http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1298313067.jpg

Here is what I have.

That pic is scary. First, not enough air to your intercooler. Second, You hell hole needs work.

This is a work in progress, but what do you see in particular that needs work? I am new to this. Thank you for any input. The intercooler is going away. I'm am going with the water to air intercooler today.

Look at where the engine shelf used to be. (This car has obviously been cut for A/C at one point.) There is obvious missing metal forward and outboard of there; it is not clear to my eye if it is on the firewall or if it is on the longitudinal. Even if it isn't on the long yet, it will migrate there...

--DD

can we see pics of the whole car? I'm curious if that's my old 914.

We started adapting the Tangerine Horizontal Cooling System for Type 1 installation a couple weeks ago. The first prototype should be done within a couple of weeks.

++++1 on the not enough air. You need to pull (or push) air through that intercooler. Take a look at the turbo threads, guys are always trying to seal their grilles so that air can only come into the engine compartment through the fins of the intercooler, point being air will take the least path of resistance. In your pic you will have little or no air passing through, it will end up being a big heatsink.

Even though that sidewall is not structural, it keeps the water and debris being thrown around in the wheel well (on the other side of it) in the wheel well and not puddling on the long. That existing hole should be closed off, rewelded after relocating the intercooler.

You guys are awesome. Thank you all for your input. This is three first time I have ever posted on a forum....i am thankful for all your time and willingness to help. My original plan was to fiberglass the wheel well an add ascoop under the car to force the air through the intercooler. Now I have switched to a water-to-air intercooler eliminating the need for airflow over the intercooled, but I need to mount a radiator. I'm thinking of mounting it in the front trunk in the floor where the spare tire goes, seeing as I have to cut out rust there also. Is there any structural integrity issues I need to be conserned with? I will post a picture of what I'm thinking in a few. Thank you all so much again.

Toby

There is debate about how much metal you need in the front trunk floor. The dealer-installed AC setup cut a hole (often a very large one!) in the trunk floor, and the factory racing department built 914-6GTs ran holes in the floor as well for oil cooler exhaust air.

Since the front suspension mounting points are at the front of the trunk, I come down on the side of "more metal is better". I think you'd be fine if, say, you did a brace across the top of the mounting points, and an X-brace back to the rear of the compartment.

For radiators, another venting area that has been used frequently is the wheel wells. You can cut some material out of those without giving up too much strength, though I've seen huge holes in that area that I didn't care for. Note that road debris, dirt, and water will tend to come into the trunk through those. So unless you've got everything ducted, it will get very messy up there. And for cooling anything, ducting is usually a good idea anyway.

--DD

Cool, it's a 75-76, with the fuel pump up under the tank.

I don't see the typical A/C cutout in the floor, so maybe the hacking on the engine shelf was purely rust-inspired...

If you cut those larger and clean them up, and run ducting over the radiator, it should work pretty well. Pop out the plugs in the front panel and modify your bumper just a little to give the air in a path. You may want a fan or two on there as well... But I'm generally used to thinking of radiators used for engine cooling, not charge cooling. So I'm not really sure exactly what you need.

--DD

So is this a lesson where someone said it can't be done and you're doing it to prove them wrong? I see some decent $$$ in parts that could have gone into 914-4 that was structurally sound and ran well...

Not a jab, just curious because you are sure investing a lot of thought in this...

Awesome progress! Keep the pics comming

I sold my 1968 bug that the motor was in. I rebuilt the motor and had nothing to do with it. I always loved the 914 and figured why not. Then I tried to find anything online on a type 1 in a914 and came up with nothing, so I said, thats a challenge. To do this out of my garage, with no prior welding experience(obviously) was the challenge I was looking fire. Besides, I've got around 300hp from a motor that I can easily get parts for, and cheap in comparison. And I'm a recovering alcoholic, my mind won't shut up.

Almost every piece of sheetmetal on a 914 is structural! The sidewalls of the engine compartment certainly are.
That said, in most cases it is not terribly detrimental to remove small portions of the unibody on a low powered example such as a stock 914. The front trunk floor is a case in point, where the AC components were fitted.

Here's a preview pic of our Type 1 Horizontal Fan Cooling System
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1298606598.jpg

Very nice. Expensive?