Safari 914 project, “Sufari” Options

[East coaster]

I’ve been out of the 914 game for quite some time. The last 914 I built was back in 2006 and was quite a build. I’ve had about a dozen 914s over the years and my 2006 build was to be my ultimate 914 (for me at least). It was a GT flared 3.6 six conversion and was a great car. I sold it in 2015 and moved to other things. I’ve been getting the itch to build another teener for a while, but to go in a different direction. I’ve seen a couple Safari builds and that seemed interesting.

I picked up pretty well worn ‘72 914 for the base of my project. My plan is to build a budget conscious (it’s all relative) Subaru powered Safari mod. I plan to go with a normally aspirated 2.5 Subaru from a 1998 Forrester along with the Subaru tranny.

I’ve been working on removing rust and getting the tub suitable for my plans. This will by no means be a concours resto type build, but should prove interesting.

Here’s the base car being picked up for the project start



I stripped it down and sold the engine and tranny (it was a partially completed V8 conversion). Then started cutting out rusted areas a welding in new metal.

Some Radom rust repair pics in no special order….

[jd74914]

Very cool!

What's the deal with the mill? Is that an automated 4th axis?

Unsolicited feedback: You might want to relieve on the back of the splines (cut down the axle and then fillet into the splines). I've done the same cutting you're showing and twisted then sheared at the stress concentration where the splines land in the main axle on two occasions and now always put a neck down like shown in the below image.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/bloozeown.weebly.com-1659-1691504744.1.jpg)

[East coaster]

Thanks for the feedback Jim. The mill is just an old Bridgeport that I put a DRO on. It’s awesome to have in the shop. I also have a 100 year old LeBlond lathe, and between the two of them you can make almost anything if you have the skills (I’m working on it).

The piece I machined was just a practice piece I was using to test out the process. I plan to mimic the Subaru shaft when I cut and spline the real shaft and I think the Subaru shaft has a relief like you mention.

[jd74914]

Cool! Sounds like a nice set! I love my Clausing lathe and can't wait to get a new [to me] mill.

You can get a lot of work done with just a DRO. And TBH full manual is probably a better starting point, at least from what I learned from the master machinists who taught me. It's nice to be able to be able to assess a cut by sight/sound/touch all at once while you're working the machine.

Sounds good on the half shafts. The car I twisted/spiral sheared almost exactly like the below picture and when we analyzed saw that the cracking actually started at the root of the spline.

In my case is was a 25mm diameter shaft on a 120ish hp car formula car which did launch so perhaps more load than you'll see, but still something you don't forget. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bootyshake.gif)

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/ars.els-cdn.com-1659-1691549938.1.jpg)

Can't wait to see the final product! Your whole project is awesome BTW! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

[East coaster]

Working on things I can do in the air conditioned portion of my shop. Decided to tackle my fuel tank. I’m using a complete Subaru fuel pump and sender so I fitted that to the tank. The pickup sits in the sump and I made a backing plate with studs to mount the unit. I also cleaned the tank with a vinegar soak for a few days, followed my baking soda and water. All that is left is giving it a coat of paint.

[East coaster]

Backing plate….

[East coaster]

Backing plate welded to tank….

[East coaster]

Pickup in sump…….I had to turn the sock filter around 180 degrees to have it fit in the sump.

[East coaster]

Wrapped up the fresh air box/heater today. All new seals from 914 Rubber, new fan and motor from URO, and mods to house the heater core and the Subaru resistor pack.

[East coaster]

[East coaster]

Rolled it out of the paint booth to began sanding off my perfect new paint job and repaint (in the correct color this time!). It’s been a while since I painted it and I was truly just waiting for cooler weather to tackle sanding and respray, but I think I needed this much time to get over the disappointment and frustration of being supplied with the wrong paint. I wished they had given me the wrong color and not just the wrong tone, at least I would’ve noticed before spraying.

[East coaster]

[East coaster]

Got back from a two week trip and decided to get a little done on the car while I’m waiting for cooler weather for sanding and paint. I’ve bounced around numerous ideas on a front push bar and here’s what I came up with. It’s all aluminum and pretty darn light so it’s not adding much weight (I think it’s lighter than the bumper tits that it eliminated).

Here are mounts. They’re 4” alum tube shaped to fit the bumper with a 1/4” plate welded at the back for mounting.

[East coaster]

[East coaster]

[East coaster]

And welded up and mounted with 4” led fog lights

[East coaster]

Nuther…..

[East coaster]

I may still add a cross bar towards the bottom, but that’s for another day.

[tygaboy]

Love it. That looks great! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[Shivers]

Nuther…..

Awesome (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[gereed75]

You are doing some incredible work on this car. Mastercraftmens level.

That heater box is just so trick, Wow.