Need some advice, mod or sell...
 

I have a beautiful 1982 911 widebody with a 3.2 from an '86. The car is immaculate, both inside and out.

The engine has about 5,000 miles on a complete rebuild (done before I bought the car). The rest of the car has about 47k Here's a photo:

http://darklotus.dyndns.org/users/fa.../Images/13.jpg
http://darklotus.dyndns.org/users/fa.../Images/25.jpg

The problem is, I want about 50 - 100% more power. Tire roasting gut wrenching show off power, if you know what I mean :)

In my estimation, its making about 210 - 230 crank horsepower with the brunt of the power in the 5 - 6,000 RPM range. I have access to a dyno this spring so I'll find out for sure then.

What are my options with the NA Motronic 3.2? Is the power I'm after attainable (I know anything is possible if you throw enough money at it, but I'm talking within reason, say < $10k).

Should I just sell and buy a turbo? My fear there is that I won't find one I can afford that will be any where near as nice as this car...

What would you do?

easy...3.6 transplant. There is no way to tweak the 3.2 and get what you are looking for.

and some wider wheels.

just go for a ride in a 3.6 with a 915, you will find this:) Kevin

roger that ;)

I'll have to start looking for motors, prices etc. Any suggestions on where to start? (I'm in upstate NY if that helps)

anybody here from either Rochester NY or Albany NY?

the good news is that if your 3.2 rebuild is well documented, you can likely get a good price for it. As for getting a 3.6, do a search on engine transplant or something along those lines. Quite a few people here have done them or had them done. They can chime in on the details.

There are a few 3.6s on the parts board. They go for about $6k to $10k depending on the year and what comes w/ it. You will need some conversion parts, upgraded oil cooling, and exhaust.

If your 3.2 is well documented you could get $5-6k for it, if you are patient. That would give you enough for the new wheels w/ your $10k mark.

Edit: Nostatic beat me to it. :p

Sell it. Buy a real turbo.

3.6 and some wheel spacers and you're there!

I disagree Victor. He has what appears to be a very clean low miles car. Devil you know...

That widebody with a 3.6 would be sweet. And no turbo lag.

Nostatic, a 3.6 will not give him 50-100% more HP. Only an insanely modified turbo will do that.

If you try to do that with a 3.2, the devil you know will quickly turn in to the devil you wish you didn't. Or something.

A 3.6 can give him 50% more hp & lbs/ft, probably costs less, and no lag

no, but it will give 25-30%. And the 3.2 would be sold, not modded.

I agree if he needs 400hp then forced induction is the way to go. I guess it depends on how well sorted his car is, what he could sell it for, and what an "equivalent" turbo would cost. I assumed the 50-100% figured was somewhat tongue in cheek.

I certainly hope 50-100% was toungue in cheek. As much as I hope the expectation of "Tire roasting gut wrenching show off power" from a 3.6 is toungue in cheek also.

Put a turbo motor in it. Its well worth the lag, just concider it a friendly head start for the competion before you go flying by them. :)

luckily I don't like to roast my tires, and just keep my lowly 3.0 between 5-6K as much as possible. Gives me plenty of giggles...

Call me old fashion, but I think it would be a sin to rip that awsome car apart to put a 3.6 in it. Sell it and get a turbo. It would look just like what you have and give you those extra horses. A lot more horses with a few bolt on mods plus the addition of all of the upgraded parts the turbo comes with. My guess, and only a guess, is that a 3.6 is only the tip of the ice berg. To do it right, with all that new 3.6 power won't you be needing new brakes, suspension, wheels and tires... Don't worry, you can find a turbo every bit as nice as the car you have. It is also a lot easier and less expensive to add more power down the road to a turbo than to a 3.6. And don't listen to that turbo lag talk. It's the greatest exaggeration in Porsche history. I mean it beats the 3.2 to 30 mph, 60 mph, 1/4 mile and almost everything else under the sun. But the standard come back is "but, your car has turbo lag". Well what does your 3.2 car have then if the turbo is blowing it off the road? Maybe a trailer hooked up to it? And another name for turbo lag is a 1/3 second pause before one heck of a kick in the pants. Also, a few bolt on mods and what little lag there is all but gone. Buy the car that was made to be a rocket ship in the first place instead of trying to make your car into something it wasn't intended to be.

