I think you should hone the walls, get new rings and get it running!

Must not have been much of a ridge at the top of the cylinders if you got the pistons out without cutting it down. So as Mike said you might get away with freshening up the cylinders with a hone and new rings.

I've had Docs (real name Bruce, his dad went by Doc) do my machine shop work for probably 20 years or more. He's done full engine block work, heads, and we rebuilt the old 2.0 that was in my 914. He did a lot of friction/thermal coating for me also. Most recent job I had for hm was boring and honing a block for a jetski a year or so ago.

Mike, I hoping that's all that's needed.

Guy, No ridge at all. It's hard to tell from the photos, but there is a slight chamfer at the top of the cylinder. It's different material than cylinder coating. A few of the cyls have slight scrapes in this chamfer, but nothing significant. I was planning to clean these areas up with some light hand sanding and leave it at that.

If I get the micrometer by next weekend, I'll get some actual measurements. Maybe I won't need Doc. Wish me luck.

I took the nominal bore diameter (3.622) then added the tolerance of .0012" gives me a max diameter of 3.6232".

I made two measurements near the top. One (A) at .25" below the bottom edge of the chamfer - where the cylinder coating material starts. The other (B) is .75" down from the face of the block. This is equivalent to top travel of the oil ring.

1. A) = 3.6238 (.0006 over)
   B) = 3.6233
2. A) = 3.6237 (.0005 over)
   B) = 3.6221
3. A) = 3.6231
   B) = 3.6227
4. A) = 3.6241 (.0009 over)
   B) = 3.6236 (.0004 over)
5. A) = 3.6230
   B) = 3.6230
6. A) = 3.6240 (.0008 over)
   B) = 3.6227

OK, got a honing tool on the way and rings ordered. Spent the last two evening getting the seals, valves, and spring assy back in the heads. Ready for cams & seals. Oh shit - gotta order new camshaft seals too!

Well seals came in and got the right head assembled - only to strip threads putting on the #1 bearing cap. Decided to go with 8mm studs to replace the 7mm threads. After drilling the clearance holes I found out why they pulled out - helicoils! I don't know if these ever work - but they certainly don't work in aluminum.

Got nice results from the studs though. Now on the left head.

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Left head is now completed - cams on, sealed up and ready to go.
Found some used pistons in Tucson. They all measured in at the low end of the clearance range - which works great since I still have to hone the cylinders and will loose a few .0001's.

Got DNJ rings ordered, finished assy on the left head, and located some head bolts to replace 5 or 6 of mine that were mucked-up.

Hope to be up & running again in a couple of weeks.

Spent most the day cleaning used pistons I found in Tucson yesterday. I did get some time to hone at least three of the cylinders. Since my crank is still installed I needed to take extra care to avoid getting material in & around it, but also to limit the mess on the upper parts of the block.

Here's what I came up with.
1) First I taped off the cylinder to be honed. I later modified this and taped off the whole surface for the remaining cyls also. I cut a 13 gallon garbage bag in half and laid it over the one side.

2) I took another garbage bag, folded it a few times so it was the width of the cylinder. This one I draped over the crank to protect it.

3) I also cut a circular piece of heavy cardboard (over-sized for the cyl) and slid it down to the bottom of the cylinder so it could rest on the crank. I didn't want to have the hone hit the crank at all. It was necessary to rotate the crank before doing anything so the big counter-weight was out of the way for that cylinder.

As added protection I stuffed a rag between the cardboard and the garbage-bag wrapped crank. This allowed me to be able to slide the hone down until I heard it hit the cardboard.

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4) I added a third garbage bag and taped the upper two together. Here it is already for surgery.

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5) Now to keep the oil on the hone from flying everywhere (which turned out wasn't that bad since the drill is used a such low speeds) - I modified a small box I had so that the hone could spin freely in it before entering the piston. The height of the box needs to be around 6.5" for the shorter ball hones. I'm using the 92mm hone. This worked out really well and I had almost no spill-over or mess.

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6) As I did each cylinder, I just held the drill in one hand and the box in the other - with the hone positioned inside the box. I lined up the box & hone over the cylinder, set the drill at the correct speed, held the box against the block, and started honing.

