Quite the thread start! You’re going to have a great tub and chassis for your Subaru conversion.

That's a great idea. and, the proof is in the puddin', the results look great. My compliments on some fine work.

Dan

I really like to see the innovative repair ideas.

Great work. isn't the whole weld patch repair process somehow very satisfying?

Love the lightweight efficient concept . 1800 pounds is an ambitious goal. Will be great to see how it comes out.

Thanks for posting your work Nice!

Nice progress. Keep going!

Very nice work. I envy you guys that know how to weld. 1800 lbs is going to be tough. I am at 1900 lbs with making my own wiring harness and removing headlights. I wish you success.

I'm going to do my best to reach that goal weight.

I've already got a pair of carbon fiber lids from 914 Rubber.
Since I'm using the lightweight lids, I've eliminated all of the original springs & associated brackets.
Every non-essential bracket on the body is being removed,,,or swiss cheesed.

I'm also going to make a GT style engine cover, fiberglass bumpers. Entire car will be "de-badged" (we don't need no stinking badges!....too heavy!)

I already have aluminum brembo Alfa front calipers and am searching for lightweight rears. I think PMB made aluminum rears at one time and would love to find a pair.

Have 911 5 lug conversion for front and rear, and have a set of 15" 944 Fuchs.

Will also be using a lightweight battery, and keeping all interior trim as light and thin as possible. Eliminating the rear backpad,

I've even been toying with the idea of duplicating the original 914 fiberglass seats in thinner carbon fiber, and upholstering them in cloth to drop a little more weight.
Even going to "lighten" the original steel dash as much as possible (will probable cut some material out of it and use aluminum fillers in it's place) Eliminating the heavy glove box door & ash tray.

Obviously I am using early . light doors & regulators & am probably only going to use a small pull strap on the door with no pockets or arm rests.

Basically, every piece will be approached with the question of,,,,,,,"can this possibly be lighter and still do the job",,,,before it is installed on the car.

1800 going to be tough, but I'm going to do my best to get it there.





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I'm also going to try and come up with a lightweight steering wheel.(less than 2 pounds) Have already seen a few aluminum ones that might work. I'm also probably going to do something about the original 914 upper steering column, as that thing is also a bit heavy.
My Webpage

Don't need no stinking badges
This is gonna be good.

Love the spirit here as I am basically tending in the same lightweight direction (but cannot go that far as our Tüv regulation for street driven cars is pretty complex and I need to discuss every change with them..).
Keep us posted

Antoine

Nice thread

My 6 cylinder race car weighs in around 1810 wet

the subaru motor might be lighter than my 2.0/6

my cage probably adds 75lbs.
but not sure I'd want to drive on the street with fiberglass bumpers and a lightened car with no safety equipment..

It’s a lot of details to hit that weight

Well, not much progress to report..........
But I did manage to do one thing, so it is one more baby step forward.
I drilled and test fit the brackets for the front sway bar today.

I’ll weld them after cleaning paint off the area and coating with weldable primer.

Not much, but trying to deal with a bunch of little details before having the tub blasted and epoxy paint.

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I also had to wait for a fresh gallon of rust treatment as my original solution became contaminated and weakened.

I still have an area on the driver side that I don’t think a blaster will reach, so I’m treating that spot with the solution.

Once it’s finished, I hope to be able to finish welding various little holes, etc on the tub before blasting and epoxy coating.Click to view attachment

Well, making tiny amounts of progress,,,,,,,but at least I’m working on it.
I replaced the passside engine cover support as the original was broken.
Also managed to weld the front sway bar mounts into place.

Started to eliminate the front side markers as I have never liked them.
I tried doing it using the “Fitzee fabrication “ method and had so/so results.
Had a heck of a time with having little pinholes in the welds which let light through.
When I tried filling them with little tack welds, I’d sometimes pop a hole in the sheet metal about 3/16 in diameter.
Tried lowering my welder settings but that didn’t help much as I lost penetration.
Overall, it was kind of a pain in the butt, and I’m still not satisfied with it.

