So Saturday, at EASY, while Ways was garage saleing, and Andy was Octoberfesting, I saw a 914 at EASY that has a very well engineered install of a Honda Odyssey motor. Sounds like it goes like stink! Guy says he's a member here but this is the first time I've seen this.

The thing drew a crowd of about 10 guys. I made the comment "If a 914 drew this kind of a crowd at a Porsche event 40 years ago it was because they were asking the guy to leave!"

I'm confused by the minivan part of the title?

and no pics?

I get it now.....I thought you meant the original Honda Odyssey motor

3.5 liter 60° V6 ...funny, I just happened to be looking at V6 motors on eBay last night and you can get these all day long for less than $500

also installed in some Acura cars...

There is a VW Baja bug running around the area with the same motor hanging off the back, nice install and goes like stink according to the owner..said he still has not gone WOT since he is still getting used to driving it!


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I'm not a real Minivan kind of guy Mike but isn't the Odyssey a minivan?

He had it hooked to a 901 with a KEP adapter. He said he expects that to be the weak link...

I never think to take pictures until the guy is leaving...

The 3.5 is the same motor in the pilot and my RL. Great motor.

It has the haul ass. Minivans are fast these days.

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Saw that car at R-gruppe and also at Rennsport. Guy who owns it is super cool. That particular V6 went into a number of Honda products. Manifold looks interesting. It runs super smooth (duh, honda engine) and sounds great. And he says it cools really well with not much opening in the front. Minimal bumper/valence cutting. I really like it. Its got me thinking about something similar in my 76, if I could figure out a way around smog.

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Trunk is cut for easy access, so there is some storage space lost, but I think you could build some cool plastic or fiberglass tubs that dropped in and locked down with Dzus fasteners to regain storage.

Oh, and he only had the car back on the road 4 days or so before Rennsport, and he made the drive. WELL DONE, SIR!

He said its never run hotter than 190. Sounds like a legit super-car when he left RGruppe...

I seem to always miss the easy meet up. Made it ONE time but was late so I missed everyone.

I have an Odyssey, great van that I haul the kids around in. Very dependable with good gas mileage.
The Honda motor I would stick in a 914 would be the 2.0l VTEC from a 2011 or later Civic SI. That motor is crazy fast above 5000 rpm. I have never heard or seen anyone here try to use this motor. Naturally aspirated that redlines at 8000 rpm. Not even sure what tranny would work with the motor since the RPM's are so high and the car was originally front wheel drive.

You know the T4 is a transporter motor, right? The original minivan? Meaning all 914's "are damned minivans!" But just between you and me Honda way outdid VW on that one.

I had two RL's with that motor, both over 170k miles when I sold them, never even one hiccup. And for Porsche content I flat-towed 914's between Texas and California several times with those cars.

He also told me he sent the harness for the engine off to someone in texas. The guy sent it back with all of eight wires to hook up to the 914 harness. Sounds pretty cool.

The guy is apparently a mechanical engineering instructor at one of the Bay Area schools...

High School too, I think. What High school is teaching stuff like that? I dig the idea that someone is teaching the youngsters some cool skills.

My wife has a Honda minivan. We change the oil every 5-6k. That's about it. We've never done any real maintenance or any repairs. 220k so far.

The van delivered my Porsche 6 to Scotty B.

This is the same engine being used in V6 swaps for the Miata crowd. Reason being dime a dozen, and came make some decent NA HP.

Wonder if someone could ask him to post some info and pics here? I'm curious.

I had a pair of FL 's in my 20's (Mikes pic above). Fantastic fun!!

Here are some pics. The name of the shop that thins the harness and takes the necessary codes out of the computer so it can run is V tec performance in Arizona, and his name is Carl.Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

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Click to view attachment Click to view attachment The car runs so smooth. I went back to the stock steering set up and it almost feels like power steering. I put a steering quickener but felt it was too twitchy. Got a little bad news today. I let my cousin drive the car and he took his girlfriend, and one of his employees out in my car and when he returned it would not go in gear. I thought he snapped the main shaft, but after pulling the gearbox I found that he broke an axle. Time for 911 axles I guess.

Harry, I thought all Honda motors rotated CCW?

Does this particular motor spin CW? ... or did you have to flip the ring gear?

Only the earlier ones went CCW...V6 and the K motors introduced in '01 all spin the "correct" direction

Cool ... Thanks, Mike.

I wonder if anybody has done this in a Vanagon yet


I never saw pix of the front of his car till this thread. I really like the clean look without the pop-ups.

Is this a streetable car? ... with HIDs (or LEDs) in the turn signal buckets?

Harry,

Thanks for the additional pictures here and the response to my PM....

For some reason I really like this motor better than a Subaru conversion.

One of the best things about this car is the two trunks.
When I see setups like this, it's taken all the function away.

Where do you put the roof, which I rarely put on?
What about a spare tire?

I have seen quite a few conversions and the ones I like retain the car so it's useful.
Marty is the only exception , I like both his creations.

Rich

Alfa and a few other manufactures of fairly expensive roadsters don't think that is a big deal...which proves it isn't for some

What all these modifications really mean is that if the car was for sale (which it isn't) you wouldn't be the target buyer...not a big deal since there will be someone else that likes it just the way is

I hear ya, Rich. If the cold air intake were re-positioned, it looks like the top might still fit in the rear ... and some sheet metal added to complete the trunk 'floor'.

A 911 collapsible spare might fit up front, although it looks like it would be a tight fit.

I'll stick to the old-school air-cooled technology in the 914, but this set-up sounds pretty appealing for a Vanagon ... and no smog testing required in N/E AZ

What are the HP & torque #s for this motor ... and fuel consumption

Just seems like it's not well thought out to eliminate the spare tire and roof stowage.

Seen quite a few cars that did think about these things, and adjusted the design to accommodate everything.

I would say construction time, weight constraints or structural reinforcements are why people cut them up, Rich. I added at least 30% to my build time by working around cutting the car up.

IIRC, He thought he was going to put a cooling system in the back so he cut it up. In the end, he put it up front.

I would think you could do it in a way to allow for roof storage.

Looking at this car, I had the thought of making up a custom drop in bin type thing. You could make if fit really close if you did it in fiber glass. Attach with a number of Dzus fasteners to allow for quick removal.

The curse of Rennsport? When I got home, I had my encounter with Bambi AND a starter relay went out on me.