Great weekend of progress on Grey. Finished shaping the radiator shroud and got the placement set.

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Also finished the front radiator tubes. Added the fittings for a heater core, finalized the length and finished the beads.

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It has been hot as balls here lately so I have been working on the harness in the basement when I need a cooling cycle.

Many thanks to Kent for the design. Not quite as nice as his but definitely more than adequate.

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Still need to grind the welds.

More pieces in for the final time. After much deliberation I decided to run the brake fluid reservoir hoses through the original holes in the steering rack hump and through the fuel pump opening. Only took two tries to get the block off plate the way I wanted it.

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Scott What hose are you using for the brake lines? looks to be a push lock product of some sorts.

Sorry for the delaaayyd reply...I was in Maine with my wife celebrating our 10 anniversary most of last week.

The hose is some "Porsche" remote reservoir hose, I believe from Pelican.

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Works great with AN4 pushlock fittings and much better looking than the red Wilwood stuff that comes with the MC's.

In town for 26 hours and then off to Mexico for a day of meetings, no progress updates from this weekend.

The new owner can now only race this car.

V V V

I had a quick trip to Mexico for work after returning from Maine and brought back a 9 day case of Mantazuma's revenge. What a shitty situation and not very conducive to progress in the garage.

I did have a nice productive long weekend around in the garage. Not a lot of photogenic progress but I did get one fun thing finished. I decided to modify the clutch pivot to better work with the hydraulic MC. The old hole was slightly oblong and was pretty close to the size of the new pin so making a bushing was going to be challanging. I also wanted to gain a few more threads of engagement on the input rod. To accomplish this I welded some more material around the hole and then used a rotabroach cutter to open it up to 1/2".

Stock
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Extra material
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Bigger hole
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Bushing material arrives tomorrow. More fun with the lathe.

No progress last weekend because my wife and I had our annual trip to NY Finger Lakes wine region to restock the racks. 4.5 cases this trip should get us by until the snow starts flying. If you have not visited the area, definitely check it out. The reds do not hold up to California/European wines but some of the Dry whites are exceptional. Watkins Glen is also in the area. There was an SVRA event going on while we were there.

Good progress this weekend. Stephen stopped by and it was great to catch up.

Finished the front end of the center tunnel. I missed putting in the radiator bleed return line hole while I had the center tunnel out. Tool a while to figure out how to get a drill in to make the hole. Could not get to it from the pedal area but a step bit in the pneumatic 90 deg drill did the trick. Cleaned up all of the exposed metal, a bit of paint and the proper sized grommets and we are ready to install the hoses. Still need a fuel line grommet. Could not find one in any of the bins.

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On to the auxiliary fuse/relay box. This is a very convenient place to put it but I underestimated how not flat this area was. After much reshaping is almost fits. I lost my dolly holder so there is still some shaping to go.

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On with the clutch pivot. Turning wheels on the lathe is like a time warp. It is amazing how time flies while making chips. Unfortunately I am not the greatest machinist so I make a lot of chips. Eventually got one bushing pretty much the way it needed to be...although it will be remade.

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Very nice!

Hydraulic clutch master cylinder achieved.

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It is so smooth I had to take a video. Posted it on instagram

@seec_motorsport

Set up the brake pedal also just to make sure that nothing was messedd up from the clutch bracket.

My new tool finally arrive!

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Only took about 2 hours to assemble. Have not powered it up and made it to anything useful yet because that will likely be a rabbit hole of tinkering. Will wait unit I have something useful to make.

For the less tool educated - me - what is it?

CNC plasma cutter table.

I know you already know this but...

You are going to LOVE your plasma table!

Oh, that’s going to be fun.

You are partially responsible for this purchase...I have been in awe of your build and am feeling the pressure to up my game

Well, credit where credit is due: I totally swipped your reservoir mount location and cover plate design, so thanks for leading the way there...!

If I can help you with anything plasma table, send any of the .dxf files I have, etc., please just let me know!

