Zaney's Suby Rustoration Adventure, Updated 12/4/2014: Fall 2014 Update! Posted FOR SALE! Thanks for all the fun! Options

[Zaney]

Well, I finally have found the time to put down some of the ideas and pictures that have been going on for about a year now.

It all started last April when I found out that hitting the curb in a round-about is not the best thing for your suspension. Needless to say that it definitely put my '74 out of service. The passenger A-Arm broke, bent the tie rod, ruined the ball joint, bottomed out the shock, and blew a tire. The only thing that I damaged was my pride. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

So, thanks to my Dad's AAA the teener was towed 3 blocks back to his house and waited to be brought back to Redmond from Tacoma (40 miles or so). I took it home and put it on jack stands to check out the damage.

I decided that this is as good a time as any to upgrade and refurbish my front end. However, like any project that begins around here it usually ends up in a major rustoration. Let me list out the plans for the teener:

Engine: 2002 Subaru 2.5 N/A using stock ECU and stock trimmed harness
Transmission: 2002 Subaru 5-Speed with DIY style Bremar conversion to 2wd
Intake: Aftermarket Ricer 3"
Exhaust: Stock trimmed WRX header to a Dynomax SS Ultraflo muffler

Suspension: Tarret sway bar on Engman mounts
Koni Yellow adjustable shocks with rear Ground Control adjustable perches and springs
Elephant racing monoballs, low friction control arm mounts, polybronze control arm bearings, polybronze trailing arm bearings
Turbo tie rods w/ bump steering spacer
New ball joints
Five-lug conversion with new bearings, 911 front M calipers on vented rotors, 914 rear calipers on 914-6 rotors with Porterfield Pads
19mm New master cylinder & new hard lines
911 16 x 7 inch Fuchs on Falken 205/50/ZR16

Body Mods: Engman stiffening kit
Stock seats (for now)
Momo Prototipo steering wheel
Rennline Perforated REV 2 Adjustable Aluminum Pedal Set (someday)
Racing "minimal" look for interior
Stereo TBD or omit
John Kelly styled rear fenders (hand hammered)

Paint scheme: Silversickle Body all silver with Phoenix Red wheels, bumpers, and rockers

Ambitious but, not out of reach!

Now for some pics...
Pictures when I bought it as a roller



My Dusty '74

A bit crowded

[Zaney]

Kind of grimy



really grimy

[Zaney]

Cleaned up the steering rack area



Cleaned up the wheelwells and installed the Tarett bar!

[Zaney]

Cleaned up under the fuel tank
Sent the tank to be boiled out and sealed up


Cleaned up a pair of A-arms I bought from Rhodyguy (Kevin) and installed the Elephant hardware

[Zaney]

Cleaned up the steering rack and attatched the turbo tie rods



Bdstone refurbished pedal cluster... Tasty! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Zaney]

Good enough to lick!


Almost ready for the tank

[Zaney]

Back from the radiator shop and awaiting install...

More to come...
It is getting late

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

[dlo914]

Have you thought up how to run the cable lines for the cable shifter to the suby tranny? Good luck on your upgrade and it's nice to see another suby swap being done.

[TonyAKAVW]

Wow, talk about a nice car to start with! That thing is pristine! Speaking from experience, the EJ25 is a great motor for a 914. I'm definitely jealous of all that suspension work!!

Good luck with the conversino can't wait to watch!

-Tony

[charliew]

Is the cover on the torsion bar to prevent it from rubbing on the tank?
Have you considered running the cooling lines down the bottom of the centertunnel? Now is a good time to figgure the lines out.

[dlo914]

Is the cover on the torsion bar swaybar to prevent it from rubbing on the tank? Have you considered running the cooling lines down the bottom of the centertunnel? Now is a good time to figgure the lines out.

[Zaney]

I should clarify the condition of the car at the time of the some of the 'cleaned up' pictures of the front end. I spent many hours on my back with a grinder/wire wheel taking the pan and wheel wells down to bare metal. Then, prepped the surface with Marine Clean and Metal Ready. Instead of POR-15 on the exterior surfaces I used Zero Rust sold in rattle cans (2 coats) and, finally in the wheel wells I sprayed an even layer of undercoat. So, this kind of scrutiny is being used on the rest of the car (minor OCD/ perfectionist tendencies). However, by doing so I unearthed what everyone finds in a 914; RUST! Some of the pictures to follow will show the extent of the cancer and rebuilding.

Dlo - I am going down the path blazed by Porscharu (Steve) since my mechanical skills are still in the novice range. I think I will be using this Shifter after Steve tweeks with it.

Tony - I have read about your journey into Suby Land in your thread about 3x to glean as much info as possible. You, Fiid, Steve Thatcher, and others have inspired me to do this conversion! Thanks for the kind words!

Charlie - I used a thin piece of pipe foam insulation to cover the swaybar to keep it from banging on the bottom of the gas tank. rTowle (Rich) has posted using a piece of garden hose but, I am going to try this and see how it goes. As for running the coolant lines, I am debating making a semi-removable panel for the center tunnel like Carreraguy had made for his Suby conversion. I probably would cut out the heater cable tubes and eventually make an access panel in the engine bay like Amenson did: (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads/post-4154-1215898433.jpg)

More pics to come...

[Zaney]

I made a door brace for the passenger side after Strawman's (Geoff) example. Using a turnbuckle cut in two and welded onto a piece of 1 inch schedule 40 pipe. Then, connected to the upper seat buckle mount and welded to a plate in the foot well.



Upper attachment



Lower attachment

[Zaney]

Then came the moment of truth and I broke out the heavy artillery. Many spot welds were drilled out and the pneumatic saws were humming to cut out the rotten areas: rear floor pan, right inner long, jack points, passenger sill, right lower wheel house, and the hell hole. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif)

I researched the "Digging into Hell" thread and others to make sure that I did not open up too much at one time. Especially, since I am not using a rotisserie. (wish I was)

Here are some pics:



Cut out rear floor pan

[Zaney]

Cut the fender to get at the wheel house and took off the sill and inner rocker.


Had to repair part of the interior long, repaired then double wall reinforcement, cut out the heater tubes & supports.

Wire wheeled it out, prepped and painted.

[Zaney]

In the engine bay I cut out all of the aircooled tin and extra metal. Wire wheeled it down, cleaned and prepped for POR-15. I have to re-open the hell hole repair I did awhile ago but, it will be a lot cleaner with new metal!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)


Cut out my slop!

[Zaney]

After the passenger long was repaired on the interior side I got the rear floor pan ready. I used Jeff Hail's sketch about over lapping the front and the rear pieces so the rear is on top of the front section. Rosette welded on top and seam welded under neath. I also replaced the passenger side cross member support since it was rotted out too. I ground down the welds enough but not all the way (yet), prepped them and applied seam seal on them for now.
I will get more particular when I install the Engman interior stiffening kit later.

[Zaney]

Underneath, the seat rail reinforcements were replaced as well as new Restoration Design rear jack points.

Again, the welds were not ground down all the way yet and seam sealed for now.


Hard to get into all the tight spots to grind everything. Maybe I will use a die grinder with stones.



Fine details will happen after all the repair welding is completed.

[Zaney]

Earlier, I jumped the gun a bit with the interior paint and POR-15 on the front floor pan. But WOW! I like the color contrast!


Touch ups after I am done...


My neighbor said, "Take it over and use it! It is only sitting around over here."
Thanks Tony!

[Zaney]

Here is my new engine sitting patiently.