I started this project as a quick fix and flip, but now I think I am falling in love with it.









The car is a 1970 914 which had been updated and modified quite a bit before I bought it. It’s been repainted a few times (started dark green, then orange, then red, now Alaska Blue), converted to a side shift 901, swapped to a black 1975 interior, upgraded to a 5 lug ’83 911 front suspension and brakes with an under-car sway bar, Bilstein shocks with Ground Control coilovers in the rear, stainless steel fuel lines front to rear, Rota 17" Fuchs, RennMetal tow bar bracket and tow bar...
and most significantly, It has a low-mile JDM 2002 Subaru WRX engine installed!



Before I bought it, the engine swap involved an OutFront Stinger ECU and wiring harness, Kennedy adapter plate, Coldwater914 engine cradle, a homebrew aluminum Toyota radiator setup, a Walbro 255 fuel pump, and a custom dual exhaust with a stainless steel Magnaflow muffler. It also involved a huge hole being cut into the rear trunk area, a weirdo U shaped intercooler delete pipe being made, and about 400 various holes being drilled into the firewall. For some reason, it also involved hood pins.



I bought the car from a guy who decided to give up on the project. He had been paying different shops to put it together which cost a lot of money, and I think he decided that enough was enough. It came with a huuuuge stack of receipts. I think the nail in the coffin was that when he finally brought the car home, all excited that it was running and almost driving, it wouldn't start. It ran at the shop, but once gotto his driveway... Nothing. He threw it on Craigslist, and we showed up with a tow bar. We even beat him up a little bit on the price since I couldn't hear it run.

Funny thing, when my dad and I were looking over the car and pointing out various details that were similar to my dad’s Subaru swapped 914, the seller mentioned that he was using a specific car from 914World as a guide in building his car, belonging to DBCooper. The guide car is my dad’s car!

Yes, my dad is DBCooper. Yes, he’s just as weird in real life. Maybe weirder.
And yes, I have many emotional, mental, and physical scars from being raised by him.

I plan to take revenge, by building this car to outperform his in every way.

Father son saga.....this will be right up there with Luke and Vader!

Wut? Wut?

I knew I should have beaten you more when you were younger. Too late now. Damn.

Big talk, but it takes more than talk, you gotta do it, and that's not gonna happen.




I hope.

Most aircooled type 4 powered cars are faster than your dad.....

Wut? Wut?

OK, maybe faster than me, the ones not on jackstands, but not faster than my car.




I hope.

Hope in one hand, and put a huge turbo in the other.... or something.




I am in full agreement.


I found some pictures from the original Craigslist ad:













This car has had some really good work done since these pictures were taken. I will update the thread with more information tomorrow!

Nice edit junior

looks like a good starting place with lots of things out of the way. now just change the things you don't like about it. I wonder why they went to the trouble to remove the stock ic if they were going to make room anyway in the floor. Is the body a 10 footer or a 50 footer?

I thought DBCooper's son was selling his blue suby conversion?

How many son's do you have Cooper?

Cpt. trips car ( if he ever gets it running) will be faster too.

Thats what I was thinking. I 'm so confused

I think it's a 10 footer. There's a couple of dings and scrapes here and there, but it really is a great looking car, even up close.




That's me. I considered selling it recently, but I've changed my mind for now. I'll get to that chapter in just a bit.

Get to work on the damn car....it's not gonna get done with you surfing online all the time.

At this point, If I was your dad, I would come over and leave a nice long burnout in your driveway, right next to that not running car.

Damn. Looks like a whole lotta cars on jackstands are faster than mine. Kind of a surprise and I'm not quite sure what to think about that. Don't want to hurt anyone's hopes and dreams, but... they're on, like, jackstands.

So once I got the 914 home, the very first thing I did was steal the wheels for my Bug. My 58 Bug had a EJ22 Subaru engine in it with a WRX turbo, running on E85 Ethanol. The ethanol made it possible to run 16 pounds of boost with no intercooler. The welded differential made it possible to carry the rear end sideways through 3rd gear, and make a whole lot of smoke off the 255/35/17s! And the fake patina paint job made it possible to make guys in muscle cars cry. It said "Sorry Bout That!" on the back fender, a throwback to the Empi Inch Pincher.