Here's the results. Even though it's only a light hone, it took 8-10 in & out cycles to get that. The glaze on these cyls must be hard.

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Got the other cyls honed this week, and finally got to fit the new (used) pistons. I think I went from one extreme to the other. Though I'd rather be here. I fit each group of pistons per side (R or L), and I ended up below the clearance using a feeler gauge.
I'll do more accurate measuring tomorrow with the micrometer. Here's the cyl-piston gaps I get with the feeler gauge:

1. .0015
2. .0010
3. .0015
4. .0015
5. .0020
6. .0015

The spec is .0012" per radius (.0024" dia), and what I measured was by pushing the cylinder to one side and fitting the largest feeler gauge in the other side. Not precise, but a rough idea.

If they come out nearly the same after the mic, I'll just go back and do some more honing.

HooRa! Pistons are back in.

First I did a test fit of each piston in the cylinder. Each had smooth movement up & down the cylinder. I didn't have the rod cap on so I was just letting the piston gravity drop on the down side - without rings in.

Everything looked good, so I continued to check the ring gaps. Results looked great here too - no grinding required.

1. Cyl #1 - Ring1 = .014 / Ring2 = .020
2. Cyl #2 - Ring1 = .015 / Ring2 = .020
3. Cyl #3 - Ring1 = .015 / Ring2 = .020
4. Cyl #4 - Ring1 = .016 / Ring2 = .020
5. Cyl #5 - Ring1 = .015 / Ring2 = .021
6. Cyl #6 - Ring1 = .014 / Ring2 = .019

Then on with the installation. Right side:

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Left side: All cleaned up and ready for heads - just waiting on half-dozen replacement head bolts. But I can get the bottom end/oil pan all closed up.

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Got the motor back on the stand. Valve covers are on, oils in it, just need a few more hours to finish up the accessories, coolant plumbing, and connect up the wiring. Should be ready for a mid-week startup.

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Good news! Its back together, full of fluids, and ready for round two of bench tests.

Just got the oil pressure test done, and the light went out in about 20 seconds.

Here's the video.

Should be ready to run this weekend.

Good Luck!!!

Thanks, Jason.

Spent yesterday doing a basic breakin of the motor. It will still be many hours before these chrome rings seat fully, so I'll just keep running it off & on while finishing the bodywork on the 914.

Here's a video of the latest run. Sound pretty good, but still getting some mild surging. Cold start seems to have more, but I'll sort that out as I go along.

Nice- Looking forward to seeing that in the car.

Thanks, Cairo. Been working on some motor issues - mild surging has turned into stumbling. Will post some more when I have something solid.

I did decide to get back to the bodywork even though the engine isn't in peak condition. I'll just have to balance both.

Been dealing with stumbling idle and mid-rpm surging. Decided to pull the intake to check injectors, injector wiring, timing sensors, etc.

All the timing sensors checked out and injector wiring is correct. Got the O2 sensors cleaned along with the IAC (air by-pass). IAC was filthy - so it was likely contributing to cold start stumbling. I also checked all the injectors and all had good healthy spray of fuel. All held full pressure individually - so no leaking concerns. I did notice some cracking in all injector's black cushion rings so a new set is on order.

Should be ready for another test run next weekend.
Will report back then.

Well injectors seals are back on, fuel rails in, manifolds on, fuels lines are all hooked up and I'm ready to test this motor again.

But wait - daughters HS graduation is this evening so rest of the afternoon will be spent elsewhere. But I'll be back bright and early tomorrow to see how this runs.

Congratulations and good luck

After long last - Yee Ha - I've got a good running SHO!

Spent the weekend working out the final bugs, here's what it took:

• Added shielding for DIS cable extensions
• Fixed cracked and separated shielding in stock engine harness
• Fixed an intermittent main ground. Pin in plug was not seating completely. Sometimes had continuity, sometimes not.
• Similar pin problem with Coolant temp sensor. Replaced it with a spare I had.

Rechecked O2 output and its now steady and w/in spec. Fuel pressure is holding properly. I need to recheck the IAC valve on a cold-start because the last values I got over the weekend didn't look good.

But it's sounding really good. The little bit of hunting at idle I think has to do with run time. I just need to get more time for the PCM to register settings.

Here's an updated video.

Sounds really smooth! Nice work!

