Fast road upgrades on standard 2.2E

[englishkid]

just wondering if anyone had words of wisdom about making some basic 'fast road' upgrades to my 1970 911E. just want it to go a bit faster, handle a bit better, brake a bit better and really just be a little better!

still on the injection and on koni's.

thanks,

ben

[Grady Clay]

Ben,
Welcome to the Forum.
You will find a lot of ideas and help here.
You asked the right question.

Starting with an original and unmolested 2.2E coupe, you need to keep one overriding principal in mind – maintain your ability to have your 911 absolutely original and restored. That doesn’t mean to not play with performance and handling mods. The key is to be smart about the choices. As you ‘improve’ things, also have the parts and ability to reverse the process.

It is already difficult to source some restoration parts for your car. I would put collecting repair and restoration parts high on your list. Simply squirreling them away will be of long-term benefit. Even if you don’t use them, it is ‘money in the bank’. You should have a ‘plan on hold’ to be able at any time to quickly return your 911 to original ‘like new’ showroom condition. Having your stash of parts (down to nuts, bolts and washers) will make that be possible.

There are some long-term protection issues to address. Rust is primary. If the chassis has rust, fix it now. It will be more difficult later. Protect what you have. Porsche built these chassis where they were rusting from the inside before they left the paint shop during manufacture. You should embark on serious rust prevention. Part of that is storing the 911 in a low humidity dry environment. Horses die when put away wet. So do 911s.

Your original ‘numbers matching’ engine and transmission are irreplaceable. You might consider preserving and storing them while you play with other hotrod stuff. That might even include suspension. Today you can still find repairable Hydropneumatic struts and 5 ½ x 14 Fuchs, not that I would want to use them anytime soon.


On to the fun stuff:
There is no substitute for bigger (displacement) more powerful (high compression, “S” cams) engines. Using your MFI, you can build a 2808 cc, 10.5:1, twin plug 911S that appears to most eyes as original 2.2E. This almost doubles the performance in the same ‘package’. Transmission gears more suitable for your intended driving and a LSD also help.

Some huge gains can be had ‘improving’ the suspension. Most significant is tire choice. Lowering the center of mass and improving the suspension response go along with this. You need to avoid the temptation to add to the width of the 911. You can get dramatic improvements while maintaining a ‘flat side’ 911.

While the possibilities are as wide as your pocket book is deep, careful choices can make a big difference and not approach the National Debt.

2¢

Best,
Grady

[911st]

My two cents:

Are you building a track car, DE/street, or street car?

Suspension:
Stage: assuming a normal front strut-- 1 renew bushings (rubber/Neitrix), shocks, euro height, corner balance good tires. Stage-2 21/27 (sporty) or 22/28 springs (more a track car) 22/19 sway bars, turbo tie rods, Prototipo steering wheel.

Brakes, flush, replace brake lines, high temp fluid, remove dust shields, renew calipers, sport pads w higher coefficient of drag.

Motor: full service, single or double exit sport pipe. Get MFI in top shape. Throttle bodies can need rebuilding, pump recalibration. At least test A/F's on a dyno. Make sure dist in good shape.

[BK911]

Lighten it up as much as you can. That will make it faster, handle better and brake better.

Get a set of 205/50/15s all around. That will make the car a lot quicker and handle better.

Other than that, it takes $$'s. I am rebuilding the engine in my 71E. I am keeping it stock except putting in 2.4 crank and rods, essentially making a high compression 2.4E. My favorite all time early porsche engine.

[RWebb]

the most important question:


How much money do you have?

[englishkid]

thank you fellas. what about a baggy gearbox. anything easy to tighten up the play?

[lateapex911]

Often just good maintenance can yield big dividends. Determine, for example, the cause of the "baggy" gearbox. Check the coupler and bushings. Your fix might be a couple pounds away, with a half hours work.

Your request listed all areas ...and the one item that can improve everything is tires. Get some good sticky tires, and the car will perform better in all ways, AND it will communicate and feel better. Lots of bang for the buck there.

And, look at your suspension bushings, and consider replacing and upgrading the dampers.

That's the easy and cheap stuff.

After that, things might get a bit $$$..

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by englishkid

thank you fellas. what about a baggy gearbox. anything easy to tighten up the play?

The various nylon bushings that support the shift lever and linkage should be renewed if worn. That will bring the housing back to factory specs. Outside of this, there are various aftermarket solutions to tighten up this area and reduce the chance of inadvertently selecting the "money gear."

Sherwood
www.seinesystems.com
(blatant commerce)

[911st]

A well sorted short stroke, MFI, 2.2E is faster in most cases than an S.

Short gears can make it much faster. A sport muffler makes it a bit nasty and adds power but the motor must be reset to match it.

Renewed brake lines, sport pads, hight temp fluid and the backing plates removed puts most in good condition.

The biggest factor is the driver I would think.

In all, what a fun car to have the Porsche experience in.