Engine Cradle - Phase 1

Spent the weekend & Monday working on my son's 914. Pulling the engine to reseal everything.

I said I'd never pull another 914 engine without the use of a lift. Never say never. It went pretty well - except that he needs seals bad so everything is an oily mess.

It occurred to me that since I was building an engine cradle for the SHO project, it wouldn't be much effort to build supports that would work with the 914 engine & transaxle. I could have them done before the engine is ready to go back in.

Did manage to get some time in on the engine cradle - one of the side benefits of my son's infatuation with games.

Spent the morning cutting, beveling, and cleaning pieces for the base, and the caster extensions.

Got the base welded together and ran out of welding wire just as my son showed up.

It was a beautiful crisp morning - and by noon it felt like 70 degrees. This is why I love southern Arizona.


Time to shift gears and guide him in the rest of his engine tear-down.

More to follow . . .

Back on the 914

Well after a couple of years working on other cars (for my sons), I'm back into the saddle on my 914 project. I was doing plenty of planning/designing during that time also so the project wasn't completely idle.
Here's the engine cradle design. It's a variation on the cradle design I bought on line from Russ Green.

Since this is going to serve multiple purposes, I needed to modify a few things:

1. I need to mount engine & tranny together with flywheel & clutch
2. Use the cradle to bench-test the engine, harness, & components
3. Use the cradle to install the engine & tranny

To support the 914's transaxle I added support plates that will mount behind the bell-housing fasteners. The lower one acts as a cross-member, while the upper just tie to the support posts.

Not shown are the two additional cross members I added so that I can lift the whole assembly with my ATV lift. This will make installation much easier and safer.

I've also designed the engine bar that supports the engine in the car. It will mount in the stock position, but sitting on top of the receiver plate rather than hanging down. It looks like I can use the stock transaxle mounts, but I may need to add a small adapter plate once I do the test fit.

Now that I have the material together I can begin fabrication and assembly. Ahhh - the fun begins.

Tha Cave - Under Construction - 2

Well I reached a stage of completeness - the framework and fixed shelves are up, painted, and ready for the facing and doors. I was so thrilled to finally have all this stuff off the floor and room for two cars in the garage again.

Just in time to get pulled off for a couple of weeks to tackle another project. I'll be back.

Tha Cave - Under Construction

Well the first phase is coming along nicely. The framework for the cabinets is in place. Everything is primed and ready for paint.

The unpainted portion of the stringers doesn't get primer since I'll be gluing and fastening the faces to the framework. I've also taped those mating surfaces in preparation for paint.


I added some extra bracing in the middle of the cabinets that spanned more than 50 inches so that I can use 1/2 inch plywood for these fixed shelves instead of 3/4 inch. The 3/4 inch will be used for the adjustable shelves though. I won't be adding the adjustable shelves until I see how the space gets utilized.

You can also see the steel post legs I made to support the front of the cabinets. I used two pieces of 1-1/2 inch angle iron welded at right angles, then welded the 3/4 inch pipe with threaded foot onto the angle. The threaded foot provides the adjustment needed for a snug fit, and the angle portion is screwed to the underside of the framework. The pair of legs is duplicated on the other side, but weren't attached in the picture above (behind the engine).

Mini Man-cave

One of the key benefits to the house we bought in Benson was the over-sized, two-car garage. This means that in addition to storing stuff for the kids, I can still have room to park my wife's car and continue work on my project 914. However, to continue work on any project the space needs to be managed properly. That means cabinets for all the kids boxes, and storage for all my car parts. So to reach my goal of building the "mini man-cave", I've broken it down into a few phases:

1. Wall cabinets for storage on west & south walls
2. Concrete floor sealant
3. Semi-portable car lift
4. Driveway & canopy

Phase 1
Along the west side of the garage I have nearly 24 feet of wall space, and have already designed some built-in cabinets. Here's an image from the model that I worked up for the west wall.

I left the doors off on the right side so the structure is more visible. These cabinets start one foot above the floor and extend 9-1/2 feet to the ceiling. The upper most sections will be open without doors to use for body parts like bumpers and exhaust pieces. They're 24 inches deep, so they provide a lot of storage area.

I left two sections at the ends open to the floor to allow storage of vertical items and some hand tools. These two sections and the center (open section) will get peg-board that will be used as a mounting medium for various hangers.

The south wall is a section about 11 feet wide between the front of the garage and the entry door to the house. The cabinets here are roughly the same enclosed style, without the upper open storage area.

I'm quite pleased with the design, as my goal was to provide a maximum of storage space at a more reasonable cost compared to cabinet components sold at the local home improvement stores. They build sectional units that you connect together. The drawback is all the duplicate side-walls and backs you end up with.

I eliminate all that by building then right onto the back & side walls of the garage. I begin with 2x4 stringers, screwed to the wall studs, and run horizontally at the bottom, middle, and top of the cabinets. End panels are fastened to the side walls at the studs, and are notched for the stringers. These end panels, together with the stringers, support the cabinet frame. To provide additional support, metal legs are added at the front of the cabinets and extend to the floor to alleviate side loads on the back wall.

Here's some pictures of the right side under construction. Everything is covered with primer, and once the framework is all up, it will be painted. The outer facing and doors will likely get stain.

What it took to get here . . .

