What The.....? Turbo Rotary powered 911

bondavi · 10-19-2009, 09:32 AM

FS: '75 Porsche 911 13-B Turbo - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community

http://bringatrailer.com/2009/10/18/wha-huh-how-turbo-rotary-75-porsche-911/

Wha? Huh? How?: Turbo Rotary ‘75 Porsche 911
18 Oct, 2009 German, Japanese, Under $20k

This Porsche is powered by Mazda and is listed for sale on the Lotus forum. All our worlds are colliding, but we were convinced that it is pretty cool when we watched the fly-by video below and heard that it has 300 hp at the rear wheels. Do you have any better ideas when your impact bumper targa blows its factory 2.7L engine that costs more to rebuild than the car is worth? We are ready to run for the hills after this statement, but we actually think this thing is pretty cool. Find it here on LotusTalk in Atlanta, Georgia for $8k.

Put the pitchfork down, Porsche fan. Watch the video below and tell us you aren’t interested at least enough to want to go for a ride.

We’ve heard of the Renegade Hybrids Chevy V8 conversion and we’ve seen Subaru power in 914’s, but this is a first for us. We don’t know if it is a kit or a total home-brewed installation, but we were able to find some older YouTube clips from when the car had Texas plates.

This other video gives the impression that there is some serious grunt from the Mazda powerplant. Is there any way to eliminate that chirp from the wastegate?

This seems like yet another anti-purist concoction that still has some appeal. The 1975 build year means no SMOG hassles in California and the targa top and an uninstalled Autopower roll-bar are included in the sale. Source some 15″ Fuchs or Mini-Lites and you are good to go.

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

Years ago a company was making rotary conversions for prosche's, the reason I know this is because I was going to put one in my 914. But this was a good 15 years ago or more. I love the add where they ask if the chirp from the wastegate can be removed, uh.... that's the BOV.

euro911sc · euro911sc's Garage

I saw that for sale a few months ago... videos looked like it ran well. Should be a little better balanced as the rotary is lighter than our 6. *shrug*

-Michael

Deschodt · 10-19-2009, 10:17 AM

That :

"Do you have any better ideas when your impact bumper targa blows its factory 2.7L engine that costs more to rebuild than the car is worth?"

is a good point...

Same reason you see some 912s with Typ4 or subaru engines...

Pazuzu · 10-19-2009, 10:31 AM

'75 Porsche 911 13-B Turbo

A PO is a Pelican.

EDIT: Actually, based on the dates, the current owner is a Pelican...

berettafan · 10-19-2009, 10:39 AM

but is there anything more awful sounding than a high power rotary?

and are they not quite delicate (based on comments from rx7 turbo owners)?

Pazuzu · 10-19-2009, 10:44 AM

Rebuild a 13B every 100K miles and it'll last forever. They require a bit of extra work (oil in the gas, etc) but they're not bad. Delicate only applies when you split a radiator line and they slow leak a quart of water while you're on the track...that tends to make the engines ball up into a very hot very sharp pile of metal.

berettafan · 10-19-2009, 10:47 AM

so what is it that has rx7 turbo owners describing their cars as 'delicate'? i was grouped with one at the Evo school i did and it was stupid fast and handled very, very well. neat arse car but.....

McLovin · 10-19-2009, 10:51 AM

That car has been for sale for a while, I think it is advertised in the PP classified. I'm surprised it hasn't sold yet. Yeah, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but he isn't asking a ton of money, either. I guess a non-911 engined 911 is a tougher sell than I would have thought.

McLovin · 10-19-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

so what is it that has rx7 turbo owners describing their cars as 'delicate'?

I think that refers to the final version cars, the ones with the twin turbos.

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

but is there anything more awful sounding than a high power rotary?

and are they not quite delicate (based on comments from rx7 turbo owners)?

I built numerous rotary engines, way back when, and if you dug into them and beat the hell out of them then they would last around 35k before the apex seals went bad. But the saving grace was that they were easy as hell to pull and rebuild.
This car is one of the best sounding cars I have ever heard, granted it's a race car.
AUTO-RACING - VINTAGE: Mazda GTP Racer Made Some Noise - SPEEDtv.com

berettafan · 10-19-2009, 11:00 AM

McLovin that's the car i was thinking of. don't know the motor designation (13B or what?). Very cool looking car IMO.

toblu what's the parts bill for a rebuild on that car's motor?

NoLift911 · 10-19-2009, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

but is there anything more awful sounding than a high power rotary?

They sound unique that is for sure - you can always tell when the RX-8 GT car that runs the Rolex series is lapping at Daytona - it sounds more fierce than the DP cars and way louder- I think the SpeedSource RX-8 did really well at Daytona last year -

I like the sound -

berettafan · 10-19-2009, 11:12 AM

heard the 'RX8' (aka tube framed car with some mazda parts in it) up close at NJMP and it was definitely the loudest thing on the track.

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

The rotors themselves were almost bullet proof, if bad you went to a junk yard, pulled motor and put it in trunk. Apex seals, springs, side and corner seals were all reusable, unless the car was driven to a point of melting. The oil control ring and springs under them were also reusable (kind of); the bearings, water seals, etc. were cheap. We reused the plates, you could resurface them, and we reused the housings as well. So in all honesty, we did not have money back then, we could rebuild one for fewer than 400 bucks using used parts. The old cars over heated allot, and that is when you would have to replace plates, etc . This was over 20 years ago so I know I’m missing something.

David · David's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by berettafan

but is there anything more awful sounding than a high power rotary?

and are they not quite delicate (based on comments from rx7 turbo owners)?

Actually, a 3-rotor NA motor sounds wicked! Almost V-12 ish.

A turbo rotor motor is a hand-grenade if it's making any boost or has fuel issues.

scottrx7tt · 10-19-2009, 01:52 PM

there are companies now making "unbreakable"seals now. I have seen the detonation dent the rotor faces before it threw a seal in these motors that use the new seals. I remember when i was big into the turbo rotary engines, 450RWHP used to be the threshold of a "safe" setup. Now guys are making 600hp reliably in these cars.BTW My previous 3rd gen rx7 was a half bridge port motor, with a greddy T-78 turbo kit making around 450hp

TechnoViking · TechnoViking's Garage

If you're gonna do it, why not put a short block Chevy in that bad boy?

tobluforu · tobluforu's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Smith

If you're gonna do it, why not put a short block Chevy in that bad boy?

Because a rotary is pretty damn light and takes up hardly any room. There is also something about being able to achieve the same rpm's that some motorcylces do. They were just off the wall motors that were/are very unique, but man did they suck the gas. But yeah, the small block would be a beast of a car.

Brando · Brando's Garage

I've heard that 10k rpms in a turbo rotary engine is easily achievable. Especially if you have 2/3rds the budget of a 901 or 930 block rebuild.