Wow, over a month since the last update. Is to be expected considering that I just finished the annual winter testing season at work. I did manage to accomplish a few things over the past 2 months.

I cut out the stock seat mounting points so that I can install the new seats as low as possible so that I can fit with a helmet on. I am only 5'7" but with a helmet on in the stock seats I hardly had any clearance between the helmet and roof. The passenger side will sit flat while the driver's side will be mounted at an angle, possibly adjustable because I tend to be quite picky about the seating position...

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...which is why I just ordered a new pedal set. It is not possible for me to get the seat, steering wheel, shifter and pedals all where I would like them to be w/o moving the pedals. I have been considering this for the entire project but just found a set nice enough and cheap enough to get me to pull the trigger and order a set.



Unfortunately the company that sells it does not ship to the US so I am having to order it to some family in London and then they will ship it to me. The hydraulic clutch master cylinder will of course require the installation of a hydraulic slave. Luckily, GS Guy has shared the details of his well thought out mount with me.

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I also purchased a Rennshift and am considering moving it back a few inches to get it to where I want it.

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I know that there have been 100's of pictures posted of this shifter but it is too nice of a piece not to post a couple in my thread.

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I also made a replacement lug for the passenger side seat belt mount (a buddy actually made it for me), cleaned up the axles and some other random stuff.

My wife had arthroscopic knee surgery on Friday so I am taking care of her this weekend. If she is healed up enough to be reasonably independent next weekend I hope to jump back into the project full bore

Hey Scott great progress!

I re-read your thread and was wondering if the Accelerator pedal sensor is a subaru part? What model did it come from, figuring STI but can you clarify?

Awesome build, keep the pics coming!

Jim

Scott -
Just an idea, and am sure you have thought of this, just not sure why you would
not do this -
If moving the shifter back is for optimum hand placement, why not just make the handle longer ?

Best -

Thom

Jim,
I am not sure that what I am making is progress but thanks for the kind words.

The sensor is from the stock Subaru accelerator pedal.



Thom
The steering wheel sits about 2" further back than the stock wheel. I purchased the longer shifter handle to try to compensate for this and it still does not sit right. If I make the shifter any longer the trow would be way too long. It is a bit too long for me now and I hope to be able to shorten the handle eventually.

I am going to mount the shifter in the stock location until I get the pedals and seat in place and so that I can really tell if/how much I need to move it.

I have considered making another (would be the third) steering column as I think that I can take another inch or so out of it.

What I really need to do is concentrate on the things still needed to get the thing to drive...

Scott

Could i get some dimensions of the engine you created? Also what grade of steel was used? Great progress on your suby swap. Will definitely look toward your installation for guidance on our swap. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=92942 Thanks!

Disregard my post up above...lol...i just went through all 11 pages of your build and found the necessary info. Also why route the water lines in the longs and not below the car attached to underside of the floor pans?

Looks like you have one heck of a project on your hands there. Hopefully you can work through the rusteration pretty quickly and get on to the fun conversion work.

Concerning the cooling lines...I really do not like the idea of having anything hanging below the car, especially something as critical as the cooling lines. I plan to do a fair number of track days with the car and from past experience (several seasons of SCCA racing in 2 different race cars, numerous track days and much closed course diving for work) I have a tendency to find myself on/over curbs and do not want to take the chance of scraping the cooling lines off during one of these excursions.

As an example, I'm the red car in front about to drop 2 wheels onto the grass and scrape the hell out of the belly pan...though this one was not my fault, really. The car to the right had just punted me as is evident from his broken nose

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Many people say that they have had no problems and that the marine grade hose is quite abrasion resistant but I just don't want to find out. I really wanted to run the cooling lines through the center console but just could not find the room. The longs were the next best place.

Scott

Good point made, and through the longs it's a cleaner setup as well, but then would require cutting up perfectly rust free longs. Also there's not that much rust to take care of other than the right rear corner right above the taillight bucket, small patching of hell hole, and the right side jack point is slightly rusted through. We should have more progress on the rust repairs this weekend, when we bust out the grinder/cut off and welding machine. Will be my first time welding, but luckily a third friend took a course and will give us a crash course on welding.

Pretty much back in the swing of regularly completing tasks on the PorSTi. Had a bit of a distraction last weekend because it was my birthday so my wife organized some events for me. First stop was Rahal Letterman Race shop. We got to go through the entire shop except for the shock room and see a load of cars in various stages of prep. The best part was the visit was to the area where they maintain/store the BMW Motorsports collection.

