Many of you know my car. It was Steve Malmz's car he found in a yard as a roller. It was a former SCCA club racer. Malmz named the car Sasquach. Malmz put a V8 in it and drove it until his priorities changed. It was sold to a guy in Kentucky (unknown name), he regeared the transaxle and drove it little. He sold it to a PCA member in Irvine, CA. That guy used it as a DE car until I purchased it. I installed an EFI system and drove the crap out of it. Recently my clutch went out and I decided it was time for a change. The V8 is going to another member. My engine choice is Top Secret, under wraps until I make my final choices. a Turbo Rotary. I'm taking a twin turbo and converting it to a single large turbo. This mod keeps it simple and increases horsepower. My new license plate will be "914 TT".
Click to view attachment
The car has 930 suspension and brakes. 930 steel flairs grafted on, a total of 8 flairs were used. Two per corner to make up the radius. There is a roll cage with removable door bars. The cage is tied to the rear suspension but not the front. The bodywork ant paint are 10+ years old and the car is several shades of white. The chassis is super solid. Only minor surface rust has been found. The Original owner/racer installer a stiffening kit and various braces. The suspension console is unusual. Steel plats replace the inboard pivots. 1/8" & 1/4" plate steel reenforcement plates are surrounding the console. A 1" bar ties in the console to the firewall.
Click to view attachment


Here are the first pics of me stripping paint from the engine bay and the unusual consoles.

More
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Subscribed! I remember that car back when Steve had it in my neck of the woods. Look forward to seeing how it evolves.

Here's a nostalgic pic from when Malmz owned it...
Click to view attachment

oooh... 914 TT for a plate. I'm hooked!

Audi 2.7TT? Subaru TT?

You gonna cut the engine shroud/tray's out? Now is a great time for it...

Oh ps..

Are they held in with spot welds that can be drilled out? My engine will be coming out this winter for a TT swap also, and those shelves have got to go.

I didn't even know the tray was cut until I pulled the 800lb engine out. The firewall side will get trimmed and the little bits near the hell hole. There will be a belly pan under the engine to keep most of the road dirt out. It's amazing how much dirt comes up when you don't run engine tin. The cage in the trunk will get reworked to the tranny mounts. The radiator up front will be downsized and an inline temperature controlled water pump will provide better constant flow. Not sure about the flairs. I need to strip all the bondo off and see what they look like.

The plan is to get it fabbed up, running and in primer for the WCC 2011. Then I'll strip it apart, work out the bugs and paint it. The original color is silver. My friend Nelson painted the 034 MS GTI silver metalic. I may go with that because it looks so awesome! The medium size flake in the paint is incredible. I would also like to come up with a smooth solution for the firewall.

Yup. Drilling spot welds for the side shelves and the rear seal strip. The front shelf must be trimmed manually since the shelf is actually part of the firewall stamping. Looks so nice with the shelves gone in conversion cars.

Cool!

Excellent! Can't wait to see what you do with it

Subscribed! Good luck Mike; let me know if you need any help. Maybe we could do a build/bbq party.

BTW, what's the story with the holes in the trailing arms? Are they rosette holes that were not welded in?

Geoff

Exactly. Not shure why the PO or PPO or PPPO did not weld them all in when they added the stiffening plates. The console has me puzzeled too. I think I will end up adding material above the engine shelf to tie it in better. Not shown in pics is the back side under the console. The entire system is seam welded under there. I looks plenty strong.

Subscribed as well.

I thought you were thinking rotary?

In Germany we would call it a Wankel. Wankel Turbolader.

Hmmm....a 13B-REW Rotary/Wankel motor would be cool in 914.....please tell me you are putting that in the car?!

Jim

OK, I'll come clean.

YES! A Wankel 13B Twin Turbo will be installed. A water to air intercooler will go in with it. After market ECU, bigger injectors and boost controller. I am shooting for 300-350 HP. Keeping it reliable and not pushing it too far. A 4" exhaust, 50mm wastegate and new BOV too. I going huge with the exhaust just because it will look crazy. And it will spool faster. Intake air filter is in design at this moment.

So you decided 15mpg is still OK huh?

Going from ALL torque to NO torque is going to be quite interesting to say the least!

