touring power, build an engine !!!! Options

[orangecrate]

So I been workin on the orangecrate off an on for what seems like forever... seems I now have rod issues. Knock knock.... Any way I'm lookin at building a motor, or rebuilding. Inexpensively (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif) I have only 2 real conditions I want to meet. 1- It will run 80 mph all day thru the desert in the summer in Phoenix and sit at stoplights with out cooking itself. 2- It will pull the 6% grades that you hit leaving the valley at 70 in the summer without cooking itself. 75 would be nicer. Guess I"m talking a torque motor. This is a stock 72 with stock gearing. And maybe one size up tires. Did I say it needs to be reliable? Like Phoenix to Portland and back any time of year reliable. And inexpensive.. I'd love to buy a Raby motor but $$$. Oh yea. I will be doing the assembly myself. And I'd like to use as much of the 1.7 as possible if possible. Thanks for the input. Build away. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[Superhawk996]

2.0L Stock or maybe 2056 is probably the sweet spot in my opinion. Combine with external oil cooler as Mark suggests will be your best bet short of moving to water cooling. Your situation in AZ with the temperatures and the long grades is a challenge for a 914 as I'm sure you're aware. As long as you avoid lugging the grades, you will be OK with an external cooler.

2.0L crank is bascially a small stroker over a 1.7L No need to get crazy here if you want durability.

Just in case anyone is not aware of the forumla:
(RPM * T) / 5252=HP

Only two ways to make more HP. Make more torque or spin the engine faster. Or, a combination of both.

Type 4 has a bit of an upper bound w.r.t. spinning them faster. Sure there are people that spin them to 7200 or 8,000 for racing purposes but that comes with durability implications both for the valves (i.e. valve float) and for the crank on the bottom end due to the nature of the T4 crank.

That leaves make more torque. That comes from either a stroker crank or bigger pistons setting aside implcations of getting more air flow into and out of the head to support the increased dispalacments.

You could go to a "bigger stroker" crank but at some point the increased stroke of the crank begins to work aginst you by generating bigger forces on the crank (and bearings) than it was designed to handle.

Bigger pistons also work against you beyond a resonable limit by increasing inertial forces on the crank and by generating more torque on the crank than it was desinged to handle. Larger displacement, bigger pistons (i.e more fuel burned) = more heat. Since cooling is limited by the T4 centrifugal fan, there isn't a whole lot more heat extraction you can get without going to Nickies which is what is at the heart of the Raby Kit both in terms of $$ and ability to make more power without compromising durability much. If you can afford them, I'd do them.

The cheapest, easiest way to get more heat out and away from the engine is via external oil cooler as suggested by Mark. Next would be to consider the Thermal Barrier Coatings inside the head combustion chamber and exhaust ports to keep heat out of the heads and high emissivity coatings on the head exterior to help transfer heat out of the heads. HAM can assist you with either of these coatings on their heads.

Bottom line, the crazier you get from 2056, the more cooling problems you'll generate with limted solutions to keep it durable.

Big six or Porsharu are going to be your best bets to get more way more HP and keep the durability.