High output Type IV or Subaru Options

[TonyAKAVW]

There has been a lot of talk recently about affordable engine upgrades for the 914, namely larger displacement Type IV engines and Subaru conversions.

It looks as though a Type IV with 125 HP will cost about $5000 to do. It also looks like a Subaru conversion, using the Renegade kit (or a DIY conversion) will run somewhere around the same price for 165-180 HP (or more with a turbo engine).

So the poll question is if you had $5000 to spend on an upgrade for your 914, would you rather have a Type IV or a Subaru conversion?

As far as I know, no one yet offers a complete drop-in solution for the Subaru conversion, whereas a Type IV can be purchased and dropped in with little effort.

-Tony

[anthony]

QUOTE (trekkor @ Dec 23 2005, 12:34 AM)

QUOTE A $5000 Suburu conversion will involve hundreds of hours of fabrication I think that is a huge exaggeration. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dry.gif) Just not the case. Are you talking 3, 4, 5 weeks of 40 hour work weeks of fab time? I don't think so. KT

If you think it's a huge exaggeration then tell us how long a subbie conversion will actually take. I honestly think it will suck up at least a couple hundred hours of one's time (six months of Saturdays). I'm talking everything from doing net research, to sourcing parts, picking up parts, doing whatever fabrication needs to be done (fuel injection?, radiator setup, custom exhuast, custom motor mounts?, etc) and then installing the engine. I think you are seriously underestimating how much time this would take.

I once did an engine swap in a BMW 320i and it took me a good week to uninstall the two engines, install the good engine, and then sort out all the issues. And that was a 100% bolt on affair. And that doesn't include the 8 hours involved with procurring the donor car and the 4 hours to eventually get rid of that donor car.