It was a very fast, very fun, very scary, and very impressive car. Realistically, it made maybe 250hp and ran about a 12 second quarter mile. It went over 140mph a couple of times. The safety equipment included a lap belt. I sold it because I didn’t want to die in it. But I miss it so much. Here’s a couple of threads about that car if you’re interested:
http://www.dailyturismo.com/2013/09/10k-tu...-vw-beetle.html

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic...asc&start=0

Was just talking about you...

Faster than me too.

Go over and do a burnout, you know you want to.
Kid is making boasts and bragging....

Go show him.

He's in Florida this week so it wouldn't do any good. Besides, long ago I'd started to put a V8 into my car, but while I was back in Texas he and a friend had a better idea and put in that WRX motor. They asked permission so it was OK, but I swear, if you leave a car lying around they'll put a turbo on it. He's also used the car on a lot of those "private ranch drives", so he knows pretty well how it goes. So maybe one of these days, but right now his car's on jackstands, so it's plain it's just tall talk.

He DID say "If he ever gets it running" and "will be".

You're safe for now, but don't get too comfortable.
You can't avoid the inevitable...

Are you working on the Subie trans install?

Yes. It is almost complete! I just want to get a little bit more of the "up to this point" pictures uploaded before I get to the Subaru transmission. But if push came to shove, I am about 15 minutes of work away from outrunning DBCooper in a drag race. Maybe not an autocross though, because I don't have a clutch pedal yet. LOL

You can never beat your father, it's not possible....no matter what car you drive you just cannot bear your own father....fact

Well I've driven DBCoopers car, and all I can say is it is very fast. First car to put that big a grin on my face in quite a few years. Probably the reason I've been leaning towards a wrx for my black car instead of a ls1. Can't get that drive out of my head.

So I think there's only one solution for this...you're both going to have to bring your cars to my house...I'll drive both...several times...piss off my neighbors....and then I'll let you know which car is faster, make sure they both have a full tank of gas so I can conduct a proper test.

My schedules open you guys can decide on the date.

Glad to help,
Jeff

Fair offer, Jeff, and I'm up for it. Unfortunately Thomas can't, because his car is, like, on jackstands.

[Ha. He may eventually be faster, I don't know, but since he's called me out I'm going to make the process of him finding out as painful as I can.]

I might need to get in on this DBCooper race challenge...

I think I can beat both of you...

As it should be.

After all he made the last ten years challenging...
Payback is a bitch.

Did you put that chip in his ECU like I told you?
Make sure you have the right app on your phone when the time comes.....

Ah ha. ECU chip? ....Whose the bookie on this deal? I need to make some fast cash...

Two quick updates. First the good news, then the bad news.

Good news:
I swapped in a really nice tan interior that I got from my dad this weekend:







That center panel is only sitting there for the picture. I still need to shorten it so that it won't interfere with the cable shifter. You can see the Stinger ECU hiding out under that panel.

I also trimmed the hardboard on the backside of the backpad so that my late model retractable seat belts would still fit, even though it's an early tub with no seatbelt dimples. The seatbelts still retract like crap, and if anything it's just harder to wind them up by hand now, but that's OK. It's surprisingly quieter inside the car with that backpad installed, and it gives it a much more plush and comfortable feel. I'm extremely happy with it, both in terms of looks and feel!




Bad news:
I was excited to try out my fresh interior, so even though it was dark and a little wet, I jumped in the car and headed to the nearest curvy mountain road. About 5 miles in, I got spooked by a deer and swerved, overcorrected, and slid on the wet blacktop into a guardrail. The impact was only about 5mph, but the guardrail missed my bumper and smashed the front corner of the car:












I've already begun banging and hammering that panel back into shape, and it's looking a lot better now. I think it's too stretched to keep it, so I currently have a WTB ad in the classifieds looking for the front half of a front fender section. I will get it as straight as possible, so that it's ready to be cut off and a new section welded in place.

