What is the the easiest to install most fuel efficient reliable conversion engine for a 914?

Considering my old '71 1.7 got 40+ MPG on the highway, you're gonna really have to look at the options. Maybe a VW TDi, maybe a Honda Civic HF engine from the early 90s, but it'll be SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. The Cap'n

Electric Motor

Make it run good like it is and put a mast on it and a sail. Put up the sail when the wind is behind you.

these "what's the easiest" threads lately are kinda crackin' me up.

like there's anything "easy"!

for me, the best swap is an ez36. block off the rwd on the suby trans and hook up a cableshift kit. efficient, modern engine with all the power these cars need.

no matter what, it's effing spendy.

thefleur

A n/a suby swap with a re-geared transmission should get pretty decent mileage. It could be cheaper than you might think but with a catch. If you need a rebuilt motor and transmission anyway or if you have a good motor or leftover donor car parts to sell, you could recoup some $$$.

You have to look into what you can make yourself or what parts are available (if you have limited fabrication skills like myself). Thats the real cost.

Easy to install and fuel efficient?
Well, we could just turn it into a ratio for some *sort of* scientific results. What. I'm an MBA, I'm programmed to think like this.

MPG/Total Cost of Conversion - with the assumption that a lower total cost reflects an easier install (less to buy, less to install, time is money)

As our control, we have Captain Crusty's 1.7. (To make the math work, we have to say the "conversion" cost 1 dollar). 40/1 equals a score of 40.
Score if no conversion is needed: 40

To be sporting, lets say you need to buy and install a 1.7 into your car (total cost, $700, assuming you don't have the FI on hand and have to buy it - we are being sporting here....)
Score: .0571

For an NA suby, if we assume the total cost of the conversion is $5K. The Suby swap score would be .0066 (33mpg/$5000)
Score: .0066

Electric does not work on this scale. We have to go with total cost per mile, instead of MPG, so I am not going to run it - it would not relate with any of the other calculations). Reported cost for the install is ~15K (as reported on 914world).

Zach

Don't laugh, A VW 1300cc engine.

Fine tuned 1.7 will do very decent milage ...

ad to this:

Narrow fuel efficient tires
Lighten the car: Remove spare, remove all unnecessary stuff ...
Learn to drive the efficient way.
From tests made in the seventies the car can do 40 mpg at 55 mph

A large rubber band....

Low cost, one simple part, and easy to install.

Due to simplicity, reliability should be high.

Nah, reliability won't be high, but it will have very predictable modes of failure. That'll give you the ability to just haul around a bunch of spares...

-Josh2

a 40 mpg type 4 is nice - but better for the environment might be 30 mpg subaru that runs far cleaner. jim

I was actually thinking about a 2 cylinder aircooled...like an airplane motor...

Even easier would be a BMW motocycle motor.

Rich

Easy would be buying something someone else poured $ and time into and is either tired of it or in need of cash.

A chevy 305, the mileage king, with a 2-barrel and some flowmasters. If you wanted the same power and torque as a 2.0 you could just shift it at 1000rpm.

I won't even get into reliability. That thing will outlast YOU if built properly.

Why did you get a 914 if you wanted something easy?

Seriuosly, Jakes super 2 liter would be the easiest and most fuel efficient... IMHO.

-Rob

Easiest and most fuel efficient would be a rebuilt, balanced and blueprinted 1.7L with an aftermarket EFI system (like the MicroSquirt).

Conversion to water cooled negates the "easy" part, otherwise I'd agree with the Subie conversion.

I would equate the conversion to water cooled to about six valve adjustment times. Drive the suby or type 4 about 100k and the type four gets how many valve adjustments? 1 every 3k? not to mention a valve job and probably a rering.

Not if you have hydraulic valve lifters Or a corvair engine can be done for low $ and decent economy with no valve adjusts

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Let the floor rust out and go flinstone!

Stock 1.7, 31 MPG around town with a little bit of highway driving.

I rode with Jim Knowlton at WCR 2008, stock 1.7, and I was amazed at how slowly the gas gauge moved.

Replace the Hamster they put on the wheel in the 70's with a new one.

original question:


so, if he is set on a conversion... there are 3 very popular conversions... chebbie v8, subaru 4, or 911 /6...

this is my opinion of course...
easiest to install - probably a /6, no radiator holes to cut, no water hoses to run, loads of info on how to do it too..
fuel efficient - subaru 4 banger, non-turbo
reliable - a chevy v8, scoobie 4 or a later 911 can all be very reliable for many years and miles...

but
cost to do the conversion weighed in... a v8 or scoobie are probably cheaper than the /6, but the /6 will probably be the one to give the best resale value...

I agree with everyone to keep it a /4, and just drive it, but that wasn't his question

Gerbils rev faster, but have less torque.

Sure, but the Mongolian gerbils turn the wrong the direction. Unless you want flip the R&P in your tranny, you'll need an African gerbil.

My subaru N/A got 31 mpg all day long at 65 mph

i'm so hot and cold on conversions.

now that my carbs are set up, i'd have to "convert" right back to a Tiv.
Put on webers and swap the cam. because:

• Tiv is easiest.
• webers sound fricken cool.
• could be driven economically, even in a sport tune.
• did i mention webers sound fricken cool.
• reliability...?.
• but webers sound really fricken cool.

thefleur

Not a problem, you CAN have it all:

of course that depends on what your starting with:

If I had a square & true roller that somene had started plumbing on, I'd have to look at an EZ36.

With carburetors? Oh my!

All true, but you guys are forgetting the cool "sound" factor!
How sweet it sounds...8 squirrels stretching their legs in harmony.
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no, silly.

i had 2 different thoughts there... they just looked like they belonged together!

You're right, I LOVE the sound of those old Camaros!

Seriously, that's one of big pluses of the V8 conversions for me, the puzzled look on the faces of people who know for damned sure THAT sound is NOT what's supposed to be coming out of that little car.

But the question is about easiest, most reliable and fuel efficient conversion engine, so he's not talking about V8's, is he? (What mileage are you getting?) Can't be a T4 engine either, since that's not a conversion, so it almost has to be either a small naturally aspirated Subaru or an electric. What else?

I'm sure a vw diesel will smoke any na gas motor of equivalent power.

Speaking of sound I like the long duration big overlap of the chev's or a harley also but there is something about the sound of a 400hp awd suby coming up the street from about a block away and then up the long driveway to my house. Kinda sounds like when the helicopters were going to george's ranch.

Thats what I would like to have in my dunebuggy or speedster. With a 901