What can I do to a Cal registered Carerra???

[Blk87Carrera]

Question to all...

Living here in the left coast wonderland of H&M (high & many) taxes, CARB nazis, and strict-beyond-common-sense smog testing... what is legal to do, within reasonable costs (although I do realize I'm asking Porsche people), to my 1987 stock 3.2 for better performance?? I'm used to my old 73 Mustang with its 351 Cleveland now smog-exempt and stroked to a comfortable 393 with an amazing 13 mpg (Chevron loves me!!).

I'm very interested in the Wong-o-matic chip (it seems that there are no disappointed customers), updating the exhaust system, and possibly adding the MSD ignition. I know there is a gray area with the chip, but easy to go back to stock for smog test purposes, but what about my other ideas? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Dave

[Larry Harris]

Blk87Carrera,

Good question! I have the same "need to know". I just ordered a Steve Wong chip and he recommended a pre muffler and a different exhaust. I'll be looking for answers from knowledbeable P people..

Larry H.

[stlrj]

Replace your Beru ignition cables with anything but Beru. Upgrade to an HEI ignition coil for 40kv instead of stock 12kv coil. Gap your plugs to 0.060" instead of 0.028". Increase the spring tension on your air flow meter for better throttle response. Replace your injectors with the new style deposit resistant Multec injectors (more throttle response).

Forget the exhaust upgrade, you'll never pass the visual.

I would do all this before chipping as you may find all the performance you need from these mods alone...I have.

Joe

[Blk87Carrera]

Thanks for the advice Now... is that in the "101" book? Or is there a readily available guide? I'm a big believer in the KISS program. For the custom/performance/car hobby center of the universe, California govt does an outstanding job in trying to diminish creative behavior!!

[emcon5]

Add lightness.

Tom

[makaio]

Blk87Carrera where in Cali are you located? Are you in one of the rolling road test areas?

[Silveresrty911S]

Stlrj,

What do you mean and how is it done (increase your spring tension on your air flow meter for better throttle response). I like all the other mods proposed and I'm all ready running .060 gap and a S Wong chip.

Thanks, Rick

[stlrj]

Rick,

Here is all you need: http://www.gomog.com/articles/EFIflap.html

Cheers,

Joe aka stlrj

[reesestewww]

Damn!!!! How in the hell can you stand it over there.....

[unimog]

>Damn!!!! How in the hell can you stand it over there.....

It is not all bad. I live in Very Northern Calif. and no bi-annual smog test. Heck we can even get gun carry permits for the asking.

[makaio]

Mark, No bi-annual smog check in Eureka area? My brother lives in Arcata (gears turning in my head).

[gr8fl4porsche]

I am curious about the .060 gap plugs. I have a very good running 87 with new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. and tried widening the gap and had noticeable decrease in performance. The car seemed sluggish and slow to rev. Changed the gap back to .028 and all was well again. Does the coil switch make a big diff?

[Blk87Carrera]

Some good info in these answers. Now that I've convinced my wife that new wheels and a chin spoiler will "really add value" to the car my next plan is to convince her that these upgrades will really help with the efficiency and economyand that it really won't be quicker or faster. Has anyone else used this tactic... that can admit it??

Matt-- I'm in Visalia so the closest windy roads (not counting the nice sweeping turn from S99 to E198) are running through Seqouia Nat'l Park or taking a great drive on Highway 180 through Kings Canyon. It's that or a drive around my block a lot, occasionally reversing direction

Dave

[aigel]

You can have the exhaust modified. E.g. SSI heat exchangers. Just put it back to stock for smogging time, or better, bring it to the shop and have them do it for you. Many people I know have SSI and have the shop take care of it. It is generally not a problem.

Passing w/o cat is supposedly possible too. There is no visual in many places. The smog place I got to doesn't even know if the 911 has a 4, 6 or 8 cylinder. They asked me what it was. They sniffed it. There was not much w/ regards to visual, that's for sure.

George

[stlrj]

tried widening the gap and had noticeable decrease in performance

Randy, you'll need better cables than Beru if you want to run a wider gap because Berus are only good for 0.028". It also helps to have a hotter coil to jump the larger gap.

Joe

[aigel]

I highly doubt that increasing the gap with different wires will increase performance by a measurable amount. After all, a spark is a spark. Most important? Not it's length, but that it's there! Why would doubling it's lengt make a difference on how the mixture ignites and how the flame front travels? But on the other hand, if you double the distance, the potential to overcome might be too high and there may be no spark at all, which really is a bummer. This danger especially exists during warm up and high loads, when the mixture is very thick.

Getting a sure spark is a lot easier if you have less gap. The potential to overcome is much less with a smaller gap. I usually make sure I have a hot coil, good wires and then go conservative on the gap / spark length. There is other ways to increase performance, e.g. IIRC, the MSD box supplies "continuous" spark under 3k rpm which helps idle and low end. Just changing wires and stretching the gap makes no sense at all. It goes right together with the other questionalbe performance mods like drilling holes in your air box etc... if it were that easy, Porsche would have done it.

Merry X-mas!

George

[stlrj]

If a smaller gap was better then that would be the trend....right? A smaller spark kernal for better combustion? Seems counterintuitive.

The only reason a smaller gap is needed for Beru ignition cables is because they are not capable of conducting the higher potential that a larger gap requires.

Joe

[aigel]

Joe:

A few more thoughts:

Well, you want the best of both worlds. Of course you can have too short a spark. I wouldn't go much lower than .03 on anything. But I think you get my point of rather having a good spark 200% of the time than risking not striking one. Maybe a good compromise would be .045 with the better wires.

.045 is what I'd run with an MSD on a hot American V8 with good wires etc. That's also what I run on my US made cars where I upgraded from points to GM HEI solid state. Works very well. I feel that if I go to 0.06 which is what the HEI calls for, I don't buy any and sometimes loose a bit when cold / WOT under load, e.g. WOT uphill.

Cheers, George

[MXMARK]

I have the Steve W (911chips.com) chip. I love it. I wanted to put a Dansk pre-muffler on but could not spend that much. I put a test pipe on. This thing rips, it pulls from bottom all the way to 6000+. Next I will put a Dasnk 84mm sport 1 in 1 out muffler.

I wanted to go with the Dansk Pre-muffler because it look like a Cat and the inspection guys might think it is a Cat. I think Steve W keeps the timing and mixture just within the limits of our smog tests in CA.

With the Pre-muffler chip before the test pipe the car ran much better, real smooth and very responsive, pulled and pulled. After the test pipe, WOW!! still smooth and stronger pull bottom to top end.

I can wait to buy a perfomance muffler next to see What that will give me. Sorry for no G-Tec results.

Good luck Mark

P.S. Thank you Steve W

[stlrj]

George,

I'm running a GM HEI coil and carbon core ignition wires on my 3.2 and am getting 100% ignition to red line with a 0.060" plug gap. I tried 0.080" but it would cut out above 5K, so 0.060 is the limit for HEI on a 3.2.

Joe