How many 911 3.6 conversions out there ?

[Jack Olsen]

1-Meg Quicktime Movie

[jevvy]

nice jack, thanks for that.

What was the old engines 0-60?

how about the rest of you 3.6ers, what was it like going from 3.2 to 3.6?

[Moses]

Originally posted by jevvy
c'mon guys - what was yr first drive like?

The new power is stunning. Like a lot of folks, the first part of my project was the motor transplant with oil cooling. I spent about a year flying around town with a big grin on my face. I had 100 extra horsepower in a car about 600 pounds lighter than the motor was designed for! Loads of torque. It is very difficult to actually put the pedal to the floor in first gear. You hit the rev limiter too fast. Yup. It's that quick.

It took me a year to figure out I had a problem. My suspension was designed for 180 HP and it was 22 years old! The car handled like a speedboat. Under heavy acceleration, the front end would lift and the back would sway in the turns. I finally took the car to TRE and had the suspension reworked. Amazing results. No more speedboat. Just fast and purposeful. Tight.

[einreb]

Originally posted by jevvy
c'mon guys - what was yr first drive like?

Nerve racking. You've spent a small fortune and many hours... my first thought was having a fire extinguisher handy, rather than the performance.

For me, I had a major exhaust note change as well as a RS lightweight clutch. So, that was the first thing I noticed. Then after a few tentative starts/stops and up/down shifts I'm in second with some clear road ahead. I roll on the throttle and them mash it to feel a pull that my old engine never gave me. I pucker up a bit as I hit your 2-3 shift WAY faster than I'm used to. Shifting to 3rd is awkward because of nerves, but as I got back on the throttle its accelerating to over 100 before I know it... It really felt like the Porsche that it should be. It was quick before the transplant... now its fast.

-Bernie

[Craig 930 RS]

Throttle response.
HAD THIS THING SWALLOWED A KILO OF SPEED??????

[MuffinMan]

Before my first post-conversion drive, I thought to myself, "This thing better be friggin' fast." Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about . I came from a 2.7 dynoing at 113rwhp to a 3.6 varioram dynoing at 253rwhp, so it's safe to say it was a tad bit faster. The new power makes me wish I had a longer first gear, but overall there is simply power everyplace. I've driven non-varioram 993s but never a non-varioram conversion (lighter car), so it's hard for me to directly attribute the abundance of low-end torque to the varioram, but rest assured there is a plethora of power down low which is very nice for street driving. Every time I drive the car I marvel at how much I love it and how much fun it is to drive. Oh, and the exhaust note...love it.

Now all I have to do is finish putting my transmission back together and I'll be happy again

[CBRacerX]

Torque was so much stronger than the 3.2 that was replaced, yet a very civil and polite motor to drive. After I updated to the 993 HE and Timmins Exhaust, the motor sound and performance was finally up to what I was expected.
Happy every time I drive it, but it has since developed the classic early 3.6 leaking cylinder to head issue, so it is coming out this winter to get this resolved and some other little upgrades done - cams :-)

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by 911teo
From Timmins website www.instant-g.com
....
Reliability will depend on driving style. If you plan on drag racing, get a corvette. If you are into chirping tires think again. We have over 4 track years on our 1972 911 with 1984 915, and the trans is still quite happy.
If you decide that drag racing is for you, get a Chevy. 915 will not handle this, nor will a G50.
....

[hijack]
I've seen this sentiment a few times on Pelican, but there are dozens of websites and manufacturers of kitcars that swear that a G50 can handle torque and horsepower from a heavily modded engine, to include a SBC used for dragracing. I have even read some who subject the 915 to this kind of abuse without incident.

So whats the straight dope... is they is, or is they ain't?

(The following picture is from another thread right here on PP)

from a website
Early 901/911 style transaxles up to 1971 can reliably handle up to 300 hp. 1972 and later 915 transaxles can hold upwards of 450 hp. G50 transaxles offer ideal gear ratios .... and will hold an excess of 700 hp.

A stock 911 clutch will hold about 250 ft. lbs. of torque and about 300 hp. ... Through extensive testing and proper break-in, we found that 911 and 930 high performance pressure plates give greater clamping pressures. When used in combination with a Kevlar clutch disc, you will see a total increase in holding power of about 40%-45%. Our high performance 911 pressure plate and Kevlar disc have been used for up to 475 ft. lbs. of torque in street use. Our 930 high performance plate and Kevlar disc will hold up to 600 ft. lbs. of torque in street applications.

