Engine upgrade options Options

[patssle]

I might be interesting in taking out the engine of my car and swapping with something better sometime down the road in the future. Currently it's an old VW bus motor, no horsepower, some ok torque in 1st and 2nd, but nothing after that.

I did some searching, and came across a few threads - but are there any good previous threads or articles out there that touch on each engine option available to upgrade to in the 914? Cost, benefits, pros/cons, etc. I know there was a poll once asking which upgrade to do - but could not find it.

Thanks!

[patssle]

Here's my thinking on the car. My DD is a Mazda 3.

I would love the Nissan 370z as a 2nd car. Great car for 30k. Plus maintenance, tires, and insurance. So I can spend ~40k on a sports car.

Or...I can spend, 5k, 10k, 15k on the 914 and have something special - and a sports car for considerably less - with low insurance costs. I don't really have a set budget - I'm more in mind of what is worth it. I don't care about selling price.

I don't want 90 hp. I don't need a 3.6L. Do I want to spend 15k? Preferably not. But if you could tell me I can get 150-200 hp with 10k in cash...that would be thought provoking. Staying aircooled would be nice, but not required.

I found a couple 3.2 aircooled engines going for 5k-7k on ebay. Is that normal price? What would the final tally roughly come out for those?

[zx-niner]

I would love the Nissan 370z as a 2nd car. Great car for 30k. Plus maintenance, tires, and insurance. So I can spend ~40k on a sports car.

Or...I can spend, 5k, 10k, 15k on the 914 and have something special - and a sports car for considerably less - with low insurance costs. I don't really have a set budget - I'm more in mind of what is worth it. I don't care about selling price.

I don't want 90 hp. I don't need a 3.6L. Do I want to spend 15k? Preferably not. But if you could tell me I can get 150-200 hp with 10k in cash...that would be thought provoking. Staying aircooled would be nice, but not required.

This kind of matches my thought process of several years ago. I was in a position were we could have bought that dream sports car (we were thinking new Vette) but decided for the same $50 grand or so I could build my dream 914 and it would essentially be a brand new car. To me the decision was one of this new car versus that new car. In the end I went with the 914 dream.

I planned for Jake do the engine. In the back of my mind I had budgeted $5,000 for the engine. The actual $12,000 cost was pretty close to Jake's "double plus 10%" guideline. The result is an engine with more than enough power. The car is balanced with stock tires and wheels without flares. And I kept a usable front trunk (no radiator or humungous oil cooler) despite the (new) A/C condensor and spare tire.

The engine, of course, was just a start to my "new car" goal and I am over 60% of the way to my $50k spending limit. By my estimate I am well beyond 60% complete with the entire project. Certainly all this could be accomplished for less cost if I did it myself. With minor exceptions I have chosen not to do so. I make a living doing other type of work and it does not phase me at all to support those who make a living doing this type of work.

Some would say I'll end up with a $15,000 914 that cost me $50 grand. Again, I don't look at it that way. I am buying a $50,000 sports car that I will drive 100-150 thousand miles. I don't consider it an investment any more than any other new car I would drive. Plus I get to drive a car different from every other car on the road.

Resale? Someday my kids will get the car and that will be their problem. At that point in time they may wish I had put the money in a IRA and bought a bicycle instead.

The point of all this? It's your money. Do plenty of resarch and soul searching and do what you want.