I think I’m going to do some practicing on some scrap pieces to get a bett feel of butt welding thin sheet metal,,,,,,before continuing on the car itself.

Still needs a little finesse work on the side marker area

Glad to see this one is still moving along.



Use a piece of copper sheet as a backer. it will help avoid overheating the metal and blowing holes while allowing you to get 100% penetration. I use sheet that is about .030" thick. I've also seen folks simply mash copper pipe. I prefer the thin copper sheet since it is easily formed to what ever your welding.

Thanks for the tip about using copper.
Not too much to report this weekend again, but making little steps.

I filled a number of small diameter holes here and there on the car, and made a patch panel in the area where the battery tray used to mount.
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Welding it in.
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Also found a bad spot in the left front fender well.
I’m going to try and finish up these small areas in the next few weeks.

Once these small patches are done, I’m planning to have the entire tub blasted & epoxy coated.........then it’s on to the bigger stuff.

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It looks great, IMHO. What rotisserie are you using? Once I get a pad poured in my “garage”, I’m planning on moving my car back to my house so I can, ideally, work on it more (easier to walk 100 feet than drive 20 minutes). Once it’s back here, I want to put it on a rotisserie, but going back and forth on how to do one.

I think the Subie conversion is a great idea! Why the six instead of the turbo 4 from an STI/ Outback GT? I’m sure the six is an easier conversion with no turbo to worry about, but just curious.

You’re giving me lots of ideas/tutorials about what I may need to do to my car! Great pictures!

Thanks, the rotisserie is an Auto twirler "PRO" model.I got it from best buy automotive.It is a bit more expensive than most other ones out there, and is overkill for a 914,,,,,,but I have a few reasons for choosing it.

#1 is that it is 3" tubing and 3/16" thick,,which is more "heavy duty" than most on the market. There no,"flex" like I have seen on other models with the car on it.

#2 is that it has bearings in each of the pivots, so it spins the car effortlessly.

#3 not only is my tub on the rotisserie, but it is also holding the weight of my "cart" that I have the tub mounted to

#4 when the 914 is done, I have a 1970 Olds cutlass (442 w-30/resto-mod clone) that will be on the rotisserie next.

#5 it is a beefy , USA made unit,,,and I usually am alone in my garage......so I did not want to take the risk of a possible tool "failure" while I'm by myself in the garage.

Here is a youtube video on it. My Webpage


For my goals, the suby 6 seems like a much better option. Since the 6 only came in the automatic "mom and pop grocery getter cars,,,,the chances of finiding a proerly maintained donor engine that hasn't had the stink run out of it is much better.

Also, since this is going to be a "hot street" driven car (I have a different car for track days) in my opinion "torque" is king.....and the suby 6 fits the bill well there.

Also, I am not a fan of turbocharged engines for multiple reasons. Turbo, means extra plumbing, which equals extra clutter(and more places to potentially leak) in the engine compartment. I'd rather keep things clean and simple with a midlly modified six and a nice flat torque curve .

A six with a lightweight flywheel & clutch assembly, and a good limited slip in a 5speed manual trans, with a free flowing exhaust system & a little tuning should be perfect combo a streetcar.


Oh, and congrats on getting a floor in your garage. One of the reasons it has taken me so long to do the 914, is that I spent a few years saving up and building a garage at home so I'd have a "hideaway" place to work in .

I agree with your view on the Turbo 4. The sound of the suby 6 over the burping 4 did it for me. Is that Vette a 64?

It’s a 67. Survivor car. Never been restored, or modified.
I’m the second owner. It’s “Lyndail blue” ,looks much prettier out in the sunlight.Click to view attachment

I appreciate the well thought out reply! It definitely makes sense on these cars to keep things simple. I used to have a 2005 Outback XT with 5-speed and it was a blast to drive, especially compared to my parent’s 2005 Outback with 6-cyl. That being said, their’s was more reliable over the long range, though mine was totaled at 126,000 miles. What trans are you using?