Here I am climbing into their McLarin F1

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And into an Alpina Tii:

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The guy responsible for all of the cars was really cool. When I walked in pretty much everything was covered and he was on the other side of the shop filling up one of the cars with fuel. He hollered over to go ahead and uncover whatever I wanted to see. Then he came over and told me to hop in whatever I wanted. It was like the christmas morning I had always dreamed of. There are too many pictures to post here and many more that I had wished I had taken.

As for my project. After the birthday festivities I spent Sunday working on the 914. Finally finished off the passenger seatbelt lug.

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Welded:

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Clamped in place:

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Welded...with the TIG welder. The MIG that I had been using was one of my buddies but since I moved to OH I left it with him so I am without. I was pretty excited to try making a rose weld with the TIG welder but let me tell you, it is not the correct tool. I ended up making some good welds but it was not easy and it took forever. Need to dig into the car budget and and buy a MIG.

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This weekend I started by working on the bandsaw that came with the house we are leasing. It is currently set up for cutting wood and has a blade speed 10x what it needs to be for metal. I have been thinking about how to lower the speed and make it adjustable. Stepping it down by pulleys would require adding an idler shaft to take it down in two steps and then would be cumbersome to change the speed. So I purchased a Variable Frequency Drive and a 3-phase motor off of eBay. The VFD will run the motor down to pretty much 0 rpm with decent efficiency. I used to use them when I was doing CNC controls for industrial automation. Way overkill for what I am using it for but it should work very well. The motor is not here yet but I decided to mount the drive and pull the old stuff out.

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I then started to prepare to ream the dowel holes into the CV's...when I noted that they did not look like the old ones. Instead of having the step for the gasket there is a taper.

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It seems to fit ok and I checked that the spline is correct. What in the heck did I purchase and will it work?

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Then I cleaned and painted the axles and started fitting the clutch slave cylinder.

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The pedals should arrive early this week.

Scott

Scott this is ot but I just noticed your air tools and thought about mine. Here in TX. we have little bees that are not honey bees but they sorta look like them. They make nest in every hole they can find. I don't know if you have them up north but if you do here's my solution. I took a 2x6 and bored some small holes that the disconnect for the air would fit in and then bored a larger hole that the bottom of the tool would drop into to hold it snug. That keeps the bugs out.

I don't have problems with bees but your suggestion might be worth trying to keep dirt from making its way down the fittings.

Anybody have any comments on my CV's?

Scott

Enjoying reading your build. These aluminum elbows: Did you bend them, and if so which type aluminum and temper? Or do you have a source for pre made bends? Thanks. Looking back, it looks like you may have some stainless steel in your coolant lines. Are you concerned about electrolysis between the SS and the aluminum? : mixed metals in coolant lines


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Those are stainless bends.

Wilhelm fiero's use ss coolant lines, aluminum water pumps and radiators and cast iron motors. I have two 86's and one 88 and no problems with electrolysis. It might have something to do with the antifreeze additive or the grounding.

Scott the new cv's appear to be made for a stub that has a ring that the cv sets in. I have a 74 aluminum rear 911 assembly that uses that type of cv and also what I think is a 87? 944 assembly that can use 11inch rear wheels that uses that cv.

Knew if I searched this site long enough, I'd find what I want. A post by Mueller points in the right direction. Mueller's Entry Stainless and aluminum bends

Wilhelm,
As Brett pointed out those bends, along with the rest of the metal in the cooling lines, are stainless. I buy them all pre-bent. Pretty much all of the tube I purchased for the project came from:

http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/

I ordered a few things that I could not find elsewhere from Burns but generally they are significantly more expensive. Their collectors and other fabricated parts are works of art.

I had not considered the possibility of having issues by using SS in my cooling system with the aluminum engine. Do you have any articles, links, books...etc that you can point me to so that I can look into this this concern?

Thanks
Scott

Thanks for another source of tubes. Regarding the stainless issue:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntr..._1977010255.pdf

Also was raised when I asked others on 914world about mixing different metals in my cooling system.

Just found a cheaper source of aluminum Mandrel Bends, close to PDX. Columbia River Mandrel Bending

I know the Toyota MR2 uses stainless coolant lines, an aluminum head, and cast iron block. Never seen one with problems.

