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

[Amenson]

As the title states my project has turned a critical corner. After may months of planning and measuring and prognosticating how great it will be, I put down the sand blaster and stripping pad and got down to real work.

I purchased my 914 with the plan of dong this swap. The motor is from my ex-daily driver that I managed to shorten a bit. The 914 that I am starting with has been restored once before and had a decent autocross suspension. The first thing I did to it was to upgrade the front calipers to 3-series BMW. It is not perfect but is pretty clean and straight. The only part that had not been repainted was found behind the heat/sound pad in the engine compartment. The plan is to repair some shoddy patch work in the battery tray area and repaint the engine compartment once all of the fab work is complete for the swap.

Project details:

Engine:

’05 Subaru STi

Trans:

Stock…for now

Adapter Plate/Clutch:

Kennedy Engineering adapter plate and Stage 3 clutch.

Engine Mount:

Modified Small Car Performance mounts bolted to the stock engine bar. The solid body mounts at the ends of the bar have been replaced with stiff 911 mounts. The engine bar has been modified to accommodate the mounts without changing the position of the bar.

Oil Pan:

I will probably take the easy way out and have Small Car Performance shorten and box out the stock pan.

Exhaust:

Custom exhaust will be made starting with Outback stub headers. 2” tubing will be run to the turbo from each header. Exhaust from the turbo will be 3” SS to a straight through MagnaFlow muffler. The exhaust will exit in the stock location (maybe people will not notice anything unusual about the car when they pull up next to it).

Electrical:

The entire electrical system will be taken from the STi harness with unnecessary parts removed. This may seem like a lot of effort but it will provide a much needed update to the old stock harness and allow me to still develop my digital display product. It will also make it straight forward to use the throttle by wire.

Cooling:

Ron Davis 28” x 16” x 3” double pass radiator mounted in the front vented through the hood like wbergtho’s. The current plan is to run the cooling lines through the center tunnel.

Steering:

The stock steering column will be replaced by a shortened STi column. This will allow use easy use of the of the stalk switches and more importantly, the RF ID security key system. Initial measurements show that this will be fairly straight forward to do and will also give the benefit of adjustable steering wheel height.

Seating:

Momo Start. These seats were chosen because of the FIA certified seats they have the thinnest seat cushion and are bottom mounted to allow for the lowest possible seating position (they are also quite economical). I tried a set of Corbeau seats that I had from another project and I hardly fit in the car at all much less with a helmet on.

Belts:

For the road I am going to run Schroth Rallye Cross 4-points. They are DOT approved and have a quick latch mechanism. I will install 6 points for track use.

Intercooler:

A 25” x 12” x 3” Ebay bar and plate front mount intercooler will be mounted to the top of the engine. While this is not ideal, the intercooler will get quite a bit of fresh air from in front of the engine. The engine lid will be modified to a GT style so that as much air can flow through the area as possible. 3” Al tubing will be run from the turbo to the intercooler and on to the throttle body.

Oiling:

A remote filter/cooler is necessary because the stock oil/water cooler does not quite fit with the engine mount in place.

Unresolved Items:

Turbo placement.

It is awfully tight under there even with some of the sheet metal removed. We will find out on Saturday, that is when the exhaust will come together.

Cooling lines:

The plan is to run them through the tunnel in thin walled Al or SS tubing. With the heater control and throttle cable tubes removed, two 1” od test tubes fit to the front of the tunnel. I would like to use slightly larger tubes and still need to fit the fuel and brake lines. The tightest spot is right at the shifter. I am considering widening the tunnel at this point.

Throttle Pedal:

I am not sure how to mount the STi electronic throttle. In the Suby it is top pivoting. This may be uncomfortable with the floor pivot brake and clutch pedals. I have also considered linking the throttle sensor to the stock 914 pedal. This will have to wait until I have seats in the car again.

Starter:

Not really a problem…just have not picked one out yet.

Wipers:

I have not yet checked if the STi wiper control system will run the 914 wiper motor.

As much as possible items will be mounted to the engine in a way that will allow for minimal disassembly when removing the engine/trans. The current exhaust/turbo plumbing plan should all come out with the engine with the exception of the supply to the turbo.

Timing….the goal is to have it ready for the track day at Mid Ohio on Oct. 6th. This is a bit aggressive, especially considering that I will be vacationing in London for 8 days at the end of the month. I have been making great progress the past month and I have most of the critical parts already. Just need to keep plugging along and hope that my friends keep helping. Without them this project would not be possible.

