From the looks of the shorty headers it looks like it has never been run with these.
I think you should check and clean everything out with the engine and try to start it. You might be surprised. It does have some good things on it HEI,Edelbrock carb
As far as doing a lS conversion you would need almost everything new for the conversion none of the clutch parts will interchange with the SBC stuff.
You can buy a 4.8l engine for less than $600 but that just the start plan on 2 to 3k just for the adapter and clutch for a Boxster transaxle. Then plan on another $1500 to $2500
for the transaxle plus axles and other parts needed.

Good luck and keep the pictures coming. The 510 looks great I also had one back in the early 70's BRE suspension and factory race flares.

Thanks guys.

Very true the LS swap can get expensive fast. I might as well fix this one up, sell it and start over on a fresh 914. I think sticking with the 350 is the best route. I built the 510 to drive hard and race. The 914 is gonna be more of a fun weekend cruiser.

Cars will be home tomorrow so I'll have more info and pics.

I have also had everyone else say “LS” over and over.... however a well thought out sbc can work really well for considerably less money. In your case (mine too) you would need a new adapter plate, flywheel, clutch, motor mount, motor etc which is not overly cheap.

I feel Even with a cheap 4.8 or 5.3 LS the added costs in my case can be better spent on the rest of the car for now.

I am going to use an early 283 mildly built to about 250hp. Mostly so the transaxle has a chance of survival for a while. I bought a very fresh set of heads with new guides,valves, seals, beehive springs and alloy keepers for $50. I will spend probably no more than $500 for the short block. I am looking at topping it off with a FITECH efi set-up. They are about $750 complete for the up to 400hp set-up which has self tuning.

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I think this set-up will work great in the car and be probably at least half what the LS swap would cost.

So I have a spare set of Rota Grid-V's in 15x8 0 Offset and a set of 225/45/15 Toyo R1R's. Can I fit these under the GT flares front and rear? From my research the rears should have plenty of room but the fronts?

I would need to redrill the hubs to 4x114.3 but since I already have these it kinda makes sense if they fit.

That's a great price. Thanks for the heads up. $750 is a steal to not have to deal with carbs. I love being able to plug the laptop into my 510 and tune the ECU myself. Makes life so much easier.

I agree though. If starting from scratch a LS is a great idea. If you already have a SBC then it doesn't make sense to start over as I'm sure the market for used SBC conversion kits is pretty slim.

I Agree the old school sbc swap stuff are not hugely valuable parts - which is good if you need them - my adapter, flywheel, clutch and pressure plate used (but unused) was only $130. I can fabricate the rest pretty easily. Hoping to have mine all built for about $5k.

Pierre

The tire size will fit front and rear no problem with flares - offset not sure about- the fronts of these cars can swallow some pretty big tires with the right offset.

So both cars are home.

For everyone that wonders why the silver one isn't the best, here's the rust extending across the back of the firewall.. The black on doesn't have this.



Here's the black car. Not sure how there's no hole underneath the battery tray yet rust under the car in this same area. It's easily fixable though.







And now... how could the water pump belt ever work? Looks like they notched the shifter tube... How is this supposed to be routed? Only works with sideshift?

Some more rusty pics of the silver car...

When I bought this car it was in a very tight place so it was difficult to locate much rust, until I got it home.
This is just an idea of how far it went.
But she is all back together now Click to view attachment
It can be done.
Have fun

Thanks everyone! It's been a busy last few months and I'm now back in the garage!

I've got to strip the silver car and scrap it so I'm formulating a plan for the black car. So far I'm going to pull the interior out of the silver car and swap into the black. I'll use both front fenders and rear quarters as someone used 4 to 5 lug adapters on the car and did a really bad job pulling the fenders to fit the tires. It's a mess. I'll probably swap the panels and weld on steel flares later.

First things first! I'm going to swap the sideshift tranny and need to resolve the water pump issue. Currently the tail shift setup prevents the water pump belt from going on. The motor is slanted nose down and there's washers under the engine crossmember. Taking out the washers won't resolve and if I go any higher the valve cover will hit the firewall. Seems the best choice is raise the motor up, drop the rear and push everything back.

Can someone tell me what's going on here? Should the shift rod run through the center of the belt? I can't find any pictures online.

And why is the water pump spaced with so many nuts?

I'm real close to ordering an electric remote mount pump...

Washers should not be there, engine should sit higher and the shift rod should not have a notch.

My guess is either the valve cover or distributor needed some persuasion to fit so the PO used the washers.

Normally, there is a notch cut in the rear firewall around the distributor and the valve covers fit if they are the short type. If they are tall, a hammer to the cockpit firewall usually moves enough metal for clearance.

I think I have room to remove the washers and not hit the valve cover. I'm still not sure about the shift rod. Should it go through the inside of the belt?

Did you keep the side shift out of the other car? If so swap it in and the linkage will eliminate the step over

The plan is to swap the side shift tranny and linkage over. Will the shift rod work as stock or will I need to modify? It still has to go through the center of the belt?

Shift rod needs to be extended the distance the trans is moved back, which is typically about 1.5" You should see blocks that space the transmission back where it mounts onto the trunk.

Shift rod goes under the belt. but just barely. Removing those washers should suck it up enough. Its a VERY tight clearance since the linkage knuckle passes right below it. I think I've measured less than a finger.

Perfect. Thank you!

My 2cents

For many of the people in this 'world' the silver car looks pretty interesting. The lower 1-2 inches of all 914s rust. You can hear 'em rust'n when you roll them out of the showroom (at least in our salt infused roads here in north country).

As a result it is fairly straight forward to replace the rusted parts. every part that rusts is available for pretty fair prices.

In short, my personnel preference would be to put back together a Porsche design rather than a collection of 3rd party ideas.

Either way, both were a great find, good luck with the project(s).

CTC911CTC

That outboard engine mount setup is pretty cool.

That is what I am going to run. A Davies Craig electric one like this with electronic controller.

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Click to view attachment

This is what I run, I recommend it completely. Watch eBay for great deals. The controller is awesome too.

That's the Alien. It has a V8 too...

I keep hearing how this car should be saved. It's a total rust bucket. I don't pay myself a lot to work on my own cars but honestly I'd rather pay myself to buy a car that doesn't need hundreds of hours in labor and thousands in supplies to repair to only have the rust start coming back from the seams.. At some point you gotta let go.. This car is giving its good panels to fix the other car.

If someone wants to buy and fix the silver car just lmk soon and you can come pick it up.

Thanks guys. I'll keep that in mind!!

Your car is an inspiration for mine! It looks killer!

You probably don't want to hear this but I just tossed out one of those 916 type front bumpers. I had it on CL for like 6 months with zero interest...

I can't believe your running a tail shift transmission. Te worst of the crappy 914 shifting experience...

It was already in the car. I've only driven it up the driveway. It's pretty loose... although the sideshift in the silver car isn't much better in its current state.