Type 4 build cost, educate me Options

[chrisg]

OK, I've searched and I'm tired of going through old threads so excuse me if this has been done too many time before.
I've been here for a while off and on and really hope to have time to get my car back on the road some day while I still have reflexes and my wits about me so I can drive. I am constantly thinking about how I will build it. I need more counseling in the motor department. Educate me again about what it is that make building a type 4 cost so damn much? I see where parts are becoming scarce and there is the usual machining and balancing to be done and maybe I am ignorant to building an aircooled VW motor, but damn!
I'd love to keep my car with an aircooled motor, be it VW or Porsche (fantasy), but I also want torque and hopefully FI (carbs seem so archaic, not to mention all the ethanol problems we experience; my carbed motorcycles hate the crap, I'm tied of cleaning jets!)
A six is very alluring, but every thread tells me it is out of my budget and I really am OK with keeping the Type 4. A 2056 w/ fi cam (most likely built by McMark) is really my most likely route but wonder if the cost vs. satisfaction will be there. A 2270 sounds more tempting to me, but then there is the fi problem (cost)
My real question is why does even the 2056 cost so damn much? or am I just not realizing how bitchin' a $5-6K 2056 w/factory fi will be. I've only driven my GA 2.0 w/ l jet, and it was foot on the floor slow.
I keep going back to the Suby conversion at that point but it just seems wrong and the radiator set ups I've seen just don't sit well with me.
Keeping it aircooled just seems like the right thing to do. Am I just being cheap?

[chrisg]

I've only driven my GA 2.0 w/ l jet, and it was foot on the floor slow.
Firts off, figure out what is wrong here to begin with. It will most likely be alot cheaper than a new engine. A 2.0, while not a racecar, is still quite peppy. Also, what are tyou comparing " foot on the floor slow " too ? A new Vette ? a 71 Barrcuda ? Ifso then you'll never be happy with a 4 banger

For the record I had a typo there and it's a GC. It was all healthy when I was still driving it but I just think it can be so much more with at least a better cam and as long as I'm going that route......
And yes, I have been driving a late '90's Mustang after having a not-much-torque NA 2nd gen RX-7 and I really enjoy torque for the street now. The Mustang is a total tank, but that's another story.


I am close by in Arroyo Grande, so if you would like to try my carbureted 2270, let me know. But beware, you will love it. All it takes is more money.

I'll have to take you up on that offer one of these days. I'm afraid I will love it too much. But it would be nice to compare it to a 2056 w/ fi cam.

A six is totally out of my budget. I've read enough threads here over the years and know there is no stopping with just a motor and my plan is to just freshen and improve on the rest of the four cyl. suspension and brakes. Going overboard would eat up body and paint budget and all the other things I probably don't know I'm going to redo yet.
I do realize the 2056 w/fi is probably my best route and will probably please the heck out of me, but just to help put it over the top if McMark or anybody else wants to chime in here, on how much more is involved with a 2270 (a lot more labor? More $ in the heads?). Is there a round number one can put on that? I'd be needing to go carbs for a couple years with that route also. Not crazy about that but maybe unduly so.