Here it is May; I'm enjoying my new position with Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, I've found a decent extended stay motel where I can actually cook without the use of a microwave, I look out over the valley and the San Pedro river to mountains, clear air, clouds, and rain in the distance, and think - Wow, what a great place to be!

Unfortunately, I'm enjoying this by myself. Back in heat-quenched Phoenix, Darla, Davin, and the girls are huddled indoors to stay cool, preparing for a pending move that none are exactly sure when it will occur. At this point my plans were to just find a decent place to rent, scope the place out for a year, then finally buy. At some point I realized, duh - this isn't Phoenix; it's not going to take a year to scope out. I was also fortunate to stumble across some information about the 2008 & 2009 tax credits for first-time home buyers. Since we've been renting after we sold our last house - hoping to find something more rural and not controlled by an HOA, we would qualify for this tax credit. That's pretty good incentive. Also, my new employer will pay a good portion of the fees involved in either selling or buying as part of their relocation package. Another good incentive.

Now if only I could find some way around having to make a down payment - since almost all our savings was used up over the last four months of unemployment. Enter the USDA National Rural loan program. Since we were locating to a rural part of Arizona (tip: most of AZ is rural), the USDA provides 100% financing for families as an incentive to help grow these rural areas. It's not necessary to be a first-time buyer. One just has to be within their income range per number of household members, and the property has to be within their very generous price caps. An additional plus is that NO mortgage insurance is required, since the USDA is guaranteeing the loan. Well that was enough to convince me that I should probably be looking to buy instead of rent.

The next step was to locate a lender familiar with this loan program. It just so happens that the USDA has a list of "Approved Lenders". Its' even been revised for 2009. Use it, but don't trust it. It would be interesting to find out what it takes to be an "approved lender". I suggest one should qualify not just the lender, but the loan officer you'll be working with, to verify that they have recent experience funding one of these loans. If you don't, the mortgage road is sure to be a bumpy one - with more potholes than the dirt road to that beautiful rural oasis you find. Ask me how I know.

In that mistake I violated one of the core principles I strive to operate from - always go to the source. It turned a month to six-week process into more than double that. We also wasted time looking at properties that didn't even qualify. Not because of price, but because they were used manufactured homes. USDA only funds new manufactured homes, or used ones that it has previously funded. Out here in rural Arizona there are a lot of manufactured homes. The "approved lender" I chose didn't have clue that such a requirement existed until after the appraiser submitted their info to the underwriters. But hey - that's OK. Life's about learning, and I'm willing to give some time to allow someone else an opportunity to learn.

Suffice it to say this was not the first snag in the process. Darla and I had to backup on a couple of occasions during our four-month process and re-focus on our primary goals. Thankfully the sellers were accommodating, our realtor was pro-active, and my employer was very supportive.

The trick for us was to not get attached to a particular house or the "possibilities" that would emerge with each one we liked. We had a goal of buying before Dec. 1st, staying away from freeway traffic, being within 20 minutes of Benson, having at least an acre of usable land for horses, and using the USDA Rural financing so we didn't have to pay mortgage insurance.

Refocusing on our goal helped us realize that there was more than one house that would be a good choice, so we didn't get too hung-up on any particular one. We even had the option of buying land and either building a home or buying a new manufactured home.

That way the whole process becomes more like the ideal relocation. You're making your decisions and choices (based on your goals) and letting others do the work (their job) to bring it all together. The lesson we learned there is to try and find others who are proactive in how they do their work. If they are not, then the process can take a little longer, but it usually gets done.

At one point we asked ourselves if this particular house was worth the additional time it was taking to complete the closing. The answer was yes, but only to a point. We set that point in time, and fortunately everything came together in time. If it hadn't - no problem - we had found another house that had possibilities too.

Settled in - at home in Benson, AZ

Greetings all,

Well after more than four months in a motel, the family and I are initially settled into our new home in Benson, AZ. Since my recent hiring on at Arizona Electric Power Cooperative in May, I was doing the preliminary house hunting and then having Darla come down to help choose the most desirable. The first house we found was a very nice manufactured home with a huge RV garage in addition to a two-car garage. Unfortunately it took the mortgage company a month to determine that the loan program we were using (USDA Rural) doesn't fund used manufactured homes, only new ones.

So we changed our criteria to only site-built homes on acreage. Fortunately it didn't take too long to find this one. It was built in late 2007, and finished in 2008. It's not the typical southwestern style, which was fine with us, we've had our share of constantly cracking stucco.




One of the real pluses is porches front & back. Front faces east, and back faces west. Since we're in a flood plain, the house was built elevated nearly 3.5 ft above the natural grade. This makes for some great views.






Since its elevated, the floors are built on joists with a crawl space underneath. They used an Australian Cypress hardwood throughout the house, with tile in the bathrooms. Never seen this type of flooring before, but it sure looks great.

That means all the vents are in the floor instead of the ceiling - much like it would be in a mid-western home. They also went to the trouble of insulating the garage and finishing it.

The house is located on just one acre, but that will be enough to manage a couple of horses. With open BLM range land about 1/2 mile east and the San Pedro river about the same to the west, there's plenty of open areas for riding. That's Ashley's plan anyway - should be doable.










Darla and the girls have been watching these home design shows on HGtv during our stay in the motel. So I see some accent wall colors and creative wall designs in our near future. We'll be sure to post the progress here as well.

Now I'm just waiting for my car and engine to show up. Ooops -I better get rid of some of these boxes in the garage.