I would share my project with the world since I enjoy seeing what others have posted. The 914world has been big help in sourcing info, parts, and the car itself.

I thought about building this car for years, and finally decided to act on it.

Recomendations and comments are welcome. Thanks, Michael

Project Scope

Body: 1973 narrow bodied w/ fiberglass bumpers
Engine: Honda S2000 F20C (250 ps @ 8200 rpm)
Transmission: Stock
Front Suspension: 87 911 front end w/ Bilstein Sports, 22 sway bar
Rear Suspension 250 lb springs on bilstein sports, poly bushings
Wheels: 15x7 with R compound
Brakes: 87 911 Carrera F&R

This is how it looked when I first got it. Brought this home from Southern Caifornia. The transport company rolled it up in the yard since it had no brakes.
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Repaired hell hole
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Reinforced rear suspension console
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Removed sound deadening from the floor and prepping for POR15
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Rear fiberglass bumper fitted
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I hope to be installing the drivetrain in September, that is if Murphy's law quits getting me. The flywheel from KEP is several thousands too small to fit on the crankshaft so I need to get that resolved first.

great engine.....will it fit????

Nice. Can't wait to see this through.

Woah, awesome so far. Can't wait to see the progress!

Sounds like a real cool project, but what class will putting the Honda motor in the 914 put you in?

I'd hate to go to all that work only to end up stuck having to compete against V8 cars running 2-3 times the HP.

I don't really plan to race this, just show off at HPDE events. However if it proves to be a very capable car, I may race it NASA's GTS class. I don't plan to install a cage until the car has been sorted and proven, due to budget contraints.

Any reasonw hy you went F20 over a K series?


People are getting insane power all motor out of the K.

K24/K20 combo would be nasty.

I think the stock F20C should be enough to make a 914 haul ass pretty nicely compared to just about anything you could do with a type-IV.

Fasthonda, is that an F20 or F22? I hear the F22 in the AP2 is a lot more fun to drive than the F20 in the AP1.

My dream 914 streetcar would probably have a honda J30/5/7 engine. A 3.0 to 3.7 v6 with more power than the porsche six cylinders and half the weight!

Great concept ...good luck.

Project update. Things are progressing slow since I haven't much time. I'm ready now to fit the powertrain in the car and fabricate the engine mount. Here's a few pictures of the progress. I'm also still looking for a nice clean (no rust) stock gas tank if anyone has one for sale.
Painted the interior floor with POR15
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Cleaned up and painted the engine bay
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901 trans mounted to the S2K engine
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loving it!

This is looking cool! What clutch/flywheel are you going to use?

Chris,

The flywheel is from Kennedy Engineering. I will be using the stock 914 clutch and pressure plate. Since the S2K motor is low on torque and the car will be very light the stock setup should be fine.

I set the engine under the car today. The S2K motor is very tall. The valve cover will protrude above the engine lid and trunk so these will need to be modified. The Engine still needs to be raised about 8 inches from the position in the picture below. I need to cut the truck section before I can raise it to its final position.

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I put the cookie cutters on the front today for the first time. I think these wheels look great on the car.

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Does the S2k engine rotate the right way, or do you need to flip the diff?

The stock clutch will be fine till you start trying to drop the clutch...

Cool project!

From the AP2 S2000 I drove, I didn't feel that they have any more torque than my 2.0L rabbit rods TIV, they just have a bit more power at the top end. If this engine is from an AP1, I'd imagine it has even less twist.

So I think the clutch ( especially if you get one of those nice sachs high performance models ) should probably be in good shape to take the Honda engine.

I now have the powertrain in its final position and will begin fabricating the engine mounting bar. The shift linkage clears the oil pan so no modifications needed there, however the the throttle body is up against the fire wall so I will have to put a recess in the fire wall to make clearance for a 180 deg. bend.
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Wow, that's looking good!

I suppose it would be worth going to individual throttle bodies in that configuration to clear the firewall.

How's the project going?

I would suggest that you paint over the POR while your at it...
The POR does not like UV light in any form, and will change color on you quickly -
It's easier to do it now while your cabin is still empty -

Your project looks great - keep at it!

Progress has been slow. I would of had the engine mount finished by now, but I have changed my design during the fabrication process. I have decided to mount the engine using a six style firewall bulkhead mount instead of using the Type IV chassis mounting points. This will make for a much cleaner looking setup. I'm still waiting on my bulkhead mount from Maddog.

I did order one of those high torque mini starters which saves a little more weight and the shift linkage clears the oil pan with no problem.

