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In June 2001 i located a 1971 Convertible.  the owner had placed it on ebay but then decided to part it out.  however, i was able to save the car...  it needs heater channels and some patches in the rear seat luggage area.  The car has been patched up at least a few times and was quite a mess, but i decided to get it anyway.  i do so love a challenge, and i hate to see something scrapped that i can save.  i DID overpay for it though  $300...  it was only worth maybe $150.  but that's the price you pay to save a car from the junkyard.

i already had a frame from another project that i had welded new floor pans into the and planned to replace the front drums with disc brakes.  The older style 71 to early-73 front suspension had been removed to put the later 73-up style suspension on the frame (so i can use the adjustable lowering struts).

i wasn't sure what i wanted to do with the car, but i wanted it fast and reliable. the aircooled engine has got to go. but how to put power to the ground?  instead of a stock or beefed vw tranny (which may not be strong enough to hold whatever engine i might decide to install), i am installing a gearbox from a porsche 911 (or porsche 914 with modifications).  it will take some fabrication, but there are some good tips out there from some online how-to sites.

i located a porsche 914 parts car to donate the transmission, as well as a 1.7L fuel injected engine. this also gave me a ton of parts to use, including the porsche guages, larger brake calipers, and a few other goodies. i sold what i didnt want or need for more than i paid for the whole car, so everything worked out well and i essentially got the parts for free.

project update 5/23/02
the porsche 901 gearbox is completely installed, shifter, linkage and all.

i have also been having clearance issues with the 914 calipers on the rear (and will probably have the same issues on the front).
the car sits now above its frame (not the working frame it is on in the pic below). my goal for the summer is to just get it back bolted down to its frame, and maybe assemble the front suspension so the car will roll. then its mothballed until winter so i can have it done for next spring.

i am also in the progress of gathering parts to turbo the 1.7 porsche motor. i have the carb, & intake, but i'm still waiting for a garrett t-3 turbo to show up in my favorite local yard...

project update 10/26/02
well this project hasnt been moving along as quickly as i had hoped. the demise of the 88 firebird, purchase of 88 formula firebird that needed some work, as well as spending summer working on the 74 superbeetle have taken time away from this car. but i am back to concentrating on it and still hope to have it done in time for next year's season. i finally got the turbocharger i needed from the junkyard, so that was the real hangup with working on the engine...

car as recieved in july 2001

car as it sits currently

driver side heater channel replacement
i love rust!
added 7/29/01this is what i started with... heater channel totally rotted
added 7/29/01hard to see, but the pans are scrap in this pic
added 7/29/01drivers side rear quarter panel rust cut away, and painted with por-15
added 7/29/01the new heater channel welded in place behind the rear quarter
added 8/22/01 new sheet metal welded in place for the rear quarter
added 8/22/01drivers side rear quarter, bondo-ed and primered

passenger side heater channel replacement
added 8/22/01 passenger side heater channels don't look good either
added 8/22/01a wider angle of the passenger side of the car
added 8/31/01the new passengers side heater channel welded in place (note the patch)
added 8/31/01another wide angle of the passenger side
added 8/31/01the passenger side strut tower needs a patch job...
added 9/10/01passenger side strut tower (different view)
added 9/10/01passenger side rear quarter patch screwed into place
added 9/10/01passenger side rear quarter welded in
added 9/10/01new wide angle shot of the passenger side

bodywork pictures
2 beetles in the garage... the blue one was scrapped due to lcok for room.

trunk area painted with por-15... note the rust all the way through in the corners
added 3/04/02this is what IROC style hood louvers will look like mounted... notice the shaved hood handle

frame pictures
73 SB and frame, separated from car
new frame for the convertible before floor pans installed...
added 10/27/01picture of the frame with pans fully welded
added 10/29/01picture of the floor pans being painted

