Jamie's 914-H6 Subaru Swap, Palm Springs California Options

[jamlip]

Little update. Obviously not much happened with the car after my last post. It sat in the yard and I just couldn't find my mojo with it. It's a great shell, but that's it, and it's missing a lot of stuff that would make it a driver.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708543502.1.jpg)

A few months ago I decided to sell my '68 912. I had owned it for 13 years after restoring it from bare metal (build thread here, if you're interested). It was an absolutely stunning car but I'd scratched the itch and was looking for a new challenge.

The 912 went to its new owner in Santa Monica few weeks ago, and 12 hours later I was the new owner of a 914 with a blown engine, bought from the brother of a friend in San Diego.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.2.jpg)

It's a 73, black with appearance pack. It's a SoCal car and is "rust free" (of course there is no such thing, and I was about to find out this one was hiding a dark secret).

I'd had the Subaru EZ30 sat on a JWK cradle in my garage for months and had even tried to sell it on FB Marketplace with zero success.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.3.jpg)

Once the car was home, I set to work with degreaser and a jet wash.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.4.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.5.jpg)

... also the engine.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.6.jpg)

Digging around the car, I was pleased to see the front trunk was un-cut and the front slam is in good shape. The floors, longs and A-pillars are perfect. The hell-hole needs sorting (find me one that doesn't).

When I bought the car, the rear trunk was filled with engine tinware. On removing it, I found some spooky filler work. Being British, I'm aware of what this means. Filler should be a skim-coat at most. If there's more, it's hiding something, and that something is always Not Good.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.7.jpg)

1.7 tinware - this will sit in my yard for a year till I take it to the metal recycler...

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.8.jpg)

Well, here's me cutting out the rear trunk after whiz-wheeling out the filler and discovering the jiggery-pokery that had been going on - the rear trunk had been replaced with a section cut from another car, but instead of doing a nice job of it, this Master Craftsman had tacked the rear slam panel of the donor over the slam panel of the car, then added filler to restore the shape of the sheet metal pressings. Arghhh! So much fucking time and effort to do a totally shitty job. I will never understand it.

So the car had two rear panels. The donor panel was actually poling out an inch below the existing one - I missed this because I bought it from a friend who I love and trust dearly. He hadn't noticed it because it was his brother's car. And his brother hadn't noticed it because he never really got deep into the car... ugh.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.9.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.10.jpg)

So I've ordered new rear trunk panel.

Back to the fun stuff. Here's the EZ30 aligned in the engine compartment. It sits reassuringly low on the cradle and it looks like I have lots of space to play with.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.11.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.12.jpg)

My 912 was running MicroSquirt fuel and spark. I love programmable EFI, and my plan with this engine is to put it on MegaSquirt. I'm also going to try not to use the original intake plenum since it's quite large and wickedly heavy, and would require me to cut the air intake into the rear trunk, which I just don't want. I would like to look into the engine bay and see something akin to the format of a Porsche flat six, if you get my gist.

Here's a quick shot to show what I have in mind...

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1708541259.13.jpg)

[76-914]

Someone is having fun now! Hopefully your garage has AC Jamie. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Retroracer]

Jamie - nice progress so far. Keen to see how the manifold design goes.

Interestingly, when I picked up my 1970 for conversion, the rear trunk seemed solid but was hiding similar sins. The filler used was 12mm thick in places, and (I'm guessing) was put on all at once; the material in the middle had not cured! After opening it up with the grinder that distinct smell of curing Bondo pervaded the garage.... fun times.

Keep the posts coming. As a fellow Brit, completely get the fear / loathing of rust on older cars.

- Tony

[jamlip]

Hi Tony. It's nice to live in a place where the only rust is limited to the bits that exposed to the rain. I suspect my car was parked for year with the trunk sticking out of a car port.

As you know, in Britain, things rust inside sealed garages.

[Blown59]

Looking forward to following this build. I too just picked up my next 914 project. Well, I was purchased back in Jan, but after a lengthy shipping process, it finally arrived. Since its a rolling shell, Im also doing an EZ30 out of an 03 Outback.

[jamlip]

Little update on the home-made manifolds, which are now on the engine.

Many years ago I did a Megasquirt EFI conversion on my 1972 911T (imagine doing that now!) using a single throttle body plenum from a 2.7 engine. During the project, an acquaintance in the UK mentioned how Triumph throttle bodies would make excellent EFI intakes for a flat six motor and that kinda stuck in my mind as something I'd like to try.

I later Megasquirted my 912's 616 engine, using Weber IDF-style throttle bodies and two VW Golf could packs to run a crank-fired twin-plug ignition system. It worked great.

When I got my hands on this Subaru EZ30 engine, there was no question that it was going on Megasquirt, but I assumed I would use the single-throttle body intake. Two other things bothered me about that idea - although the engine fits beautifully in the car, the intake doesn't and I'd have to cut the trunk sheet metal, and the intake is also -really- heavy. Then I remembered the Triumph throttle body idea.

I ordered a pair of throttle bodies from eBay. They're from a Daytona 955i. They have no injector ports (the EZ30 has injector ports in the heads) and the bell cranks are configured for push and pull throttle cables. I'm not sure why you'd need this on a three-cylinder motorcycle, but it's great for me because I can link the two ITBs together for my six-cylinder application.

