Fubaru -76 Dino 308 GT4 -turbo Subaru swap project

Hey guys and gals, I'm Jay from metro Atlanta GA. Avid motorsports fan and amatuer tinkerer, and GRM subscriber!

The daily is a '12 VW TDI Jetta sedan and the project is this.

Ahem....

From Webster:

Blasphemy - the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity or the irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things.

That being said my car should be a parts car. It's rusty, the motor and trans were junk, paint sucks, and it has 105,000 miles and 36 hard years on everything.

Looking at my options, it made absolutely ZERO sense to throw a used 308 motor and trans in this thing. It adds no value to an already worn out version of a model so few care about when I'm just going to beat on it. I decided to go a different route when powering this thing, no doubt a route I felt bad sharing on here given what the reactions may be, BUT alas here it is.

The car is getting a 2.0 Turbo Subaru STi motor and transmission with a coldwater 914 locking spool to convert to rwd. Also from subarugears are the axle flange adapters. It has a larger fuel pump and boost controller which will bring me to the 300 whp/300 wh tq neighborhood. As for the sound and aesthetics.....well there were boxer Ferrari's in the past. The gt4 wasn't one of them but it's not a completely batsh*t idea given the layout.

Lastly, I'm not ruining some treasured car. This car was a POS that you wouldn't have wanted anyway. If I restored it to original, you likely wouldn't have wanted it then either. I'm doing this with the goal of getting on the track with less than (or equal to) $10k in a Ferrari including the cost of the car. Maybe it's not a real Ferrari anymore. It's a Fubaru now, or maybe it's a Surrari. Not sure yet.

Anyway I'd like to get another honest to God Ferrari powered Ferrari someday as a street car to cruise around in. Something like a 456 but for now a gt4 I can beat on and not care about hurting it's resale value is a fun prospect.

Motor is just sitting in there now, welding everything up soon.

Here are some pictures of what I'm doing so far and hopefully some of you mid engine guys can help me out (No idea what I'm doing):

Awesome builds on this site and love to see what other gearheads are up to!

The first three paragraphs felt like you are trying to justify this to us.....no justification needed; we all want to do the same thing.

Update often!

While I love gt/4s and the ferrari sound and generally think subies sound like garden tractors - I wholeheartedly approve of this project and wish I lived closer to lend a hand.

chandlerGTi wrote: we all want to do the same thing. Update often!

What he said!

the only error I see so far is putting ferrari and "cheap track toy" in the same sentence... I'm guessing an off could result in a few thousand dollars in replacement panels... Not sure what those have suspension wise, but for a track toy I think I'd put that motor in an rx7 or something that are much more plentiful in junkyards and maybe more work done to prove up suspension solutions? Not familiar with ferraris, due to their not being found in junkyards and trailer parks and such, so just stabbing in the dark, because you never know whats out there. stab.

The name should definitely be FUBARu!!!

And I mean that in the most affectionate way possible. Great name, even better project.

BTW - the two-tone red/black job is my favorite on the GT4 and many other 80's F-cars. Can't wait to see the progress.

andrave wrote: the only error I see so far is putting ferrari and "cheap track toy" in the same sentence... I'm guessing an off could result in a few thousand dollars in replacement panels... Not sure what those have suspension wise, but for a track toy I think I'd put that motor in an rx7 or something that are much more plentiful in junkyards and maybe more work done to prove up suspension solutions? Not familiar with ferraris, due to their not being found in junkyards and trailer parks and such, so just stabbing in the dark, because you never know whats out there. stab.

Cheap track toy as far as Ferraris are concerned. I've had an FD RX7 and a turbo rotary 911... random junk with rotarys. I'm not sure why you'd put a Subaru motor in an Rx7 of all things when many mid engine people use these as an upgrade not really rwd as there are WAY better choices for rwd in an rx7.

The point isn't just a cheap track toy its a cheap track FERRARI.

As far as suspension 4 wheel independent and fairly competent especially for the 70s.

competent for the 70's doesn't say much. I suggested the rx7 because you made it sound like you had a subaru engine you had a burning desire to put into something.

btw you may want to edit your first post and delete your email address, this is a public forum. spammers get ahold of emails and your inbox will be full of junk! other board users can send you messages through the board.

chandlerGTi wrote: The first three paragraphs felt like you are trying to justify this to us.....no justification needed; we all want to do the same thing. Update often!

