74 Roller rebuild and Subaru conversion, 1974 rebuild and Subaru conversion project Options

[mgarrison]

I got distracted for about a week fab'ing up a body dolly. It took a lot longer than expected (of course), but seems to work well!

Here's what I came up with based on how high I could jack up the 914, and the local supply of steel tube...



I dropped the front and rear suspension, as well as the steering rack of the body to lighten things up as much as possible.



It took a team effort, but we finally got the dolly positioned where I wanted it. Will be nice to have my jack stands back, and not have to bend over much to work on the 914.



I was even able to position the 914 a bit by myself in the gravel. That was a bonus as I expected it to take 2-3 people to move it in the gravel! Lot's of room to tuck things away under the body now.



I just need to figure out how to tie it down to the dolly so it can't move/slip...

[76-914]

Nice job. Throw a couple of sheets of plywood over that gravel. Stay after it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[mgarrison]

Finally got back to the '14 after being distracted by a leaking dishwasher, then a clogged bathroom drain, then a leaking pool filter! Some month's, I just LOVE owning a home!

Received my RD frunk replacement floor pan. Seems like mine was cut forward of where they were supposed to be cut. Will need to buy some extra steel to cover that gap.


I also lost a weekend to my Son's Miata. Replaced the ball joints and corrected the Eibach coilovers - A previous owner installed the front coils on the rear, and the rear coils on the front! Not sure how they pulled that one off since the front coils were a good 1/4" longer than the rears.

[mgarrison]

Got the tar off the floor pan fairly easy, but that seam sealer is some tenacious stuff! Floors look really solid.


The worst rust spot and only penetration is behind the drivers seat, on the upper firewall. Seems like an odd spot for rust to collect/happen.


I found a couple of odd holes with rather large bolts & washers in them. One in the front middle of where the drivers seat would be. And one behind the drivers seat in the middle as well. Nothing like these on the passenger side.


I did find stress cracks on the driver's long at the indent for the hand brake. No rust, just the cracks. Kind of artistic looking in the closeup.


I took the wire wheel to the rust hole on the firewall. It opened up quite a bit and I discovered someone had tried to Bondo over it from the engine side. Why, why, why...

[mgarrison]

A bit of surface rust near the pedal box. Does not look too bad really. Feels pretty solid poking at it rather hard.


Got all the nasty seam sealer out of the firewall seam. Comes out OK with a wire brush in the angle grinder, but man what a mess!


It turns out there is more than one rust hole on the firewall. Go figure...


Pedal area cleaned up a bit more. Still looks really solid.


There was a section cut out of the passengers long - no idea why as I don't see anything that needs attention in there. (keeps rotating this one 180!)

[mgarrison]

I want to run my radiator hoses through the longs like I have seen some others on the site do. I need to eliminate those elbows on the front end of the longs, but I am not replacing floors. Quite the puzzle of how to get those crazy things loose/out!


My wife's idea of distraction/humor during the social distancing/isolation. I guess she sent one to her sister too. You gotta love Bob!


Only way I could figure to get the elbows and tubes out of the longs. I did not want to open her(need to come up with a good/saucy name for her) up this much, but it will give me a chance to clean and coat the insides of the longs.


Finally got one out - quite the battle! Even managed to set a towel on fire with the sparks from the cut off wheel. Kind of funny actually...


And the driver's side. Was a challenge to get the cardboard tube out from the front end of the long, but finally got it all out.

[mgarrison]

Not really sure what to say about some of these factory welds...


Driver's long looks really good in there too.


The back side of the stress cracks at the hand brake indent.


One section mostly cleaned off. Definitely took more than a minute.

[Cairo94507]

I sometimes think that stress crack at the handbrake is factory installed. I think most 914's have had or need that repair. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[76-914]

The interior view of those longs looks cherry. Are you going to install the interior stiffer kit? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

[mgarrison]

The interior view of those longs looks cherry. Are you going to install the interior stiffer kit? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

Yea, I think so. I was looking at what kits were still available. Planning a WRX motor & trans, so the kit seems like a wise idea.

[mgarrison]

It's been a long time since I updated this - been distracted like everyone else, and it was just too hot here during the summer to work on the 914 much at all. I also managed to bounce a running angle grinder off my face at the start of the pandemic lockdown! Safety glasses saved my right eye...My Sister-in-law's guidance was key to being able to treat it at home with very little scarring - saved my bacon!!

I ordered some Eastwood inside frame paint with the cool little spray tube. You can see it covered pretty well inside from the seeping out between the seams:


I've patched up a few small holes in the tub working on my welding skills before I try to weld in the front trunk pan AC fix panel:


We ended up donating the green '70 that was rusty to the automotive program at the local tech school where our Son attends. Getting "Greenie" out and on a trailer took some juggling...


I joked the 914 was "out for a drive".


It still seemed just too hot to weld, so I switched over to pulling the suspension apart, cleaning, and repainting the pieces.


The shocks and inserts were budget KYB items. I think I will replace with the Koni adjustable units. Can anyone verify those are Boge strut housings?


It's interesting, the brake pads, rotors, grease and bearings all seem almost brand new:


Getting those ball joints loose was quite the challenge. Thanks to the various members here who have posted what worked for them - the pipe wrench method won in the end!


While some components seemed almost new, others seemed totally shot:


I'll try to update more regularly now that its cool enough to work outside again...

[mgarrison]

A couple more pics of suspension/brake stuff. I didn't want to spend the money to have them blasted and powder coated, so I just used a wire brush in a cordless drill, and my time. Looks ok for now. Not sure how well they will hold up, but not much moisture, rain, etc. in Phoenix, AZ area.


