3.2 up and running in 75 Carrera

[75Carrera]

We got the 3.2 running Friday and pretty well chased down the minor adjustments. I brought it home last night (in the rain, ugh) and stayed up till after midnight cleaning and playing with it. But I went to bed feeling pretty darned good about it overall.
Took it out Saturday and got "Grin cramps" as I felt her respond on one of our local, beautiful, forested highways.



A few things still loom;(Input welcomed)

We tried the original tach (it had sticking problems before that we thought might go away with the new motor)The tach spun for about a mile and stuck AGAIN. It could have been the rain and humidity but I’ll switch tachometers anyway.

The motor is very strong. Oil Pressure 70-80, temps barely got to operating levels (new Carrera oil cooler). There is a fairly annoying tick (sounds like a valve to me?). My wrench said something about "typically noisey" plastic chain guides, if I understood him correctly. I'm hoping a valve adjustment will quiet it down.

I’m keeping the K&N filter set-up over my mech.’s objection. He believes they can blow some oil into the air mixture. I've never heard that anywhere else so I’m going to keep it. Most reports have been positive about the charged air filters.

The new motor seems to have added considerable weight (that surprised me). She’s down about 2” in the butt. Now she hits the shock stops in the rear. Rather than raising the rear with adjustable SC parts I’m going to drop the front and cut the shock absorber stops down to allow more travel range. The car was lowered when I moved here from California 18 years ago. I had it raised to accommodate our AZ roads a few years later. I loved the look and feel of it lowered. For the kind of driving I’ll be doing I think it will be better. Dropping the front is fairly simple requiring a toe adjustment afterwards.

The car runs fantastic… It has a hesitation off the line but at 3500 RPM she really hits her marks.What an improvement over the former 2.7. Very smooth at 5500 RPM.

No drips (dry as a bone) and no smoke (once the start-up burn did its thing).

All the wiring seems to be spot on.

I’ll do about 500 miles or so and take it back for new plugs, value adjustment and the switch to Mobil-1 20-50 synthetic. Then I’m ready to take a long overdo cruse!

Chime in if you have any observations. I'm stoked!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Donny,
Congrats on what sounds like a very nice swap.

Did I miss it? Did you post a thread about the terchnical aspects of making this swap? I ask because I am the new owner of a '76 S coupe which is currently in the paint shop for a really excellent respray. I am dropping my Fuchs off tomorrow with Al Reed....full new interior beind done too...etc....so I am interested in what a swap like this would entail?

I'll do a search but if you can direct me OR if you can post additional info/pix here I'd sure appreciate it. Regards, Dan

[Dan in Pasadena]

Okay, I found one prior thread from you on this swap and the link to "Mark's" site is super helpful.

Curious, did your wrench use Mark's step-by-step to perform the swap? Or did he already have experience doing these swaps?

[75Carrera]

Hey Dan,

I've posted a few threads about my transplant. The 3.2 is thought to be a no brainer choice over the 3.0 and a whole lot cheaper than a 3.6.
The conversion went fairly smooth. First thing is to find yourself a strong replacement motor, of course. Many choose to buy one and do a full rebuild. That's probably best if $ isn't a huge issue for you. I bought a '86 3.2 out of a Targa/Carrera that had just had a full top end re-do. I got it from German Auto Dismantlers in Murrayville, Georgia (north of Atlanta). 866 356-2996 ext. 126 (Joe Cogbill). The complete motor with all dme, tach, sensors, motoronic and wiring cost me 7K including shipping. I kept my 915 tranny. I'm not a track racer. I added a new SC oil cooler to replace the trumpet. The entire job cost me $2000 (shop labor) and my stressed out 2.7, which I traded to the mech. ($500 attached value).
The strength and bullet-proof dependability should make this everything I wanted. I've had this sweetie for 23 years and plan to keep it forever. This sort of investment along with other work like complete disassembly, strip and multi-coat Guards Red, interior repairs, alloy Carrera brake calipurs and lots of time prefecting the coachwork certainly raise the cars value. But the investment is for me and not for re-sale. I doubt we ever recover all the money or time we spend on our toys. But who cares! I'm a happy P-daddy!
Good luck with your choices. If I can offer anything please feel free to email me. I did get some great "How-to" info from this flock of Pelicans!

[75Carrera]

My guy is a former Porsche Factory tour guide and 40 year experienced wrench and track driver (currently building an RS car that makes me crazy)
Mark's information is very good with pictures and straight talk. Yes, it was very helpful to my mech. but really helpful to me understanding the process...

[asphaltgambler]

You go son!

[darkbeer]

Donny.........

I am almost to your original "before" position....my trusty 'ol 2.7 is staring to get hot to easy, even on night drives....as much as I'd love to devote 100hrs (just a guess) & $3,500 (or more) in parts to rebuild her for her 2nd time....I'm leaning towards a 3.0/3.2 transplantation....being a '75 in Calif means it is the last 911 to gain "smog exempt" status so I can concider all options....

Ms. Frinkle said.."there's no such thing as a dumn question", so with that in mind...why did you decide on the 3.2 over the 3.0??? Was it a CIS vs DME thing...power...reliability....just wonder what your thoughts were......

did you "do" the brakes too?? if so, whadya do???

sure looks nice tucked in there...I've seen that dismantlers ads on e-bay...nice to hear a testimonial on this BBS...did you concider anyone else ie: LA Porsche Dismantlers....Parts Heaven....etc. ????

Nice Job


Darkbeer

[DW SD]

GREAT job! Nice combo! Congratulations!

Doug

[yel911]

I have just installed a 3.2 in my 74 911 with a couple issues. My 3.2 has stock exhaust and the clutch lever is hitting an exhaust pipe. Also, my 74 never had an external oil cooler, so my oil lines are different. I haven't done the wiring yet, other than routing the DME harness into the interior. Like most people, any information on this "easy" task is appreciated. I must add, I have Chris Bennet, aka, the "Porsche Whisperer" as a wrench and mental support!!! I'm gonna hear about this one...