[edited a little so as not to advertise for the company]

[/hijack]

[Mahler9th]

Ah.. I see some responded. I don't read these forums much. Anyway, the body kit is from Getty Design. The top comes from a place in Oakland called Conversion Techniques. It is very easy to get to about 2000 pounds with a 911. This as compared to many other cars, like my previous 951. Strip out the interior, change all of the glass to plastic, remove the body panels and replace with fiberglass. You don't need to cut off the top, but you do need to get rid of the sunroof. My car has Bilsteins in all four corners. Weld-in cage. Recaro seats. Wilwood rotors front and rear. Stock rear calipers and 930 front calipers. SRP front sway bar and stock Carerra rear sway bar. 10 and 12 inch (x 16 inch wheels for the track, x 17 inches for street). I do not even run modern radial tires on the track. I run bias ply slicks.

What I mean by simple and cost-effective is compared to cars I race against or "conversions" I have seen. So may people install ERP front suspensions, camber plates, fancy shocks, 930 rear trailing arms, and lots of other parts my car doesn't have. The bulk of the complexity of my car is inside the motor. I think I have about 350 bhp. The car's builder has a very similar machine but with a twin turbo 3.8 that puts out about 700-750 bhp. Like my car, his is raced, but also driven on the street. I think he still commutes in his from time to time.

[jevvy]

hey guys, thanks for the first driving impressions - sounds like most of you had a blast.

I still have quite a bit to do to mine b4 its ready to rock - I'm aiming for mid Dec if I can & will post my first driving impressions as soon as I can.....

[DARISC]

I've been told that to mate a 3.6L to a 915 requires a racing clutch, which will chatter off the line - o.k. for track, but for a daily driver isn't that really a pain? I understand that that the standard clutch in an 82 SC won't take the power/torque of the 3.6L and that the racing clutch also involves using a different bell housing than the stock one.

I'd consider upgrading my 3.0L Euro. when bebuild/replace time comes, but I want to keep it as my daily driver and chattering off the line in all the in town driving I do might be intolerable to me.

My mech. tells me once the parts are in his shop the labor to do the conversion would be 2 to 3K$.

I'd sure like to hear back from any of you who've done the conversion on a daily driver regarding any chatter.

[Moses]

Originally posted by DARISC
I've been told that to mate a 3.6L to a 915 requires a racing clutch, which will chatter off the line - o.k. for track, but for a daily driver isn't that really a pain? I understand that that the standard clutch in an 82 SC won't take the power/torque of the 3.6L and that the racing clutch also involves using a different bell housing than the stock one.

I'd consider upgrading my 3.0L Euro. when bebuild/replace time comes, but I want to keep it as my daily driver and chattering off the line in all the in town driving I do might be intolerable to me.

My mech. tells me once the parts are in his shop the labor to do the conversion would be 2 to 3K$.

I'd sure like to hear back from any of you who've done the conversion on a daily driver regarding any chatter.

Sachs power clutch. No chatter. Smooth and easy. Grippy, but very good street manners. No complaints at all.

[Craig 930 RS]

I'll second that.

[Joe Bob]

Third it....I LOVE my 3.6....

[JBO]

1st gear is so short on the 915, and with the extra power and torque of the 3.6, would it be possible to start off in 2nd if not on a hill? A friend told me he used to do it all the time in his old 3.2 that had a bad 1st gear, and to his knowledge there were no ill effects for the 2 years he did it. Never tried it in my SC w/3.0, though I will take off in second if I have any roll at all. 1st seems almost useless, even with the 3.0.

[Craig 930 RS]

If youwere barely rolling, 2nd was easy to use.
From a dead stop, nah.

[911teo]

To be honest I was happy by my stock 3.2 Carrera but not thrilled.

The 3.6 conversion, together with all the other upgrades, made my 911 20 years younger. On the road you can easily stay with a 996 TT up to 120mph. It's a super-car now. And the go-kart like handling make it super quick in the twisties.

From a computer simulation (using Craig's old 3.6 dyno results) these are the acceleration figures assuming dumping the clutch at 4,000 from a stand still and G50 stock ratios, 2500 lbs, 930 drag coefficient and perfect tire grip (i.e. no wheel spin).

0 - 100 km/h 4.46s

0 – 160 km/h 9.78s

0 – 200 km/h 16.00s

400m 12.66s

1000m 23.14s

I think that's quite fast... especially because everybody knows the twisties is where a 911 shines!

[Bill Verburg]

I put a centerforce clutch and pp in my first conversion w/ a 964 in '94, still using it 11yrs and 35k mi later.

My '76 w/ 964 started in second easily w/ 245/45 x16 tires, it was a bit more of an issue w/ 275/40 x17

It is not an issue at all w/ 3.8RS and the 17s, first gear is like driving on ice, second is like driving on snow.

[DARISC]

Is it possible to speculate what I'll have to pay for a good (?) 3.6L engine to transplant in my 82 SC? I live in SoCal. At least a range of price would be helpful to give me a basis for deciding to do the transplant rather than rebuild my 3.0L?

[911teo]

I have seen anything between $7k to $9.5k popping up the Pelican classifieds