Get it on the road! Time to drive!!!

Gerard- Sounds good. Really looking forward to seeing it in the car. Love those Yamaha engines - they rev so nice.

Thanks guys.

Next up is a rolling stand for the car so that I can do test fitting of the motor. I'm sure it will require multiple attempts so the body will sit at a fixed height. I'll use my ATV lift under the engine cradle to lift it to the needed height.

Pics to follow.

Well got the steel for the car dolly Saturday so I hope to start on that during the week. Had a good run of the SHO motor today. With a single fan/shroud I borrowed from a buddy I was able to run it longer. Did a 30 minute run today. I varied the rpm range every little bit and only let idle twice. Will do a 60 min run sometime this next week.

OK another good test run, this time an hour long. Still getting codes on the IAC valve - which makes sense because the values were off when I tested it at cold start. Time to order a new one.

Other than that the run went well.

OK, well rainy season hit before I got the gutters on the house finished so I've been dodging the rain. Got them finished up Friday though with the long weekend.

Spent today building a fixture for the car dolly weldments from some scrap wood. The weldments are made from 3-inch and 6-inch 1-1/2 inch sq tubing - all at right angles. So hopefully I can do a decent job of getting them to come out right. There are ten separate weldments.

Should be able to get some time during the week to begin welding, so I'll post some pictures as I do.

Here's the first of the three weldments. This is a three-way bracket for the lower four corners of the dolly. They're rotated at each corner so that each side gets one pass-thru and one butt joint. This allows me to adjust the fit. The lower cross pieces will be approx 54" in length, bolted at the butt joint and match-drilled and bolted to fit at the pass-thru end.

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Got the 3-ways mounted to the casters and cut the cross pieces that will be match-drilled. Next are the vertical pieces.

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You must be German, the time and effort spent on engine test stand, dolly, WOW.
I had three inch casters on my dolly. The tube without engine or suspension was difficult to move and kept popping ball bearings out. Just went to the 5" rubber casters from HD. The car rolls so easy its scary. Cant tell what your are using but you may want to consider putting big ones on before you get it all finished and the car loaded.

Bob,

Thanks. Yes - admittedly some german in our heines-57 mix. These casters are the 4-inch from HD & Ace. I have a total of six planned - two swivel with locks, two swivels w/o locks, and two non-swivel that are mounted on sleeves. That way I can install them front/back or side-to-side.

You should post a pic of your dolly - I'd like to see it. The dolly is actually my $150 alternative to the $1500 lift I wanted to get. That will have to wait till daughter's done with college.

Well it's been a couple of weeks but I haven't been idle. Got the dolly finished. The next time I have to drill this many holes I need to get me a drill press.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the body up on it. (We need a jacking emoticon. Ca' mon, they're 914s)

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Haven't done much on the 914 until today. Been distracted. I did spend this morning getting the body up on the dolly - with success. I did have to readjust the length of the dolly so that it would not protrude into the engine bay at all - but that's why I made it adjustable.

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Been busy over the last week and a half finding a replacement for our 15 year old Windstar. Its a 2001 Outback with 120K miles. Unfortunately it suffers from the same thing that plagues all 4-cyl Subys - head gasket failure. Its in excellent condition other than that so I felt it was worth it. My daughter in Wyoming will enjoy it first and when she's done with school it comes back to me.

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So needless to say the next couple of weekends will be dedicated to getting the heads gaskets replaced and basically doing the equivalent of a 60K mile service on the SHO.

While I'm waiting on Subi parts I decided to empty the coolant on the SHO and strip it down. Its now ready for initial fitment.

My height measurements came out pretty good. I was able to roll the motor in from the back. I did have to make a 1/2 inch upward height adjustment because the fuel pressure regulator sticks up above everything else.

You may not be able to tell but I'll have to move the lower-rear cross-support of the dolly forward another 4-6 inches so that I can get the motor's cradle farther forward. Flexible plans are the best ones - just can see everything in advance.

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Great build, this will be a fun engine for the 914.

John

What is the weight on that SHO?

Bob, steel block, aluminum heads, aluminum intake adds up to around 500lbs. So this 914 won't be a track demon - more like a street demon/cruiser.

That will consume mass quantities of rice rockets. Nice work. That's going to be one sweet ride.