Thank you for the link to the NASA paper. I read it and then went searching for more information on cooling system corrosion. I have not been able to find any information indicating that by adding some SS to the cooling system, I am creating issues that did not already exist in the vehicle that the engine came from. That being said, my research did reinforce the importance of using a coolant with the best possible anti-corrosion properties. For these reasons I will probably stick with the stock Subaru coolant in the PorSTi.

Thanks
Scott

When I was modding my son's ic lines for his sti I got my bends from
http://www.stainlessworks.net

They are not cheap but the stuff is good.

Another solution is to buy knock off stuff on ebay and cut it up for the bends. I bought a sti downpipe that goes from the turbo to the muffler, about 5 feet long 3.0 od polished for not much I really don't remember but it will make most of the rear exhaust for the suby. The polished ss muffler with 3.0 od inlet and outlet was a different story.

Best "coolant materials" article I know of.

http://www.rjes.com/html/material_choice.html

According to this, a mix of steel (iron) and aluminum is OK, more noble materials like brass, copper and stainless steel to be avoided except in very small amounts.

Another source for SS elbows, seems to be a good compromise for quality (304 available) and price (much less than Burns). Custom bends too!

http://www.mandrelbendingsolutions.com/servlet/StoreFront

Jeff

Now those are some compelling articles. I am going to have to strongly consider going to aluminum.

Scott

I figured that it was time for another post and looking back at my pictures, one is long overdue.

One of the things distracting me from the forum is my new RC heli. This is my 4th bird and by far the best. It is an Align Trex 250. Not really relivant to my PorSti build thread but I did build it .

Started like this...
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...and ended up like this.
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Now on to the real stuff. I finally have my new axles assembled.

Mmmm, pretty
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Probably not a new technique but it was novel to me. I used the old CV boots and a little plastic to make covers so that the packed CV's would not get nasty grease all over the place.
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With the help of my Father I now have a battery box for the new tiny battery. I drew up the pattern, he had one of the guys at his work bend it from SS and I tig'ed it together.
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Bottom View (just to show the nice welds )
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My Mother took a cool picture of me welding while they visited. Not making a car part though...I needed a banzai tray so I fabbed one up.

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In the car.

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The next task was to install the new pedals but I need a new MIG before I could get started. After months of searching I found the right machine at the right price. The guy I purchased it from said that he had waxed it a few times, I did not belive him until I pulled the covers off and found wax residue stuck in the seams.

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Pedals Set in place with the new base plate before cutting/welding.

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I welded an edge to support the back corner in the dip where the stock pedals mount.

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Tacked in place from the top:

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Tacked in place from the bottom:

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Back corner support after welding:

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After getting the mount in place it was time to fab up the switch/sensor mounts.

Finished throttle sensor mount:
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Linkage:
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Clutch switch/pedal stop (Can you spot the TIG weld that I buggered up so badly that I had to grind it. Just when I think that I am getting good I really mess something up):

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You can see the BLS between the two brake master cylinder rods.

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Side shot:

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Modified the throttle pedal to use the pivoting Suby pedal. Still need to add two set screws to the assembly to hold the shaft in the tube.

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Will take some pictures of the box installed once it is finished. I am going to have to shift the clutch pedal away from the brake as things are a bit tight with normal shoes.

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I also started making room for the new seats/sliders to fit. Still a lot of work to be done here.

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Next up was the radiator fan mount. This took a lot of time to get right but I am very happy how it turned out.

Top mount prior to welding:

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Both mounts welded in place:

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Bolted up:

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Next will be to fab up the hold downs. Am going to try to get that stared in the evenings this week.

That's all for now.

Scott

Scott, as usual. Top Notch work!

Thanks for the update!

Nate

Still making progress, took a week off from work and the garage to tour the Finger Lakes region of New York. Apparently the lakes and hills in the region make it suitable for grape cultivation so there are a ton of wineries in the area. Probably tasted a bit over 200 wines. Not all of them were good but we found 6 cases worth that we liked

Made the hold downs for the radiator:

Starting point:
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Ready to go on the rad:
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Installed, still need to weld the sides:
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Spent a load of time getting the chassis ready for the seat.
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Bolted in, and the center storage still fits. I am going to need to recline the seat ~10deg to get the driving position right.
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Painted the pedal box parts.
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Ready for assembly.
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Had a bit of beer left after cleaning up for the night so I started assembly.
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My wife gave me a trip to the local winery to make a couple batches of custom wine for my birthday. We bottled it the other week. I made the label for the red to commemorate what should be the year of the first drive of the PorSTi.
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Not too far left to go...