Lets get serious, why do you need new brakes to drive this car on the street, why does he need new suspension? I just dont get why all you guys say you have to do this on a street car just because you put a 3.6 in, I am really lost when you say this, when I hit my 1982 wide body sc's breaks they will put you through the windshield and they are stock, plenty for the street, and as far as the 3.6 i can hit the pedal and roast them if i wanted to and my car has 18x10's with s02 tires, , no lag at all, any one that has ridden in a 3.6 conversion with a 915 will tell you it snaps your head back, these guys on this bbs are seeing 0-60 in 4.6 seconds, i truely think that is pretty fast, if this is the case then you guys with turbos that have added 50-100hp need to scrap your calipers and rotors for ceramic ones, and lets not forget you need adjustable shocks with out board resavoirs, fuchs? throu them away just not good enough, actually I believe you must have a full six point cage with three door bars on each side with a fully auto matic fire system and lets not forget air jacks, you guys push it to far, his brakes will work fine for the street, if he starts racing he will have to replace them anyway, Kevin

Sounds to me like you need a turbo. I think a 3.6 would be great, but going from your description at the top of the page a turbo or a small block chevy are the only things that will cure what ails you.

i agree. you've got the base of the turbo car there anyway? why not stick on the one part thats missing. then the sky's the limit.

If it's a street car, why not supercharge the 3.2?

I f you want show off power buy a ZO6 or Viper.

The problem with the widebody 3.2 is that the body style SCREAM's "I am BADD!!", but they get blown off by 1979 Ford Mustangs.

Keith

Keith any time you wanna pull your mustang up beside my widebody, I have some green dangling for you, Kevin

There lies the problem. A mustang (or GTI, or STi, or Evo, or turbo neon, or -insert turbo car here-) will blow the doors off of MY widebody :)

I'm not really liking the idea of swapping a 3.6 into my car. The 3.6 would be awesome, don't get me wrong. But for what I would gain, the price just isn't worth it.

Others have mentioned turbos... did you mean put a turbo on my 3.2? or did you mean, buy a turbo motor? I like the idea of the supercharger too, as long as I could safely run 93 octane.

I know with a watercooled engine, like VWs VR6 changing the compression, adding forged pistions and a few other minor details, and you can add boost... and get copious amounts of power. Is that not true of the 3.2? What are the differences between a 3.2 or 3.0 and say, a 930 turbo motor?

I really thing forced induction is the way I have to go, now the question is, can I use what I have as a base? Or do I sell and buy a turbo car.

Fahrvergnuugen,

The answer to your problem could be as simple as drawing a line in the sand and saying, " I am not going to let myself fall prey to these horsepower wars going on around me".

You have a beautiful car that was made to be a road carver.

Accept it for what it is. So what if a Volkswagen can run faster than your car. I bet those people driving Gti's, and EVO's drool over your car when they see it and wish that they were in your position.

Your car has timeless classic lines that will never fade, that is something WRX's, GtI's and Mustangs will never have.

Dont want to hijack your thread but I have an 88 with a 3.2 and was thinking about modifying a supercharger off of a 3.8L thunderbird to fit. My question is how individuals in california made this mod smog legal, or if they even tried.

Great advice Keith!

A supercharger would be a good way to get more out of it, be careful and don't over do it though, it sounds like you have a great engine there.

Man, I don't know. The new 997 looks nice, too! That's got a "real" V8.

Maybe you should just keep yours as is, and save up the $$$.

Keith, don't get me wrong, I love my car for what it is. I'm not saying that I'm jealous of or want to compete with these other, newer cars. Its that I'm addicted to horsepower.

I've ridden in too many cracked out ridiculous cars to get a thrill from my own any more. I could draw a line in the sand...but I would end up building a ridiculous rabbit or corrado and probably spend just as much money if not more.

The idea of supercharging the 3.2 is very appealing... Assuming we're not talking about just bolting a supercharger onto the motor and expecting it to hold up for 10,000 miles... Can the 3.2 be built to take boost?

