Suby-engined rustoration, 23-Mar-2021 update: new tires & wheels Options

[wingnut86]

:-))

[76-914]

I'm happy for ya. I always worked around having one. After I got a lift I wondered why I had waited. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[strawman]

Lift is finally installed. Just need to get electrical hooked up and start wrenching.



Unfortunately, I'm laying in a hospital bed right now recovering from surgery to repair a screwed up disc in my neck. No driving or even riding in a car for 30 days. So WCR is out for me this year. Anyone need a hotel room?

[JRust]

No WCR (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Sorry to hear you are in the hospital bud. I hope the recovery goes quick for you

[Andyrew]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Sorry to hear about the injury!!

WCR is in May so there is still time to recover and come...

Nice lift BTW (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[strawman]

Still recovering from my neck surgery, but the electrician finally wired in my lift. Here a couple of pictures of my daughter's '98 BMW 328i on the lift. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)





As soon as my doctor clears me, I'll finish the engine swap I did on her car right before my surgery (took the engine out of my M52-swapped '96 BMW 318ti to make room for an S52 engine!), get my 318ti going with its new heart, and then get back onto my 914; you can barely see it in my garage buried under a bunch of (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif)

No way I can make WCR this year due to work issues that arose, so PM me if you want my hotel room; otherwise I'll cancel it in the next week to get a refund.

[strawman]

So the S52 swap is complete in my 318ti (it rips!) and the car is at the painters for a re-squirt in the factory Calypsorot color. I also sold my '99 Z3M yesterday and my wife is letting me use the proceeds to make significant progress on my 914.

I just submitted a huge order inquiry to 914Rubber, and I'm busy ordering other stuff for the project including:

* SubaruGears sight-glass for the transaxle fluid level
* SmallCar cast aluminum shortened oil sump & pickup
* VDO gauges (oil pressure, coolant temp, oil temp and pyrometer)
* Dunlop Direzza Star Spec tires (225/45-16 rear and 205/50-16 front)
* PTP turbo blanket to keep engine compartment temps reasonable

I need to finish up the metalwork on the doors and install an old windshield so that I can drive the car and work out any bugs. Other cosmetic issues include metalworking the air-thru-the-hood hole. I also need to replace the IAC valve to smooth out the idle while warming up; I'll do that while I'm futzing with the gauge senders installation.

I also want to totally rework the shifter mechanism, especially after seeing firsthand Jamie's failed shifter cable at the WCR a couple years ago (my 5/16" cables definitely won't last!). I'm excited to get back onto this project!

[strawman]

For the first time, I put my teener up on the lift. I was worried it is so low I'd have to drive up on some boards so the arms could swing under it, but there's plenty of clearance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)





I mentioned in an earlier post that my shifter cables are 5/16" -- but I was way off... they are actually 3/16". You can see how puny they are in the pic above. I'll order some beefier ones in the coming days.

The Suby engine had been idling terribly until fully warmed-up, so I bypassed the Idle Air Control valve this morning. But then it wouldn't rev at all and kept dying. I checked fuses, made sure I didn't mistakenly disconnect any sensors, hooked up jumpers from my Eurovan (because the battery only showed 12.1 volts), and I generally pulled my hair out for an hour. Then I remembered to check the fuel... duh. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) A quick trip to the local Chevron and she fired right up and idled beautifully. Since I'm not running A/C, I think I'll just permanently bypass the IAC valve.

New tires from TireRack will be delivered tomorrow to my favorite local installer, so I just loaded the wheels in my Eurovan. The VDO gauges/senders, as well as a fuel sender ohm-converter, should be delivered later this week from Jeg's. The cast-aluminum shortened oil pan from SmallCar should also be here this week, so I'll begin installing all of this stuff (and a 3-quart Accusump system) next weekend.

[JRust]

Nice bud! Looks like you are close to driving that bad boy daily (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drooley.gif)

[charliew]

looking good. this page is one year old today boy time flies. somehow I missed or forgot the subaru gears sight glass mod. will that also allow for the extra oil level for the additional oil to lube the rear bearing?

[strawman]

The parts are arriving day by day. My Braille B159 battery is gonzo, so I ordered another on Tuesday. It is not so completely gone that I cannot jump the car, but it is a (first-world) PITA to jockey cars back and forth... the replacement should be here next week.

I had the Dunlop Direzza Star Spec II tires mounted on my E52 BBS Motorsports wheels (16x9 in back and 16x7 in front). I've run a couple sets of these same tires on my DD, and they're a good compromise between grip, noise and tread life.

I spent today on a couple of important projects. First up was installing the Small Car cast aluminum oil sump. It is a very nice piece, comes with all hardware, and I'm really pleased with the clearance -- although it ain't cheap ($360 delivered). The only required mod is having to space the oil dipstick tube upper mount upward about 1/4". Here are some pics of before and after.

Here is the stock Suby oil pan; it hangs about 1.5" below the lowest part of the exhaust header.



This is the stock oil pickup.



This pics shows the two pans side by side, along with the two oil pickups.



You can see that the oil pan now hangs no lower than the exhaust header crossover. My engine mount now hangs about 3/4" lower than the new oil sump.



I also installed the Subarugears sight glass. It allows you to raise the gear oil level to appropriately cool all bearings and gears, without overfilling the box. It is a no-brainer, but filling the trans is a messy endeavor even with a lift. I just got out of the shower to clean that nasty-smelling stuff out of my hair.