Chris

No turning back now. After much checking, rechecking, measuring, drilling I finally bit the bullet and painted the front trunk. I couldn't stand the huge stain from a brake fluid leak prior to me getting the car so I got rid of it and painted the entire floor too. Amazing how much etching occurred from the brake fluid. Had to use Metal Ready to make sure all of the corrosion was out of the pits.
Nutserts-4-life

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Starting to look like something! I also added a few tabs in the intake to keep the front of the ducting from moving.

There were a few holes that I decided to shift a bit...no problem just weld them shut.

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More parts installed for good is a good feeling.

Tom...the front fuel line grommet arrived.
It is frick'n NOS.

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I am going to feel bad slicing this up to work with the AN fuel lines.

Where did you find it? I may order one to have it hand if I ever pull the lines from my car.

I know!

I got it from aturboman (Robert) in response to my WTB ad. He was able to get it out immediately and at a very decent price. Thanks, Robert!

I did consider the NOS fact for about 30 seconds, then figured it's not something a concourse judge will ever see, so no real value from that perspective.

Spare tire mount & repaint looks fantastic.

Pulled the engine so that I could finish running everything down the center tunnel.

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Just a few grommets.

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Still need to place the clutch and brake lines. I thought that I knew where I wanted them but decided to move things around a bit.

More plumbing installed.

I had to modify the fuel lines. I set the dimensions for CRF to match what I had on my car which does not use the factory brake proportioning valve. My lines rung right through that area so I had to shorten them and weld on new fittings. Fortunately I had some left over from my lines. A little time on the lathe and welding table and they are correct.

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Crappy thing about using the proper sized grommets is that the tube is tight to pull through. So nice though...

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I also cleaned up the rear of the floor pan where the edge was goop welded. It was a bit too close to my work and could have been thought to have been something that I did...now it is and is done properly.

I'm absolutely loving the progress. You're crushing it, Scott. So many little things that were bothering me, are bothering you too...except you have the ability to actually fix them.

Can't wait to see this thing on the road.

Been a while since an update...havn't fallen off the earth, just not very active online.

I did take a couple of weeks of garage time to make the wife happy and insulate the shop and put up wall covering. I posted a picture on the Porsti build thread.

As for progress on Grey, knocking stuff off the list toward road worthyness.

A few photogenic updates:

Finally got the auxilary fuse/relay box to fit properly. Required quite a bit of reshaping, probably would have been quicker to cut the area out and weld in a flat section pre-cutout for the box. Still needs to be painted.


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Also got the IC pump mounted and the overflow and IC reservoir modified/mounted.

The pump sort of interfered with the bottom battery tray mount that was unnecessary and quite ugly...so I removed it. This opened a huge can of worms due to the less than stellar hell hole repair. For a couple of hours I was seriously contemplating redoing the entire hell hole repair. More than a little cutting/welding/grinding later and the area is presentable.

I decided to attach the expansion tank to the IC reservoir which made it impossible to use the inlet I cut it out and plugged the opening (pic pre welding). I also added spacers to the back of the reservoir because during one of Tom's visits he pointed out that it is a bit tight to get to the cap. Still not super convenient but better.

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Made some plates to attach the two reservoirs. The expansion tank was chromed so I sandblasted it to remove the bulk of it. Turned up the cleaning a bit on the TIG and it welded pretty well.

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I still need to add the inlet bung and will probably put a braket at the bottom of the expansion tank.

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Happy New Year
Scott

Happy New Year, Scott!

Garage looks great.. Grey is coming together nicely... looks as if 2019 is going to be an excellent year.

Tom

Another big task check off the thist and one that I was avoiding.

Filled all of the unnecessary holes in the trunk (and one that I buggered up installing the batter box).

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So much better, and got the the bulkhead connectors installed.
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I knew it was going to be close fitting three but it was really close.

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I bit more smoothing and then paint.

I'm assuming that you're still putting the computer back there. Those connectors will be brilliant for that.

Sorry about the big hole. I later had the idea to put the ATW intercooler back there for some dumb reason. That one is on me!

ECU will go pretty much where you had it.

As for the big hole...decisions like that are forced when trying to do complex plumbing using only silicon elbows and chunks of tube. It is like it never happened now!

