So my dad is at a cross roads. He has had 356s,912s, 914s, 924turbos, mgs etc over the years.. He sold his 356sc about 5 years ago because he couldn't drive manual anymore and bought a boxster with a trip tronic in it.. He is now going stir crazy and is looking for a project and I ran across a 914 a friend has for a great deal and it's fairly solid.. He says he has a sporto trans for it and the actuator for it but nothing else to convert it.. The project will take my dad many years it could be a 10 year project for him.. Are there enough sporto parts out there to make the conversion happen?

Disclaimer my dad can't drive manual anymore for health reasonsso don't answer back don't do it. Budget will be low so 4k worth of parts probably makes it harder to happen for him.. I think for him it's about the dream of when he was younger.

When my dad could no longer handle a manual transmission, we found it more expedient to pick up an old Boxster with Tiptronic. 10 years is a long time for a project when he could be driving instead, plus Boxsters with Tiptronics aren't that expensive. Would a Boxster fulfill the dream?

He has a trip boxster already..he drives that he wants a project to spend his time on in retirement.. He has an 04 boxster s trip.

I don't think it's doable with that budget.

Maybe a Ghia or Bug sporto would be a more realistic option?

Well, then, the dream is about working on the car. I'm sorry that I don't have the experience to weigh in on a sportomatic conversion, but it'd be really neat to see it once done.

Buy the 914 and put the Boxster transmission in it ...

I have a lead on one but I think he would much rather do the 914..

my 911 is a sport. i don't know much about them yet, but i have been told it is a 901 manual trans with a torque converter. from what i know you would need to supply oil to it in some fashion. i would think it is doable as there are allegedly one or two 914/6 sportos.

I would swap the whole drivetrain and make it fun to drive!

Since the car has a sporto available with it.... Why not try..??

I'm pretty sure you need an oil tank with lines in it for transmission fluid, which should be no issue for you..
The actual shifter mechanism in the car could be the same as a 911, but the linkage
might be interesting.....
You might also need a different tail piece on the trans for the reverse position....??
Like the difference between a 911 and 914 transmission tail piece.
Can't say for sure since I haven't looked at a sportomatic transmission in a long time.....

The car was designed to hold a sporto originally...

Seeing a picture of a 914 sporto and linkage would make the decision easier..

If originality isn't an issue, there is a thread here somewhere about a 914 with an Audi automatic..

I would do the boxster tip in a 914. The sporto was a wimpy 4 speed designed for small sixes. There is nothing worse than a 4 speed on a small six. Well maybe a 4 speed with a wimpy 4 would be even worse. Lol

The car in essence would be free so that makes this even more interesting

Call AA ...they could make the budget $8K

The torque converter may actually help the four-speed work on a smallish engine. It does act as a torque multiplier, after all.

If you run the Sporto on a Six, then you can take advantage of all of the engineering that has been done by Porsche on the subject. Pick up a copy of the PET (official Porsche parts catalog) which should have drawings of the Sporto parts. Also dig up info on the 911 Sportos.

If you're running the Sporto on a -4, you'll have to figure out a way to pump the transmission fluid around, as well as fitting a tank for it and so on. The common dry-sump type pumps could work, but they usually foul the fan shroud so you need to do an upright conversion or find some other way of dealing with it.

Your best bet would be to find a wrecked 911 Sporto to raid for parts, but that may not be possible. And would probably bust your budget.

You might look into the early Audi FWD auto transmission; one of those has been done and seems to have worked reasonably.

--DD

I had the 4 speed tip on my 993. It was horrible. Unless you wound out every gear it was pretty gutless.

Question, I guess for Tom T... how many sporto 914s were built?

No 914 4 cyl Sporto is known to exist ....... 6 cyl, yes.
I have a NOS Sporto shift lever somewhere.
Get started
Someone here put a Audi 5000 auto in a 914

The guys a SubaruGears have a adaptor plate/flywheel to mount a type IV motor to a subaru manual transmission. The bolt pattern is the same for the automatic transmissions so the adaptor plate would work but I'm not sure what you would do about mounting the flex plate to the engine. You could email tom at SubaruGears and ask, great guy, awesome customer service. Of course you would also have to sort out the shifter.

Regards'
Jon H.

Did a quick google search and found a few things..

Here are a couple of pictures of a 914-6 sportomatic.

Externally, the rear cover looks very similar,
so it may be the same ?????



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I think it would be cool.. I don't think he is looking for speed per say but old school oil burning air cooled smells.. The Audi trans may be an option as well..

The most authoritative source I have seen says 25 regular production 914-6 Sportos were built. I believe there were 4 built for the 1970 model year, and 21 for the 1971 model year. And we know of one existing prototype.

There are other reports that only 5, or only 21, were built, but I think those picked up the one-year figures and treated them as the totals.

--DD

I personally know of more than 5 so that number is out of the running ...

Good luck sourcing all the parts.

The one thing that everyone here is forgetting is there is no "transmission fluid" for a sportomatic. It uses the engine oil. You will have to figure out how to send oil from the engine to the trans. The 914-6 and 911s with sportomatic transmissions have extra fittings on the oil tank that hook to the transmission.

And aftermarket carbs are out too. You have to have a vacuum tank and special manifolds for the webers on a 6.

The flex plate would be easy. The sportomatic is the same tech as the VW automatic stick shift. Get the flexplate from a bus with the automatic stick shift.

Here is the PET diagram of the oil system.

Click to view attachment

And the Vacuum System.

Click to view attachment

This is not a trivial task on a six. You have to find all the parts before you can start.

