On Aug 26, 2009, at 05:44 , P. J. Alling wrote:
ane the first rear engine Porsches were very dangerous cars. If you
removed the spare tire from a VW type 1, you could do wheelies with
a stock 1600cc engine...
What made the early VW and Porsche cars "dangerous" in the hands of
idiots was the tuck-under rear torsion bar suspension that Dr. Porsche
used to save weight on those underpowered vehicles.
I have no doubt about your time spent wrenching VW and Porsche
powerplants. And I have no desire to ruin your day with more discord.
BUT! :-)
VW engines started out much smaller than 1600cc. It took some time for
them to reach 1.6L. I know, because I tried (without success) to
rebuild a 1100cc engine that was given to me as a short block with a
bent rod. The succession of displacements: (WW II vehicles used 985cc
engine)
the Type 1 was (as you know) 1.1L, 1.2L, 1.3L, 1.5L, 1.6L.
The Type II went on to 1.7L, 1.8L, and 2.0L but with a Type IV (4)
engine.
The Type III (3) had only the 1.5L and 1.6L engines, though the air
cooling was redesigned to allow the "pancake" version so storage space
was 2x the Beetle's.
The Type IV (4) engine came in 1.7L, 1.8L, and 2.0L was used in the
Vanagon from 1972-1979, the 1.7L in the model 411 and first 412, the
1.8L in the model 412 1973-1974, and all three in the Porsche-
Volkswagen 914 in 1970-1976, except the 914-6 which used the Porsche
911 2.0L 6 cylinder in 1970, and the Porsche 912E, which used the 2.0L
in 1976.
I've owned and because I was relatively not wealthy, wrenched all my
own models of the VW and Porsche autos, and all engines mentioned
except the 1.3L, 1.6L Type 1s, and 1.5L Type 3. In 1979-80 I was the
914 Technical Chairperson for the Porsche Club of America. I never did
work on the Porsche 6 cylinder engines. Too expensive if you screwed
up! I have pictures of my driveway, my 914 beer cooler, and my garage
with the buried dune buggy storing car parts.
But I bow to those of you who have real fender bending track time. I
never seriously raced my Porsches, sticking to timed events like
Autocross and Hot Laps at oval tracks. Never did Rally, but I wanted to.
I was instead the go-to guy for installing your Delrin bearings,
heavier bars, wheel spacers, bored jugs, interchangeable straight
pipes and mufflers, and a few unnamed cheats in other's cars so they
could try to beat me in those events.
;—)))))))))))
On Aug 26, 2009, at 05:44 , P. J. Alling wrote:
ane the first rear engine Porsches were very dangerous cars.If you
removed the spare tire from a VW type 1, you could do wheelies with
a stock 1600cc engine , more than enough to get you in a lot of
trouble. Put a bigger engine in the back, think about it, same
effect. Later Porschs were more or less immune from that problem,
(and I say more or less for a reason, though it was still probably
advisable to leave the spare tire under the hood while driving). I
worked on these cars I hopped up these cars, a Karmen, with an
1800cc, plus a little, was my daily driver for four years. The 911
changed the geometry of the engine and transmission. It didn't just
hang out behind the rear axial, the way it did on a VW type 1 and
the Porsche Speedsters, etc.
And the Volkswagen Type 14 is spelled with two a and two n letters,
Karmann Ghia. Sorry. :-(
paul stenquist wrote:
Actually, the engine in the VW is in the same place as the Porsches
relative to the rear axle, and the first rear-engined Porsches were
basically just VWs.
Paul
On Aug 26, 2009, at 1:07 AM, P. J. Alling wrote:
That only works in a Porsche because it's so well balanced. Don't
even try that in an old VW with an over sized engine. With the
entire engine hanging out behind the rear wheels you'll find out
the hard way that it doesn't quite work.
Joseph McAllister wrote:
On Aug 25, 2009, at 20:38 , paul stenquist wrote:
My most critical moment came at Lime Rock where I got a 911
Turbo pointing about 90 degrees off course in the first tight
turn after the end of the straight sweeper. I narrowly saved it,
but the Porsche PR guys weren't impressed.
As you probably know by now, with powerful rear engined cars, the
instinct to get off the gas when things go wrong is the incorrect
thing to do. If the rear end starts to come around on you, Punch
It! Putting the power down transfers the weight to the rear
wheels, making them stick better.
In my mid-engined Porsche, it helped to punch it, but usually not
enough power to pull it off unless you punched it just before you
would have become aware it was going to spin. In other words,
finish your braking before you turn in. Have the power on as you
turn into the corner.
If it doesn’t excite you,
This thing that you see,
Why in the world,
Would it excite me?
—Jay Maisel
Joseph McAllister
[email protected]
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