Now for the important stuff…the pictures.

This is the engine that I started with, it came out of my daily driver STi that came to an untimely death:


When the timing belt broke 2 valves were bent so a teardown was necessary:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.digitaldash.org-4154-1328899178.1.jpg)

Due to the obscene cost of the Subaru tools to remove the valves I, made my own:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.digitaldash.org-4154-1328899179.2.jpg)

Put the engine back together and attached it to the trans:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.digitaldash.org-4154-1328899179.3.jpg)

Slipped it into place and attached the trans mounts:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.digitaldash.org-4154-1328899179.4.jpg)

Here is a picture of the unmodified Small Car Performance engine brackets mounted to the bottom of the engine. They wrapped nicely around the oil pan. There was a slight interference between the water line from the oil/water cooler that required a notch.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.digitaldash.org-4154-1328899179.5.jpg)

[Amenson]

A couple important things happened today.

I finally have the oil feed line for the turbo. Seems like it would not be such a big deal but the one end was female M12x1.0 and getting to it w/o a load of adapters was a major afare. Eventually I found a shop 4 miles away from my house to make one for me.



Temporarily installed



After a panicked search I have a matching seat to the Momo Start seat that I bought at the beginning of the project over 2 years ago. Momo has made 2 revisions since then and the old style was no longer available. I picked up the seat on the right from somebody who bought it a while ago and never used it! It just arrived today (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)



The Puss has made the first seat his.

Scott

[DBCooper]

Look how excited he is! That new seat's made him think he's getting a new little sister....

[Zaney]

Are you going to install flares on your car? What size wheels/tires do you intend to run under all that torque?

Thanks,
Nate

[Amenson]

Are you going to install flares on your car? What size wheels/tires do you intend to run under all that torque?

Thanks,
Nate

205's...maybe 215's on 2.0 Fuchs, this is my trans preservation plan. I have a set of 7x15 phone dials for when I put in the 5 lug parts. Eventually I would like to do a Sheridan body so that it can have some proper rubber. Until then its nickname will be "The Smoke Machine".(IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Scott

[fat73]

Are you going to install flares on your car? What size wheels/tires do you intend to run under all that torque?

Thanks,
Nate

205's...maybe 215's on 2.0 Fuchs, this is my trans preservation plan. I have a set of 7x15 phone dials for when I put in the 5 lug parts. Eventually I would like to do a Sheridan body so that it can have some proper rubber. Until then its nickname will be "The Smoke Machine".(IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Scott

My car has the 03 WRX engine with 295/35 Toyo Proxes on 18"x11" s and it will still light 'em up. When you start hard on one of these and get the tires spinning it's almost instant red-line banging off the rev-limiter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) Hope you got a good tranny. Already broke one. It's a blast.

Ed aka W9R1

[Amenson]

Hope you got a good trany. Already broke one. It's a blast.

The 901 in the car is solid with a recent refresh. I just need to remind myself to be mindful when in 1st.

I made some progress this weekend.

Mounted the air filter, actually a one of my buddies came over and did this so that I could work on other things:



Made the tube from the turbo to the air filter silicone piece. This is the first "real" aluminum part that I welded. Notice the fairly tidy practice weld in the background. Now notice how not tidy the weld is on the part. Welding a odd shape with varying wall thickness and not perfect gaps is considerably more challenging then welding straight test tube. Oh well, not bad for my first part. It is strong and leak free. Hopefully I get better as the parts become more visible.



Fits perfectly!!



I also started plumbing the remote oil filter. I need to drill another hole in the engine mount for the remote filter housing but can't until I get the engine off of the cart. Eventually it will be straight.



Scott

[Amenson]

Well, still not confident enough to weld the tubes to the intercooler yet so I spent much of the garage time this weekend making practice art.

This is a creation made of 3" diameter .065 aluminum tubing, the same stuff as the IC plumbing...almost ready to weld the real thing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)



Scott

[Amenson]

Made another small step tonight. I finally removed the turbo oil return on the head. I could not find any good information on the Subaru sites to I slowly worked it loose with gradually larger tools.

This is what I wanted out:



This is what it looks like out:



The damn thing was press fit in with a ring of glue for good measure:



I feel fortunate to get it out without damaging anything. Now I get to modify it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) and put it back together (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) so that it points toward the new turbo location.

[Amenson]

Welded up the turbo drain tonight.

Pre-welding:


Post welding...steel is so much easier than AL!



