How to power up a 2.4?

What I can I do without rebuilding the engine to add alittle horsepower to this Touring Beast? Breakerless points, K&N filter, new CD and coil? I am the "T" model and compared to the "E" and the "S" I am the Chevy Biscayne of the vintage. It's fine enough for getting around town and touring the Georgia Mountains but passing is no longer spontaneous as with my older SC or even 2.7. Now it takes a co-pilot, plotter and GPS to make passing safe! Is their anything I can do to add alittle more horsepower or boost without rebuilding?

Thanks
BR
'73T

Whoops.....forgot to add its the first CIS model (1973.5) with the 915 - 5 speed. I know most of you are going to tell me to drop a chevy 327 in it!!!!!

I feel your pain man.

My '73T suffered as well. I hate to say this, and it is only my opinion, but that car was a real turd. The best I could do for it was a rebuild to update the tensioners and ignition, removed the MFI and replaced with Webers, added SSIs and supertrapp mufflers, and converted the sporto to a 915. All this could be tuned and really worked well together. The car looked cool (RSR body), and sounded cool, but was only spunky at best. As you probably know, I sold the car and started over with an SC. The power of the modified 3.0L is much better, but I quickly got used to it and now need much more. Human nature is really a bastard at times. I'd love to tell you to throw a small block in it, but that is an issue that each of us must grapple with alone.

Thanks....The car came with a rebuilt 2.4 (20k since the rebuild) with a pop off valve and updated tensioners. He added SS heat exchangers, front oil cooler and updated A/C compressor. All in all a beautiful restoration, but to go down the road without much reserve power and getting kicked around by every old Civic SI and VW Golf is a bit much. Vast difference from the other E and S models. Kind of reminds me of a 912 in performance or the slower 914's. Maybe I will add a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil and see what that does!!

BR

I, for one, kind of miss the old 2.2 liter that had been put in my 73.5. It wasn't going to win any drag races, but it was a lot of fun on the track, where -- between 5000 and 6300 rpms -- there's a lot to be said for that engine (and the way it contributed to the car's overall light weight). Your praise for the E and S models notwithstanding, I've heard that the T spec engine has the most generous distribution of low-to-mid-range torque, making it the best suited of the bunch for street driving.

That said, my advice would be this. You've got one of the best-looking Porsches ever made, but there's not a whole lot to do with the engine -- shy of converting it all to 2.7 specs, which is expensive. My solution is to bite the bullet and put aside $7000 as quickly as possible (that means don't buy a house, get married, or sire children until you're there). Then sell the recently-rebuilt 2.4 to a 914 owner (who wants to convert) for $3000, and get yourself a 3.6 liter engine to swap in. With a chip, modified intake and exhaust, you can go north of 270 hp with a lot of useable torque.

You end up with a car that's very easy on the eyes, is also light on the scale, and nimble through the turns, and shoots like greased lightning on the straights.

My 2 cents. (Which means you only need to put aside $6,999.98 more).

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T (3.6) sunroof coupe

[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 11-30-2000).]

Jack.....
We all should be so lucky!! As it stands I am saving up for my 40 foot sailboat to retire on and still going through the gears since my 1958 Austin Healy "Bugged Eye" Sprite. But!!!!! I love speed and this little gem, although a beautiful thing to behold is not the fastest of the breed. Sooooooo, if I had to weigh a 3.6L conversion for seven grand or a new Zodiac dinghy with a 15 horse yamaha..sorry, the dinghy is my choice. I do admire what you have done and wished I had that rocket but I may just have to settle back and do what that "T" implies...."TOUR". For now I will continue to beat out old ladies in big oldsmobiles and that occassional smoking Ford Fiesta. But, done in real style. Wear your seat belt.......thanks

BR

I think you should just be happy with what you have, A classic Porsche, last of the lightweights, not a super car. Others may not agree but it's probably not worth throwing money at this engine to make it go faster. you have 2 choices buy a bigger engine 3.0 litre or higher ,or else buy a faster car. I'am happy with my 73t, because if i want to drag race ill just take out my Z-28 and race. Yeah I know many of you don't like american pony cars but its fast, really fast. Just my opinion i could be wrong.
Craig

BR -

Fair enough. You clearly have a pretty well-diversified recreation-and-vehicular portfolio. In any given day, you have the opportunity to sail the boat, polish the Sprite, and take some winding mountain roads in the classic 911.

And if you live anywhere near a track, you should take the 2.4 out sometime. You'll be surprised how many 'muscle-bound' 911 variants you will leave in your wake.

There is no substitute for light weight -- especially when it comes to cornering.

(Of course, you could also look into Webers.)

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T (3.6) sunroof coupe

The problem with the MFI 2.4 is the 7.5/1 compression ratio. The CIS 2.4 is only a little better at 8.0/1 CR, but suffers from even milder cams than the MFI T and only 1 throttle plate versus 6 and a big restrictive sensor plate to boot. So throttle response in the CIS is lacking. About the best thing you could do short of higher compression pistons, E-cams and Webers, would be to richen up the mixture on the CIS. They tend to go lean with time and need the sensor plate height adjusted. Also make sure your distributor advance curve is in spec. These really were fairly quick cars even stock, so I suspect you probably aren't up to snuff in some area. Road and track back in 72 tested the 2.4 range and 0-60 in 6.9 for the T, 5.8 for the E and 6.1 for the S. Not too shabby I think for the day. (Yeah I know you'd think the S would be quicker than the E but apparently the S suffered a little in the bottom end but more than made up for it after 60MPH).

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Tyson Schmidt
72 911 cabriolet (964 bodywork)

Suggested possibilities in the following thread, also about a 2.4T apply to your own options for power, all based on your engine rather than a transplant:


http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/Forum3/HTML/004241.html





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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

I agree with BRAINIAC. I own a slightly modifed 74 2.0 914. My 73.5 t would eat it for dinner. The 914 does handle better though. You must have sommething wrong. I personally would not mess with it.


[This message has been edited by ssinparadise (edited 11-30-2000).]

Thanks....I wished I had that original sales brochure I bought on E-bay in front of me to get the exact specs for the "T" model, but as memory serves me, its top end is only 128
and 0-60 is over 9.0! I will check out the suggestions provided here.

BR

My 2.2 liter with Webers (and maybe more done to it, I never found out) did 0-60 in 7.4 seconds, which (while not rocket-like) is quite a bit better than the factory estimate for that engine, which was 9.5. You should get the car on a dyno, or even get a g-tech pro, and see if something is wrong, somewhere, in your power train.

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T (3.6) sunroof coupe

Jack...
I will forego the dyno for now and just drive the old gal. I will let the Miata's have their time. Sometime in the very near future I plan on re-doing the CIS components since my airbox is silicon patched to keep the air demons out. For the interim, I have still keep in mind its 27 years old, could have strolled down old "66" and US 1 one time, and was youthful when old Nixon walked away. Nah, a glass of Marvel Mystery Oil and maybe a teaspoon of "cod - liver oil" down the old gullet will help keep this old gem going.
Regards.

BR

As far as the factory's claimed 0-60 specs, they have always been very conservative compared to what the cars will really do. They do their tests with full tank of fuel, driver and passenger and 1/2 load capacity weight added in and full lift throttle between shifts. This is why the car mags always blow away the factory's published times.

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Tyson Schmidt
72 911 cabriolet (964 bodywork)