Sounds like a cool build! Cant wait to see it!

You sticking with a 914 trani?

I should have around 200ft lbs. And the car will be at least 400lbs lighter. I'm going with my 901 right now. I still have 1st gear and a flipped H for 5th. At 7500 rpm that should put me over 200mph on the salt flats. I considered a Subie tranny but the Turbo dump is very close to the axles. Kenedy does make an adapter for that combo so it's not out of the question. I would need a custom exhaust manifold to move the dump. Anybody have a Subi to trade? I can't decide if I want the WG to be muffled or just dump it out.

When I was into MR2s (albeit the early models, not the turbo models), most guys were hot-n-heavy on single vs. twin turbos. I came to understand that the twin sequential turbos were overly complicated, but my memory ain't what it used to be...

Agreed, but for my target HP # the twins should work fine. If I decide to exceed this level, I will look at a single or making the twins Non-sequencial.

200ft lbs at what RPM?

How much tq will you have at 2k rpm's?

Curious how it will feel like in 2nd gear at ~ 15mph if you got on it..

However that boost rush will be AWESOME...

These little 1.3L turbos have more torque than you think. 200 ft lbs at 4000k. It is still more that a type 4 and same gearing. Who drives 15 mph in second gear? If I romp on it at 15 mph, I'll be in 1st! and rev it to 6k then shift. By that time I'll be doing 60mph as I shift to 2nd.

I had a NA rotary in my VW Bus. It was stupid fast with all that wieght and no turbo. I'll let you drive it Andrew, then you can decide.

Wait, your using the 901 as a 4 speed or 5 speed?

1st gear in a 901 wont net you 60mph.. At least to my knowledge. 2nd gear could do it.


By no means am I saying its not going to be fast, My fear is how usable/predictable it will be with that lag on mountain roads.
However max torque @ 4k rpms with a 7.5k redline is still pretty darn good. Thats just about what my Audi is.. except my Audi has a its torque a bit lower and about 300rpm smaller redline.. And I will say that it is 100% usable from 3k on up.

Here's some stock specks from turborx7.com

" The system operates off one turbo during lower RPM's (after 2,000 RPM) and the secondary turbo spools up after the engine reaches the 5,000 RPM level. "...
" The tiny 1.3 liter (two 654cc displacing rotors) power plant put out an incredible 255-hp, and 217 lbs/ft of torque, with the help of twin Hitachi HT12 turbos. "

This the US spec with all the smog equipment. When you remove the Ac, air pump, radiator fan, open the exhaust, improved intercooler, improved air cleaner... etc... I should hit my HP goal with little work. I will try not to port the engine as this will decrease to torque and raise the peak HP higher in the RPM range.

With these stock numbers, the car will be faster than my V8. Don't forget, I removed an 800 lb engine and I'm replacing it with a 350 lb engine with more HP. The key is power to weight ratio. It should also be very nimble in corners. As far as mountain twisties? Keep the RPMs up, keep the turbo spooled.
Click to view attachment

Mike,
Do you already have a motor? There was a guy in San Rafeal on CL last month with 2 of them for sale. $350 for both. One complete and one short block. Also one in Hollister for $100 w/engine stand. I may still have email addy's if interested.

It's on its way. I bought this one because it is complete with all the electronics.
Click to view attachment

Thats the way to go.. Hack up the ECU yourself so you have only yourself to blame..


How many miles are on that engine? Im curious how long the "little" turbo lasts.. It would be pushed past its efficiency range with the big turbo...

What V8 that will fit in a 914 weigh's 800 pounds ?

Jerry

A cast iron small block Chevy. That is the going wet weight. Google it.

Right on Mike!

I would recommend muffling the waste gate!!! Have you heard an open waste-gate? ouch ouch loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS2AnGXfkw0

Thanks Matt. Where you been? Did the car sell on CL?

No that was a moment of weakness. I have been lurking.

Let me know if you need a hand with your project.

