Volts to Liters

[70basket]

Good Morning

Looks like I am going to purchase a 1970 914 that is an electric conversion. Its seems that it just needs replacement storage batteries and some attention paid to the brakes to get it road worthy again. But I discoverd that batteries are way more expensive than I thought when I first started considering this. It so happens that I also have a 2.7 liter motor (911/85) that is not doing anything right now. Considering the expense of the batteries and the apparent limited range on electric (I live in a rural area) not to mention the song of a flat6 over a whining electric I think I am looking at a 6 cylinder conversion. The car is in good condition I have not discovered any rust and the doors open and close with ease top on or off. I would get a roller with no motor, exhaust, gas tank and fuel lines it has 5 lug deep 6 Fuchs (reproduction?) and some holes cut in the rear trunk floor where electric drive components were installed. I am not sure about how much of the original wiring harness was cut up for the conversion. Our host has some good info on 914 6 conversions that I have parsed but I want to get a little real world input. I am pretty familiar with early 911, I have 1970 911T also, but a rookie when comes to 914. Any comments or advice would be appreciated.

ps sorry no photos yet.

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

In addition to the conversion information that you already have, I thought it would be helpful to attach a link to our site's DIY tech articles on the 914 platform so you can get a sense of the repairs and procedures on this car. Please let us know if you have any questions and best of luck with the project!

Porsche 914 (1970-1976) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

It'll be a fun car when you're done with it! But be prepared that this is not a simple drop-in conversion. Not only do you have the motor mounts, exhaust, and induction to deal with, but things like engine tin and the on-engine oil cooler and other stuff need to be modified or replaced with stuff that will fit the 914. And of course, there's the oil tank.

It is easy to spend $10K on the conversion, even if you already have an engine and a complete chassis.

If your engine needs a rebuild (2.7s are not known as the longest-lived 911 motors!) then you can spend more than that just on the rebuild--and that assumes you're doing the work yourself!!

Lots of smiles when you drive the completed car, though.

--DD

[gshiwota]

Sounds like I'm in the exact same boat. I just bought an EV conversion project 914 and I too have an 2.7 motor laying around. My car was 90% converted as the prior owner had gone as far as install the batteries and motor - he just never got around to wiring it up.

I think I'm going to do a Subaru conversion on mine as I think there's more bang for the buck in terms of performance vs cost. I'd love to put my 2.7 motor in to it but after refreshing the motor, dealing with an oil tank, exhaust, tin and oil cooler the cost is prohibitive. I think I could buy all of the parts for the Sube conversion for what I could sell my 2.7 engine for. Even though a Subaru does require some work including the cooling system, I figure my car was already modified and cut up, so it's not too big of a shame to convert to H20 cooled.