Pictures to follow when get the engine mount finish.

Michael

Updates please!

To wallys914,

I went thru your build thread. Awesome. After seeing your thread I came close to buying that tube bender and doing my own cage. Wish that bender came with a 6 inch die radius though.

Things are going slow and it's hard to see the finish line. I'm tempted to go in on the group buy for the steel GT flares, but I have more than enough to do as it is.

I completed fabing the engine mount, but I plan to stiffen the chassis before installing the engine. That's what I am currently working on. Instead of building a full cage, I plan to traingulate from the fire wall to the longitudnal and rear shock tower. No bends will be required and it will also minimize the weight added. I will post pictures when done.

Here is my engine mount setup.

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I got the rear suspension and brakes assembled too. Also added early light weight doors. Now it is offically a roller again.

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Like your project. I have 3 conversion cars and am in Travelers Rest. I have all kinds of parts and have used several suppliers that are listed here. We talked once about a 915 tranny you had and sold. let me know if I can help.
LC

Here is my design for stiffening the chassis in bending. I didn't want to invest in a full cage since the car will not be raced in competition. The goal was to stiffen the car with minimum added weight and keeping it safe. I didn't want any bars near my head. The bars also increase side impact protection, which is nice since I'm using early light weight doors. I'm still debating whether or not to add a harness bar tying the 2 sides together. The harness bar would be pass straight through the bulged part of the fire wall.
front
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rear
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a plate is welded on the interior side of the fire wall where the seat belt attaches.
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The bars line up at the fire wall for strength and no bending was required.

w/o the engine in the car I measured .010 inch flex at the door when jacked up. Before the bars I measured .060 . I will recheck after the engines in.

There is a lot of flex in the front of the car. Not all of it is in the back.

This is a really cool build, looking forward to seeing more updates! Do you plan on bars in the front?

Here's what we did for my cage. Obviously, it's a full cage, but i really like the sidebars.

The curve allows for easy getting in and out.
The front ties into the upper wheel well and front shock towers.

Ignore the thin bracing that we used during the welding ...
Andy

Yes I need to add some bars going to the front shock towers. Wasn't in the original plan, but it is now.

Andy,

Your cage is very nice. Thanks for posting. Do you have bars going to the rear?

Due to the cold weather and the fact I have too many projects going at once progress has been very slow. I'm enjoying the process and not that anxious to finish quickly. I'm well ahead of my 3 year time line. I need it to warm up to finish painting the interior and engine bay before putting the powertrain back in.

I ended up gutting the doors and made my own aluminum door panels. I plan to place the battery up front and fabed up a battery tray.

For a radiator I plan on using a Honda dual core half size radiator. There is room enough to mount it vertical. I will shroud it out the bottom like an oil cooler. Cutting the wheel wells open doesn't appeal to me. Here's a few pictures.

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Not yet. At the time, i wasn't sure which clubs i would end up running with and most stockish classes don't allow you to tie the cage to the rear shock towers.

Now that i'm running in GT2/GTL, it doesn't matter anymore, i'm already waaaaay outclassed ...
Andy

This will work but keep in mind you need twice the size of your inlet in your outlet. Also you should shroud it 100%. Next under the car should be a low pressure area, Using louvers or a single lip to create a suction/ negative pressure at the outlet will help.

Let me know if you have any questions on it.

Love the bulkhead engine mount.

Man I would love to see the radiator in the engine bay! It looks like there's plenty of room to put it in there and build ducting to pull a lot of air through it with the right fans.

Thank you for the great advice. I didn't know about to 1:2 inlet/outlet ratio. Yes I plan to shroud it 100%. A large enough from air dam should also help with negative pressure.

I thought about putting the radiator in the fire wall, but getting air to it is a major challenge.

Any updates on this? Is the motor in and running now?

The car is about 90% complete and should make its debut this spring. I need to finish some details on the coolant system and wiring to fire it up. Wasn't planning on updating the thread until its debut but I will post more detailed pics this weekend for those that have interest.

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Thanks for the encouragement.

Michael

Looking good. Cant wait ....

Looking forward to the pics!!!

Very interested. Keep the thread going. I'm a big Honda guy and before I was unbelievably able to own the very same 914 my Dad owned in the 70's, I had wanted to find a project 914 and fit it with a B18 or 'lude motor--that was before the S2000 came out! Now you've got me wondering again if a 3.5 "6" would fit.

PS, did you pull your fenders for the cookie cutters to fit? I tried a one on the rear of mine and it was nowhere close to working.

