4 cyl 911 engine?

It is a 911 6 cyl with the center 2 cylinders machined out of it.

 

It is currently being made by Dean Polopous (sp?) and now called the "Polo" motor in the Porsche world.

 

As far as I know, the first one was built by Chuck Beck.  That particular motor was purchased by one of my friends last year and we are putting it in a '56 356 coupe currently.

 

The story of how this motor cam about is long, and quite unbelievable if you don't know Chuck, so in short; Chuck won a few races with a 911 powered Spyder and other participants cried because the Spyder "should be " a 4 cyl car.  Chuck designed the "Polo" motor, keeping all 5 main bearings in the newly shorter crank and wound up with a little motor that turned over 10K and made a ton of power...

 

Wow...that's pretty slick. Sort of reminds me of when we'd cut a VW case in half back in the '80's to make a four stroke engine for the ultralights. That process led to manufacturing of dedicated cases and cranks for the purpose too. I think Mosler and TCM were involved in that.

 

Well, I'll be darn !

As Musbjim says "I learn something new every time I log on"

Thanks, Carey

 

David, I now recall seeing such a 2 cyl VW engine at a Stormville NY homebuilt fly-in several years ago. It powered the crudest, slab sided, nailed together homebuilt on carriage buggy wheels imaginable...sort of looked like a Disney cartoon... or a kiddy-ride on a carnival merry-go-round. 

Could this be the one Chip Foose is working on for tonight's show?

 

Here's the motor Carey is talking about! Dirty but beautiful. Chuck is currently rebuilding it for our little Carrera GT clone. It will have a 4 cam shroud sitting on top of it by the time we're all done :-)

 

Anand,

 

You're my hero. I want to be you when I grow up.

Or at least have his level of income! Wow, that looks exotic and expensive!! Like to be able to retro fit that 4 cam shroud to my engine!

Anand works harder than almost any Dr. I know. This is his dream, and he's sharing it with us.

 

Pretty cool.

Very cool, Anand! That is kind of the ultimate, isn't it? I am jealous....

Thanks Stan! This truly is my dream car...and I hope to share it with all of my buddies on the SOC. I've offered Stan and Rich to take it for and drive at Carey's shop-I hope they'll take me up on it!

Work is a beast...I'm on call 20 nights a month in the Neonatal ICU! This car is a treat to myself for such a brutal schedule.

Thanks for what you do in neonatal. As the father of  now teenage twins who were born prematurely, I appreciate what you folks do to get little ones off to a good start.

 

You deserve the fun and pleasure that these cars bring.

Bob et al,

Thanks! It is a rewarding profession. There have been days (many recently) in which I have not slept for 40 hours because of a few sick kids -- but it gratifying -- especially when they grow up and return to see you and healthy kids and adults. I work with my father (my partner)-- and one of his 26 week preemies graduated from law school a few years back and invited him. He was pretty proud. To think she would have died just a decade earlier because the knowledge and technology was just not there.

Hats off Anand on your and your father's hard work; and on your choice of well-merited vice (passionately shared by this choir I'm sure)

Jake Raby said he made that 4 cam shroud in fiber glass and was going to mass produce it but never did...

Looking at Anand's photo it appears to me that it's the end two cylinders (#3&6 ?) that have been eliminated instead of center cylinders (#2&5)

Interesting how things turn out.  I've known and worked with Anand's dad for 35 years.  Now I share a hobby, post about and go cruising with his son!

Carl, they cut the center out of the case but the ends off the cam carriers.

 

It is pretty sweet either way.