I was surfing this afternoon and found this information. VW Industrial Engine Division took a type 4 1700 engine and downsized to 1588 cc using a 66 mm stroke and 87.5 pistons with a barrel liner in a 90mm bore. Engine was mainly used a a pump engine until the Formula Vee guys found them. They replaced the 1600 type 1 motors with these type 4 engines and stayed under the 1600 limit. In full racing up grades the 1600 type 4 motors were turning 9k rpm and top end of 150 mph according to writer.

We see quite a few type-IV engines in Super Vees at the Vintage racing events.

If I need any engine parts or expertise, I know to check with the other 914 drivers first, then the Super-Vee paddock.
Probably the most knowledgeable on these engines, in our club, is an ex-914 driver turned "open wheeler".

They were also used in midget racers if I remember correctly.

That's right, and that's where Scat got involved. Look up the Scat split-port race head sometime.

Here, this head:







Scat catalog link: http://scatvw.com/master/cyl_heads/split_port.shtml

Regarding Scat: There is an article in the new "Hot VW" magazine regarding Scat, and how they produce connecting rods for performance VW shops and for major OEM manufacturers. The article is really not very detailed, but it is interesting. For example, all of the rough forgings begin in China, and the final machining takes place in the US.

Regarding FV: I knew that the Type-4 was used in the past. I think it was also used in Super Vee. Another oddity was that they used dual throat down draft Webber carburetors, with one throat blanked off, to form single throat carbs.

That's it, back to the topic!

The T4 was never used in FV, just SV.

They employed twin 40 P-11 Solex carbs with both throats active. The floats were eliminated and the bowls modified to eliminate fuel starvation in corners.

VW was heavily involved in the pro series and moved away from the t4 to the water-cooled rabbit engine in large part due to the high amount of maintenance required to keep the T4's reliable, mostly with the cylinder heads, which lack the strength for high rev, high compression ratios, and high temps that race use required of them.

"Who knew"? Shit, I used to watch them race...as a wee tike...

I've got one sitting on the shelf! This was out of a 1972 Lola T252 FSV.

Ditto

Only super vee.
Not formula vee

My race shop runs one in a historic Lola

I've been posting about this for years

What is the black box mounted to the oil pump hole? (I suspect a big oil pump), but it looks like a speedo angle drive and a PCV valve sticking out of it.

Dry sump pumps.

And mechanical tach drive. The PVC looking thing is a debris cover for an oil nipple.

Yup, they all got it spot on. Also of note on this engine: The 4 studs that would normally hold the fan shroud on were what mounts this engine to the chassis rear bulkhead. It has no cooling fan at all, just two scoops that stuck up in the air above the driver's shoulders. It's also got some absurd compression ratio and some of the biggest valves we've ever seen in a typ4.

The car:





The reason we never ended up restoring it (though it's still around):



We think pretty much all of the parts and body is there. Maybe one day we will work on it.

As I recall the cranks used to beat the shit out of the case. One guy told me they were strung so tight that cases were good for a weekend. The swap to Golf/Rabbit engines was not really a bad thing.

What dry sump pump is that?

Want to sell it to me?

The heads were treated as consumables. They were stretched to within an inch of their lives in the shop, then abused on track.

I ran a set of Zeitler formula super vee heads on our 914 1.7 for a bunch of years back in the late 1970s till we sold it in 1983. The car was primarily a DE car but back then we drove it to events carrying the slicks in the other car. The heads were milled to the point that there was only a small area for the valves. The valves were 1.7 size but were profiled and extensively lightened. Double wound springs and titanium retainers were used. The ports were opened up and the guide bosses were removed. I calculated the compression to be about 11 to 1 with early 1.7 pistons. I lightened the rods and balanced everything and used a European racing II cam which was a little aggressive for the fuel injection. Lightened clutch and 911S flywheel rounded out the package. Back then, nobody made a good header so we ran an Ansa and stock heater boxes which felt like it stopped up the system somewhat. A lot of guys would wonder why their Ansa did not sound like ours. Well, 11 to 1 compression gave it a certain crack to the exhaust note!!

The engine started making good power at about 4,000 RPM and we would shift at 6,500. The cam had so much overlap that it would not idle worth a shit but we only cared what it did with our foot to the floor. The M-S-X gears helped with the narrow power band.

We never had problems with the heads though. It was not dry sumped so the rod bearing were tortured and I would change bottom ends mid season and rebuild them over the winter.

Charlie

I'll inquire.