IF it is a four, I wouldn't even try. I would look for the Audi 5000 trans. It would work better than the sportomatic, and easier to install.

Go back and read reply # 10.....................................

Oil tank is different.... Call it oil or transmission fluid... Separate fittings on tank..
Oil pump is on the trans as far as I remember and the vac lines are in the manifolds.
Vac tank is on the trans also.... Flip R/P on a 911 sporto.. there are plenty around....

If this guy can fab oil tanks and exhausts, it would be easy to mod a set of weber manifolds for a vac port. Or find a 911 set.................
They made BUG sportomatics with 4 cylinders... How tough could it be ??????
No need to reinvent the wheel.. tail piece and linkage MAY be different....

Why the big deal ??????????????????

The manifolds also have different throttle connections.
Oil pump is cam driven.
Vac tank is on the firewall in a 911, not sure about a 914.
Pexal set is different.
Shifter has some sort of switch on it.
Lots of special parts not easy to find.

Is it the same concept as a VW Semi-Auto?

If so, it was a manual with a TC in front and a pneumatically operated clutch that disengaged when you first started moving the shift lever.

The 1972 VW was a 3 speed and it did 0-to-60 in just over a full minute!

You could jury-rig the shifter switch by using some type of pushbutton in the shift lever. (A little extra manual control.)

I have every part from a 911 to do this,, But Do this Instead,

Audi 5000
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=101948&hl=

I have an oil pump, fits to the rear of the six engine and powered off the cam (same side that powers the MFI pump pulley. The sporto oil pump was also used on GTs for gearbox cooling

Watching this on eBay, not that I have any intention of buying it

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porsche-914-6-Sp...WATCHING_ACTIVE

Cool project, not for the faint hearted

Oh ! I also have the Sporto only 914 6 accelerator pull rod , trans to bell crank on top of engine.

Too me I smell on it being a real 914 sporto.

VW semi auto is a 2 speed (plus a be-low gear) bag of shit that won't take anything over 50hp.
Type 3 auto would be a better choice, as it a Borg-Warner unit and could handle the 2.0 90-95HP d-jet.

That said I'd look into the Audi trans, at least it's been done before.

Don't know if the diff can be flipped on a '83 VW vanagon auto trans, if it can couple hundred bucks plus shipping and I'll drag the vanagon out of the back forty.
It has a working auto trans in it. The cash would be for the labour to take it out, the tranny is free.

Mark, quite possibly this is a BS thread all things considered but for anyone wondering what a sportmatic oil pump looks like here you go (came in a box with a few oil fittings I bought a while back & I think missing some kind of cage that attaches it to the back of the cam housing)


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That's pretty cool .. I assure you not bs.. I wonder though if a boxster 5 speed may be the best route..

Why not a Beatle autostick with the ring flipped?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UN2gZ-nYLA

I saw that as well.. Does the Audi trans require a ring gear flip as well?

I'm stating that I think the ebay ad for a "real" 914 sporto is the bs, I'd say it's a 911 sporto modified to be a 914 sporto.
I could be wrong but...

No. the Audi trans is normally behind the motor. It will work out of the box.

Ahh, I see what you mean, certainly the price of the eBay transmission is utter BS. You could buy a really nice sorted car for that money

For a sportmatic the rear boot floor is also different as well, hump required I recall

Found this on Ebay.de !

http://www.ebay.de/itm/PORSCHE-914-6-Getri...1cAAOSw-kdXyxoq

The one in Germany is more like it.
Seems to me that all of the missing parts could be found in the 911 world for cheap.
Many era correct 911Sportos have been converted to stick.
I saw a Sporto pedal assy. at the Pa. swap meet on Saturday.
I sold a rusty '68 911 recently that had the vacuum solenoids still in it.
The rear cover is probably one of the few 914 specific parts.

I've bought from that seller in the past, fast shipment & even though the add says posts to Germany, scroll down and he will ship to other locations. USA would be spendy in shipping and customs.....

Love the idea and challenge of an all Porsche -4 sporto, but if this is all about driver continued enjoyment then boxter/ Audi route still feels the more logical one, more availability on bits & less dollars

Not so sure the parts are cheap.
A few sporto owners are starting to convert back
I sold off my stash recently and did quite well
Still have the tranny though.

went and looked at my 70 sports setup. looks very doable for a /4. mine looks to be actuated by a solenoid on the clutch lever and pick ups on the the shifter lever. not vacuum. i could be wrong. there is extra oil and pump for torque converter i believe. my understanding is that it is not an automatic transmission but more an automatic clutch transmission. its still has to be shifted thru the gears.

Couldn't a vw unit be modified to work? You can buy a whole Auto Stick car on theSamba for $700. also one for $900. Either of these would have all the parts. Just need to mod. linkage, peddles, flip r&p, figure out how to mount. You can part out the beetle for extra beer money along the way.
??

See Mark Henry's earlier response: The Bug one was a two-speed (plus super-low) and couldn't hold much power. Check for a Type III one, and that might work.

--DD

I had thought the same thing about Beatle auto stick..

Making progress on the acquisition of the 914.. My dad is arranging a roll back.. Hopefully we can make something happen.

oops, missed that.
However, his dad isn't building a race car...

type 3 never had autostick, only the full automatic.

if hes set on the air cooled motor im sure somthing could b done to mate a type 4 to a subaru fwd auto

No but a 1.7 T4 is around 80hp right? The auto stick will go up in smoke at 80hp even with my grandmother driving it.
And she's been dead for 20 years.

Yes the T3 is full auto, it can easily handle 100+hp.

I've been down this rabbit hole...25 years ago....I bet it wouldn't last a full week