I'm pretty bummed out about the crash, but the worst part is that I think I hurt the engine. After the impact, it had a really hard time starting, and then it wouldn't idle. There's also an occasional sound that sounds an awful lot like a rod knock. I've read that the timing belt tensioner can make that kind of a sound, so I am going to check that first by replacing the belt and tensioner. But honestly, I am thinking it's most likely a rod bearing and will need a rebuild.

My best guess is that I might have pressed down the gas pedal when I stomped onto the brake and clutch. If that's the case, then the car was maybe bouncing off the rev limiter when it hit. Subaru engines are notorious for starving for oil at high RPMs, especially when the oil is sloshed, like in a long hard turn or during an impact. If the engine was at redline, the sump was fairly empty, and it could have sucked air.

That scenario seems unlikely to me, but I can't think of any other way that the engine would develop a knock after a fairly soft impact like that. I'm open to an other theories!

Deer huh? That looks an awful lot like inopportune Turbo kick in. If I ever meet you in person remind me to tell you about Chuck Yeager's story that he tried to sell to his Crew Chief after an incident.

(psst shut UP! my dad is reading this!)

Hahaha! I have no reason to lie. There was a deer, but I didn't even get close to it. I just saw it, overreacted, jerked the wheel, locked the brakes, and then I was along for the ride. It almost came to a stop before hitting the guardrail... almost. And it was so soft, I didn't think it was going to look this ugly. I'm still kicking myself for it.

I've done plenty of stupid things in cars, and I am pretty open about sharing my stupid mistakes. After you tell me about Chuck Yeager, remind me to tell you about the time I came to a panic stop just inches from the front bumper of a police car, while doing smokey 2nd gear donuts in a hot rod Bug! I wish I had a picture of the two officers' faces.

Seriously, a photo of the OFFICER'S faces? The photo I'd like to see is the one of YOUR face right about then.

You and deer, but I understand the reason for your phobia. Do you have a photo of the original Deerslayer?

Looks like someone needs a new bumper top. Ping me.

I couldn't help myself. So how do you like the Suby trans vs. the 901 trans? Any differences worth sharing here?

Is it in Modesto? I could look at it for you and let you know my thoughts...


BTW

My old Karmann Ghia, nicknamed the Deerslayer, was a beast. 2270 Type4 engine, flared fenders, fat wheels and tires, 4 wheel disks, Recaro seats... and a big inverted hood from smashing a baby deer. I was doing about 100mph (younger and foolisher than today) I saw the deer, got on the brakes, changed into the oncoming lane, and I thought I was clear. At the last minute, and when I was still going 50mph or so, the deer hopped gracefully into my lane, and all hell broke loose. At least it didn't come through the windshield!








PM sent. Thanks!




World of difference. Aside from the engine, that transmission is the best thing that has ever happened to the car. My dad's car shifts smoother, but I admittedly haven't spent a lot of time fine-tuning the bellcrank gizmo. I basically bolted it on and once I found all the gears, I started driving it to work every day.



It's in Santa Cruz, and I've hammered it out enough to fit all the lights back in there. but thank you for the offer! I might consult with you when I get to the point where I'm ready to graft in a new fender section. But that's not in the cards for a while, due to budget restrictions.

I saw your repaired fender in your other thread....nice repair and that blue stripe with the primer actually looks cool, like it was done on purpose and not a repair....

Thank you! I really appreciate that! I am just trying to make lemonade from guardrail damage. haha And the rookie stripe certainly seems appropriate. Here's those pictures, and a few more from this weekend:














I don't have any body hammers, a DA sander, or any heavy tools of any kind, so I painted right over the paint chips and everything. It's gross, but it's the most I could do for now and I didn't want to see the smashed blue fender anymore, as I roll my bicycle into the garage after work every evening.

Most of this was done with a pair of small sledge hammers, and I used a Yakima roof rack cross bar as a prying instrument. I also took the wheel off and used a 2x2 board to hammer the front apron forward.

Once I get it back over to my dad's place, I'll get more serious about it, weld that crack under the turn signal, sand and shape the surface better, make it look smooth, and then primer it again. But for now, at least it's not as embarasing.

