So I bought the most beautiful 1976 911 about a year ago. The owner was a long time friend of mine and he told me I would have to put a newer engine in it. So I finally have enough money saved up to put an engine in and I was wondering exactly what to get. I think I want the 3.2 just because to my knowledge that is the largest I could fit in that car. But I know little more than that. What exhast is the best to add? What additions should I make to the engine before it goes back in the car? Where can I find a good, cheap, used 3.2? Can anyone help out with my rebuild ideas?
Thanks.

 

Cheap & 3.2 or even 3.0 don't go together. Look to spend at least $5K for one with miles on it. BTW, you can put a 3.6 in it too.

 

Could be your lucky day, this just popped up!!

 

There are so many dif options you have for powertrain for your car. What kind of money are we talking about that you have for this? The type of money you are willing to spend is the only thing that limits what you do.

My CIS is running too good to think about doing anything right now...but i have thought of my options. I will be doing something with my engine, but only when something big goes wrong.

Again, your options are only limited to what kind of money you are willing to spend. Nothing is cheap unless it is done wrong, or you get the parts for nothing and do the work yourself.

Michael

 

Yes, you can fit up to a 3.6 in the earlier cars, but even the 3.2 needs a little shoe horning.. namily with making some room in the trans tunnel for the 915 (well, for my '71 at least), as well as clutch cable, and fuel return lines with the fuel injection. Normal engine mount openings are too small and need to be machined out a little. 915 housing needs to be machined for the flywheel sensor. Installing an O2 sensor down stream isn't that bad, but have to drill and weld in a bung. Wiring up the Motronic to the power source can be tricky, but many others have done it and bound to be a "best practice" out there. Yes, you can spend a lot of money into the engines, but a $5k 3.2L will eat up a $5k 2.7L any day in the torque department, and torque is what you use 90% of the time driving. Throwing a lot of money out of a high RPM cammed small displacemt engine doesn't make too much sense for the road, track yes, or if you just want to sound cool having to clear your intake and constantly reving to keep it idling at lights. Fuel economy increases with Motronic as well. At cruise, I'm running ~14:1 air/fuel ratio, and with the light weight, getting about 27mph... try that with a CIS or carbs... hard to do. Motronic allows for all kind of chip tweaking...93 octane plus, lots of advance, you name it. I was going to initally spend my engine $$$ on a high rec 2.4L, but now that I have my strung out 3.2L, I;m VERY happy on the route I took.

 

Hey Mike,

What do you think about making a 3.0 a 3.2? Would it be benificial to do this or just trade out to a 3.2. This is what I had in mind when my current 3.0 takes a dump. Figured I would rebuild it and make it into a 3.2. My CIS is running too good right now to touch the motor.

I agree with you on the torgue...my good friend has a built 2.7, race cams yada yada...he is always adjusting the carbs and the thing does have a hard time at idle on the road. It does scream brilliantly but it is still no match for the torgue of my 3.0.

Michael

 

I had to rebuild my 3.2 about 12 years ago after no. 3 cylinder lost compression w/100K miles. I dedided to rebuild from the ground up rather than buy a new or bigger engine. I installed 10.3 to 1 Mahle pistons, w/new cylinders, heads & valves. I also cammed it up and increased the size of the intake manifold. I had to reburn the chip for the cams and compression. It does have a hard time idling at the stop light on hot summer days. I found that by adding an octane booster in the summer months it settled down a lilttle. She's making just over 350HP with the new B&B headers and exhaust. The rebuild in 94 cost me $25K, but that included new brakes & cross drilled rotors, shocks & struts. I'm happy I stayed with the 3.2L. I have 108K miles on this engine and it's still running like new. I've been considering installing electronic fuel injection system with electonic spark system made by Electromotor to replace the Motronic, but that will take a big bite out of my pocketbook, my mechanic says about 10 big for the complete setup.

 

Nice engine. I'm interested in what else you did to get the extra ~135hp increase from stock. What is your valve sizing/cam spec/advance setup/and peak power RPM? That is quite impressive normal aspirated power/L , like up to GT3 standards. Great thing about the 3.2s is that one can do a lot of things on the top end to get lots more horsepower... just wanted to get your approach since you did some bottom end work as well, up from 9.3:1 I assume?

Cheers!