Here is a pic of the freezeplug pulled out, the hole cleaned, and the sight glass prior to getting Red Locktite smeared on the contact edges.



Next up is the backside of the sight glass.



And here is a pic of the sight glass installed. When filled correctly (not yet in this photo), the gear oil level will be on the upper half of the sight glass.



Finally, I installed the PTP turbo blanket. No instructions are provided, but it is pretty intuitive. I also bought wrap for the downpipe, but I ran out of gas (pun intended, based on an earlier post...)

[strawman]

I also spent some time today figuring out the routing of the oil line and necessary fittings for a 3 quart Accusump system. I'm going to mount it low on the engine-side of the firewall. I've ordered the parts through Jeg's, including an Electronic Pressure Control valve. I will tap into a galley plug hole on the front of the engine. As I'm typing this I'm realizing that I should also protect the oil line in case the alternator belt fails...

[strawman]

I spent today installing my 3-quart Accusump system. I opted for an electronic pressure control valve instead of the simpler but cheaper manual valve. I'm also using 10AN fittings and a lightweight braided hose from JEGS. Here is a pic of the unit ready to be installed.



I originally wanted to put it down low on the passenger side to help with corner-balancing, but that would mean having to redo fuel, cooling, hydraulic clutch and brake lines. Just about anywhere else would require spacing it because the firewall has so many odd angles. I ended up bolting one side directly to the firewall right behind the driver seat, and spun up some Delrin spacers for the other side. The instructions recommend tilting it up slightly up at the valve end, which further complicated the mounts. But it came out nicely, with the valve essentially lined up with the oil galley plug and about a six-inch oil line; the 90-degree fitting is a swivel unit, so it should help handle engine movement. Below are a couple of pictures.







As you can see above, the Accusump oil line is only a few inches above the alternator belt, and an exploding belt could take out the oil line. So I welded up a guard using some 1/8" thick strap steel I had laying around. I'll remove it later and powdercoat it next time I've got the oven out.

[76-914]

Did you purchase the Bremer plate for aesthetics? I know you could have made one in 30 minutes with your eyes closed. Great build! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[strawman]

Did you purchase the Bremer plate for aesthetics? I know you could have made one in 30 minutes with your eyes closed. Great build! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Ha! I bought the Bremar plate in 2008 (!!!) at the same time I bought the coupler. But you're right, I had no idea that it was so simple to build my own until I opened the box. Lesson learned and wallet lighter (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

By the way, I spent three hours building a hole saw jig, and 20 minutes using it to cut holes for my VDO Vision gauges (oil pressure, oil temp and EGT). Because I welded up my ashtray hole, I knew trying to use a holesaw out of the box would likely cause the tool to wander once I hit the welded up bits. I cut a 1" long piece of 1" steel rod and welded it to a round piece of 1/8" steel plate that fits inside the holesaw, and then chucked it up in my lathe to square up the face and to bore the 1/4" pilot hole. I lined this up on the dash face, and riveted it on. This ensured the holesaw didn't wander or catch too badly once it got into the welds on the backside of the dash. A picture'll do a better job than me trying to describe it... this shows the first hole completed and the jig mounted and ready for the second one.



I also drilled and tapped the #3/#4 exhaust manifold and installed the EGT probe, as can be seen below. Fortunately, Subaru cast-in a nice thick "button" that provides a lot of "meat" for the threads:



I'll spend this week connecting the gauge wiring, redoing my cable shifting setup, and calibrating the fuel gauge converter. In any case, I'm really glad I ran extra wires both to the dash and to the frunk when I assembled my wiring loom way back in 2012!

[76-914]

Does the red locktite seal the sight glass or is there an O-ring I didn't see? Also, what diameter shift cables did you decide to use? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[charliew]

One of the best things about the accusump switch is the pressurize before start up. It's neat to watch the oil pressure come up before you hit the start position on the key. I didn't see where you posted the volume of the small car pan. Is it 5 qts? Do they say it will work with hedders? At first when I changed the oil I did the pan and the accusump but after finding the accusump oil still clean I quit draining it.

[strawman]

Does the red locktite seal the sight glass or is there an O-ring I didn't see? Also, what diameter shift cables did you decide to use? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

No o-ring; just the red loctite. It is a very tight fit and, because the transaxle is not under pressure, I'm hoping it won't leak. I went with 1/4" shift cables. I hope I won't be disappointed in either case!

One of the best things about the accusump switch is the pressurize before start up. It's neat to watch the oil pressure come up before you hit the start position on the key. I didn't see where you posted the volume of the small car pan. Is it 5 qts? Do they say it will work with hedders? At first when I changed the oil I did the pan and the accusump but after finding the accusump oil still clean I quit draining it.

The Small Car oil pan is 5 qts. I don't know if it will interfere with headers, although their website says it is a very tight fit with their custom engine mounting system (I'm not using their mount, so I can't provide info on that, either).

[76-914]

OK, a few more questions then I'll leave you be. Can you post a side view of the site glass? Do they recommend LockTite because I'm thinking 3 Bond sealant if I do this. Just hate those shipping charges from Down Under!

[Mueller]

Great progress now that you are back working on it. Love the lift and placement for it.

Is there a particular reason for adding the accusump? Is there a known issue with those motors that warrant the extra insurance?