How did this get so long???

Warning: long boring background/intro story coming, you may want to skip to the next post!

Hi guys! I'm new to the world, at least this "world". I stopped by for a few months in the early 2000's and then other interests intervened. I'm not new to Porsches, when I was 15 my dad helped me buy a 1973 914 that was 3 years old. Sounds sweet right? Except this 914 was actually 2 wrecked 914's that had been grafted together. Not too bad right? Except the good "ass end" besides having it's front end crushed caught fire after the wreck. And the good front end had it's ass crushed in a wreck and then the good front end was stripped as a parts car. So in the end I had a bastard of a 914 that was a real project. But I had a "Porsche"!

So to get to the point of this post, I'm building a modern Subaru powered 914 daily driver.

So my first step was to grab one of my "in stock" project cars right? Nope, what's the fun in that?

So I go out and find a new(to me) 914, a 914 that 20 years ago I would have stripped and sold it's parts and stuffed it's cut up carcass in the dumpster. You see I have a huge problem deviating from what came from the factory and it would be very hard for me to cut into a unmolested chassis.

So I go out and buy the first 914 I came across. I did not even look at the hell hole. I really did not want to know. The extent of my "rust inspection" was as I walked up to it from the rear I noticed the right side did not sag and the right wheel was straight. 20 years ago it would have been an hours long process of combing over the car. Not because I needed that much time to decide if it was a good car or not. But I found the more time I spent the more I wore down the seller and at some point they just wanted to get rid of me and the car at any price. But in this case I was happy to pay what the seller wanted. It was so cheap that at most I could have saved a hundred or three and in the end that won't matter.

This particular 914 was headed for the crusher if I did not take it and that helped me rationalize my plans to molest it in ways I could never do to another car. It was mostly complete and totally stock expect for some ugly after market wheels and rear strut brace. I knew in the back of my mind why it had a rear strut brace but I quickly put that out of my mind. I was fixing what ever rust I found period and then I could defile this chassis in anyway I pleased with no remorse. There were also a lot of parts from another car, none of what I needed (or will ever need) but who can resist right? I think everyone should have 5 or 6 of every 914 part made right?

After I got it home (700 miles round trip) I started the inspection process. There were some good things, some bad things and some ugly things. Real ugly things. I found over the years that a quick way to tell if a car has had major repair work to to look at the bolts that hold the front and rear lids on. There are two washers and the lock washer is black on stock unmolested cars. I'm not sure if it's all years but I think this may hold true for 73 and later cars. Anyway this car had all it's washers and they were the right color. Yee haw! Never mind the crushed left quarter, at least no one had ever "fixed" any major damage right?

The hell hole is bad. Real bad. Real ugly. I may not even show you pictures.(YOU can't handle the truth!) But I think the suspension pickups are solid but I'll know more after I cut into things. I'm not going the RD route but will be patching in metal piece by piece. This will never be a stock car ever again and there is no need to spend the cash on that type of restoration. I might buy RD pieces where it makes sense.

Overall I'm happy with it as a base and there were no show stoppers. I think the rust repair will go quickly. If your thinking this will be a years long project thread it won't be. It's going to be very quick and focused.

The mission statement:

Mission: Reliable daily driver with good heat/air, modern engine, modern FI, turbo, street restoration.

Body: save a rust bucket, molest it as needed

Flares: slapper "sleeper" rear flares

Rust repair: strip chassis of all parts, sand/soda blast. custom panels for rust repair, paint

Engine: EJ20 Subaru WRX target 250HP / maintain decent fuel economy

ECU: megasquirt (in stock)

Oil Pan: shorten

Intercooler: A 25” x 12” x 3”

Exhaust: custom

Exhaust / Turbo placement: avoid trunk cutting

Cooling line: undercar / custom cover

Trans: 5 speed Subaru

Clutch: Hydraulic

Gauges: New Vintage

Dash: 911 (in stock)

Engine Mount: custom

Intake: reverse / custom plumbing

Cooling: front rad custom ducting

Steering: tilt from subaru / aftermarket steering wheel

Front Susp: 911 / A calipers (in stock)

Rear: 911 hubs (in stock)

Axles: 911 outer / subaru inner (machine sub side of axle)

Pedals: custom mod for hyd clutch or Tilton

Wheels: 951 (in stock)

Shifter: MR2 cable shifter (in stock)

Washer / Washer pump: stock bottle / aftermarket pump

Seating: stock or maybe Miata

Seat Belts: 951? (in stock)

Heater/Defrost: core in stock housing?

A/C: stock 914 undertray / subaru compressor + other (in front of rad) (in stock)

What am I missing?

The fun stuff first, the JDM ej20 engine to put the GO in the PorschaGO 914:
Click to view attachment

(or...welcome back!) Awesome story, can't wait to see the build!

Where in Texas are you located?

Yep, too wordy for me. I'm sure it was well written but I zoned out after the first paragraph...

Good luck with your project.

Yea! Whats up with that??? It did not look long at all until I posted it. More pics less typing from now on.

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Pics as promised.


The pan after stripping the tar, looks much better than it is. Right crossmember is toast as well as the seat mounts. Entire lower area of firewall is gone on the pax side but will be easy to patch in.

Click to view attachment

The trunk, also looks much better than it is, will require some patches at the rear wall. You can see the really ugly hell hole just peeking in. This would have been a parts car to me a few years ago and it probably should be today but I can cut and customize as much want and not feel bad about ruining a good tub.

Click to view attachment

Overall it's in poor condition but it's a great base for what I wanted.

Click to view attachment


More to come.

Subscribed. I hope to learn a lot from watching your work.

I read the whole thing! Looks like you've got your work cut out for you. I'll be watching and learning so I can take care of my hell hole. Good luck!!

Ill be watching this! Cool story.