Pploco Sti-defiling a 914, such a BLAST! Options

[pploco]

I spent a lot of time on the 914 this weekend. I'm currently working on the radiator (more pics to come). I've got the radiator cradle and shroud almost complete, but I wondered what A/C exchanger/condensor would work best with the Celica GT radiator and 914 sizing. Anyone have any recommendations?

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[Chi-town]

I'd probably look at the Celica gt unit as your radiator probably already has the mounting for it?

[pploco]

The Celica condenser is 26X13.75 which is about an inch taller than the radiator - for some weird reason. I’ve never looked closely at the GT setup, but I built this cradle thinking that the condenser would be about the same dimensions as the radiator core - wrong. I also fabbed the whole works as far forward as possible without interfering with the hood, so there’s not a lot of head room. Long story short, I’d probably have to start over to get it to fit. I’ll probably have to suck it up and buy a restomod universal one.

I see a few cheap parallel condensers on flea bay that would fit, I wonder if they are worth trying.

[pploco]

Here are a couple that would fit the dimensions:

Subaru Legacy (2010+) - 24 1/2 X 12 3/8
Land Rover (2002+) - 11 3/4 X 25
Subaru Forester & Crosstrek (2009+) - 11 3/4 X 25 1/8
VW Eurovan (1993+) 11 7/8 X 26
Mazda Mazdaspeed (2006) - 12 1/2 X 24 13/16

I'll go the Subaru Legacy route I think. It would make the hoses much easier to make, and keep things compatible with the Subaru motor.

[pploco]

Here's what I ended up going with. I love Summit. I ordered this on Monday afternoon and it was on my doorstep Tuesday morning, and had it installed by Tuesday evening.

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[76-914]

That will work. Any size that fits your opening will work. The 914 is a small cabin to cool so any small condenser will do. Your going to love having AC. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[pploco]

Things I still need to do up front:
1. Mount the water/air heat exchanger
2. Shroud the top
3. Paint the radiator/condenser crib
4. Run the coolant, A/C, and water/air IC lines

I should have the shrouding and painting done this week. I then plan to start running the coolant lines and the A/C and water/air return lines under the console. The a/c and water/air feed lines will be run under the rocker or under the car (still haven't decided).

[pploco]

Here are a few more pictures of the radiator/condenser setup:

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Next up is the shrouding. I've got the side figured out, the top should be pretty straightforward, but the bottom is going to be a puzzle. Any idears?

[pploco]

I got a full day in on the car this weekend. I had a daughter head off to college a few weeks ago, so garage time has been non-existent. Now that things are slowing down a bit, I hope to get back at this to get some regular progress going. I finished the radiator, A/C condenser and water/air IC exchanger - got all the shrouding done and sealed. I cleaned things up a bit in the frunk, and I'm ready to move to something else.

I still need to run the lines, but I plan to run the coolant lines through the center console, so I decided to hit the floor pan and see what I was working with.

First off - got the radiator a/c cradle painted. I picked up a nutsert rivet tool that is pretty magical, so I may have gone a bit nuts with it (no pun intended) - but man its such a great tool!

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All assembled, painted, and sealed. I even hooked up a battery to the fans to test the flow - it definitely moves a lot of air.

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I'm torn on venting the frunk. I like the idea of a stock looking sleeper, but I just can't bring myself to cutting massive holes in the inner fenders yet. I'm starting to wonder if a hood vent might be better for structure - it seems you would really weaken the front of a car that already flexes quite a bit. Now I can already hear the purists groaning about cutting holes in perfectly good hoods, but my thinking is that a hood is much easier to repair/replace than inner fender wells. I don't know... I think I'll save this decisions for a future day.

With the radiator done, I moved to the interior to see about running coolant and maybe water/air lines under the console. I've got a plan hatching to cut the top off the tunnel, clean up the rust, rearrange the fuel, brake lines and add in coolant, shifter cable. But I wanted to see what I was working with. I know there are a couple of spots to do some rust repair on.

Ode to favorite tools number two - the scaler or needler = pure magic on the tar covering. Stripping most of the tar from the pans took no more than an hour. Before getting the wirewheel or putty knife - go grab one of these for 20 bucks at HF. There is nothing more satisfying than watching huge chunks of the tar peel off with little effort.

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There were three areas needing rust repair. Thankfully, only one was in the pan. There's a small spot under the passenger seat that should be pretty simple, then a spot at the base of the passenger toe kick, and a small spot in the firewall behind the driver seat. All in all, much better than I had thought originally.

I also pulled the windshield out to see how bad the bottom corners were behind the seals. Thankfully, nothing major..

