finally, conversions?
 

i finally got my 72 1.7 driving. I obtained this car recently and it had been sitting for about 7 or 8 years. I changed fuel pump, plugs and wires, cap and rotor button, battery, and cleaned tank and lines. The only major problem is the spark plug hole being stripped. I got the plug to hold by rethreading. The only thing I don't like is the 1.7. It is a wimp like I thought it would be. Does anyone have any suggestions on conversion? I thought a rx7 rotory engine would be cool to put in this car.

Aaaah, yes--the Power Bug.

Let's see, a few points to ponder first. Your 1.7 feels underpowered. But power is not what the 914 is about--it's about handling. Go find yourself some nice twisty roads and throw the car around for a while. You'll most likely find that the car's limits far exceed yours--unless you're entirely insane, like I can be sometimes. The 1.7 doesn't have enough power to pull you out of trouble, but it had the responsiveness and the grip (and the light weight) to duck and dodge with the best of them. On stock skinny tires, even.

Autocross the sucker. You'll be astonished at the cars your car can beat. On stock skinny tires, with no suspension improvements. You'll also be even more surprised at what the car can really do.

If you're interested in 1/4 mile times, you've bought the wrong car...

If you have experienced the handling, and still really need more power, there are a lot of things you can do. First, you can upgrade your 1.7. Things like a carb cam and carbs, a tuned header exhaust, and (if you're on the east coast where you can get 93-94 octane fuel) maybe a little compression boost (you can go higher with lumpier cams) and some head work will give you more power--you should be able to get to 100 HP pretty easily.

You can also increase the displacement. This can be anything from locating some 96mm pistons and cylinders for your 1.7 motor (giving you 1910cc displacement), to locating a complete 2.0 (1971cc) engine and bolting it in, to buying one of Raby's 2270cc engines. Any or all of those can be done in conjunction with the improvements in the previous paragraph. Expect (at a guess) ~90 HP from an otherwise-stock 1910, 95 from a stock 2.0, ~150 from the 2270. Some of the "extra" work has already been done on the Raby motors, so there is less to gain that way.

You can go bigger, but reliability will suffer significantly. Of the above, the stock 2.0 will probably last the longest, followed by the Raby motor, with the 1910 bringing up the rear. The 96es that install in the 1.7 heads don't have a whole lot of sealing surface at the heads...

All of the above cost money. If you don't want to spend anything, stick with what you've got. The 2.0 engine, if you can find one to buy that is in good shape, will bolt in with zero hassles. The others will require more work--which is more money if you're not doing the work yourself.

You can, with enough time and money, install a 911 engine into your 914, making a 914-6. There is a lot of "cool factor" in this, and the sound is unbeatable IMHO. Check the "914-6 conversion guide" available elsewhere on this web site. It won't be cheap.

There are a whole lot of other motors that fit. Everything from four-cylinder Chrysler turbo motors, to rotaries, to Chevy V8s has been installed in a 914 chassis. The Chevy conversion has been done enough that the pitfalls are very well known--there is a Yahoo (I think?) group called "porschev" that can answer your questions. Other conversions have been onesie-twosie, and you will most likely have to design and fabricate a lot of your own parts.

BTW, don't let anyone BS you into thinking that the Chevy conversion is cheap. It's cheaper than a Six, but if you want to do a good-quality conversion it will cost you at least $5K, not including installation. And for that much, you can have the 150 HP Raby motor that almost bolts straight in, and weighs significantly less...

--DD

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Pelican Parts 914 Tech Support

A few pics of my car: http://www.pelicanparts.com/gallery/Dave_Darling

With a comp increase and a cam with a set of twin Webers and your 1.7 will haul A$$.Steve

DD wrote:

>But power is not what the 914 is about-->it's about handling (snip)


Bladerdash.
Power is Wonderful. Even more wonderfuller in a 914.

JPIII

I really like Dave's post. His idea's make the most sense. But if your ready to go over the top, you could always have a Porsche V8.....

http://www.d.umn.edu/~jrichar4/alien.htm

[This message has been edited by rich (edited 11-06-2001).]

Doug and I were out today breaking in a 1.7 that I built for a buggy. I stuck it in the Daily Driver for some break in miles. Specs are Stock heads with .040 flycut for 9.2 to 1, 1.7 pistons Stock KS, Norris 284x My favorite preformance cam,grooved rods, Balanced, Weber Twin 40 Idf's . I had put 200 miles on it before we started out this afternoon We drove up to Ventura and came back via Simi valley . On the 118 freeway we got in to a little speed run with a 911s we cooked it up to 115 and we were right on the Tail of the 911 for a couple of miles.He was one suprised 911 guy. Steve

[This message has been edited by SteveStromberg (edited 11-06-2001).]

[This message has been edited by SteveStromberg (edited 11-07-2001).]

Steve:
What are grooved rods? Tx.

Dave

You don't have a problem with the 9.2 compression? 91 octane is good enough for it I guess huh?

-Kevin

See : http://www.dolphinsci.com/techbull.html
Steve

I am with JP on this one... Handling is great but power is nice to have also.
Nothing like the sound of those 6 Webers opening up behind your head. A very nice sound indeed....

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate...gine_In_SM.jpg


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• Joe A.
• 84 911 Targa
• 75 914/6 3.0

Thanks Steve.

I'd always thought the Tauraus SHO yamaha engine would be interesting.

I recommend a 6 cylinder conversion, the bigger, the better. It is so much fun having 200+ Hp in a 914 http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/biggrin.gif

Check out http://members.rennlist.com/demonspawn914/

The page has links for all sorts of conversions.

I’ll take one of each please http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/clap.gif .

Tim
914 '73 2.0L