How about a Lexus ISF motor? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2009-lexus-...=item35aba3673d



J/k

Not much to update. I've been collecting parts. Here's a pic of the cleaned and painted engine. I put my Iphone in the pic to give an idea of just how small these engines are. Picture a type 4 without heads and cylinders. This little turbo engine will make 350hp at 15 psi with 250 ft lbs @ 4k

Click to view attachment

GT35R Ball bearing Turbo- oil and water cooled
HKS cast iron exhaust manifold
Haltech ECU
HKS Blow off Valve
HKS wastgate
HKS Boost controller
2000cc injectors (x4)
Areomotive fuel regulator
Custom Rails
4" exhaust
Aero Turbine Muffler
Frozen Boost air to water intercooler

Damn this conversion is getting expensive!

So are you switching to single turbo with the ball bearing unit?

Yes, Single. with new manifold. The stock twin turbos are nice in stock configuration but the single is far less complicated and will yeild more power. The turbo I'm using can get me up to 450-500hp @ 25+psi but I want the engine to remain reliable hence the 17psi max plan.

It will look similar to this one...
Click to view attachment

I still think your going to be pushing way more HP than that on a GT35R.... I guess at 15psi maybe... but that turbo is made to be pushed to like 35psi...

My boost controller allows a scramble mode and a dual boost setting. I may push it a little. The 2000cc injectors are big enough to support over 700hp. They were recommended by Turblown. The ball bearing should help it spool and the water cooling will help keep it from burnig up. It will definitely be capable of higher hp numbers than I plan to run normally.

Holy Shit, 2000CC? how many do you use? for the A4, 4ea 1k CC injectors an push 700hp..

HKS boost controller? Which one? We have an Apexi AVC-r boost controller on the 951 and the A4. Old technology but it works like a dream..

2000cc were recommended by TurBlown. The company that recently made a 650hp street driven WRX STI that runs a Benz Kompressor and a BIG turbo sequencialy. The Rotary runs 4 of them at 50% duty cycle. I thought they sound big as well. But I derfer to the expert on this one. They also recommended the Turbo choice. I should also mention that these engines typically run only 35psi of fuel and not 45psi. The stock engine runs 2 x 1600cc and 2 x 850cc injectors. I could make my HP number with the stock injectors but they would be at the limit of their duty cycle. Remember injectors are rated at 100% duty cycle @ 45psi.

My boost controller is the HKS EVC 5

very nice, keep us up to date. and take a butt load of pictures

Hmm I guess that explains the injectors a little bit... As a comparison, I am running 440CC injectors on my car, stock is 200 or less IIRC. If I raised my boost to 25psi and ran ~ 375hp I would be maxing out my injectors. Its just crazy to me how much over and beyond these rotary engines are compared to your typical piston engine.. But like i've told you, I really dont know much about the rotary engines.

To be perfectly honest, it sounds to me like you have a combination that could easily be pushed to 600+hp @ ~ 25-30psi.. NOT that thats a bad thing!! Just say goodbye to your Trani if you ran to those numbers


That should be a fun boost controller!

If I pull it apart and port it, swap the seals, then pump up the boost... I could get 700hp out of it. I have no intention of looking for that number. I want to keep it driveable with the occasional stupid attack The key here is to be able to drive it like a DD. I used to drive my V8 to work!

When a turbo is used on these engines, it is not worth pulling apart a good engine just to port it. The HP gain is not worth the trouble. Without a turbo, it is worth the gain.

Oh, I forgot...

Here are some pics for Oldschool...
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Is that an HTA compressor side? If so, SWEET!! Glad you went that route! I hear NOTHING but great things with that new technology...

Not a big fan of bling though

This pic is for Andrew. It shows the chosen turbo (GT35R) and the performance window the enigine is tuned towards.
Click to view attachment

Not bad, A little low for the turbo size, but still not that bad.. You probably could have bennifited from a smaller turbo with more boost...

Still not a bad matchup.

Is it an HTA compressor side? It sure looks like it..

Quick update... Home refi has slowed down my purchase power but here's some update pics...

Working on my cradle. 1.25 square tubing 0.120 wall. Waiting for my adapter plate and flywheel before final fab.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

My new license plates... 914 TT Originally the engine was a twin turbo. I decided to go single turbo. Now I need help deciding what TT means... Any ideas? BTW, 914 T was already taken
Click to view attachment

Lookin' good Mike! At the rate I've been going lately, you'll have your car on the road before mine... keep up the good work!