Wow, a few hours of sleep and the good stuff comes flying in. Pictures do make the difference, huh. Thanks skline for posting the pics since as a newbie, I couldn't do it last night.
Skline: I'd love a copy of your newer instructions, mine are somewheere between almost useful and pathetic. I'm tempted to scan them into a pdf and send them around for shits and giggles.
Yes it did run with the Corvair engine and it went like stink, but I wanted a little more than the stock eosoteric 40 yr old power plant. It is getting a hotter cam, bored to .40 over, stroker rods, modern lightweight pistons/rings, bigger valves with tflon stem seals, balanced, custom fit pushrods, and a bunch of little clever knick knacks that improve the technology. It should be light and fast. Looking for a power to weight ratio similiar to a 911SC (with much better balance, of course). Oh, and a 600cfm Holley 4-barrel through a spider manifold.
The break and suspension upgrades are to compensate for this deeper breathing engine.
Yeah, the corvair engine spins the wrong way. Flipped pinion was the easiest solution. No problem mating the transmission or relocating the starter since I have a nice kit from Crown Mfg. in Costa Mesa.
Reedhmb: Thanks for the experience. Kinda sounds like what I'm trying to avoid. I get the impression that the channels on mine are supposed to be completely removed to fit the fender, so as to avoid the deck alignment problems.
I really want to confirm this assumption before I cut b/c it is challenging to add material once it has been cut too far, while the converse is not true.
With this kind of great response, I will keep posting my progress and looking for help and comraderie. 914s are far and few btwn out here (except at SCCA events) since this is a beach town, I guess.