Thanks. How'd you know that was my favorite pass time!

Still working on the Subi motor. Got the head gaskets replaced and a valve adjustment done. Will try to get some photos up this weekend.

Kinda off topic (but hey it my thread - right). Got the Subi motor back together and ready to go in. Cleaned up the engine bay, so hope to tackle the install tomorrow.

Didn't spend a lot of time cleaning the motor up too much - just the essentials, since I need to get this back on the road and test it all out before the long trip to Wyoming.

Here's a good pic of a 2001 EJ25 SOHC motor. They are really decent to work on. The intake and fuel rails come off as an assembly, as do the heads, cams, and cam caps. Even the valve adjustment is easier than the Porsche four. The DOHC appear to be a little more work, but hard to tell from the manual.

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Got some time on the project today. Modified the car dolly so that I could get the engine cradle farther forward - enough to lift the engine in its correct position.

So started the fitting tests. Here's the motor from above - though only partially lifted into place.

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The left head falls where expected & there will be approx 1/2 inch clearance. The issues will obviously be the thermostat housing/return hose and coolant hose #2.

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So I'll have to work out these two fittings. Hose #2 should be the easiest to either bend or replace with an equivalent 90 degree elbow. The Tstat housing will be more work to get it modified to a 90 degree bend within two inches.
That also means I'll need to modify the rear firewall about three inches back - which was expected.

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The firewall mod will need to be at least 8 inches - probably 9. This will fit with the trunk mod of 9 inches to accommodate the TPS.

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Had to pull the motor out from underneath the car to set the intake back on so I could remeasure. Good thing because the 9 inches I suspected wasn't enough since the outlet and coolant sensor are offset to the left, but the TPS cable connection is offset to the right. I increased the cutout to 10 inches since I also need to taper the side walls slightly that cover the TPS - this lets me match angles with the B-pillar of the car.

Here's the cutout. Also added some reinforcement until I get it all finished off and closed up:

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Also started to work on the rear cockpit firewall the forward bulge is only 8 inches wide and needs to be 18 inches wide to fit the front part of the SHO's intake as well as the upper part of the cam cover. I'll be able to leave large portions in place so it won't be a complete cutout and should have enough support I won't have to reinforce this area.

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Made some more progress on the left side of the firewall. Started by reshaping the curvature on this side with a spare piece - as it had a convex bulge that needed to be concave. It took a lot of cutting and shaping with a hammer but I'm nearly there.

Also cut out the portion to be replaced so I can start matching edges for the butt joints. I also decided to retain the ribbing toward the center for added strength. The sloping curve along the bottom edge will be cut to match the upper edge of the rib.

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Did another test fit. With the trunk section cut out I was able to lift another 8-10 inches. The right side of the cockpit firewall has not been cut yet so that's a restriction. The bulge provides an extra 4 inches which will be enough for the intake/surge canister.

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The alignment of the drive shafts will be spot on.

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Plenty of clearance at the thermostat now.

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The only thing I'm questioning is the clearance for the alternator and the extended bulge. I'm currently adding 2 inches of material to each side at the middle (see gap in previous post) - but I think I'm going to test fit again with 3 or 4 inches. This will push the bulge left & right even farther. My concern is that I'm strongly considering relocating the A/C to the right side in place of the PS pulley. If I go this route I want as much space at the firewall as possible.

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More progress this evening. Was able to cut two 3" sections for the middle bulge. Applied to each side that will give me an added 6" of clearance - which should be plenty. Was able mock up the left side with the added section.

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Then went on to cut up the right side of the firewall. The farthest vertical edges have been undercut until I get things shaped and fitted.

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So here's the mockup with all four pieces. Next challenge is to shape the bottom blends into the angled ribs.

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I'm guessing your seats will fit?

Yeh, I'm only five-four and never have the seat back that far. Also thinking about putting a speaker box behind the seat to further utilize the space.

Nice work. Did you make those with a sand bag? What are your plans as far as finishing that area after paint? It's purty enough to leave bare, however.

Thanks. I'd like to have a sand bag, but been using items I can find that have the correct radius. Used a piece of thick PVC for the smaller radius & the body of a fire extinquisher for the larger. Talk about crude!