Chasis strengthening ?

[peter carroll]

I am putting together a '74 that is going to have a Chevy V6 in it. Is it necessary to strengthen the chasis? If so, what areas would you suggest?(2.8 liter with possibly 200 hp at most) Thanks, Pete Carroll

[914GT]

Probably not necessary but I figured it could not hurt. I bought the chassis and trailing arm stiffening kit from Desert Hybrids for my V8 conversion. I also reinforced the engine mounts and the inner trailing arm mounts with 18 ga. steel.

[BigD9146gt]

The only reason I would use the trailing arm stiffining kit is if the car was a track car. Otherwise, if you hit a curb or a pothole etc, your going to do more damage to the chassis than just bending the trailing arm. They are fairly cheap (the trailing arms) and MUCH easier to replace than straightening a chassis. But like Guy said, reinforcing everything else is not a bad idea.

[Mark_B]

Over on the 914club site there is a guy who makes an inner long stiffening kit - supposed to be the ticket for bigger engines and/ or AX cars........

[type11969]

Pete-

You ditching the h6 suby idea? Or is this a new project and the suby is done? Always thought an aluminum block v6 would be the ticket. On the 914club site, look for engman's stiffening kit, 250 or so dollars, but if you look at the pictures of the kit and where it attaches, you could probably replicate it for much less.

-Chris (the guy who bought that red 914 or yours)

[peter carroll]

Hey Chris, I still have the Subaru eng., but I was real paranoid about all of those fuel injection wires to hook up. The GM V6 setup was taken out of a 914, and is good to go. Almost "plug and play" with a 4 barrel Holley. I am in no rush to put it in, I want to detail everything first. Take care, Pete