Bit of a mixed bag of success this weekend. Was planning to do final assembly of the cooling lines but the step clamps that I ordered arrived as 31.6mm instead of 36.1mm.

Jumped to install the clutch reservoir line. Went in pretty well but tube was a bit loose on the MC fitting so I installed a step clamp for good measure. While I was at it I decided the brake reservoir hose needed them also. Got the clamps slid over from the reservoir side but could not get the tool in to make the crimp. Out comes the MC...

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No chance of them leaking or blowing off during pressure bleeding now!
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While fussing with the rear springs a while ago I managed to lose one of the big washers. Finally found a replacement and pulled the rear apart to install it.

It's funny, I'm looking at that second picture, and remembering the weekend that my son and I spent cleaning re-building that steering rack. That was the first time I used my soda blaster.

Update from the last two weeks. Two weekends ago I was in Vail so no progress but had a great time. This past weekend was quite productive.

I finished up the trunk. Good amount of grinding and hammering to get it reasonably flat. I am not a huge fan of cut trunks but this doesn't look so bad.

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Didn't take a picture but I got sick of dropping nuts and washers when installing/removing the battery box so I put in nutserts.

Back to the front. Pulled all of the ducting and installed the nutserts. Reinstalled the hard lines for the coolant with the Oetiker stepless ear clamps in place. I ordered the smaller of the two sizes that would work just to make sure that I got a good clamping force but it made it a huge pain to install. Still not crimped close just in case I need to make some adjustments.

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I'll refinish the top piece so that the texture is uniform. Hard to see in the picture but the fasters are stainless steel flanged button head socket cap screws, super clean.

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Tom, here are some pictures of the 944 phone dials to confirm fitment of your Fuchs. Looks like there is pleanty of room. ID of these wheels is ~14.5"

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If anyone is looking for a set of phone dials...I am looking to get these out of the garage.

The throttle cable also arrived. Quite a bit shorter than ideal but Looks like I can make it work. I did get a bit panicked when I installed it in the pedal linkage. I had forgotten how close that linkage is to the ex-clutch cable pivot. I was convinced that pressing the clutch pedal would pull the throttle cable. Clearance should be the same as stock...at least that is what I keep telling myself.

Oooohhhhmmmm ...... everything will work out..... ooohhhhhhhmmmmmmm... throttle cable will be fine.... ooohhhmmmmmm.

The happiest day of my life will be the day I Text Tom to ask how much it'll cost me to buy Grey back.

Keep rocking guys! Looking great.

Hmm, that reminds me.. gotta get a new cell phone number.

LOW BLOW!!!

Not really project related other than killing 10 days of progress...I had another business trip to Japan. While there I took the time to finally visit Diakoku Futo PA. Think of Cars and Coffee at a truck stop on a small island in Tokyo Bay. If you don't know what it is, check out some videos. Weather was not great on the Saturday night I visited but a good crown considering. One of my colleagues had just returned to Japan after an assignment in the US and brought back is Grand Sport so he picked me up and we tore around Tokyo after checking out the car scene.


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On with the build progress...

Next step to beinging done is to take it all back apart
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Finished welding unnecessary holes in the manifold and smoothing a few more casting lines.
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Also added the IAT sensor bung to the bottom of the IC. And cut off and welded shut an unused mounting lug.
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Now I know why powder coating costs so much. Sand blasting and masking take forever.
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I wanted to match the factory Subaru crinkle paint and found a product that is high temp and somehow crinkles as it dries. Instructions called for 3 "heavy" coats. What a terrible product to spray. It comes out in huge drops and is either not covering completely or on the verge of running. The drops are so big that half do not make it to the target and make a huge mess on the floor.
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Even after being gone for two days it was still curing (in the basement) when I returned so I had to accelerate it. Instructions called for 200 deg oven but the wife would not have been down with that, so...
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Final assembly!!! Can't just throw it together though, everything needs to be cleaned.
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I was a little worried that something might have found its way into the intake ports so I checked all of them...perfectly clean. Will pull the plugs and use a bore scope to check out the combustion chamber prior to firing.
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Finally coming together for the final time. All of the raw aluminum is getting a rub down with green and then white scotch bright pads to even out the finish a bit. Fussy but makes a huge difference. Oh, also drilled and tapped the fuel rail for the pressure gauge.
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Looks absolutely amazing. Can't wait to see her on the road!