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[76-914]

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[pploco]

So question for y'all - I'm planning to weld in a long reinforcement kit with the inside firewall piece. I have a small spot of rust at the bottom of the firewall. Should I weld a patch in prior to the chassis stiffening kit, or just prep and weld in the kit?

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[Andyrew]

So question for y'all - I'm planning to weld in a long reinforcement kit with the inside firewall piece. I have a small spot of rust at the bottom of the firewall. Should I weld a patch in prior to the chassis stiffening kit, or just prep and weld in the kit?

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It's thin. I would cut it out and weld in a patch. Difficult area as well.

[pploco]

So even with this kit from Maddog, I should still patch the firewall?

https://maddogsmotorsports.com/914-chassis-stiffening

[dakotaewing]

I agree with Andyrew.
Clean up the metal and patch the floor prior to adding the Mad dog kit,
or those holes will continue to grow.
Additionally, the floor in proper repair will add to the chassis rigidity,
especially once the kit is installed.

[pploco]

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[pploco]

I decided to spend some time cleaning up some of the rust in the interior. I got out the wire wheel and started cleaning up some of the metal around the passenger footwell. Cut out the rusted bit, and welded in a patch.

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Feeling pretty good about myself, I worked my way back stripping the floor down and really digging into the pitted spots. With the exception of one small spot under the passenger seat, there were no pinholes or spots needing repair. Overall it looked pretty good. That is until I saw what was peeking out from behind the firewall (IMG:style_emoticons/default/fyou1.gif)

I found a few spots on the passenger firewall that I started poking and digging out with a screwdriver. Before too long, the cutter came out and I ended up with this:

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Now I'm afraid to see what the driver's side has hiding. What a friggin setback... Oh well. I think to do this right, I'm going to have to get it up on a rotisserie to fix the rear pan, and I'm super tempted to have the whole tub media blasted. I hope (fingers crossed) that the longs are still okay. I know there's a small spot under the hell hole, but everything else looks pretty solid.

I've heard it said here many times - its never the rust you can see in these cars, its what you can't see. Well, here's proof to that.

[Andyrew]

Also the radiator setup looks REALLY good!

I wouldnt hesitate to cut holes in the wheel wells. You need less than you think. In the end its just a 4 cylinder.

Go low with your holes, about 2" from the corners and drill a 1" pilot hole, on each inside and outside lower corner, Move up about 8" and drill two more 1" holes then connect the dots. Thats all you should end up needing.

Sometime down the road you can add a sheet metal ducting and get back some trunk space.





Dont get discouraged with the rust your finding. Thats much better than some I've seen! Brace the car well and go for it. You dont need to do a rotisserie.

[pploco]

Also the radiator setup looks REALLY good!

Thank you.

On the rust discovery, I think I just need time for it to settle ha ha..

[pploco]

I finally tackled something I've been putting off for a while. The Coldwater cradle sits the drivetrain just a little too far forward - causing the axles to not quite line up. I've been thinking for months on how I could pull everything back about 2 inches to get the axles to line up better. I decided to man up and finish it so I could do some fab work in the engine compartment.

Here's what I started with:
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I got a strap around the motor and one on the trans, then used the hoist to support the motor, dropped the cradle off and sliced the mount along the bend. Then I flipped the cut flanges and put them back on the motor - pulled the drive train back a bit. I used a super long screwdriver pushed through the hub - which worked perfectly because the rubber grip centered in the splines. Then I positioned the trans axle outputs to line up. I measured the distance between axle output and hubs to ensure I was square, then I tacked the motor mount flanges back to the cradle. Checked my measurements again, and welded them up.

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I'm not sure why Ian didn't do this in the first place. I'm no engineer, but having the motor weight centered on top of the crossbar seems a lot better. It was actually a much easier fix than I was anticipating. I have a tendency to overthink things like this and obsess on all the different ways to go about it. The hardest part was reworking the trans mounts. I forgot to take pictures after finishing, but they turned out pretty nice. I did have my chopsaw blade bind and explode on me - that sucked.

I also had some time to make a better cart for the motor so I can wheel it around the garage and it sits high enough to clear the engine hoist.

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[pploco]

I was cruising the local metal recycler on Friday looking for some scraps for my son, and I found a pile of what looked like Home Depot shelving. Before I could talk some sense into myself, I had two of these thrown together in my garage:

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For less than 50 bucks and an afternoon with the cutter and welder, I've ruined my two engine stands to build a rotisserie. I'm too committed now on this project, and really want to fix the holes in the rear floor properly. I also want to strip the inner fender and under coating without having to lay on my back on the cold garage floor.