For the manifolds, I investigated various ideas (3D printing etc), but in the end two $36 blocks of 6061 T-6 alu from eBay won out.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709586683.1.jpeg)

I scored out the intake port spacing on each side...

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709586685.2.jpeg)

Then I chain-drilled the middle sections of the ports...

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709586686.3.jpeg)

... and got to work with a die grinder.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709586686.4.jpeg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709586687.5.jpeg)

[jamlip]

Then I needed to shape the billet blocks to allow clearance for the injectors. My friend Jim did the cutting on his mill.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709587184.1.jpeg)

After that, I had to do a little additional shaping for various engine components that were in the way.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709587185.2.jpeg)

I seated everything with Blue Hylomar, because the Triumph intake boots are kinda old and I'm a pessimist when it comes to intake leaks.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709587186.3.jpeg)

Here's how they fit. Not the most beautiful job, but stout, cheap and maybe 20lbs lighter overall than the stock manifold. They should flow nice - I managed to match the ports from the ITBs through to the head.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709587187.4.jpeg)

Here's a YouTube video that served as inspiration during the many hours of grinding. It's a Beetle, with an EZ30 on ITBs, making 280hp on a dyno.Sound up!

https://youtu.be/-t-h6-lS3Ww?si=uoQasbnADhYwKwA7

[Retroracer]

That works out really nicely! Liking the "carved from the solid" approach. I'm looking at something similar for My Next Project, so may have questions later on.

Everybody needs a friend with a milling machine sometimes.

- Tony

[slowrodent]

You are selling yourself short. That is great craftsmanship.

(Jiggery-pokery lol..) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[jamlip]

It’s fine. Better craftsmanship would be to get some more weight out of them - the manifolds are down to 3.2lbs each, but I could probably pull another pound out by removing more material.

Obviously it is a tiny proportion of the total weight of the car, but if you keep doing it over and over it ends up making a difference. Similarly, if you don’t, you end up with a car that’s 100lbs heavier than it needs to be.

But for now, I want to get the engine running!

You are selling yourself short. That is great craftsmanship.

(Jiggery-pokery lol..) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[76-914]

Sounds great!

[jamlip]

Trial-fitted the radiator. I want to try positioning it at the back of the frunk to keep the weight as inboard as possible.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709795439.1.jpg)

I will add a top cover behind the radiator to form a plenum to stop heated air venting to the cabin, and also aid the low pressure in the wheel wheels draw the air through from the front.

Keeping the rad towards the back also opens up the possibility of a retaining a small amount of storage in the frunk, but I'll test this setup before I commit to that.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709795439.2.jpg)

In addition to the wheel well holes, has anyone ever tried cutting holes like this at the steering rack recess to draw air? I feel like this space would create a good low-pressure area from air moving under the car.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709795439.3.jpg)

[Shivers]

The manifolds came out great. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

@jamlip

[76-914]

Trial-fitted the radiator. I want to try positioning it at the back of the frunk to keep the weight as inboard as possible.

I will add a top cover behind the radiator to form a plenum to stop heated air venting to the cabin, and also aid the low pressure in the wheel wheels draw the air through from the front.

Keeping the rad towards the back also opens up the possibility of a retaining a small amount of storage in the frunk, but I'll test this setup before I commit to that.

In addition to the wheel well holes, has anyone ever tried cutting holes like this at the steering rack recess to draw air? I feel like this space would create a good low-pressure area from air moving under the car.

How fast do plan on driving Jamie. These cars get pretty light around 125mph. Any added air beneath will have its effect. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[slowrodent]

In addition to the wheel well holes, has anyone ever tried cutting holes like this at the steering rack recess to draw air? I feel like this space would create a good low-pressure area from air moving under the car.

Yes.. This is mine..

[jamlip]

Interesting, thank you. Do you have the fenders cut out as well?

In addition to the wheel well holes, has anyone ever tried cutting holes like this at the steering rack recess to draw air? I feel like this space would create a good low-pressure area from air moving under the car.

Yes.. This is mine..

[slowrodent]

No.. I just have these as exit holes, and I have opened/connected the front holes as inlets. My radiator sits to the rear of the frunk. It;s a bit unorthodox I suppose. We'll see how it flows once its moving (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) My goal was to be able to fit a spare tire in the frunk.

Kevin

[jamlip]

Right-o. Any thoughts on this arrangement before I drill a bazillion holes in the car?

Under-cooled, over-cooled, structurally unsound, etc...

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709971907.1.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709971908.2.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-26060-1709971908.3.jpg)

[Lilchopshop]

No.. I just have these as exit holes, and I have opened/connected the front holes as inlets. My radiator sits to the rear of the frunk. It;s a bit unorthodox I suppose. We'll see how it flows once its moving (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) My goal was to be able to fit a spare tire in the frunk.

Kevin

@slowrodent , Can you share details of how/where the spare tire fits? Is it a regular size spare or one of those collapsible deals?

[76-914]

Right-o. Any thoughts on this arrangement before I drill a bazillion holes in the car?

Under-cooled, over-cooled, structurally unsound, etc...

Nah. Just do it. We learn from both achievements and mistakes. Besides, you'll fix anything that doesn't work out, right? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)