“Now I know why powder coating costs so much. Sand blasting and masking take forever”

It’s always the prep that takes 95% of the time.
Removing old powder coat takes forever.

Neat work.

Easy way to remove Powdercoat is higher heat, it becomes ash once you get it hot enough, and let it cool back down in a controlled fashion. Bring it up slow, bring it back down slowly. Like diving you don't want to get the bends.

Did not look like that the last time I was there.

That is true. We just have a powdercoat oven so max heat is 420. The real powdercoat shops have ovens to burn off the oil and old coatings but if I did it in my kitchen oven, my wife would kill me if the fumes didn't.

Well, I learned a fun fact today...Subaru does not sell the throttle body shaft seals. I couldn't find them online so I took the part to a local Subaru dealership with a decent parts guy and he confirmed that they are not available.

Fortunately I have another.
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Will not be nice and freshly sandblasted but will do the trick. Just need to weld on another v-band flange which should arrive Friday.

::: debating if I should comment about the crocs or not :::

They are very comfortable...but never leave the house.

Welded the v-band flange to the other throttle body. Was a bit of a pain trying not to overheat the seals but seems to have been successful. Also pained and installed a most of the remaining brackets and started on the engine harness.
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Did run into a small snag. I created a bit of rework for myself by not having the gaskets installed while making parts. Fortunately the plumbing still fits quite nicely but the front IC support needs attention.
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This was a week of mostly fun with wires.

Raw materials...plus a bunch of crimpers and new connectors. Using Doug's start as a base, every connector is new. I would have started completely from scratch but Doug color coded the injectors and coils the same for each cylinder. That is the kind of detail I appreciate.
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Connectors for the IAC,Knock sensor and Crank position sensors will arrive Tuesday. Crank and cam sensors were already wired with fresh wires and connectors but after much soul searching I was uncomfortable that they were unshielded so I picked up 50ft of 2 conductor shielded Tefzel.
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Key to good wiring is good documentation.
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Also fixed and painted the front IC mount.
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And replaced the other water pump return line with AN. I did this on porsti with Grey's heater return/bypass as inspiration and just happened to have a 1/4NPT/6AN fitting in the garage...

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Some may say I have trust issues but push lock fittings make me nervous.

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This thing was bothering me so as I was cleaning up for the night I decided to shorten it. Results can be found in the first two engine pics...paint still drying.

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Heads Up: I didn't do a THING to that transmission. I was told that it was in good working order, and had a cryoed main in it from a rebuild 5,000mi ago, but other than draining the oil out of it. I did nothing.

...not that it matters. I'm sure you've been over every bolt I put in the car "just to make sure".

6 years, 58 pages!! how close are we to having it back on the road?
I was going to give you a hard time about that but then I realized that ive had my car 10 years aog had it on the road on and off, but was not until last year that it was really finished. this is really cool and I may be a bit jealous, my thought was that there has to be an easier and faster way to put a suby motor in a 914? kudos to your perseverance it will surely be worth it! I hope next time I am up that way to Cincy to see my nephew that this thing is running and on the road I would love to see it- or better yet bring it to Okteenerfest!

It's a good read for anyone contemplating a conversion. The engines don't just plug in all by themselves. There's a lot of work that goes into a successful swap and the devil is in the details. It's not the solution for someone who just doesn't want to spend the money rebuilding the original engine. Scott is taking this to another level in terms of fit and finish. My car will be a basic conversion with good functioning parts but nothing exotic or custom.

Does it have the 2wd spline coupler installed?

Completion date is set at Mid April and it will be heading to the east cost. You will have to convince Tom to bring it out to Okteenerfest. When you get to Cincy you are still welcome to stop by and check out PorSTI...and probably Marks car.



The turbo and stand alone ECU add a ton of complexity to the swap.