Scott

Lots of progress this week.

I finished assembling the pedal box only to find that the balance bar interferes with the throttle pedal. I really do not have the time to fix stupid mistakes like this.

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The aluminum tubes arrived to replace the SS parts of the cooling system. Ordered them from Global Technology. Good quality stuff at a great price. Fast shipping as well.

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Made the clutch slave cylinder mount per GS Guy's directions. Still need to clearance the shifter fork so that the heim joint fits properly. Looks like it should work really well.

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Mid way through fabbing the cooling line that crosses over. While I was fitting everything up I decided to redo the radiator exit stub. The one that came on the rad was at a very strange angle and would have interfered with the ducting. The new one looks much better too.

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Everything fit together, ready for for the two halfs to be tacked together. I found that a piece of angle and a couple of hose clamps really helps with fitting and keeps everything straight and aligned while tacking.

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All welded
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Worked on plumbing the new pedal box..

"T" in the front.
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No more adjustable prop valve in the back. Also notice the line coming out of the clutch tube. I ran the hydraulic line where the cable used to to live. Still need to trim and flare it.
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Clutch and front master cylinders pretty much done. Still need to tweak them a bit. I messed up a few tubes so I ran out before I could finish the rear. There are no original brake lines left on the car. You can also see the lines to the brake fluid reservoir. Need to pick up some rubber grommets.
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After searching to the end of the internet I finally found a singe reservoir that woudl feed all three master cylinder and would fit where I wanted. Turns out that I had one in the garage for my other project car, a BMW 2002. It is getting full down there.

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I am in full thrash mode to get the car done for the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit on August 15th. Starting last week I am taking every Friday off until Woodward. I did not quite get everything I needed finished this weekend, if I can't make up for it next week I may have to burn more vacation

Wow, that is some beautiful work. Love the pedals.

Did you make the fuel cell?

John

The fuel cell came from Summit. I do not have the confidence to build something to contain gallons of flammable liquid quite yet.

Scott

Made some parts the last couple of nights.

I started fitting the passenger seat and found that the right side needs to be directly above the reinforcing rib for the original seat mount in order for my wife to be comfortable with the seating position. Nice and strong location but I had to shorten the mount.

Cut out the middle.
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Welded back together.
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Made the final tube of the cooling system.
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Installed, from above
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From passenger side
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I could fill it with water if I wanted to now. I should be excited but the looming deadline is is really weighing on me. That and all of the hoops to jump through trying to close on a house at the end of the month. The worst part of it is that by buying the house I am probably going to lose the band saw that is in the basement. The owner of the saw seems to be unwilling to sell it for a reasonable price.

Scott

Still plugging away...

I managed to install the passenger seat. While this may not seem like such a huge feat, because the threaded inserts in the Momo seat were no where near where they belonged (based on the other seat), it was a huge pain in the ass. I wish I would have realized this when I first purchased the seats, I would have returned it. Now they do not make this style any more so I am stuck. Oh well, I made it work.

With the passenger seat in place I was able to mark the harness shoulder mounts. Took the seats out and installed the mounts.

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After remaking a few lines, the pedal box plumbing is finished...

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...so I took everything back out and repainted the floor for the third, and hopefully last time. No more bare metal, can hardy tell I did anything down there.

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Tomorrow the engine/trans come out so that I can button everything up. There are a number of fittings and hoses that need crush washers and clamps installed/tightened.

Scott

Looking great, still love looking at those welds. Good luck with the deadline !

Lots more progress.

Pedals are back in, hopefully for good.

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Painted the front trunk. I did not intend to paint the entire bottom but dripped paint when covering the bare metal. I figured that it would happen so I prepped it proactively. Also installed the isolating rubber. The stuff below the fuel cell is black. The high temp stuff for the radiator is red.

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Back in, I decided to take a few minutes to paint the hold down straps as well.

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Out comes the drive-train. I tried leaving the trans mounts in place and just remove the nuts from the mounting ears...unfortunately the intercooler is in the way and I still ended up removing the mounts. I just realized that I could invert the mounting bolts so that the nuts are on top and could leave the mounts in. Any reason that this would be a bad idea?

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I also realised today that I did not make the exhaust so that I could remove the trans w/o dropping the header. Damn Put that on the list for REV2.

