Yet another 2.2T owner seeking sanity check on adding displacement

[myflat6]

did anybody warn you about the 87.5 nickie's being too thin on the cylinder walls?

I actually heard very good things from knowledgeable folks about the LN Nickies product. They are able to be thinner because of their design differences from traditional cylinders. They are made from stronger billet aluminum and a much harder silicon carbide bore plating. i was warned, however, not to bore an early mag case too much. since my case is a 3r/4r and numbers matching to my car, i was more concerned with boring the spigots which was part of the reason i went with the Nickies as they slip in to the stock openings.

[raspy2point2]

I have a 2 liter aluminum matching case but it was originally a Sporto. I was very impressed with the 2.4 911S with 2.2S pistons. I think the compression is around 9.8:1 to 10.0:1. Just on the ragged edge to need Twin plug. If I went with LN Nickies at 87.5 mm; what would you recommend for pistons? JE,CP or Malhe ? What about honing my 84 original 911S cylinders to 85 or 86 mm and custom made pistons. This would be with a 70.4 crank. Not sure what cams yet. I thought my cis heads would work after porting but saw that groove in the intake side of the head for the injector and did not like the design. So 2.2T heads it is with Weber carbs. I can purchase 2.2S P/C's for about $3400.that will slip in without cutting the case. Or the LN Nickies for $4800 just for the cylinders and then $2500 for custom made Mahle's Not sure paying double to make the engine a 2.5 as opposed to a 2.4 high compression is worth it. Chris

[myflat6]

I have a 2 liter aluminum matching case but it was originally a Sporto. I was very impressed with the 2.4 911S with 2.2S pistons. I think the compression is around 9.8:1 to 10.0:1. Just on the ragged edge to need Twin plug. If I went with LN Nickies at 87.5 mm; what would you recommend for pistons? JE,CP or Malhe ? What about honing my 84 original 911S cylinders to 85 or 86 mm and custom made pistons. This would be with a 70.4 crank. Not sure what cams yet. I thought my cis heads would work after porting but saw that groove in the intake side of the head for the injector and did not like the design. So 2.2T heads it is with Weber carbs. I can purchase 2.2S P/C's for about $3400.that will slip in without cutting the case. Or the LN Nickies for $4800 just for the cylinders and then $2500 for custom made Mahle's Not sure paying double to make the engine a 2.5 as opposed to a 2.4 high compression is worth it. Chris

I am by no means an engine builder or expert I just know what I built and how it is performing. I spent a lot of time deciding what I wanted from my motor. Do you want a torquey motor or hi revving screamer? I would make these decisions first and then determine specs needed to accomplish this. There are many more knowledgeable folks on this board that I'm sure will chime in. I have also heard great things about the 2.4 with 2.2S pistons (all of the way back to Bruce Anderson). We do have crappy gas in CA - but I have had zero issues with detonation with my single plug setup at 9.5:1 CR - so you could probably get a way with a tad more compression. I went with JE pistons but that was mostly because they were sized for the Nickies in the kit that I purchased from them. It was my first motor build so I wanted plug and play with the P&C's. There are folks out there that are not as big supporters of the JE's and others are strong supporters - but you cannot go wrong with Mahle. Not sure bumping to a 2.5 in your situation is worth it either.

[teenchy]

I actually heard very good things from knowledgeable folks about the LN Nickies product... since my case is... numbers matching to my car, i was more concerned with boring the spigots which was part of the reason i went with the Nickies as they slip in to the stock openings.

I wanted plug and play with the P&C's

This was my rationale as well. Matching numbers case, no boring, slip fit. I discussed the options with the engine builder and he agreed this was a viable option.

I have a 2 liter aluminum matching case but it was originally a Sporto.

Mine remains as such.

If I went with LN Nickies at 87.5 mm; what would you recommend for pistons? JE,CP or Malhe ?

I went with the JE kit as myflat6 describes; however the builder and I mutually persuaded each other to go with 10.5:1 pistons and twin plug. Here's a photo of the work in progress.

[myflat6]

wow, isnt that a beauty!!! i do wonder if i should have gone down the path of twin plug - and a bit more compression. especially since my heads were already being machined/ported/polished. oh well - maybe in a future build i will also say that according to LN, their Nickies are supposed to run cooler - my motor runs an almost constant 180 even when i am on it hard - and i am just using a trombone cooler, but with elephant finned lines.

cant wait to hear how your motor comes together and runs!

[myflat6]

while we are sharing motor pics, i just have to add mine here she is just before i installed back in the car

[Alaskan911]

I love this thread and thank you all for sharing your input and experiences. I am in the midst of acquiring the parts to build my engine and have gone the same road as many of you. 87.5 Nickies with JE pistons, S spec heads, 66mm Crank...etc. Please keep any advice and experiences coming!

J

[rgupta250]

Just wanted to share the route I went for my sport purpose engine build. When the realization of needing to rebuild my matching numbers 2.2T engine (for 71T) came about, I decided to rebuild the engine to a 2.45 sports purpose engine.
The only constraint I put on my engine builder - no case modifications.

Here are the specs for my engine build:

Case work - pegged, case savers and oil squirters installed in addition to the standard case machining
Crankshaft - 70.4mm
Cylinders - Mahle 2.2S Biral bored out to 85mm (since I have a matching numbers case, my engine builder did not advise to go larger)
Pistons - custom 85mm CP Carillo with 9.5 CR
Rods - CP Carillo
Heads - rebuilt and ported to S spec
Cams - Dougherty Racing DC40 (S-mod spec)
Distributor - Single plug, Bosch rebuilt and re-curved to S spec
Fuel Delivery - Commissioned Weber 40IDA build (Paul Abbott)
Oil pump - Rebuilt and ported (Glenn Yee Motorsports)

Best,
Ravi

[raspy2point2]

Nice engine Ravi-- Who bored out your biral cylinders to 85mm? And were there any concerns about matching the custom pistons with the new size cylinders? Looks like you are going for torque with the 70.4 crank. Same here. But I would like the engine to run out of breath at 7000 rpm ,not 5600 if that is possible. The other concern is the thickness of the LN Nickies being thin compared to factory Mahle cylinders --has to bring more heat to the engine and a high compression engine brings even more heat. Bill says no problem-- My temp stays at 180. Wonder what the temp would be like on a heat wave day in the valley? I will have a external oil cooler installed.

[myflat6]

here is the marketing speel (copy paste) from LN on the thermo/cooling and other benefits. Take it for what its worth

Nickies have more surface area and up to twice the thermal conductivity of factory Mahle cast aluminum cylinders

Nickies have as much as four times the thermal conductivity of cast iron or ductile iron cylinders

Nickies have up to 50% greater tensile and ultimate yield strength than OEM Porsche cast aluminum cylinders

Nickies are stronger and more ductile than any cast iron, ductile iron, or aluminum OEM or aftermarket cylinders

Nickies allow for larger slip-fit and machine-in sizes than previously available with cast iron or aluminum cylinders

Most Nickies cylinders for Porsche applications come half-mooned for improved crankcase windage, which is typically good for 8-10hp over factory Mahle non-half-mooned cylinders