Turbocharging a 914... Options

[electrolime]

Hello there and pardon me for my igorance. I am new to the 914 community and have a few questions. How come I see no threads or anything on turbocharging 914s? Is there something I don't know? Is it really hard or expensive to turbocharge them? Where can I find information on turbocharging them? What would you use as fuel enrichment if you were to turbocharge a 914? Also, just add anything you know or any experience you have with turbocharging 914s.

Thanks!
-Pat

[lapuwali]

I don't agree with Miles too often, and don't disagree with Ben too often, but I have to here.

If you can do all of the wiring and whatnot for PEFI or you're willing to fit K-Jet off a VW and you can weld up exhaust tubing, then it's relatively cheap (could be done for under $500 if you used MS, borrowed a wideband, and got lucky on parts scrounging).

However, if you can't weld, and computers just confuse you, and wiring makes you gag, then paying someone else to devise a setup for you would not be cheap (by 914 standards).

The gains aren't going to be all that much with an otherwise stock engine. As you yourself said, Ben, you have a 1.7 turbo that makes about as much poke as a decent 2.0. Jake's comments suggest that adding a turbo to a big bore engine (anything over the 1.7 bore) is asking for serious head leaks. IMHO, pumping the boost up enough to get real power (150hp or more) is asking for serious cooling problems.