3.2l Corvair Engine Build, preliminary ideas and questions Options

[macnichol]

As I've done more and more research on potential engine swaps for my car, I've come across some people swapping the Corvair flat 6 into their cars. I really like this option, as it keeps the aircooled spirit of these cars, engines are quite inexpensive to get to 200+hp compared to a conventional 911 Flat 6. These engines rotate backwards so I need to come up with probably a new way of reversing the rotation, since I quite like the 901 gearbox. I think for now I just want to aim for 200hp at the wheels, even though I know these engines are capable of much, much more. My plan is so far is to get a good example of an engine, swap in 94mm Mahles and 911 bits and stroke it a small amount to 3.2l. I think this will be a good balance between a few things, I want to stay away from boring stuff out in the interest of long term reliability. I plan on fabbing up a 911ish-style fan shroud as the stock cooling of the Corvair was not designed with our mid-engine setup in mind and I can foresee cooling issues, especially with a larger displacement engine. For those of you who build your own engines and maybe the king Mr. Raby himself, how reliable are aftermarket nikasil coatings and cryo treatments? I may build a few of these "hybrid" engines if there is enough interest in a powerful alternative to 911 and Raby engines, I feel like many people have been priced out of that market, not due to anyone's fault. I've done some digging over at the corvair forums, it's not uncommon for people to get ~300hp and 100k miles out of these motors before rebuild, as long as proper cooling is done and maintenance is looked after. What do you guys think?