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I pulled the trans so that I could clearance the clutch fork for the slave cylinder heim joint. Unfortunately I did not get a very good picture of it.

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I kinda wanna see the bonzai that you made the tray for, Is that doable? I mean since you made it it kinda counts to the thread. You're doin great work though.

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Detached Trans.

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Slave cylinder attached at both ends for the first time.

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I have a bit of welding to do. Unfortunately I found that it takes more than the 30amps that I am currently fused at to weld the BOV mount. Home Depot does not carry the size fuse that I need so I am stalled until I find an industrial electrical supply shop.

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The engine after a day's work. See the difference? Didn't think so, neither can I. What is different is my confidence that nothing is going to fall off or leak once I start the thing up. I also cleaned up the intercooler mounts and a few other parts that I made before I had the belt sander.

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I spent the evening yesterday and this morning assisting/monitoring the owner dissemble/remove the equipment that is in the house that I should own by the end of this week. Fortunately the band saw is still here We could not come to an agreement on the price but the guy decided that he would leave it until we worked out a price or he sells it to somebody else. Based on what he is asking for it, I do not see it leaving.

Scott

No problem. I am just starting with the bonsai hobby so I harvested a sapling silver maple from my back yard that had a really nice start on some interest roots/trunk to use as a trainer tree. The little guy is a 15 year old kingsville boxwood that I picked up at the local arboretum.

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The poor thing has has had a rough life. Apart from me uprooting it during the summer dormant period, one of the deer in my backyard decided that it looked tasty. He ate half of it and threw the rest on the ground.

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I repotted it and it is still hanging in there. The deer gave me an excuse to experiment with a partial defoliation to promote smaller leaf and internode length. If I can keep it alive it should be a great tree with really good character in 15 years.

Scott

Looking good Scott - that clutch set-up looks very familiar!

I like it as it puts the bleeder up high, and keeps any side loads off the clutch fork. Looks a little close to the exhaust? Might need a shield of some sorts?
I decided to fit a couple of springs onto mine as well - one to keep the fork compressed against the pivot bolt, and a return spring pulling the fork towards the engine (hopefully keeping any unnecessary loads off the throughout bearing?).

Couple of questions:
Any concerns about the post-turbo exhaust being bolted tightly to the trans (with no flexibility for expansion)?
Also - what kind of coupler did you find that will fit the turbo compressor inlet? Mine measures 2.2" OD - a little too big for a 2" and little too small for 2.25" connector.

Keep up the nice work!
Jeff

I am considering what to do about heat management. I may end up wrapping the whole left side of the exhaust to the "Y" to keep the trans and save cylinder cool. I am pretty sure that I am going to need to shield the passenger damper from the turbo as well.


We (my buddies and I) discussed putting in a flex section when I was making that part of the exhaust and decided that it probably would be ok. Will be able to tell pretty easily if it needs one or not by loosening mounting bolts on the end of the trans after a couple hard heat cycles.


I remember having a similar dilemma. I think that I used a 2.25. I will see if I can find what I bought tomorrow.

I just finished welding the intercooler. Did not go too badly considering all of the crazy angles and vastly different material thicknesses that I had to deal with. It got a bit goobery in a couple of places but I did not blow any holes and it should be leak free and crack resistant. I made the whole thing hot enough that when I blew compressed air in one side, the air coming out the other was too hot to hold my hand in front of more than a couple of seconds.

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When I was shutting down the garage for the night I found myself standing and admiring the drivetrain from this angle. May just be a father's pride but damn is it purty.

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Scott

It is beautiful.

Loving the progress.

Why not use the internal wastegate?

I may not quite understand the question. I am using the internal wastegate on the turbo. Maybe you are thinking about the recirculating blow off valve on the side of the intercooler?

Scott

Nice work!

Maybe this is the wrong time to ask, but how do you expect change the oil and plugs on that engine?

Changing the oil is very easy. I ordered the oil pan with the drain in the middle of the front so when I jack up the rear of the car the oil comes right out. The oil filter is easily acessable at the front of the engine as well.

The plugs will not be so bad to change. I will have to remove the AL tube feeding the turbo but other than that there is nothing really in the way. It will be much easier than changing the plugs with that engine in the Suby, that is a pain in the ass

Scott

Glad you thought it out.

I had visions of that engine being serviced a la Boxter- ie- everything is accessed from the bottom...