Hello 914World,
I have been a long time fan of this site, but embarrassed when I realized these are my first posts.
Finally reached a point where I want to build a 914 for some weekend fun. Well here goes...

Just a brief intro about me:
I have had the incurable Porsche sickness for years. It started when I was little.. Dad fixed up 356's in his spare time and I had the opportunity to watch intently and help sand on some fenders. Since then, I have been playing with cars off and on for the last 40 years. Most of the time, I have too many projects and either not enough time or money to get them completed. Guess that explains my username.

This will be my second 914. My first one was a black 74 that I brought 24 years ago for $700, drove it around as my daily driver and sold it a year later. It was really rusty at the rear fire wall and driving a black two seater with a black interior in Florida without AC in the summer time, with a baby on the way. Well it regrettably had to go. I miss that car..

I'm located in the Tampa Bay area and am looking forward to meeting other Teeners

New Project:
This new project is a blue 75 that my buddy started. I helped him pick the car up from the previous owner who had started an ambitious restoration and lost steam. My buddy had a plan to build his ultimate 914 by converting it to a big six and styling it like one of the Beachboys racing cars in the magazines back in the day. He was going with 911 turbo flares, C2 style front bumper, shaved front turn signals, etc. He did not like the original bumpers either, so they are long gone. Then he moved to Oklahoma and the the car has been sitting dormant in my storage garage for the last 10 years.
Time to dust it off and see if I can stick with it long enough to drive it.

The Good:
This car does not look too bad.!? one of the things I like about it is many of the problem areas have had new metal replaced with what looks like porsche original replacements. With selling off some of my parts hoard , I was able to keep some bits that will help me get a good start where the others left off.

The Bad:
Missing Engine and Trans when I got it. Not sure how well the car was done before my buddy got it.

The Plan:
At this point my goal is to build a car that I can drive around. Maybe do some Auto Cross (do they even still have those?), Track days, and drive something to cars and coffee that I don't have to park next to the mini vans.
I love the GT look and flares, but save the cost of metal flares and to be different I'm thinking narrow body. Besides, I will need to find some front fenders to undo the mess that is there now.
Color will likely be the same original Ancona Blue Metallic L97B or some lighter pastel blue
Going to go with a full 5-lug conversion and most likely fuchs
Since I do not have an Engine or Trans for this car yet. I am leaning toward a Subaru six with Subaru trans. I have seen a lot of really nice conversion work on this website and parts have been worked out to make for a nice reliable conversion.
Here are some pics. More to come
Chris


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Looks like a good start on a project car, good luck and welcome

Thanks Blackmoon, Much appreciated.

Here are some additional pics..

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Looks like quite a project! Enjoy the ride!

first welcome. second it looks like most of the expensive work has already been done. good luck.

Looks like a great start. I love the mesh wheels! Are you gonna sell them when you do the 5 lug swap?

Thank you to everyone for your kind welcomes. It's first class enthusiasts like you that make keep the hobby alive.

Hello Justin, Yes i plan to sell or trade off the black mesh enkis eventually.

Well heck now I know where the part I was looking for went...lol..
That right long is the unicorn let me tell you.
It seams like a good start but if you ever decide to part with this car let me know.
I'd buy it just for that right side section.

Best of luck on your project..

We are all going to enjoy watching your restoration. Let us know if we can help.

Konrad

The wheels style is Enkei 92. Very light wheel and one of my favorite aftermarket wheels. Holy! that is a factory repair part on the right side. There are guys that would kill to have that part.

good luck on your project, hope you get the level of fun/reward that we do

[quote name='sixnotfour' date='Jun 6 2016, 06:28 AM' post='2355505']
[quote]Holy! that is a factory repair part on the right side. There are guys that would kill to have that part.
[/quote]

I thought it was neat to see the Porsche part number on the Long, but wow, I had no idea that there would be this much interest... and I thought I had a Porsche problem

At this point it is still too soon for me to be certain if I need to pull some of this metal back apart during my restoration process. I have a suspicion that someone just stuck these newer parts on and may not have removed the old stuff first.
The rear floor pan section appears to be just tacked on over the old floor.

The seam in the passenger door jam also looks funny to me, as if too many metal parts sandwiched together...?

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So I plan to do some further exploration to know for sure.
My evil plot was to put this car on a rotisserie and TIG or Mig the panels to clean up some of the popcorn welds that are already there. To make the chassis solid is was planning to do some seam welding and add an inner strengthening kit

I have never really been a Concurs guy, so let me ask a silly question:

If add in the inner strengthening kit this is going to cover up the factory Long and part number sticker. Since originality is not really my passion. Do you think I am devaluing a part that might be better used in a original or restoration of a historic car?

Send me a PM if you are really seeking a slightly used/low mileage NOS Longitudinal, maybe we can work something out if this has to come back apart...

I also have some 962 stuff that I am going to post in the "other" category classifieds on this site in case someone wants to tackle a major project

Luke Luke Luke,,,jump jump Jump

Well it seems you have your head in the right place. Do it right, do it once and be done with it. Definitely would want to be sure any prior repairs were done correctly and up to standards.

Oh, of course we all love a good build thread with lots of pictures.

Updates:

Purchased a set of replica 15 x 7 5-lug fuchs
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Car has to move from storage to current shop space. So now I have started to install a 911SC front suspension to get the car rolling.

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Purchased a rough but hopefully possible to restore front and rear bumper.
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And some rebuildable rear calipers.

Lol.. I'm already all over this.

Slow progress at the moment. This past weekend, I had to move some stuff around. So I mocked up the 911 carrera suspension under front of the 914.

