engine choices

[ishmeal]

Working on my project for my daily beater 69 912. Which engine should I choose for it with regard to cost and performance?

1. 912 engine
2. TypeIV
3. 911
4. 911 all out w/no regard to cost

It's gonna cost me an arm and leg either way, which way should I go?

[FenderGuy]

Type IV if you want want a 4 banger in the car great daily driver...

911 all out if no cost is factor for the thrill of ride and sound, but this engine will bite you in maintaince unless you do the work yourself

[atlporsche]

WRX

sjd

[dimps8]

Keep the Porsche gods happy......912 engine!

[914Ghost]

I might get smacked around for this..buuuutt... if there IS a budget concerned Type4 is the only way to go.
The 912 engine WILL cost as much as a 911 engine to build and make it reliable- and at the and you're still in the area of 100hp at 6k on the tach. Because there are only so many manufacturers and only so many customers prices are sky high, and high performance parts are $pricelss.
911 engine is self explanitory. If you have to go FAST then go that way, but again, lots of $$ and upkeep can be costly.
The Type4 engine can crank out 140 hp in fairly mild tune. And if you're doing most of the grunt work yourself anyway, with $5k in parts you can get a SCREAMING engine that will last many years and whup *most* of the 912 engines and many 911's. And Maintanence is almost nonexistant and parts are generally cheap.
They're all good. But go buy a 911 if you want a /6.
Bob O

[ishmeal]

Originally posted by atlporsche
WRX

sjd

Don't fret my old friend, I'm still gonna get it to run that way. When I'm done, it should be interchangable. I should be able to mount one or the other in a few hours.

In fact, got the harness in and on engine and sitting in car. Just can't work on it as it's still at my former home. Just moved, new baby has caused me to halt progress. Huh! Sucks. Then there's this injury I've to deal with. All sucks. Golfing season is coming in too. Sucks some more.

That's why I'm looking for a good engine that someone else can throw in and can work out some other bugs in the car such as electrical, susp. I'll drive it around for a while until I get a chance to throw the old EJ25 in there again.

I'm also looking into buying a collectible one. 72 or 73. I guess I'm falling in love w/porsches, esp the long hoods.

I see mid year cars and think of the possibility of dropping a WRX or EJ25 in there, but time won't allow me. I think it's possible to build one mount that'll mount everything that can bolt into the engine mounts. That way, you can drop it as easily as you do a regular 912 engine.

Time....if only I had more time. Still building a two car garage so I can bring my project over here. Also need it to house the collectible one too.

[atlporsche]

my offer still stands to finish it.

you know where to find me...in the meantime I'll be doing the '72 shell widebody coversion we found for cheap. the engine in that one is hanging on it's own in the '72 shell.

give up golf. It's the best way to ruin a good walk.

5 grand? Know how much power you can put down with a WRX mill for 5 grand including the purchase of the block?

so what if it's watercooled.

sjd

[ishmeal]

atlporche, would you be willing to work w/my custom harness and EMS? I've already have all the pieces together. Just need someone to put the pieces together and fire it up. As it is, I cannot work on it till after my garage is built. It's in storage. Without time, it just sits. If you're willing to work on it, it'll cheaper to have you finish it than for me to look into a new engine. However, I still need a wiring harness for front half of car. Think you can do that too?

With this EMS, it's already programmed, just need like 5 or 7 wires hooked up to power, starter, grnd vacuum and small stuff, nothing to figure out. It's easy.

If I can drop it off, I bet you could get it running in under a few days.

[atlporsche]

I think we could...the previous quote still stands...wiring is always time consuming.

we're a long way from PA...sort of.

sjd

[bmwloco]

1776 VW engine; most have spin off oil filters, self adjusting valves, make good HP and cost under $2000 NEW.

Any good air cooled VW repair shop (independent) can source you one, or you can check any of the VW magazines.

Hey, it'll make about the same or more HP than the original, fully updated, and it's air cooled.

[atlporsche]

Dean, you gonna be around mid april?

Sterling and I were planning on pre-running the course for the meet in may...

sjd

[COLDBASS]

A used running 6 in decent condition, 2.2 - 3.0 anywhere from 2,500-4,500...

[ishmeal]

I think I'll explore TypeIV first. It doesn't make sense to me to throw $$$$ into a 912 that has little value left in it. However, if this was a excellent vehicle, it'd be a different story.

Altporsche, I've family who live "east of atlanta" in Columbia. If I can tow it down there I would. However, it's simpler than you think now that I have a custom EMS. It's becoming a plug and play situation. I really just need someone to replace stock wiring for the car, not for the engine. The engine wiring is all finished. Need to fabricate a new mount. Will turn to a shop for this. I hope to incorperate the radiator in the mount as well.

How's hot weather testing for ya?

[bmwloco]

I should be around; my 912 is down now. Don't want to go into details, I'm a bit bummed. I can, however, trail or lead on a R80G/S PD or R100RS

Motorcycles have never failed me...

[atlporsche]

haven't broken 195 degrees...been out in 72 degrees ambient.

mid 80's is the turning point.

time to close the wing too...I'm getting plenty of cooling air with it open.

East of atlanta for me is Lawrenceville now.

just bought a new place with the wife with a kick butt basement garage (in addition to the two car main floor garage) that can easily hold 3.

sjd

[mpetry]

Anybody considered that one ? It looks pretty interesting, probably less money than a POLO motor and more robust than a 616.

If you put a Porsche 6 into a 912 body, you have an early 911 - they were the same car, only the rear torsion bar was a little different. HOWEVER, you have to do some cutting and welding in the rear compartment because the engine mounts are located further back.

You also lose the 912's wonderful balance. Early 911s were very twitchy to drive and while fast, they could get away from you.

I am thinking about building up a 2nd engine and the SCAT motor is interesting. They have all kinds of stuff like 911 type fans, dry sump, etc etc available. You'd probably have to do some fancy fabricating on the tin to get it to fit right.

http://www.scatvw.com

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA

[bmwloco]

Another good choice - Type 4 power!

http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/store/home.php

[SteveStromberg]

I can make that Type4 conversion very affordable.

The cost for the conversion to be up and running with a 2270cc with Exhaust and gearbox cluster would be about $5k ready to install.

[FenderGuy]

Steve is that with EFI or carbs? and now many horses?

[TonyB]

Ishmeal,

If you are looking into type 4 conversions, then do it right! If it's to be a temp motor while you build something else, then forget about it. However, if you are going to convert and keep it type 4, it's worth the extra money to get right to begin with. When I say right, I mean by using 912e sheetmetal for a perfect fit, 912e engine support bar to custom mounts -- not to the 912 stock mounts, regear the transmission with 914 gears to match the type 4's power curve. I have nearly 20k on my conversion. It's been from San Diego to McMinnvile, Oregon and back with no problems. It still handles like an early SWB 912 (ie Perfect) and it always draws a crowd!

See my website for pics and detailed info. If you want Subaru power, atlporsche knows what he's doing there.

Tony's Website: http://Gumby912.servebeer.com