Thanks folks!

I guess the defensive tone is because I orignally posted it on a Ferrari board to get help with chassis question I may have. Most of them don't completely hate it surprisingly.

Those choice for the powerplant, is simple. Size, layout,cost , and power. I've had many people say put a 5.0 in it, without of course measuring or thinking first. One guy in Wisconsin has completed this swap with a wrx motor but hasn't responded to my emails in months and months so I don't know what happened there but he was a great resource.

Porsche 914 with a Sti motor is awesome and laid out the same SO.... I'm going to do what I can to live out my childhood dream of having a Ferrari (no matter whats powering it)

This is very relavent to my interests. Carry on.....

andrave wrote: competent for the 70's doesn't say much. I suggested the rx7 because you made it sound like you had a subaru engine you had a burning desire to put into something. btw you may want to edit your first post and delete your email address, this is a public forum. spammers get ahold of emails and your inbox will be full of junk! other board users can send you messages through the board.

Maybe I'm not being as concise as I should. I don't care how competitive this car is. I don't care about being the fastest. I don't just want to build just any hotrod (done that). I want to build a fun Ferrari for cheap (under 15k) and beat the snot out of it. This is always something I've wanted to do.

I picked the subaru motor because it is the cheapest way to get the thing running with 300 hp.

We were JUST having this discussion in another thread and I was thinking basically the same thing as you. Find a nice cheap F-car with a busted motor and put something more common, more reliable, and more powerful in its place. My first thought was 1uz toyota bolted to some transaxle (pricey part). I have no idea if it would fit but I liked the idea. Sweet car, keep us up to date. There are a few ferrari guys around here that might be of some help. I think their cars were still F powered but still.

singleslammer wrote: We were JUST having this discussion in another thread and I was thinking basically the same thing as you. Find a nice cheap F-car with a busted motor and put something more common, more reliable, and more powerful in its place. My first thought was 1uz toyota bolted to some transaxle (pricey part). I have no idea if it would fit but I liked the idea. Sweet car, keep us up to date. There are a few ferrari guys around here that might be of some help. I think their cars were still F powered but still.

As far as fitment goes, this is the best and cheapest I could figure out. TRUST ME. I have been doing this project for about 18 mos and was originally going to do a 3.9 Rover with a 914 trans and it just sucked. Northstar V8 with transaxle (meh) expensive and not as tuneable. At least this way if I want more power later on the sky is the limit. Funny enough, this may end up being the fastest Dino GT4 in the world. And the weirdest sounding.

Berkeley. Yes.

crankwalk wrote: And the weirdest sounding.

If you get an equal length header, I think a lot of that subaru burble will go away and it will sound more like a regular 4 cylinder. Not better (I like the subbie sound) but less strange.

This project is berking awesome.

Also, having ridden in a 2.0T swapped 914, I can say that this is a great drivetrain combo!

(This is the 914 in question)

Welcome to the "I stick subie motors in other cars club" Granted yours is waaay cooler than mine ;) I'm still running on the 2.2 right now but I have a 2.0T waiting on me to finish other cars and get back to it.

I think its a great use of an otherwise used up Ferrari. Love it!

This thread is full of win. Should be a fun toy that confuses folks at tech inspection.

I fully support this!

What's happening to the remainder of that front clip on the GC8? I have a buddy that has a legit RHD GC8 STi- Japan tags and all, might want stuff from you.

Dude, seriously, AWESOME! My buddies and I have always joked (in a why-the-hell-not sort of way) about doing what you're doing for serious. Since I am indeed right down the street as you eluded to on my build thread, and I work over in Marietta, if you ever need a hand with that, let me know, I have no shame helping others in their pursuit of automotive sanity...

much goodness in this thread. though I have to say i am a little sad to see a GC8 hacked in half. I hope that car was a rear-end total already, lol...

irish44j wrote: much goodness in this thread. though I have to say i am a little sad to see a GC8 hacked in half. I hope that car was a rear-end total already, lol...

Looks like a JDM clip, so it probably was exactly that. Alternatively, it was a car that was just going to be scrapped for whatever reason, at least this way it's not cubed.

This rocks. Hopefully when it's done the staff will have it in CM.

Having dabbled in exotic-car-land once with a Fiat Dino I'm all for your "ruining" a Ferrari. My next Fiat Dino will have a V8.