1958 Porsche 356 Speedster turn key resto.....

[JTR70]

Great News Steve! You are really getting close now. That is a sweet long block and has the appearance of no expense spared. What are we looking at here? 912 block, 912 heads, S90 heads, super light scat crank? Full flow oil system By Ron Ladow? Please share some details on parts, displacement and other stats for your motor. Are you building this yourself or is a shop assembling the engine? Thanks again, Very excited for you; I know you're getting anxious your so close.. Justin

[stp356]

Hey, JT. Engine started life as a late 912 industrial, so has the 912 case, 912 heads, C crank and .01 rods.

The crank checked out standard / standard on the mains and rod journals, so decided to use it. All it needed was a micro-polish. Had it balanced and balanced with the front pulley, flywheel and pressure plate. Had the case checked out, rods re-bushed and big ends re-sized and balanced end-for-end / against each other.

Had the heads done by a race shop in Atlanta. Usual cleanup, including new springs, guides, intake valves, mild flycut and slight combustion chamber reshape. One plug helicoil was loose, so shop did their specialty for that problem. had all four helicoils removed, welded up and re-drilled / tapped for modern iridiuim plugs with 3/4" reach. I asked for porting, but the shop told me the heads are good to 6,000 RPM as is. Same thing Vic Skirmants told me when I tried to get him to port some 912 heads some time ago.

Put bottom end together with machined ATE cam followers to replace the old-style cast iron units, a Neutek SX-1 cam with approx 282* intake and 286* exhaust duration. Pistons and cylinders are 90mm Nickies, with ARP studs. Pistons and wrist pins are very closely balanced and shop was able to get within .3 grams just be switching the wrist pins between pistons. BTW, Nickies use 2 wrist pin clips on each side of the wrist pin. Initially thought they were just being generous and providing spares. Had never heard of that configuration before.

I had bought nitrile rubber head bolt o-rings and pushrod tube seals from Speed and Classic parts and used those on some of Ron LaDow's very cool lifetime pushrod tubes. Also used viton pulley and flywheel seals. The pulley sealing surface was a little questionable, so got a Speedy Sleeve from Stoddard and installed. Great idea that solves a potential leak problem.

Full flow system is based on original parts. I like the funky mechanical tach, so had the third piece plumbed for full flow and had Competition Engineering machine a late big gear tach drive for full flow. Same configuration I had on the 912 engine I had in the car previously. I run a remote oil filter bracket with a System 1 filter.

Carbs are dismantled and will be rebuilt, probably this week. Running Bugpack Weber / Dellorto to 912 head manifolds with 40mm Dellorto carburetors. Carbs have the horizontal spray bar update, "jet doctors" for the idle jets and 34mm venturis. This is an AMAZING combination. The carbs provided incredible metering and very clean low end on my 1720, considering the large venturis.

Going to install the original vintage Abarth exhaust I have been running for the last 10 years or so. Had body work done on it, removed the chrome tail pipes and had those re-chromed and had the body jet coated dark gray.

Distributor is a .022 remanufactured by the late Don Marks and running a Pertronix. Power is by 6V Optima, through a new Y 'n Z harness.

That's about all I can think of, other than the fact that Matt has painted all the sheet metal in satin black except for the silver fan shroud and oil filter housing characteristic of a 1958 1600 Super. Original engine for this numbers matching car is a 1600 Super that is dismantled and stored in my garage.

More later...

[JTR70]

Thanks Steve! This sounds like a bullet proof motor. I remember reading that an industrial/generator 356/912 type motor were the ones to buy for a hot rod upgrade or transplant. Part of the appeal was that these motors have most likely seen very little run time and were probably serviced on a regular basis. A very pampered extistence compared to a life in a vehicle. You guys really went the extra mile on balancing the ratotional assembly, Interesting choice using the "C" uncounter balanced crank. I always assumed the hot set up was an SC or 912 counter balanced unit. Is there very little perfomance difference between the two? Sounds like the Dellorto carbs are the way to go now. What sort of HP are you expecting from this engine? Thanks again! Justin

[stp356]

Hi JT. Good question, had one been available, I probably would have preferred counterweights, however, in his book, Duane Spencer says,

"for many years, before the introduction of the SCAT cranks, the racers favored the C model because it was lighter than the SC and thus would rev up and down a bit quicker due to its lighter rotating mass. Either of these cranks (SC and C) can be spun up into the 7000 range without too much concern that they will break, but their life is very short when they are revved around 8,000 RPM."

