New Motor!

[Halm]

While I absolutely love my ’70 E, I never thought the motor was “right”. I had a lot of help from P-Thomas setting up the MFI and it got better. Gas mileage jumped from 17MPG to better than 21, idle was smoother and best of all, no more popping in the manifolds. But then I drove Racemor’s 2.4 E and the difference was more remarkable than just .2 liters. After that I went for a ride with P-Thomas in his 3.5 rocket ship and I knew I had to have more power. My motor had to go!

I talked with a number of the local wrenches about a straight rebuild, converting to a 2.5 short stroke and even an engine transplant. Most of them thought these were interesting intellectual exercises but showed NO enthusiasm for my business. So I called Otto. He had done the original PPI on the car when I bought it 18 months ago and he was all over the ideas. We talked for several days and finally decided that a 2.7 RS type motor would be the best blend of power and economics (economics being a relative term of course! ).

The car began its journey back to CA on DAS in early September and after a couple of paperwork glitches on their part, it was released to Otto 3 weeks ago. The engine, a new oil cooler, and transmission (a few new syncro’s) were all buttoned up yesterday and he is putting some break in miles on it for me over the weekend.

I fly in Monday morning to pick it up and will head first to Santa Barbara where I meet up with Mike Z and a few other Pelican’s for dinner. Next I’ll head up to a few of the Gilroy wineries and then return to LA for a final check out by Otto. My wife flies in a week from today and we’ll head home to North Carolina with some site seeing along the way, mostly in the southwest.

I had to share this with the BB. I can’t wait to get there and drive the car!!!


My car a few months ago on one of our Carolina Drive Days.


The long block a week or so ago.

[Tim Walsh]

Very nice! I can't wait to see it or to ride in it . Is it going to be Injected or will it have those webers on it?

On a rebuilding note I'm seeing some intersting things with your engine. WHat did he use for case sealer that's white? yammabond? and does it have Pressure fed tensioners?

[jabb]

Very nice this will be a great trip.... Enjoy the ride

[rcwaldo]

Enjoy the ride! Nice way to spend a few weeks!

[rpiper]

What a beautiful car, and it's going to be a rocket with the extra 50hp. Its going to have a nice "sleeper" aspect to it. Congratulations!

[racemor]

Gilroy, Isn't that the garlic capital? I'm sure the Californians here will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I drove through there when we left Laguna Seca a few years ago on the way back to SF. Unless you have a cold, you can't miss the place.

Oh, and I'll be ready to trade keys again any time!!

[Halm]

Thanks for the encouragement. It should be a fun trip.

Tim, from the partial build sheet I now have, I can only tell you that pressure tensioners will be used. I have no idea what Otto used to seal the case but either you can call him or I'll find out for you next week.

Tom, actually you can get a garlic wine there! But there are also several micro wineries that are outstanding. Maybe we can share a bottle at Paul's housewarming?

[Jack Olsen]

Otto's work is very well-respected, for good reason. And he's equally impressive behind the wheel of his 914 race car. (It's a shame you won't be out here the weekend of November 8-9, since Otto will probably be running in the Short Track Series at Willow Springs. He's pretty much the fastest guy there is on that track.)

I'll predict that you're going to have a great trip. Take lots of pictures for those of us who are stuck at our desks.

[braddb_82SC]

Originally posted by racemor
Gilroy, Isn't that the garlic capital? I'm sure the Californians here will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I drove through there when we left Laguna Seca a few years ago on the way back to SF. Unless you have a cold, you can't miss the place.

Oh, and I'll be ready to trade keys again any time!!

Gilroy does smell like garlic certain times of the year. There are some decent winerys there. I like Kirigin Cellers http://www.kirigincellars.com/index.html . I enjoy exploring the backroads and winerys of San Luis Obispo county better then Gilroy though. If you are driving North from Santa Barbara stop and check out some of these:
http://www.sanluisobispocounty.com/images/maps/winerymap.pdf
Wild Horse Winery is nice.

-Brad

[304065]

Whaja do with the old 2.2E?

[nigel911]

If it's not rude to ask, how much for the new power?

[Halm]

Jack, count on lots of pictures. When we bought the car and drove home the first time it was Interstate all the way. This time we going to go to some fun places too.

John, one of my goals was to do nothing that couldn't be reveresed. So, I am keeping the numbers matching 2.2 in case I ever want to revert to original.

Nigel, GULP. I don't know the number yet!

[cegerer]

Sounds like a dream trip to me Hal! Keep us posted on the trip and the performance increase. -- Curt

[racemor]

Hal, I think we have a dyno lined up in Belmont near Charlotte to do those tests when you get back. And I think he is open on Saturdays to make it more convenient. Too bad we could not get numbers on the old motor to campare, but we'll get them for my 2.4.

And maybe Otto will have a set of slide valves you can pick up to mount over Paul's new mantle.

[Halm]

Here are a couple of new pics. One is the motor installed in the car. The other is Santa Barbara harbor this morning about 8 AM.

Many thanks to Mike Zois and Dan Byers for the hospitality last night. It was really great after a long day of traveling to spend a few minutes with some fellow Porsche nuts!

BTW, I will drive back to LA tomorrow (Wednesday) on the Pacific Coast Highway so there should be a few good photo ops.

[cegerer]

Pictures are nice Hal, but we want your driving impressions! How's she run? -- Curt

[Tim Walsh]

interesting colors for your shroud and fan. I wonder if I should do the same.


(thanks to brown911.com for the pic)

[vesnyder]

Sounds like my kind of trip. Have a blsat!

[Halm]

Still in the "break-in" phase and impressions are purely "butt-o-meter" varity. But since you asked ( ) the performance is everything I could hope for. Punch it in 2nd or 3rd gear around town and you better be pointed in the direction you want to go. On 101 today I gave it about 7/8 throttle and it ran from 3600 rpm (70 mph'ish) to a little under 5k and 100'ish. I gave it the last 1/8 and it leaped forward again, so hard it surprised me enough to back off and return to normal crusing speed.

It looks like Racemor, P-Thomas, and me will be heading to a dyno soon. Otto is saying 230+ but I think that is optimistic. My guess is 210- 215. Guess we'll see.

[Tim Walsh]

Hal,
What compression ratio does it have? if it's more than 8.5:1 then I would think 230+ would be fairly close.