Well, we finally got some cooler weather so it was sanding time. Sanded all my fresh paint with 400 in prep for respraying (in the right color this time….grrrr). Hopefully my next pics will be of it freshly painted and ready to move to assembly stage.

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Cool project!

What are you using to attach the additional ABS to the heater box?

nice wheels!

Nice weather this week. Got the tub repainted (the right color this time). I’m so glad to exit this phase and move on to assembly.

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I used JB Weld (black) made for ABS

Now that paint is done, it’s time to move to more fun things. I’m going with orange negative side stripes and decided to paint the Fuchs to match. One down, three to go!

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Put my cooling lines through the tunnel today. The lines are 1-1/4” aluminum with barbed ends. The tubes share an insulating layer of insulation to keep the heat out of the tunnel/interior. The tubes are sealed to the body at each end via 8mm high temp silicone seal with retaining plates.

Now I can drop my engine/trans in….progress now that paint is cured.

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Mounted up the engine and trans today. The cradle lines up so nicely that I did it by myself in about 20 mins. I guess we’ll see how many times I have to take it back out before the project is through (hopefully none, but I’m a realist).



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Getting bumpers ready for paint…..

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Ran clutch hydraulic line, throttle cable, shift cables, and worked on installing the full Subaru harness into the body, installed pedal cluster and brake master and clutch master……making progress…..pics to come

Great stuff. It should have a nice light front. Should be interesting to see how it floats on a washboard. Should have plenty of power to find out.

Thanks!

Bumpers painted and I’m officially declaring the paint phase complete! Of course I still need to paint rockers and valances but I don’t count things that get painted with a foo-bomb can.

I’ve got 2 fresh new bumper tops to put on these, hopefully they fit well. I’ve had 13 914’s and never had one with body color bumpers before. I think I’ll like it on this car.

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I’ve been working on the wiring on/off between other aspects of the project. I’m using the entire Subaru harness and adapting it to suit all the 914’s needs.

I was able to mount the Suby interior fuse panel in the stock 914 location. Also mounted several of the relays in the general area. I had to make an extension bracket for the right side of the fuse box but the left side mounted right up to the stock 914 mount.

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I had to extend the engine harness 85” to accommodate the engine being behind the seats instead of in front of the windshield. Hardest part there is properly extending the shielded wires (for various sensors) while maintaining proper shielding. I still need to dress out the cable with proper sheathing/protection, but at least it now reaches and connects the engine to electrical system.

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Looking good! I like your wiring is looking nice and clean. That always takes a lot of extra time to make it look nice.

Ran my heater core lines and some 12v lines through my drivers side heater tube. To seal off the tubes and keep critters out I used 2” Fernco caps. I cut pass-thru holes and they make a nice tight seal. I put caps at each end of the heater tubes. I used these on my 3.6 build years ago for the oil cooler lines and they held up perfect.

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Super nice work on the cooling pipe routing. Very clean solution!

- Tony

Got the Main fuse box dressed up and mounted today. I had fab’d and welded a mounting bracket prior to painting. Starting to see light at the end of the tunnel with the wiring, just another couple of days and it should be complete (if I don’t get distracted by something more fun).

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Got the dash mounted today. I wanted to get this in so I can figure out my center console design.

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Worked on the steering column cover and dash wiring. I modified the Suby column cover to fit the 914 dash and it fits pretty well. There are some gaps on each side that I’ll address before I’m done. I also added a Porsche emblem to the modified Suby steering wheel to make it seem more at home.

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Working on finalizing the radiator install. I needed to mount my dual fans in the exit duct, so laid up a flat section of biaxial glass and cut the holes for the fans and outside dimensions. Then just bonded it in place with epoxy thickened with 404 and 406 fillers. The end result is very rigid and will support the fans well.

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Finished up the radiator exit plenum, fans mounted and wired to Deutsch bulkhead connectors (one for each fan, one on each side of plenum). I wanted to be able to pull the plenum for cleaning/etc, so the connectors will make that easy. The factory Suby wiring harness and ECU will power/control the fans. It runs one fan until the second is needed.

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If there were ever a reason to swap a Subaru motor into a 914 it would have to be this.

Fantastic build. An AWD safari 914 will be brilliant. Your skills are terrific. Can’t wait to see where this ends up.

A thought for interior. Seat inserts should be cotton with a print like a Mexican poncho. I saw this in a Meyers Manx and it was brilliant.

Thank you! It’s been a fun project so far.

In the theme of trying to wrap up the wiring, I added a 3rd brake light today. The hardest part was running the wiring so it exits the body under the sail trim. There’s no exposed wiring with this setup.

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It’s pretty bright…..hopefully might prevent getting rear-ended.

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Took a break on the project to spend a week in Italy, which was pretty cool, but now back on the project. I’ve been doing many little things that aren’t picture worthy but necessary.

