I’m
dreaming of a new engine
Not like
the one I used to know
Where the
mufflers sputter and children shudder
When there’s
thunder in the snow
I’m
dreaming of a new engine
With every
blogger post I write
May your
drives be merry and bright
And may all
your 911ses be light.
Horsepower are
addictive. It cannot be long before they come with a warning sign: “May cause
daydreaming and explosive pecuniary diarrhoea.”
I still
remember my very first horsepower. It was spring, I was 14 and I had just
become the proud owner of a 50cc motorbike with a whooping effect of 1 hp. Now
that might not be much, but that one horsepower was mine and mine alone. It got
me where I wanted to go.
So I was
happy. At least for a while. But as spring turned into summer the addiction had
taken hold. Before long I browsed the classified ads in bike magazines in search
of that intoxication substance: Horsepower!
Couple of
weeks later – with the help of an illegal German tuning kit – I was doing 90
kmph on a public road with a broken front disc brake. Don’t do that at home! I
was 14 and stupid.
Of course
it’s not any different simply because I now own an old Porsche 911. They can
always go faster. And they should! So lately I’ve found myself browsing way to
many Ebay posts and Porsche forum sites. Because I got a bad case of horsepower
itch and really, really want to swap my 2.7 litre with a 3.0, 3.2 or maybe even
3.6.
No, scratch
that last bit. I don’t believe for a second that a standard 915 gearbox can
take the strain. Just look what the 230 hp from a 3.2 can do:
So that
leaves me with the 3.0 or 3.2 option. Both of which are great engines with
their individual pros and cons. The 3.0 will probably be the cheapest and the
easiest to swap. But the 3.2 comes with more horsepower and – more importantly –
a great electronic fuel injection with far better throttle response and fuel
efficiency than the old CIS system.
Porsche
gearheads seem to differ on the difficulty of the 2.7 to 3.2 swap. At a Porsche
meet last summer I spoke with a guy who had done the swap. His advice was to
forget all about it and go with the easy 3.0 solution instead.
But then
there’s this other guy. He’s done it himself as well and wrote down what it
takes. And frankly it doesn’t seem too difficult:
Of course
there’s also another option. Swap to a 3.0 and tune the heck out of it with
carbs, high compression pistons and sharper camshafts. But it will probably me
much more expensive than the 3.2 swap and probably less driveable.
So, there
you have it. No clear answers, no decisions. Just a bit of daydreaming on a
dreary January day.
Oh, and you
wouldn’t happen to have a 3.2 litre flat-six for sale, would you?
Labels: 2.7, 3.0, 3.2, engine, swap