Yes the 3.2-3.7 will fit with an adapter. There are a couple out there already. 914club had a thread about them Good motors.

I love me some Hondas, have 5 at the house right now. Working on putting a GSR into a CRX with a hydro trans, Type R front brakes, all the good stuff from my turbo civic, that is now a race car in the works.

Brett, What are the advantages of a hydro trans? Ability to use a stronger pressureplate?

My DD is a CRX Si and im planning on doing a Minime swap over the winter. I just got finished porting and polishing the exhaust side (First P&P job, Did it more for learning than the negligable gain) of the head. Its a Z6 head.



I think a B18 would make a great daily driver 914 if it was built a little!

There really ain't a benefit to the hydro trans. I just happened to buy the swap with a hydro tranny. They cable trans can handle similar pressure plates. No need to run massive pressure plates.

My 90 Hatch was a full z6 swapped with the turbo kit I built. made 240 at the wheels. I was going to do a custom ZC/Si gearbox swap but decided to go ahead and step up to the CG transmission from the first gen integra. That is what I am going to use in the race car. Gonna stick with the Built Z6. Adding a bigger turbo and header, some all out custom suspension stuff blah,blah, blah. Even have a new roof panel to weld on to get rid of the sun roof.

As for your car make sure you convert it to OBD 1. There really isn't a good way to control your engine with all the bolt on garbage. However if you want an Apexi AFC let me know the CRX has one that will be sold as soon as I yank it out. You need more compression and more cam to really make that engine work right. Use the ZC or PM7 pistons to get the compression up, then drop in a bigger cam. The ZEX cam is reasonably priced. Add the ZC/Si gear box and you will have a car that is a riot to drive. Of course it will probably get stolen in 20 minutes out in CA.

I have parts if you need anything, let me know.

If you roll the inner lip, then 15x7 cookie cutters w 205/50-15 fit with no problem. I ended up pulling my fenders with baseball bat only to fit 15x8's with a 225/45-15. They fit but didn't look quite right. I plan to add rear GT flares later to use the 15x8's. The current slightly flared fenders actually look decent. I'll have to take a picture.

As promised here are a few detailed pics of the cars current state.

The radiator will be completely shrouded once finished.

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One of my home made GT lid. Engine is tall but still fits under the lid - barely.

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Regards,

Michael

Your setup is looking really good. Did you run your water lines through or under?

Can't wait to see pix with 8's on the rear.

Are those Ground Control threaded sleeves on the rear shocks?

One under, and one through. I would have ran both through but the inlet and outlet are on the same side of the engine.

Gonna be a while till I get a set of steel GT Flares. WTB

Yes. Run these on my Honda. Good quality.

Added GT style harness bars. Made from U bolts.

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I can confirm that an autometer 5" monster tach (pedestal mount version) fits nicely in the stock cluster. Had to build up the diameter just a little for a snug fit.

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I thought I recognized the Ground Controls. Had to go out in the garage and dig for mine after I saw what you're using (found 'em!). I had them on the rear of my 87 CRX Si with 200 lb Eibachs. Had been casually wondering if they would adapt to the 914 for easy height adjustment. I guess you've answered my question.

In your travels, have you seen any other successful Honda powered 914's? If so, can you shoot links?

Also, now that your motor's in, would you have had room for 1 (or more) small radiators in the engine bay--maybe to the driver's side?

Keep up the progress.

Hey Fasthonda,

I love your converion and compliments on the good work! It's a great conversion idea and with such a stout engine, I'm wondering about supercharging!
That you really make it fly!

My car is a V8 conversion and I also had to raise the engine cover....it isn't even noticeable!

When I noticed your radiator install, I believe I saw that your plan to vent out the bottom of the car. I wanted to pass on that I tried this for a couple years with my car and even with an airdam 2" from the ground and 2 big fans, the car still ran HOT on-track. Most of V8 conversions exhaust out the fenderwells and while it seems to work, the BEST way is our the top of the hood. Check out what bynbad914 has done in the attached photo. My solution is similar ala racing sports cars. Since the Honda won't be producing the heat of my 383 Chevy, a modest opening should to the job.

Best of luck, keep the photos coming!!

Terry


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Thanks for the advice Terry. From reading the forums I was aware of this, but not until after I finished my original setup. I gonna give this a try and monitor the water temp closely. It won't take too much to angle the radiator forward and vent out the hood if neccesary. Plently of good deals on Ebay for Louvers.

Michael