Today I decided to rework my shifter mount. The previous version was 3/4 steel tube, and frankly, overkill and heavy. I decided to scrap it and fab up an aluminum mount. The other issue with the previous version was that the harness would have to pass through it. If I ever needed to pull the mount I’d have to pull the harness back through it first. The aluminum version provides enough space to allow the harness to pass by on the outside of the mount.

I did clean up the mount a bit after these pics, but didn’t get too crazy making it look pretty because it will all be hidden in the center console when done.

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Decided to play with my radiator setup today (frankly, I was sick of wiring). I finished the final trimming/fitment of the radiator ducts and made the seals for the inlet and outlet ducts. The seals are a high temp silicone. I also put heat insulation inside the duct to help keep trunk temps down.

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Then I played with my water lines and made the alum tubes to connect all the various silicone tube fittings. I think I’m going to take stock in a hose clamp company! It’s a little convoluted but I wanted to maintain as much trunk space as I can. The lines will be nice and symmetrical once I get it clamped up.

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That is slick.

Put the front valance on today. I had to trim it back about an inch on each side for the larger wheel wells, then work a lip back into it to keep it stock looking and add strength. I also made a grill for the radiator intake using some extra engine lid grill material I had.

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Looking great! What size hoses did you go with?

It’s all 1-1/4” except where it connects to engine and radiator. I have 1-1/2” to 1-1.4” converters there.

I decided to reuse/repurpose the stock Suby air filter box. I think it’s hard to beat a factory filter and I had it on hand, so……..I cut off the intake tube feeding the box and made an ABS block-off for it, then cut the front off the box to serve as the new intake. It provides lots of intake area and will breath from the very front of the engine bay in the recess for the 914-6 fan.

Then, because I flipped my intake manifold, I had to make some support brackets for the box. One side I was able to reshape the stock Suby bracket to fit, but the other side I had to fabricate.

All done and ready for a fresh filter…..

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Worked on getting the front lighting completed. Installed and connected the parking lights/signals. This was as easy as putting brass spade connectors on the Suby harness ends and installing fresh rubber boots from 914rubber. I also wired the fogs and installed them. I’m using 4” led fogs in the bumper and same in the stinger bar. For the bumper fogs, I had to make some mounting brackets to position them correctly in the light grills.

Getting this done let me final mount my valance and bumper…..starting look like a car again.

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I’m exhausted

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I had an early/deep rear valance (fiberglass repro) and I “tuned” it a little for my needs. I trimmed it down a few inches and added a gentle cutout in the middle to display the tail end of the Suby trans and add a little better airflow out of the underside.

Just need to punch my exhaust hole through it and give it a little paint.

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Ok, so……I finally finished the exhaust. I wanted an exhaust tip that was reminiscent of the vintage bomb sight megaphones, and I wanted to make a tip vs buy. I started with a flaired tube (2.25” to 3”) and put a 1.25” tube inside. It’s all stainless like rest of the exhaust.

Once it was welded on it was time to cut the valance.

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Also mounted my “stinger” and installed/connected the lights mounted in it.

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The exhaust tip is a great retro "nod" to those early performance exhausts, as well as being basically a work of art by itself! The way its kept up high and peeking through the valance is in keeping with the offroad, "minimum overhang" vibe too.

Love the Design thinking and details on this build.

- Tony

Got my rear valance painted and mounted, and mounted up the rear bumper. I’ve had numerous 914s over the years but never had body colored bumpers, I’m really liking it. I wired up the license plate lights and installed them, and with that, I’m calling the rear lighting done.

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I tend to put off tasks that I know are going to suck. This was one of them…..I decided to tackle my fresh air box today. I’ve read the tips and tricks on getting the box installed and used some of this advice. In the end I used a couple of wire ties to keep the seal in place and a pry bar under the box to compress the seal once in place. I thought it would never raise enough to get the bolts started but after about 15 mins of expletives and sweat I got the bolts started and ran them in…….a moment of victory!

I connected up the air ducts, wiring, and heater core hoses. I also torqued down my wiper mounts so it’s officially done. Now I can move on to getting my tank installed once I get it cleaned out and painted.

A day of victory over my nemesis the air box!

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Got all my water lines plumbed up today, including the heater valve and control cable. This is controlled by the temp selector in the dash (I’m using the Suby hvac controls). It’s a long run for the cable but it seems to work great. It runs from dash through the heater tube in pass side long, then to valve.

Also got my rear window installed today…..progress!



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Coolest build on 914 World.

Thanks, it’s hardly that, but it’s been fun and is keeping me out of trouble in my retirement

Had some interior fun today. Installed my rear window, new seat belts (seatbeltUSA), my targa trim, engine lid cable, and my back pad. I’m loving the color contrast ext to int.

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Dude. Don't argue with me. I'm an expert on what's coolest - and it's your work/your car.