I did purchase a new toy to make our lives a bit easier working on the cars. The Miata was a real challenge to get a jack under; you had to drive up onto 2x4s for the jack to fit. Now it takes a quarter the time it used to!


It's rated for 7,000 pounds, so I can use it for the Wife's Jeep and my truck as well, but I did have to buy the SUV kit for it to lift the truck high enough to get the rear wheels off the ground! That 14" of travel makes some simple maintenance rather challenging...

[mgarrison]

Finally getting around to posting another update!

I removed the battery tray support and discovered some minor Hell hole issues...

Noticed some odd holes on the inner fender next to the openings for the AC tubing. Looks like they might have bolted something to the inner fender here...?


I set about removing the engine tray. Since my roller did not have engine, trans, seats, etc., I will be doing a Subaru conversion and wont need the engine tray. Cutting spot welds is quite the long, tedious process!


Finally...


I drilled a 2" inspection hole to see how bad the damage was, and that I can cut out and weld a patch back in.

Tried to take a pic to see what the inside looks like, but hard to really tell..


I rolled the 914 around to the garage so I could use the high speed air saw, and cut out the rusted sections that need to be patched up.


While I was waiting to give the compressor a break, I drilled the openings to run my coolant lines up to the front trunk.


Getting the patches to fit just right is a crazy TEDIOUS process!


In my spare time here & there, I have been working on removing seam sealer aka "Rust Hider" to get any rust addressed properly.


Is there a consensus on replacing the seam sealer? Since I am doing a Subaru conversion, I'm not concerned with looking 100% original as my roller did not have historic value. Does the sealer REALLY keep rust out? With modern rust treatment and paint products, is it still necessary?

[76-914]

You're making good progress. I've got mixed feelings about seam sealer. One thing is for sure; it's just as good retaining moisture as it is preventing it. Ian just completed a run of cradles, too. This is a good place to document your build but you can't expect much support or conversion product updates here. There are a couple of forums on FB dedicated to Subaru conversions, conversion parts and services. Stay after it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[rhodyguy]

A painters '5 in 1' tool and the heat gun makes shorter work of the seam seal. You can 'lean' harder on the sealant with the 5 in 1. The point edge digs in to tight corners.

[Costa05]

A painters '5 in 1' tool and the heat gun makes shorter work of the seam seal. You can 'lean' harder on the sealant with the 5 in 1. The point edge digs in to tight corners.

Agree!

[mgarrison]

You're making good progress. I've got mixed feelings about seam sealer. One thing is for sure; it's just as good retaining moisture as it is preventing it. Ian just completed a run of cradles, too. This is a good place to document your build but you can't expect much support or conversion product updates here. There are a couple of forums on FB dedicated to Subaru conversions, conversion parts and services. Stay after it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Regarding "Ian just completed a run of cradles, too." - Which Ian are you referring to? If ColdWater914 is back online, I'm super interested!

Mike

[mgarrison]

A few more pics of yesterday's work.

Here's my small patch welded in on the firewall between the seats.


I can't remember who, but someone on the forum posted about using a smashed copper pipe as a backing when welding sheet metal, to act as a heatsink. Works really well when you are struggling with burning through in spots. I had my welder down as low as it can go, but still had some challenges in some corners. I just used a smashed copper elbow. The welds don't stick to the copper at all.


Here's the inner fender patch tacked in place.


And mostly complete - I will have to see where I missed after grinding it out a bit.


Three more "easy" patches, then I need to form up the patch for the inner long - I'm sure that's going to take some time and effort to get the correct shape! Still need to replace the frunk floor from the AC cutout, and then weld in the MadDog inner long stiffeners...So slow sometimes I feel like I'm sliding backwards! Ah, but it keeps me off the streets, right!

[76-914]

You're making good progress. I've got mixed feelings about seam sealer. One thing is for sure; it's just as good retaining moisture as it is preventing it. Ian just completed a run of cradles, too. This is a good place to document your build but you can't expect much support or conversion product updates here. There are a couple of forums on FB dedicated to Subaru conversions, conversion parts and services. Stay after it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Regarding "Ian just completed a run of cradles, too." - Which Ian are you referring to? If ColdWater914 is back online, I'm super interested!

Mike

Yep, Coldwater. He made 20 sets. New and improved. will accept any series engine and will accept the 914 transmission as well as Subaru TY75. IMHO, the 914 transmission is a step back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[IM101]

You're making good progress. I've got mixed feelings about seam sealer. One thing is for sure; it's just as good retaining moisture as it is preventing it. Ian just completed a run of cradles, too. This is a good place to document your build but you can't expect much support or conversion product updates here. There are a couple of forums on FB dedicated to Subaru conversions, conversion parts and services. Stay after it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Regarding "Ian just completed a run of cradles, too." - Which Ian are you referring to? If ColdWater914 is back online, I'm super interested!

Mike

Yep, Coldwater. He made 20 sets. New and improved. will accept any series engine and will accept the 914 transmission as well as Subaru TY75. IMHO, the 914 transmission is a step back. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

It’s true! I am back! While technically the cradles have been delayed by a week because of some issues with the laser cut parts I’ll be shipping them out in the next few weeks. Also have hardware and parts inbound for the cable shift setups and back plates. I am holding off on the axles and couplers for now as they are expensive to produce and there are great options like Dutchman axles and Subarugears for those parts. Shoot me a line at ian@coldwater914.com if you are interested!

Good luck with the build looks like a great base to start with!

-Ian