With that guidance, the fact that my crank is standard / standard, that the JE pistons are lighter than stock or aftermarket cast pistons and the fact that I am only going to turn about 6,000 RPMs max 800 over stock C redline)I felt okay going with the C. Had the crank ever been turned, I would have seriously considered an alternate solution. Maybe a SCAT. $$$$

STP

[JTR70]

Never thought about it that way but of course the counter balancing would make it heavier. Yeah, the crank sounds too nice to just discard. Looking forward to seeing the motor dressed. Justin

[merbesfield]

[quote="stp356" post=6876]Hey, JT. Engine started life as a late 912 industrial, so has the 912 case, 912 heads, C crank and .01 rods.

The crank checked out standard / standard on the mains and rod journals, so decided to use it. All it needed was a micro-polish. Had it balanced and balanced with the front pulley, flywheel and pressure plate. Had the case checked out, rods re-bushed and big ends re-sized and balanced end-for-end / against each other.

Had the heads done by a race shop in Atlanta. Usual cleanup, including new springs, guides, intake valves, mild flycut and slight combustion chamber reshape. One plug helicoil was loose, so shop did their specialty for that problem. had all four helicoils removed, welded up and re-drilled / tapped for modern iridiuim plugs with 3/4" reach. I asked for porting, but the shop told me the heads are good to 6,000 RPM as is. Same thing Vic Skirmants told me when I tried to get him to port some 912 heads some time ago.

Can you tell me the name of the shop you used in Atlanta for the heads? Thx

[stp356]

Hello Mark,

Yes I went to the shop recommended by Charles Navarro, LN Engineering that sells the 90mm Nickies piston kits. Charles has a couple of articles on his site that discuss the engine he built. It was pretty radical and included some on-the-edge porting modifications, etc., to work with his long duration cam (SX-3).

I contacted that shop, thinking I would wind up paying for a porting job as well. When I discussed my engine with them, they told me my heads were good to 6,000 RPM and did not recommend porting with my relatively short duration cam 282* intake / 286* exhaust with the 1883cc displacement. I was ready, willing and able to pay for the porting job and was surprised, but pleased that they didn't do it just for the money.

The name of the shop is HAM, Len Hoffman. If you are familiar with Jake Raby the Type IV guru and of course Charles at LN, Len does their headwork.

Cost for valve job, cc chambers, valve guides, seats, loose insert / machine for long reach iridium plugs, fly cut, bore for 90mm cylinders, all new exhaust valves and insured shipping to my door was $1,767. Good guys to work with.

http://www.hamincgroup.com/main.php
http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/index.php/cylinder-heads

[stp356]

Okay, since last post, learned that the vintage Abarth muffler that Matt Howard restored and had jet coated is too restrictive for my 90mm engine with longer duration cam. Contacted Jim Constas and got one of his Sebring exhausts. Finally got the engine together and plan to bench test tonight. Fingers crossed!!

[JTR70]

Really nice looking Exhaust Steve. Its the same style I'm looking to have on my car. Best of luck with the fire-up! Justin

[merbesfield]

Thanks for the info Steve. New JC exhaust looks sharp. I like the black look. If you are interesting in selling the old one let me know. My motor is standard 912 so I guess it would work.

[stp356]

This post is a duplicate of one I did on the Outlaw thread, but thought I'd update this thread as well.



Mine is finally coming to completion. Install engine, set ride height, install GT mirror housing (hand made steel by Tom Boutos) and start dialing in for Santa Fe WCH. Borrowed static engine run stand and tested out of the car. 90mm Nickies, NuTec SX-1 cam, 40mm Dellortos with CB performance horizontal spray bar updates, light flywheel and Constas Sebring exhaust make for very responsive throttle blipping.

[JTR70]

Congratulations Steve! It really turned out nice! Looking forward to a few additional shots after you get her up and running! Nice job BTW of Snagging that personal plate! Justin

[stp356]

Thanks, JT. It took a lot longer than it should have, but surely not Matt's fault. The car was at the upholstery shop for 6 months and it took me 5 months to build the engine when the car got out of the upholstery shop. I had remodeling at the house and it took forever. Matt and his guys did did their part quickly and efficiently. 678 pictures on their website document their great work.

[roy mawbey]

Steve,

Very nice engine to go a very nice car. Enjoyed your thread. Hope it drives as well as it looks. A lot of work!!!

Roy

[AMP]

Very nice work on the Speedster!
I also used Hoffman for the heads on my engine and thought the work was first rate and they are very nice to do business with. They came highly recommended from a friend who knew Len's father who started the business years ago in Columbia SC. It's a second generation shop and Len has expanded it.