Eric's Six Conversion, chassis work has finally commenced. Options

[Detroit]

Greetings all...

As the title suggests, I'm undertaking a six cylinder heart transplant on my four cylinder '74 914. I've always wanted to build a hot rod of some sort, and a 3.X 914 seems a pretty solid choice. I just hope the patient and donor organ both survive the surgery...

The motor is a 3.0L out of an '82 SC. It needs rebuilding. I'm going to start a separate thread for that over on the Pelican forum in the engine rebuilding section, because I'm going to need lot's of advice. I realize that there are plenty of peops here who've built sixes, but as that forum is dedicated purely to the task it makes sense to me to start the thread there. I'll paste a link for anyone interested once I've got it started. It's not going to be some crazy race motor. I just want a good reliable street engine. I'm not a hundred percent sure what I'm going to do with the chassis at this point, but I have plenty of time to think about it. I work slow.

The overall plan is to rebuild the motor, and then get it running on a start cart, which I've already started to cobble up. At that point I'll pull the four cylinder, do any chassis mods, and stick in the new engine. It all sounds so simple when I type it... Stupid brain.

I've already torn the engine down to the long block, but have paused to get a few things around the garage cleared up. There will be additional pauses along the way. I've got a zillion things to do around here... I'm pretty determined to get this done though, so hopefully said pauses will be brief.

I will do my best to keep everyone updated along the way. And of course supply plenty of pictures. Here's a few to start.

EDIT - Here's a link to the engine build thread:
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-engine-...3-0l-build.html

The car.


The six.


The start cart (and mock up engine and trans).

[Detroit]

Well, it's about time I drag this thread out of mothballs...

The motor is running (no videos yet). It's not running great at this point, which I'm pretty sure is down to fueling. I've been hesitant to tackle it with all the unseasonably warm weather we've had, because the last time I ran it (to break in the cams) one of my bloody neighbors called the police... Stay tuned.

I'm confident enough that I'll get the motor running properly, however, that I've commenced work on the car. The motor is out, and I've started disassembly of the suspension. I want to get as much stripped off and cleaned as I'm able prior to getting the motor mount welded in.

The overall plan is to refurbish the suspension and brakes, as well as the pedal box. Not to mention all the details associated with the actual engine swap. As to the forementioned suspension, I'll be doing a bit of "upgrading". For starters, I'll be replacing the CV's, axle flanges, etc. with 911 hardware. To that end I acquired a complete 911 SC suspension, which brings me to my first question...

Do 911 and 914 torsion bars have the same spline count? One of my A-arms is bent, so I'd like to use the 911 components. That said, I don't want to go to heavier torsion bars (which I presume 911 variants are).

Additionally, I'll be adding factory sway bars, and uprating the brakes with S calipers on the front. I'm not sure what to do with the rears at this point, so please chime in if you've tread this path before. I have, of course, read all of Eric Shea's 5-lug conversion threads (multiple times). I don't think I'm totally insane with this plan, but I'm still a little uncertain as to the compatibility of all the hardware in my possession.

Here are a few pics of where I'm at in the process. One thing I was particularly delighted about upon disassembly is the condition of the rocker panels. They're sound. I knew that it's a solid car, but had never had the covers off.