Porsche 914 transmission install:
shifter
this shifter is the same as the 911. the shifter tunnel section was cut from my 914 parts car.
added 3/04/02the original shifter hole in the frame tunnel
added 3/04/02a new hole cut for the 914 shifter plate
added 3/04/02the 914 shifter plate section test fit
added 3/04/02...now welded into place
added 3/04/02shift plate welded and shifter bolted in place
transmission
the 914 transmission must be converted to a 911 by 1) reversing the differential 2) using a 911 transmission nosecone and 3) using the internal shift rod from a 911 transmission. this means disassembling the 914 box but it is not very hard. gasket sets and syncro rings (if you choose to replace them), as well as diagrams of how everything fits together are available from pelican parts.
parts list: one piece of aluminum u-channel, 4" wide x 26" long, two transmission mounts (auto zone transmission mounts part no. #2392). the rear mounts are beetle stock mounts from bug city. for the front mounts, i welded a couple pieces of metal welded on to the torsion tube and the trailing arm mounts. (see close up pic below). everything fit together pretty well, almost as if it was meant to fit that way. minor clearancing of the frame horns was necessary on the passenger side to clear the tranny and on the drivers side to clear the clutch arm.
new added 3/04/02the empty frame horns... insert transmission here
added 3/04/02the 914 box must be disassembled to reverse the differential (shoptalkforums.com picture)
added 3/04/02the intermediate plate removed to check for worn gears & syncros (shoptalkforums.com picture)
new added 3/04/02my 901, 1st gear syncro ring replaced, new seals, 911 nosecone
new added 3/16/02bottom shot of final-mounted transmission
new added 3/16/02close up of front transmission mount
new added 3/16/02close up of nosecone clearance
new added 11/19/02axles and CV joints... 914 CV's on one end, Beetle on the other

type 4 turbo engine install

the power will come from a 1.7L porsche type 4 that came from my parts car. i have a 2.0 block for later, i want to get the car running first. i'm going to run the pancake cooling configuration to allow room above the engine to mount the turbo (unlike most type 4 conversions that use an upright cooling fan conversion). a custom header (made from the 914 heat exchangers) will route the exhaust up next to the flywheel to the turbo mounted on top of a manifold designed for a center-mounted carb. the exhaust will exit underneath the drivers' side fender.
with this configuration, i should be able to run a holley 4barrel carb without having to worry about closing the engine cover. the rear panel will need to be slightly modified to fit the pancake style cooling.
original design for turbo engine layout
new added 11/19/02draw through turbo intake setup

the turbo - a Mitsubishi TE04H
new added 10/26/02 the turbo i got from the junkyard is a Mutsubishi TEO4H, which i removed from a 89-ish Dodge Lancer. It is slightly smaller than a Garrett t-25, and spools very quickly. this means full boost (i plan to run about 10psi) will kick in quickly, but i won't have extra boost available on the top side of the RPM band.
i purchased it from the junkyard for $50, not bad when you consider i got the turbo, the oxygen sensor, 3 feet of the exhaust pipe, and some firebird parts with it. it isn't normally a reccommended performance turbo because it is a small turbo, but it should be a good starting point, especially since i'm not trying to make 20 or 30psi. the only possible problem with using this turbo is it is a bit on the small side. boost creep due to the small housing and small wastegate could also be an issue. that problem would be solved with an external wastegate, but i'll keep watching the junkyard to see if i can find a Garrett t03 (slightly larger), which was available on earlier model Dodges & Chryslers to avoid both problems.
the turbo was a greasy mess when it came out of the junkyard, and i had to take it apart anyways to rotate the housings to face the way i needed. there are small pins that line up the direction the housings for a stock application, so i grinded them off. i can now rotate each side so the intake and exhaust sides face the correct direction for my setup while the center section of the turbo stays on its proper vertical axis for oiling purposes. now it is all cleaned up...

parts car pictures (these cars are now gone)
engines waiting to be built...
inside view after the dashboard has been removed from 73SB
73 SB laying in its side in the yard
73 porsche 914 ready for scrap
73 porsche 914 ready for scrap 2