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then I stuck some 18" rims on it to make it easy to push by myself. Looks like a 4x4 now.

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Spent some time trying to plan what this is going to look like when I get it closer to done. That 914 visualizer is amazing. For a computer guy like me... I just marvel at how cool that is. Here is the web address. http://www.eggscollective.org/914visualize...visualizer.html

This is what I am leaning toward: I like the Blue that is on the Toyota FJ (2JV - VoodooBlue) over a narrow body car with Fuchs. Thinking the bumpers, rockers and wheels could all be a medium grey color. So here is a pic through the magic of the visualizer:
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I like that color combo, looks real nice.

Once the factory part has been welded onto the car, it has no real value beyond the cars value. So I would say weld away. Instead of the inner log kit, I would first do Brad's 914 LTD outer log kit. Makes for one stiff 914 and stiffens the outer suspension console also.

Only use it if your not planning to concourse the car.

After that you can do the inner cabin kit.

I like that Anacona Blue, I found a 75 on your coast that was the same color but some rust bubbling in the rear quarter scared me away.

ps when you decide to sell the wheels I will be watching! haha I almost bought those wheels two different times, but I have yet to own a 914 so theres been no reason to start hoarding parts... right? RIGHT??? haha

Thanks for the advice on the metal work Stephen.
Hey Simon, you can never have too many Porsche parts. will look you up when these wheels are replaced.

Can't help myself.. these concept renderings are much easier then and in this hot summer Florida heat !

here is another quick one (did not have time to add a rear spoiler and flag mirrors yet):

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Looks like you will be have a lot of fun

Sorry if this still looks like a boring thread so far... Still in the process of acquiring the parts I need to make this project possible.

Engine Update:
Had the chance to meet BigKat_83. Great Guy. Was able to purchase a Motor, 2 manual transmissions, and an Aluminum Radiator from him.
Here is a picture of my new Motor
It's an EZ30 from a 2006 Subaru Outback
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Suspension Update:
Received some crusty Rear Hubs and Stub axles from a 69-71 911. This was an awesome Craigslist find for $150 for the pair. Will be doing a proper cleaning using the electrolysis method soon.
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Body Update:
A friend found a nice complete Passenger Side front fender for me at the Stoddard Swap meet. I'm still looking for a Driver's side Front Fender
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Well that is all for now. Stay tuned, more updates to follow..

I missed this post earlier! Great engine choice. Did Bob point you in the right direction for an after market ECU? If not, I hear Subaru Gears has a work around for the OEM CanBus ECU. Which transmissions did you pick up? Your not related to Elton John are you? JK, looking forward to your build. Kent

Yes, Thanks. I have been reading up on the engine options and was looking for a subie 6. This motor has the timing chain instead of a belt, individual exhaust ports for each cylinder, and coil packs on each plug. In Non-turbo form, should make ~245 hp stock.. So when Bob said he had the right motor for me, I knew it was a winner. The gear boxes are 5MT, I think. Have to get the #'s off the case to confirm.

On the ECU, Bob recommended going with the MegaSquirt 3. He said it worked well on his conversion and MS3 now has lots of the capabilities available to support this motor (Sequential fire, Stock type Trigger wheel, Variable Valve, etc).

Originally, I wanted to stay with the stock ECU for best drivability and to utilize the variable engine stuff. But here are the things that have talked me out of going with the stock ECU:

1. - Bob said don't use Stock - Go with a MS3
2. - CanBus / Immobilizer - stock CanBus requires the Ignition key, Immobilizer module, Instrument cluster and perhaps Trans Module to all match if I want to use the Stock computer.
3. - The Stock Harness weighs a ton - Even with the diet, I think this is a monster.
4. - Unknown Limitations for Future Expansion and Tuning capabilities
5. - Other sensors will need to be dealt with to prevent Check Engine Light

Thanks for the pointer toward the CanBus Emulator from Subaru Gears. Looks very nice, but currently out of my budget. Standard Emulator is $500 + $200 for Dashboard Delete + $200 for Air Pump Delete...
I hope to be soldering together my own MS3 kit for <$500 and creating a harness from scratch using OEM connectors.

It would be nice if you had one from a Forrester. The WRX tranny's are fine but geared a little high for our power-to-weight ratio. IIRC, the Forrester has 3:9's vs the 4:11's final.
Bob know's his and you'd be a masochist to not take his advice. I think the only thing you'll lose going after market is the idle or warm up circuit. No worries. Did Megasquirt complete the mapping for the variable timing feature on that engine, as well. BTW, CEL only works if you put a bulb in the socket. Enjoy your project.

Perfect motor for the car!! Nice choice! I want one for mine.

I haven't seen an EZ30R running MS3 yet with functional AVCS/valve lift control, is there one out there? It's too bad they do not yet support DBW either.

Thanks Guys. Did you see this info yet on MS3 pre-1.5 release? LINK HERE
I am a long way from even needing to pick up my soldering iron yet, but I spotted a note there about supporting Subaru 36-2-2-2, DBW and VVT. Looks like it is possible with some work. I have also seen some older posts where guys are reporting they have used PWM output from Boost Control to get AVCS.

I hadn't seen that firmware update yet, very cool-thanks!

The 36-2-2-2 wheel was my biggest concern because very few people seemed to be able to achieve 720 sync. It would be awesome if this takes care of that problem! I've read that there might be different wheels with the same pattern, but I'm not sure (hopefully not). Now it's only too bad that they won't add a locked-out piece of code for DBW and not require you to use the GM controller.