I really like the rotisserie, especially the height adjustability. I’m considering getting one not just for my 914. My other projects include a 1987 e30 (wife’s and eventual restoration), 1982 Fiat 2000, and 1997 Mazda Miata M-edition. While I most likely won’t need it for these other projects, I’m constantly looking for other projects (like a Mk1 Rabbit) and with my new shop space, we are looking into doing more in-depth renovations/restorations as this shop will focus on older European cars.

As for the floor, I’m not there yet, but will get it this spring, hopefully. Things always come up, but I’ve been wanting this floor since we moved here 8 years ago and it would make life MUCH easier for me.

Love the build and pictures and beautiful Vette! My uncle’s had multiple Vettes over the years, but always older ones. He currently has a ‘74 (his first) and a ‘65. I love the color!

Wow. That is a real treasure.

Thanks guys. Here it is all cleaned up and in the sunlight.
My little collection is about 1/2 domestic cars and 1/2 German ones.

In my opinion, from around 1950 to 1970 was the peak of American car styling and desirability.

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Well, back to the 914. Still making small steps forward.
I got the patch for the left front fender well done, filled the stock antenna hole in the fender, and patched the holes for the emblem in the tail panel.

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Antenna hole filled.
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Tail panel emblem holes filled.
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Well, after getting sidetracked by work and other projects for a while,,,,,,I finally got a chance to work on my tub a little today.
I chopped out a bad section of the pass rear floor and started trimming a patch panel from a replacement section.
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Hi Alain,

that really looks great !

Could you give a link to that particular youtube video ?

BR

Benno

Earlier I missed your comment on having pinholes galore. What worked for me was this: 1) very clean metal on both sides. If the metal is marginal your welds will be also. 2) The gap should be =/~ to the wire gage. Preferable .028. For me this was best achieved using a reciprocating body saw with a thin blade. 3) Cool each weld individually. I'm not sure why this works vs 3-4 welds then cooling but it did make a world of difference for eliminating pinholes in my experience. Oddly enough, when using this method, I could stack one weld on top of the other and a copper backing plate wasn't necessary.

https://youtu.be/y-JQgPm4_7s
This should be the video
My Webpage

Thanks for the tip. I’ll give this a try and see if it works better for me.
I’m hoping to have time to do a little welding on the tub next weekend.

Well, I decided the best way to get the rust out of some hard to reach areas at the rear firewall area was to do some blasting. Since I don’t have a smooth driveway, and my rotisserie is on hard wheels,,,,I decided to try and set up a makeshift “booth” area to do some blasting in. Time consuming, but it works and keeps the mess contained.

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Was able to blast the area so I can treat it with epoxy primer, and get the spot ready for welding in a few patches.Click to view attachment

Your clean workshop is dialed in and your work deserves the highest commendations. Way to go! Keep it up. Thanks for the postings and photos.

Perfect workshop!

Soda blasting ?

Nah, I had some stubborn rust that I had a hard time trying to sand or wire brush, right where the rear firewall and long meet.....
So I modified my harbor freight pressure blaster with a larger hose and more professional type nozzle and am using the “black diamond” stuff from tractor supply. It works pretty good but I should have worn some type of full body suite, because it basically will coat you with black charcoal. I was smart enough to wear a respirator and full hood,,,,but I had short sleeves on and my arms looked like I had been rubbing charcoal all over them.

Well, I have made a little progress.
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That's a nice, tidy repair! You're doing great work.

I bought a used spot welder on Facebook marketplace last week.
It has adjustable temp and time settings.
Paid $250 for it, but it feels like a much more heavy duty machine than the ones available at harbor freight.

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I did a little “testing” to figure out where to set the machine for 2 pieces of 18gage metal.
Then pulled the pieces apart to check for weld penetration.
Seems to work good.
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I used it where the rear floor pan meets the lower firewall.

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