. My wife is also going to do it. We want to do as many track days as we can before that.

Thanks for all the comments.

John

[FourBlades]

Working on finishing the outlet hole for the radiator. Did some relief cuts so I could flatten the trunk floor and attach it to a stiffening strip.



Reinforcing the edges with 1/8 by 1 inch strips. This will give me something to bolt the shroud to and will strengthen the edges of the hole. Closed up the back half of the old air conditioning hole.



Also welded in the pads for the front trunk tubes.



The outlet opening is 7x20 inches which is 140 square inches. The radiator is 4x18 inches or 72 square inches, which is close to the 2 to 1 ratio recommended for radiator air flow.

This only took all day yesterday. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

John