...at least its not a V8 question....
 

....it's almost next project time...73.RS is almost complete and a buddy offered me a deal on a SWB 67 912 with 2 motors....a nice rust-free shell. I was thinking about building up the equivalent of the "Emory 912R" that was in Excellence several months back...kind of along the "outlaw theme". I understand that you need to lower the compression in a motor (in addition to other things) to add a turbo....can a 912 motor handle a turbo? Or are the components not up to the task....is it generally not a good idea to turbo an opposed 4-banger? I realize I'm asking for it here .....:cool:

Lots of people turbo vw-ish flat fours for drag cars, sandrails, etc. So it certainly can be done. I think the higher output motors tend to have few VW (or porsche) parts, mostly aftermarket parts.

I don't know very much at all about what a stock 912 motor is like, but in general you can run low boost with a stock motor in good condition with non-super-high compression, but you need to start upgrading internals if you want to go to higher boost numbers.

maybe switching to a type IV motor would be the way to go rather than risking the crank on the old 356/912 motor

With the price of 356 motors...."I" would consider a VW Type IV motor....more robust and cheaper parts. T4s have been turbo'd on a regular basis.

The info can be had from T4s heads at the PP's 914 site and over at the www.914club.com site.

I remember seeing an article in Excellence about a guy who had turboed the 4 in his 914 instead of putting a 6 or 8 in it. If he did it then it can be done.

isn't Gene Berg a big VW turbo/drag guy?

Gene Berg passed on but his son Gary is carrying on the business. They specialized in N/A motors, I don't recall seeing them with a turbo motor but that doesn't mean they haven't done it.
I used to race against Gene back when OCIR (Orange county intnl raceway) was still around and I grew up a few miles from their shop.

Yes, a 912 crank is the weak link and they are expensive.
Yes, a type one motor will fit and it is easy to turbo a type 1.
Check out CBperformance.com
They sell turbo kits as well as fuel injection systems for type 1s.
Bob Tomlinson is a technical advisor for them and knows a whole, whole lot about turbocharging type 1s.
He's also the author of a book called "Turbomania" which is all about turbocharging air cooled flat 4 engines. It is worth the money and I recomend you buy it is you are planning to build a turbo flat 4.

I put together a tubocharged type 4 in a 914 a few years back, when you get started drop me a note, maybe I can help.

I'm not that familiar with turbos, but you have already given up some manifold pressure by being in Colorado. A low boost system might be set to give sea level pressure where you drive, giving a performance boost for you with not much abuse? Your cylinders would have sea level pressure, but your cooling airflow would still be the less dense air at your altitude.

you can find the owner of the 912R at 912bbs.org.

as for turboing...well, you can, and it's been done, but it's not recommended...personally If you want to stay aircooled, Type IV. if not...subaru...

I'll say no more.

sjd
porscharu owner.