Type IV

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Chasing rust was one of the reasons I finally let the 2002 go, in 1999. It was only surface rust, but an harbinger of things to come.

It also needed paint and some reupholstery (the vinyl seats would split when their underpinnings started to sag). More work than my budget could justify at the time, and the cars were worth nothing then.

This was before the interwebs, and my only option for selling was an ad in the local paper. After two weeks, I got one offer. It was mechanically nearly perfect, with a recent engine rebuild.

Let it go for $1500.

I don’t even want to know what happened with the latest version of the Z4

They advertize it as a "luxury roadster".  Just this model year you can get it with a six speed manual transmission (Handschalter).  Would love to swap my Miata ND on one - but they are very heavy (3500 #)- in cost too at around $65k! (Note - the Toyota Supra is a Z4 with a coupe skin - same engine but different transmission - and slightly less $ but no convertible!)

Z3 with four cylinders were sports cars*, kinda. Of course nothing that weighs a ton and a half or more qualifies. One would have to be daft, or addled by petrol fumes, to think some 3400-pound hippo were a “sports car.”

*albeit 350 lbs too heavy

It's a good thing a 6-cyl Z3 weighs 2900 lbs then, huh?

Last month we stopped walking to chat with a neighbor. Parked on street were two BMW 2002s. I asked who they belonged to and she said her husband (80 yo) had been planning on fixing them up for 20 years and she put her foot down. She said he had another one under a tarp in back of the house and they were all waiting to be picked up.

Another neighbor had inquired first and they had GIVEN all three cars to her. Arrrgh!!!

at some point though every car from that area no matter how good it looks requires a full restoration à la Marty … So it should be definitely something that you liked, and maybe even drove because after six years of restoration if you found out it wasn’t the one you have a challenge.

@Stan Galat posted:

It's a good thing a 6-cyl Z3 weighs 2900 lbs then, huh?

No! It’s bad actually! Too much weight and too much power.

(the ‘97 Z3 2.8 was 2700-something)

edit: here’s a proper sports car https://bringatrailer.com/list..._campaign=2024-12-27

-with the caveat of course that swapping in a big block Chevy v8 with twin turbos would be an immense improvement!

You can get a Wilhoit 2.2 liter complete, including exhaust for between $35k and $40k if you want to go Porsche.

The engine is a bullet proof beast.

Now Wilhoit is building is a "2.2 S" that a buddy of mine is putting in his 356C that Wilhoit is doing a total restoration on.

I don't even want to know how much that is.

Around 2004 refurbishing a Real three fifty six was around one fifty K US dollars plus buying the car.  30k

just imagine the price now ridiculous….. yeah,

Our numbers weren't that inflated in California at that time.  I mistakingly passed on a 356 coupe for $12k, and it was in great condition.

Watching the news here in Tennessee our prayers are with you left coasters and hope you, your families and 356s are all safe. 

@Panhandle Bob posted:

You can get a Wilhoit 2.2 liter complete, including exhaust for between $35k and $40k if you want to go Porsche.

The engine is a bullet proof beast.

Now Wilhoit is building is a "2.2 S" that a buddy of mine is putting in his 356C that Wilhoit is doing a total restoration on.

I don't even want to know how much that is.

It remains to be seen how long they will last, Bob.  I wouldn't call it a 'bullet proof beast' just yet.  The rod journals are really small (that's the way they made the stroker crank/rod assembly compact enough to fit into the stock 356/912 engine case)- some modern Honda size.  Smaller rod journals on longer than stock stroke crankshafts were tried in Type 1 engines in the mid-late '70's to early '80's by both Claude's Buggies, Gene Berg Ent., and others (they were trying to make 74, 76 and maybe even 78 mm cranks 'drop in' with no or little machining) and all abandoned the idea after having problems with crank flex beating out the case and (I believe) oil starvation issues at the rod journals themselves.

And yeah, it's not cheap- last time I looked it started at over $20,000 and you supplied a rebuildable core, complete to the sheet metal.

These are Porsche engines, after all

ALB:

"About $35k", direct quote from John Wilhoit.

One of my closest friends has one of the very first Wilhoit 2.2 engines in his 356C and it has been "bullet proof" for years. This guy doesn't baby his cars. He is the one looking to replace it with the 2.2 S.

I don't have your mechanical expertise, but the 2.2 engine has stood the test of time and torture, and that seems to me to be what's important.

I don't believe that Wilhoit drills any holes in it to lighten it, sorry.

@Panhandle Bob wrote- "I don't believe that Wilhoit drills any holes in it to lighten it, sorry."

Ok, Bob, I laughed out loud at that!                                                                                      And I agree- if it's stood the test of time, that's great.  Maybe because the engine case is aluminum instead of magnesium, being stronger, it offers more support so the crankshaft can't move from side to side and pound out the main bearing saddles, like in the Type 1?  And if you grooved the insides of the main bearings you'd have full time oiling to the rod bearings?                     

How many miles does he have on the original 2.2 build?  Do you know the hp difference between the original 2.2 liter (iIrc, about 160 hp?) and this latest configuration?

Sorry, as usual, I have questions...

PS- is that $35,000 with or without a core?