Low buck 914 Outlaw project

In reply to FSP_ZX2 :

I thought about that but:

1. The ford block is 1” longer which makes a difference when the Chevy just barely fits and the distributor might interfere with the cabin bulkhead.

2. There is an abundance of Chevy adaptation parts out there to use.

I want to put an Audi V-8 in one of these. 

FSP_ZX2 said:

 

Chiming in a little late here, but why not consider a small block Ford.  A 302 will rev forever (3" stroke), and is more compact and considerably lighter than the SBC.

Why would a 302 rev any differently than a 283? Both are 3" stroke. If anything the chev has less rotating mass with less bore. At that point rev-happy-ness comes from cam, heads, springs etc.

the larger bore of the 302 will clear larger valves than the 3-7/8" bore 283.

so the 302 will make more power across the rpm band than the 283, with a cam you can live with.

build the 302 like I outlined earlier and you will pee yourself silly!!!

And along those lines I also would opt for a .060x4.00 bore. What make's the Mighty Mouse build FLOW so WELL is the larger bore of the 400 block Unshrouds the Valve's. Since he was shooting for 300 hp or less what he has will produce that.

Oh and also if the 180 headers are affecting what you want to cut out of the body, you can do a firing order swap with just a cam, I don't know what they sound like. 

The rear tires fit nice and close to the flare with a 21mm spacer. The fronts fit much better too being a 7” rather than a 6” and being offset better.

THE TYPICAL 350 sbc will not take a .060" over bore, .030" is the largest safe over bore.

for a bigger bore the 400 block with bearing spacers would be a better solution. and again the 400 sbc will only go .030" over. and the piston for a .030" over 400 and 3" stroke will get spendy.

for this light car and his intended HP level and use the .030" over 350 block x 3" stroke will make 325-375 HP easily.

Funny but never had a problem with overbore, you must LOOK at the block to see its centered in the casting, it's kinda overload info but your machinist knows to look.

Starting at 4.125 bore a clean up is all you hopefully need and yes a few years ago there were only a couple sets of KB pistons left nation wide so custom could get high. Dart will bore the crank mains for the sb 350 journal size and 4.125 bore but I can't afford those blocks.

OldDave said:

THE TYPICAL 350 sbc will not take a .060" over bore, .030" is the largest safe over bore.

for a bigger bore the 400 block with bearing spacers would be a better solution. and again the 400 sbc will only go .030" over. and the piston for a .030" over 400 and 3" stroke will get spendy.

for this light car and his intended HP level and use the .030" over 350 block x 3" stroke will make 325-375 HP easily.

Thanks for all the good advice above.... but it is still overkill. I am “only wanting” around 250hp/tq max... I need.to keep the stock transaxle happy for a while. This is nice power goal to have from a budget perspective as well :). 

I am going to look at a local stock 283 shortblock in the next few days. 

Yeah !  Lol 

Minor progress happening on the 914. 

Found a nice semi-vintage MOMO steering wheel stamped 1984 on the back. :)

Other than that.... bondo dust is starting to hit the floor in the garage on a fairly regular basis - hoping to be done with all that by spring so I can paint.

In reply to 914 :

I started fitting the front bumper that came with the car. I thought it was going to be a rusty unusable bent pos.... as it looked pretty nasty.

Turns out it was not as bad as it could have been - mostly solid just with poorly applied bondo and Bedliner. It actually fits pretty well now after a bit of hammer and dolly action. It will get a new thinner skim of bondo after I cut it open a bit for radiator airflow.

Well it turns out MoMo adapters for early 914’s have been out of production for quite some time and are really hard to find and expensive when you do.  I did manage to find a “Luisi” brand correct hub in Europe and ordered it. It is drilled for sparco, Omp and MoMo bolt patterns which is nice. 

Passenger side 1/4 panel reinstalled today. Previous owner cut it off to fix the rusty area under the battery tray. 

Flared GT style rocker panels should be here in the next couple days as well as new rubber bumper tops ! .

I also received a big bag of 5/8” head black pop rivets that will hold the flares on once painted.

I should have the rest of the car in primer in the next few weeks hopefully.

Rockers fit pretty well out of the box front to back - need some trimming on the door sill flange so they will tuck inboard about another 1/2” or so. 

Very nice.

An hour or so with the hammer and dolly action and the front valence is ready for some slight modification and “bondosmanship”. 

The plan is to open it and the bumper like the factory did for the 914/6 oil cooler duct. 

Like this:

I will cut the opening shape out of some 18g sheet metal on my friends plasma table and graft the pieces on.  

With a small block Chevy unless there's a rule limiting engine size there's no practical reason to build a small displacement motor.  Displacement is always better and RPM is really limited by the valve train and not the bottom end.  I agree that a high winding short stroke small block makes an awesome noise and I'd never fault anyone for building one for that reason but a 350 will make a better race motor probably for less money and if your wallet can stand it a 383 will be even better.  If you're only looking for 250 HP then a GM crate motor is probably your best bet.  This one Link  is a good choice.

Hi thanks for the suggestions but the stock transaxle I am using will not last with a motor over 275-300hp. Also, the flywheel and clutch assembly i have is for an early gen small block. 

Max power is also not so important on the project- at about 2000lbs 250-275 hp with a 5 speed will be pretty Fun in a car that handles well. This is also where the desire for higher rpm comes in. 

Got the plasma cut pieces for the bumper and valence openings on the weekend. 

Steady as She Goes........

Finally  I bought a decent 283 short block...

It is in Seattle however and I am in Vancouver so it means a 2 hour drive each way. Looks like I will pick it up after Christmas. Still I am pretty excited. 

GTXVette said:

I can show you how to build a 331 ON A BUDGET that flow's over 100% VE with 200cc heads and make approx. 600 hp and spin 8000 rpm. IT was A Mighty Mouse build we did at Chevy High Peformance. MOSTLY FACTORY PARTS, today you can buy more expensive parts. heads were just 200 cc darts 

8K rpm, street-able?

Please tell ME, I've started a 327 build but have not got the cam or pistons yet.

EDIT: To add, I've already got my 4X Weber intake, so what I'm really looking for at this point is what cam to run.

Lightened '68 El Camino, Muncie, 3.54 gears. Closer to a road-race car than "Pro-Street" but to be street driven.

Op, not meaning to hijack your thread, and have you given any thought to the readily available and truly inexpensive ALL Aluminum V8's from Rover?

With you modest power target a Rover 3.5 to 4.6 with a few mods should be great, it's also what I may do someday if I find a suitable 914.

I used to have a BOP/R engine in my Noble P4 replica, car was perfectly balanced and handled better than ANYTHING else I have ever driven or ever expect to drive.