The Canary: Engine upgrade 2.0 to 2.2

[kav]

With every puff of blue smoke from 'The Canary' (my yellow 1969 911T pictured below) it draws me closer to the inevitable engine rebuild. I have a plan to just drive it and top up the oil level often but I do want to get prepared for the day, find out as much information as I can and understand what I'm in for. The 2.0L engine has 190,000 original miles on it and has never been rebuilt.

The 1969 911T 2.0L output was very low at 110hp and possibly one of the lowest of all? I would like to get a bit more power, what are my best options for getting more fun out of it?

Do I go down the 's' piston and cylinder route with an E cam?
What about a solex cam and JE p/c's?
Do I need to increase the heads to a 2.2 or 2.4?
Do I need a counter-weighted crank?
Where do I find all of these parts and what kind of money am I looking at?

Thanks

-Kav.

[304065]

Ahh the perennial question "how do I get more power out of my 911T motor?"

Cheapest answer: Buy a used 3,0 and install it along with external oil cooling. 180-200 HP will transform the car and properly executed, only the cognoscenti will be able to tell it's not stock.

Most expensive answer: modify 2,0 T into anything else.

Reasons:

Weak case, 0R or 1R magnesium, without the reinforcements from later mods. Mag cases tend to distort when you split them, requiring line boring to allow the crank to spin. Expect weakness in the intermediate shaft bearing. You can send it to Ollies for line bore, squirters, oil bypass, media tumble, but won't end up with much change from a $2000 bill.

Small port heads. T heads are 27mm ports. 2,0 heads are the worst of the bunch, 39/35 nailhead valves (like '065!) and the combustion chamber design is more susceptible to detonation than the 2,2-2,7 heads. So even if you port the heads, you still have to contend with that combustion chamber and the valve angle, which is subpar: the factory changed it in the following year.

Cylinders: Cast Iron, which have poor heat rejection and cannot reliably be bored larger than 81mm. Also the 2,0 head to cylinder interface was changed in 1970, so those jugs are not compatible with the later, better heads. Practical result is you need both pistons and cylinders from a later car.

Crank. 69T has non-counterweighted crank. Once out of favor, these days it's a split decision as to whether this crank's smaller mass allows the engine to spin up faster, at the expense of increased bearing wear. But the Factory used a counterweighted crank on the 2,0 E and S, so that's their opinion. I think most engine builders would recommend against it for a street motor.

Pistons. 911T are cast, low compression 8,6:1 pistons. More thermal efficiency requires higher compression ratio, at least 9,3 to 1. (I used 9,5 to 1 on 93 octane pump gas for my 2,0). While this compression is suitable for the Reformulated Panther Pee sold to unsuspecting motorists as Gasoline, it's not very good for making power.

Webers. Great, IDTP have slightly different progression holes (see Paul's work on this subject (1QuickS) but can be tweeked to deliver great performance. Requires venturi upgrade and lots of trial and error with jetting, ideally dyno time.

Ignition. Marelli distributor with unobtanium cap. Switching to a Bosch is probably a $500 proposition once you source one and have it competently rebuilt. T did not include CDI as standard equipment that year, so investment in stock-looking CDI is a few hundred more plus sorting out the wiring.

Fuel System. Will require upgrade to handle enhanced power and probably needs replacement given modern ethanol fuels. If not going concours, modern "barrier" hose which is resistant to ethanol is recommended.

Camshafts. Well, they are 911T. You will need new cams.

All in, building a 911T to anything greater is a $15,000 proposition in my opinion. And that will get you to the level of 3,0 SC power.

From time to time, 911E or S motors come up in the classifieds, if you sought to build a motor, that would be a far better base to start with. If you are set on an original appearance from a mag case, a core 2,7 from 1977 with the 7R case and all the factory tricks would be your best starting point. You would still have a big machining bill, but with an original appearing shroud and factory aircleaner, none would be the wiser (well, none but US ) and you could have a fun to drive motor with around 200 HP with S cams and Webers. Also not cheap but it totally depends on what you are seeking to accomplish.

For more information click here: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-e...-901-05-a.html

Good luck and have fun!

[Eminence Gris]

+1

The answer above is complete and accurate (when do you ever see that on the Internet?!).

[gsjohnson]

Yes good response for sure.
Kav you didn't say whether your engine was original to the car. If it is, I would rebuild your existing motor using E cams and maybe a set of E 2.2 PCs. I bought a nice used set of 2.2 PCs for $600 and honed and re-ringed them. You can buy a set of Dougherty cams, the DC30 Mod-S are similar to the E cams for around $400 with good cores. Certainly collecting the necessary parts a little at time will help ease the financial stress by utilizing the "Pay as you go" kinda thing. I don't know if you're capable of doing the rebuild yourself, but if you can, you'd save a ton of dough. If not I would consult your builder before deciding on anything. Tell him your plan and listen to what he has to say. Hope this helps and good luck.

[kav]

'304065' - huge thank you for your reply, I'm understanding that the '69 2.0L is not the best platform for modification!

Yes 'gsjohnson' the engine is original to the car. I'm liking the idea of a mild mods, a cam upgrade to E cams or even solex? I will looking into the DC30 Mod-S. So my question is this, if I run with a set of E 2.2 P&C's I can re-use my stock heads?

I do plan on doing the rebuild, part of the fun of owning the car is learning to do all of the maintenance and restoration myself. I will be asking many questions along the way!

Thanks

-Kav

[gsjohnson]

Yes you can use the stock heads. I would buy Wayne's book "How to Rebuild and Modify Porsche 911 Engines" and start sorting thru your different options and combinations. That's what I did...

http://books.google.com/books?id=ogR...rences&f=false

[Flieger]

You will need some special adapters to use 2.0 liter heads on 2.2 liter cylinders. You also might need to cut different valve pockets in the pistons to make up for the different valve angle?

[gsjohnson]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-911S...3de119&vxp=mtr

[kav]

Going by helpful recommendations and Wayne's book does this combination work together? Could I do this without adding an oil cooler and my current crank?

84mm JE Piston & Cylinder Kit 2.2 & 2.4 - eBay $1395

Solex Camshafts Centerlube 90110510901 90110511001 - eBay $800

Porsche 911S 914-6 GT Cylinder Heads for 2.0 Conversion to 2.2 2.4 Carbureted - eBay $2498

That's $4693 before I even start pulling the motor out. Is that a decent deal?

Cheers.

-Kav.

[YTNUKLR]

Kav,
no.

There is a lot to this.

If you're interested:

I have consulted professionally on engine projects for a modest fee.

You could either spend about 1000 hours reading on the forums (not joking...you could spend a lot more), or talk to some key people and put in your 60-100 hours of parts finding and assembly time.

Just a disclaimer: this is not my sole business and it's not about making a buck. There are 1000's of pages of valuable (and not) valuable information you could consult to optimize your project outcome. Any consultant's job is about discovering, on a case-by-case basis, how value can be added. Let me know if I may be of assistance...and good luck!

Sincerely.
Scott Kinder