Supercharger would be the way to go, with a turbo you would need to decrease the compression or run very little boost, or lets say lots of compression and boom, you may just try headers, a chip , air cleaner etc cat, for just a bump in horse power, that may be enough, truth be told you start hammering on that tranny smokin tires and stuff you will need a new tranny, a 3.6 conversion will cost you 10-12000 not including selling your old motor, you really need to ride in a 3.6 car, you may try calling Timmins for just such a ride, www.instant-g.com, Kevin

That car is clean.

I would do forced induction (supercharge or turbo) on the existing engine. You'll find another 100 horses, and put that smile back on your face.

Befoe you decide anything, go drive a 3.6 and a 930. See what the difference is. Anything other than this will leave you wondering. Nice looking engine bay.

You will spend a fortune getting more hp with a normally aspirated motor. You have the look, now get the power. Buy a turbo motor with intercooler and you should get the kind of hp you are looking for.

Your 3.2 is still worth quite a bit if it is in such great shape after a rebuild and provided you have some documentation.

Now, regarding the Ford Mustangs of the world, don't even entertain a street race with them. You are driving and 911 and they have a Mustang with a damned live rear axle. Who cares how much hp they can stuff in that bucket of bolts. I owned a 96 GT and it was one of the worst cars I've ever owned. Poor fit and finish and rattles everywhere.

Well then you can take the path that I took.

I went from a 72 911 2.4 in 1990 (not happy with that horsepower) to a 1987 911 3.2 with chip, B&B headers, Hot-wire intake and all the other vendor high horsepower claims (still was not happy, getting blown away by mustangs in 1994), to a 1987 911 turbo which I purchased in 1994.

Major money was spent on getting 450 horsepower from the motor, adding a full ERP suspension, coil-overs, car lightened and a car trailer to deposit it to every track event I could get my hands on in the southeast.

Yes, I was eating Vipers and ZO6's up on the track. Did that for two years.

Then I woke up, I realized that I had a horsepower disease that was eating at a very large portion of my income. I got help for my disease, converted the 911 turbo back to street status and am building a 175 horsepower, slow as molasses RS clone to just enjoy driving on the track.

There is a fork in the road in front of you, which one will you take?

Good Luck!!

"Horsepower Disease" - Deadly to wallets, time, and relationships. :D

Looks like a nice ride - shame to mod it. If I was in your shoes - I'd sell it and buy a Turbo - You can even get one that has a good set of mods - 400 hp in a 3.3 Turbo is not out of the question if done correctly.

You preserve the m491 wide body (which has some rarity) you get your HP bug taken care of - You're not pacthing together a car with a 3.6 and a 915 - and you can spend and mod to your heart's content.

If you really want tire roasting HP - I'd look for a nice Mark IV Supra.

I would go test drive a 930, like a 78 or 79 model. See how you like the lag, then four minutes later, the rush of acceleration like someone just rear-ended you...

I would keep your car together and think of selling to get an older 930, or newer(?) depending on how much $$$ you want to spend..

Seems you have the makings of a "HP Junkie" so
I'm compelled to answer.
If you can't bear to part with car then put a 930
engin in it. Your engin is worth $6 to $8k, you should
be able to buy and install a good 3.3 turbo for an add'll
$8K.
My advice would be to buy a 930, your car is very nice
sell it and add a few $K and get the real deal.
As we all know HP is addictive, I don't think you'll stop
at 400hp.
So, for a mere $60k I can put you in this equally pristine
85 930 twin turbo (only 32k org. miles) over 600hp to
rear wheels. The only catch is you must be as crazy as me
to drive it!!!!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1073679163.jpg

Beautiful car!! If it were mine I would want a slightly breathed on 993 3.8.

This car is already moded. Did they have a factory widebody in 1982? It already has the wrong engine. Why get rid of a car you already like? $10,000 limit could get you alot if you are doing your own work. A couple months ago someone was selling a promotive torbo kit for the 3.2 on the classifieds for around $5,000 (I don't remember the specifics) $8,000 gets you the entry level supercharging of knoxville kit, I think its like $12,000 for the 450hp kit. Before you knock a 3.6 conversion why not find a pelican in you general area and go for a ride?

How about a V-8 Conversion?

Sorry about that......ha ha ha