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Going postal

FM Former Member
Last night I talked to John Collins, the owner of the 356 with 911-4 featured in the August "Excellence" magazine; he was very helpful in describing his specific engine's performance/torque. He also said that the engine castings and machining, crankshaft, etc., are beautifully done. So I'm going to take the plunge and build one for my Speedster replica and plug it into the car next spring.

Imagine a 220 BHP engine you can rev to 8,000 just about all
day long and still expect to get 250,000 miles on it before you have to do a teardown. And then there's the TOTALLY COOL factor of having
a bitchin' four cylinder SOHC 911 engine under the rear deck lid. And
I had to find something to put the vintage NOS 48 IDA's on anyway.

The basic "kit" is $7,500 but then you need new or used connecting rods, new pistons/clinders, dual ignition head assemblies, custom cams, cam towers (modified), valve covers (modified), cam drive assemblies, oil pump (has to be modified), oil tank, oil cooler and lines, dual ignition distributor, flywheel, clutch, fan with alternator, cooling shroud (modified), custom intake manifolds and a pair of Weber 48 IDA's, etc. This little project will wring my bank account out like a limp dishrag but I think it will be worth it.

All things considered it will be less expensive than getting married again.
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FM Former Member
Last night I talked to John Collins, the owner of the 356 with 911-4 featured in the August "Excellence" magazine; he was very helpful in describing his specific engine's performance/torque. He also said that the engine castings and machining, crankshaft, etc., are beautifully done. So I'm going to take the plunge and build one for my Speedster replica and plug it into the car next spring.

Imagine a 220 BHP engine you can rev to 8,000 just about all
day long and still expect to get 250,000 miles on it before you have to do a teardown. And then there's the TOTALLY COOL factor of having
a bitchin' four cylinder SOHC 911 engine under the rear deck lid. And
I had to find something to put the vintage NOS 48 IDA's on anyway.

The basic "kit" is $7,500 but then you need new or used connecting rods, new pistons/clinders, dual ignition head assemblies, custom cams, cam towers (modified), valve covers (modified), cam drive assemblies, oil pump (has to be modified), oil tank, oil cooler and lines, dual ignition distributor, flywheel, clutch, fan with alternator, cooling shroud (modified), custom intake manifolds and a pair of Weber 48 IDA's, etc. This little project will wring my bank account out like a limp dishrag but I think it will be worth it.

All things considered it will be less expensive than getting married again.
FM Former Member
Is this the "trickle down" Bush tax break effect in action, more money for mo' better toys?

I might be wrong but aren't these engines close to $20k?

For half that amount you could have a T4 with Shad Laws and Charles Navarro's new head design, long life cylinders, etc. With the new heads these engiens are said to be able to make in excess of 350 HP. Or so some are saying.
FM Former Member
Erik, any way you slice it a big type 4 is still an antiquated pushod engine design. My guess would be that 350 BHP from a type 4 would net you out a 500 hour engine if you used the power.

In contrast, the air-cooled 911 3.6 liter engines are designed to make power and run like trains for lots of miles.

It's very easy to spend a lot of money building a performance type 1 engine - $2,200 for rods, $1,000 for cylinders, $400 or more for pistons, $1,200 for carburetors, $1,395 for a crankshaft, $200 for a flywheel, $1,400 for a custom case, $??? for a pair of custom heads, $400 for a set of rocker arms and shafts, $125 for a distributor, $80 for a Pertronix Ignitor, $175 for a quality large capacity bolt-on sump, $80 for a blue printed Schadek oil pump, $180 camshaft, $400 Schubeck composite lifters, etc. Then there's custom lightweight wrist pins, Total Seal pistong rings, JayCee pusrod tubes, etc.

Type 4 won't be cheap, either.
(Message Edited 7/9/2003 12:19:50 PM)
FM Former Member
I wasn't second guessing your decision; the ones I have seen (online) are truly works of art. Beautiful. Why not just go with a full six cylinder, savings in the shortened length of the engine? Surely the weight of two pistons, two cylinder, a chunk of crank and case wouldn't be that much of a weight savings.

Word on the street is Shad's new heads are revolutionary and his engine configuration will last as long as the figure you mentioned, but I don't know if a car is actually powered by one yet. Has there been talk at Cal Look about it? At Shop Talk Forums there is a continuing thread, very interesting.
Ron ORon O1984/2010 IM, B.C. Canada
I thought that George was spending a lot of money until I read the article in the latest HotVWs, on a 911 powered 1961 VW bus. 300hp! I can only imagine what the cost would be. 911 motor from a 1996/96 car, all 911 suspension and brakes, totally new floor, etc, etc. I guess it's all relavtive. What I think would be a whole LOT of money is probably not all that much to the guy with the Porsche bus. His wife uses it as a grocery getter and packing the kids to little league.
Ron
W Williams
$$$ and HP, Seems to me the economical way to go is to buy a 2000 Mustang GT or better yet a Cobra convert or a C5 vette convert, maybe a 99 or 00. That way you get a trouble proven package with lots of HP for a reasonable sum. Of course it wouldn't have that Speedster look.
Not being a smart a** but just a thought. Had a Mustang 5.0 and it was one of the best bangs for the buck I've ever driven. Bruce
MASSIVETYPEIVMASSIVETYPEIV
There is plenty of action going on with the heads, but its limited to Shad and I...and one of my customers.
Shad's engine for test will be a 9K Rpm revver, my customers will be a 7500RPM engine with 2615cc of displacement. 220 on a bad day!

I make it a point to say little about something till its proven, after that I let it go to the masses.....It won't cost 20K for a 220HP TIV with these heads, and it should last 150K with scheduled preventive maintenance.

More to come.
Stan GalatStan Galat
I'm with George on this one. He's obviously building the coolest replica 356 Speedster he can envision, and I can't imagine a cooler engine. This project (his new Speedster) is probably one of the few things in life that has absolutely no compromises. My Speedster was built with an eye to value, always trying to justify each expenditure. George is not making those choices, he just wants the best it can possibly be. I for one am interested in how it works out- keep us in the loop George.
FM Former Member
Erik, it's the WEIGHT and the SIZE. Altogether the 6 cyl 911 is not a good fit but the 911-4 looks like it ws MADE for the car.

Regarding Shad and Charles' efforts - so far there has been a lot of talk but as far as I know, no action. Maybe Jake Raby knows about this stuff/

There's a big difference between having something in an experimental state and actually producing and marketing a product for sale, and the type 4 market is a lot smaller than the type 1 market, so bon chance.

My main point was that an SOHC 911-4 beats a pushrod type 4 hands down.
(Message Edited 7/10/2003 6:48:50 AM)
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