Now that the fender is good enough to drive, here's a video of the bigger problem:

http://youtu.be/Axs1QF_Wxzs

After the impact, the engine was off. It started kind of strangely, as if the timing was off and it had a hiccup where it cranked slow for a moment. When it started, it wouldn't idle. And it had a tick that seemed to turn into a knock. In the video, it sounds tappy, like a valve, but prior to this it sounded more like a knock.

It doesn't make sense that a fender bender would cause a knock. But my best guess is that I caught the gas pedal when I stomped the brake, putting it on the rev-limiter when I hit the guardrail. I don't remember that, but it happened so quick that it's possible. This could have caused one of two things:
1. Being at redline, it pumped all the oil out of the sump. When it hit, the little remaining oil sloshed, causing the oil suction tube to run dry and suck air.
2. the impact caused the timing belt tensioner to go slack for a moment, allowing the cams to go out of time, and letting a piston catch a valve.

I took the timing covers off for the video, and the tensioner wasn't bad. I haven't checked if all the cams are in proper alignment yet. That's going to be my next step. After that, I'll pull the valve covers and have a look in there to see if it's a roller lifter.
But at that point, if I find nothing wrong, the engine will have to come out and the heads removed. Which will suck, because I can't even afford head gaskets right now.

Worst case scenario, I'll have to wait a few months and save up to rebuild the engine, or find another used WRX engine on Craigslist. Dammit! Just in time for spring! Daily drive it all winter, and just when it's about to not be a miserable little car to drive, I go and wreck it.

That sucks bud . Hopefully it turns out to be a minor thing. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

No more blue cars for you.

Sounds more like chain slap than rod knock.

** Edit I had a Saab 900 with a similar sound, ended up being a failed cam chain tensioner. Not sure which Subaru motor this is. Some had chains some belts.... Another time it was a loose cam follower/rocker arm bracket.

Again not really familiar with the internals of Subie motors, I've only changed oil and
plugs on my wifes 3.0R ;-)

Did you send the deer?

Seriously. They just seem to always be bad luck for me. Maybe I should repaint this one the original dark hunter green color, like it came from the factory!



I was pretty sure it was a rod at first, but now I'm starting to think it might be a valve or something else. The sound has changed a bit. It went from sounding like some floppy sheetmetal, like the rocker panel was knocked loose in the crash and was flapping against the side of the car. And then it sounded like light deep knocking while it idled. Now it's this new sound that's more like tapping a ball peen hammer against the block, and it doesn't do it at all at idle. Maybe the piston is getting dimpled to where it is self clearancing?

It's weird because it's not misfiring or down on power from what I can tell. I drove it home from the wreck, and while I didn't make full boost or give it full throttle, it seemed to have all its torque. Actually, come to think of it, I did get angry and lay down a nice rubber patch in 2nd gear after the crash. And it didn't seem to be down on power then!

If it is a valve, I've probably hurt the rod bearing since I've drove it home 10 miles or so. I'll find out more as I dig into it a little deeper.

Oh crap, motive. I forgot about that.

[/quote]
I didn't make full boost or give it full throttle, it seemed to have all its torque.
[/quote]

Do you have a boost/vacuum gauge?

Were you able to actually achieve normal boost pressures?

You should test the motor at idle to see what type of fluctuation in vacuum you have.

Drain the oil through a fine screen and look for chunks.

Kinda sounds like something is hitting the plastic timing belt covers.

Sorry to hear man, I really like your car ( so much i wanted to buy it!)


Matt

I don't have a boost/vac gauge in the car, but I could rig one up for testing. I honestly don't know if I am getting full boost, because my butt dyno is not that accurate haha.

Now that you mention it, I do have a small exhaust leak. The up-pipe going to the turbo is cracked right at the flange. I noticed that a few days before the crash, and started looking for a replacement. You can hear it in person, but it's more like a buzzy kind of sound, not a tapping exhaust leak. But I don't think that's what this sound in the video is. In person, it sounds like a physical banging or tapping of some sort.

I'll definitely check the oil when I drain it and pull the valve covers off. That could tell me a lot.

Brake lines look like they were cut???????