<VV> Porcorvairsha

[Tamias Metis]

The 912 was their affordable entry  the body was identical to the 911, (1969 was final year) .  It was powered by 1582cc flat four that was used in the 356 series which the last production 356C was 1965 model I think. The engine looks very much like a Beetle engine but a upon careful look the most different thing is the fuel pump is sideways at left on the 356/912 and the VW fuel pump is upright.  Also all 356/912  came with twin carb set ups where the Beetle came only with one center mounted.   Similar looking but vastly different, the late model Beetle 1584cc flat four  of 1971 and later is a far superior powerplant in terms of engine case construction, dog house oil cooler/ shroud, dual oil press relief valves, dual port head design.  Also the Beetle engine can successfully be hopped up to about 150hp (approx 3 times its humble original '71 factory output) without turbocharging or supercharging.    In fact the 1300 (1285cc) of '66 Beetles,  1500 (1493cc) '67-'69  and
 1600 (1584cc single port) of '70 Beetle  are also far better in terms of engine case construction.   Though the 356/912 engine looks like a VW,  NOTHING interchanges with the better engineered VW engines of the late sixties  except the Bosch 050 centrifugal distributor can be adapted on a VW,  (its very similar to Bosch 009).    The clutch and flywheel diameter differs from a Bug.   The 356/912 engine will blow up if you attempt to extract more hp,  its quality is at best like a pre 1962 VW engine,  only the 356/912 parts will cost easily more than Ten Times that of the best VW parts available!  Today, there may be more "driver"  bathtub Porsche's (356) out there with transplanted VW transaxles and powerplants than  from factory except "trailer queens".    There are certainly more replica kit car clones on shortened VW pans with more powerful lowly Wolfsburg engines.   I recall Bill Fisher (yes, the same guy) had  a segment in his 1970 book How To Hotrod Volkswagen
 Engines,  where he proclaimed Corvair power was the way to go as , cubic inches are cheaper than $  and I believe he wrote about repowering his 1961 Porsche roadster with Corvair power during 1962.        -------------------The  912  differs mainly in 4cly versus 6cylinder  and the 912 had a 3 dial dash (similar configuration to a LM Corvair), the 911 had a 5 dial dash.    At some point during the late '60's,  Porsche lengthened the wheelbase of the 911 (& 912 as well I believe)  to provide better handling/stability.   For the 1976 model year only, Porsche revised the 912 as the 912e  but this used the 2.0 liter VW type IV engine used in the 914 (essentially same as 1.7 liter & 1.8 liter VW  type IV used in 1972 & later buses )   Also interesting,  a bone stock factory 1974 914 2.0 liter fuel injected VW derived type IV  will smoke a 1965 911 2.0 liter flat six  in every aspect.  The 1973 & 1974 914 2.0 liter type IV  in factory form will outperform the 1970 - 71  914 -6 
 (with the 911 flat six).   The lowly 914 also has better weight balance than any 911 ever made (front - rear weight bias is nearly perfect)    The lowly 914 will readily accept later year model brakes and suspension pieces from much newer 911 cars.    You guys probably have plenty of  spare engines and Vair parts cars,  so that any Porvairsha project  wouldn't adversely impact the Bone Stock Corvair purists.   That spirit of adventure might lead to an X-19 ('74-'87 FIAT/Bertone rear engined) with Corvair  drivetrain project or a   ('68-'73 rear engined FIAT) 850 Spider with Corvair power or maybe something easy like a Thing with Corvair power.   You can't let the experimental aircraft people  have all the fun.  After all recycling trash is a good thing and its PC too.    Porsches benefit from constant refinement from the factory.  That 1988 Road & Track guide about used ones mentioned that the 1980 model was a best buy.  Obviously, the newest, best maintained 911 models
 will be beyond the reach$ of those sane individuals  desiring a 164cid special, therefore the better gearboxes may not be within reach$ either   so ya might want to go chevalay all the way even if you only have 4speed manual or 2speed PG,  at least you know almost everything about those components.  Just like no one would destroy and modify a beautiful bone stock show quality Corvair,  I don't think a  latter , superb example from Stuttgart would be a reali$tic starting point....likely one will be a rescue from skid row  and it would be an excellent example of recycling.   Go Green.   More important, have fun.                Tamias  Metis


       
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