911 into 356?

curbo · Post by **curbo** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:57 pm

I have seen a couple of later engines installed in the states, but the cars have been hacked and different gearbox/trailing arms used.

Any advice would be very much appreciated, or i could just save up for one of these

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:59 am

Save up for one of those, I love the idea of using tried and trusted stock parts to build a relatively powerful reliable engine.

Bruce M · Post by **Bruce M** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:25 am

Very nice and frankly not bad value at £20k given the custom parts involved.

Or get a type 4 with 911 fan for a similar look but without the WOW factor.

Dakota · Post by **Dakota** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 10:46 pm

Yikes are they that dear, why, Ok its a custom crankcase, crank, and cams, but 20K .. How about a supercharged 356 engine, not a turbo , or just a plain well put together go fast 356 engine, my old racer was nothing exotic but would get wheelspin in second and made a brilliant noise, often after lauching off down the road you could smell burn't rubber in the car, and if cruising at eighty you could stomp on the gas there would be a breif kind of pause as if it was thinking about it and off it would go again like all hell had been let loose, well a small bit of it anyway...

curbo · Post by **curbo** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:13 am

Dakota, can i ask what your engine spec was please?

jury · Post by **jury** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:36 am

I spoke to Dean Polopolus last year regarding building one of these engines for my car....but yeah, not much change out of $30,000

However when you offset against $50,000 plus for a 4 cam, it seems good value

Would be cool though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgnbv8TTXl4

Chris

vwretrosteve · Post by **vwretrosteve** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:23 am

I think my friend now lives in the motor builders old place out in Hysperia.....

Back to the plot- My limited performance motor experience (other than factory built stuff like 911s' and RS4s' etc) essentially consisted of fitting hi po VW motors into old Volkswagens. A result of which i learnt many valuable lessons.
The main problems being stopping the things , and getting them around corners. Granted a 356 is a better corner taker in any form -especially when carefully lowered and uprated. The stopping isnt great, and simply fitting a set of disks aimed at the VW market isnt necessarily going to cure the issue.

My coupe has some brake mods, and the motor isnt an untamed beast, yet shedding some speed has its moments , even when there is some heat in the kevlar derived linings.

Actually, my car has relatively simple and well practiced engine mods based on a 912 case - it shoves out around 120 bhp - and is very peppy, - once on cam it barks!

it doesnt get too hot, isnt bad on fuel, can sit at a comfortable 100 for miles and miles without totally deafening me - and it fits in the space that the factory Provided.

If i had unlimited funds would i change it ??? probably not, i would just use it more

curbo · Post by **curbo** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:51 pm

Steve
Anychance you could share the spec of your engine that produces 120BHP?

TheBaron · Post by **TheBaron** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:31 pm

What he said.

Basically a well sorted 356 motor is more than enough for the little 356, after all it is a small car that weighs nothing.

Braking and all the other stresses you will subject it to are the bigger issues here if installing a 911 lump.

Plus to get that type of motor into the back of the car will require some hacking which will devalue the car.

Plus maintenance, if you have squeezed it into such a small space you will probably have to remove the engine every time you want to do anything.

Still, go with what you want, not other people.

Stephen

higs356 · Post by **higs356** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:57 pm

Bruce M wrote:Very nice and frankly not bad value at £20k given the custom parts involved.

Or get a type 4 with 911 fan for a similar look but without the WOW factor.

I could never understand the economics of doing this ...
For the total money spent you could have a 356 and a 911 and have the total driving experience of choice and as-designed.

Then again, if you have the money and want to do it "Because I can " then who am I to pass judgement

vwretrosteve · Post by **vwretrosteve** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:48 am

- there is a bit of magic in my motor but nothing too radical - balance here/lighten there/cam profile and some limited port/polish stuff which probably isnt doing much as the heads are not as responsive as vw units when a die grinder comes to town.

i did say 'around' 120 hp - it hasnt been dyno tested, nor has the car seen a rolling road - but from experience with vw motors, and a direct comparison with her indoors' polo gti . The 356 is quicker than the polo from standing (polo is 16v so needs plenty of revs to stand much chance from a stationary position)
and is as close to identical in handling and performance up to about 110 - indicated-when i tend to back out in the 356 as a mark of respect .
it doesnt feel at the end of its legs , but i get the feeling its not overly keen on pressing on much further.

despite my efforts with bilsteins and other handling mods - it handles exactly like the polo - well, in that i mean it goes around the same corners at the same speed with the same confidence (the polo has much more body roll , and you need to be in the right gear/revs )

so - i guess the best option for a good handling decent performing isnt a new motor , it is a polo gti .

and i suppose this sums up the whole motor thing -

ims101 · Post by **ims101** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:24 pm

My 356 (yes it is a rep tho) has a 1979 911 SC 3L engine and gear box in it. It was built by Chesil they apparently built two but mine is the only survivor (but that's another story

) I know the back of the car had to be streched by a couple of inches to get the extra cylinders in. I can also tell you access to the spark plugs is tight but doable as it the distributer. Apart from this I couldn't tell you how well this would work on a standard car but I hope this helps???

Dyno Soar · Post by **Dyno Soar** » Fri May 06, 2011 12:46 pm

356 motor for show.

T4 with Porsche shroud and 5 blade fan for go!

less expensive when you blow it up.