Head side post welding:



Installed minus tube:



Good night........





Scott

[GS Guy]

Looking good Scott!

I may use some of your ideas if my turbo oil drain is a bit off optimum angle.

Now I want to see your shift linkage solutions! Especially with the Small Car mount.

Jeff

[Amenson]

Looking good Scott!

I may use some of your ideas if my turbo oil drain is a bit off optimum angle.

Now I want to see your shift linkage solutions! Especially with the Small Car mount.

Jeff

Jeff,
Hopefully you do not have to remove the drain...what a huge pain in the ass.

As for the shift linkage, stock works just fine!





I had to dig through a load of old project pictures to find these. It reminded me how far I have come and renewed my sense of accomplishment. Makes the the first drive seem not so far off (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

Scott

[fat73]

Ahhhhh what a beautiful sight.....Makes you feel good don't it?

Great work...Ed aka W9R1

[GS Guy]

Rats,
That stock shift rod does fit nice! No such luck on my build - I've got frame and suspension members in-line with the shift rod - almost as if they'd been designed to be in the way!

I've noticed other cooling line connections seemed to be "press fit" into the various engine components too - such as the little lines on the throttle body heater, the cockpit heater supply connection into the water crossover on top of the engine. How are you planning to seal that turbo drain back up? Locktite?

I may have to do someting similar to the turbo drain fittings? Haven't yet permanantly located the turbo - but the block connection "may" be OK. Still looking for a bolt-on NPT (or similar) adapter for the turbo drain - but may have to make something custom like yours. Not much room for pipe fittings under there - especially in the large sizes required for a good drain.
Car is lookig great Scott!
Jeff

[jimkelly]

wow - awesome work - suby sterring column - sweet.

i love the friendly one ups-man-ship on this board - just when you think you've seen the most amazing work - someone else raises the bar.

for me - i am pretty proud for weeks - when i install a set of chrome caps on my wheels valve stems - but you guys - wtf!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif)

[Amenson]

I've noticed other cooling line connections seemed to be "press fit" into the various engine components too - such as the little lines on the throttle body heater, the cockpit heater supply connection into the water crossover on top of the engine. How are you planning to seal that turbo drain back up? Locktite?

Car is lookig great Scott!
Jeff

I have not figured out what I will use to seal the oil return. I thought about Loctite but am concerned that it would never come apart again. The oil return is not pressurized so I may just put some high temp RTV type sealant there.

Do you have an update progress thread of your project anywhere? The yahoo link you sent a while ago is down.

i love the friendly one ups-man-ship on this board - just when you think you've seen the most amazing work - someone else raises the bar.

Not so much one ups-man-ship...just the advantage of knowing how other people have done things so that you can see what worked and what did not.

Made some small progress yesterday. Mounted the crank case breather tube and boost control solenoid. Both are held in place with nutserts!



Probably will not have any updates for a couple of weeks. I am getting married next weekend (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) and the Woodward Dream Cruise is the weekend following that.

Scott

[Zaney]

Scott,
Congrats ahead of time for next weekend! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drunk.gif)

The car and workmanship is awesome as usual! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)

Cheers to you and the MRS.

[Amenson]

Made it through the wedding!! Everything went well and nobody died on the hike in the mountains, ropes course, rafting trip or any of the late nights out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

My beautiful bride and I, freshly married!!



Driving to the reception the '39 Rolls Royce



Celebrating with a nice Cab and a Cohiba. The Cohiba is from Cuba thanks to my brother in law from London. And my custom matte finish tungsten carbide ring.



Now back working on the PorSTi...

[Amenson]

Filled in one of the heater control tube holes.



Removed a load of paint from the driver's compartment.





Welded in reinforcements for the shoulder Harness'.



Picked up a welding table and a spot welder. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)



Scott

[Slider]

Cool.. you got hitched in Fort Collins?

Made it through the wedding!! Everything went well and nobody died on the hike in the mountains, ropes course, rafting trip or any of the late nights out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

My beautiful bride and I, freshly married!!



Driving to the reception the '39 Rolls Royce



Celebrating with a nice Cab and a Cohiba. The Cohiba is from Cuba thanks to my brother in law from London. And my custom matte finish tungsten carbide ring.



Now back working on the PorSTi...

[Amenson]

Cool.. you got hitched in Fort Collins?

Of course, where else??? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) My wife got her undergrad at Colorado State. I had never visited Colorado before meeting her...now I can't spend enough time there. Great State, great beer!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drunk.gif)