RE: Depraved motor musings

[Joshua Hadler <josh.hadler@everest.com>]

Mike mused:

> Modest proposal: Engine swap to 13B Mazda rotary.
>
> Pro:
> Mazda 13B engine can make 250-275 HP without lots of wildness, more 
> available.

If you plunk down the big bucks for the twin turbo set up. Yes, 250 or
so is feasible from a normally aspirated 13B but it will _not_ be a very
nice engine to drive on the street. No bottom end power at that point.

[snip]

> Con:
> Terminal flame wars from purists

[snip] lots of engine swap technical gotchas that I wouldn't call a
"con".

The big problem I see is _torque_. The Audi is a heavy car, no matter
how you look at it. And to get a heavy car to launch off a line takes
torque, either that or frequent clutch jobs. The 13B is a fanastic
engine - in a light car - but in a heavy car like the Audis I think it
would be a mistake. Yes, the 13B has a fantastic linear power band with
no real redline. Yes, it can put out gobs of power for such a tiny
engine. But I don't think that a 13B has the neccessary low end grunt to
get a big 'ol Audi quattro moving. 

> Other items - I've done engine conversions in the past - if it's right, it
> just "falls" together - if it isn't, it becomes an abortion, very quickly.
> Many years ago, I helped put a 289 F*rd into a 190SL MB (That's before they
> were worth anything - we paid $100 for the car!) - came out spectacular!
> Tried to help with a 283 chebby into an XK-150 - bad news from go - owner
> wouldn't take no for an answer. Did a reverse-rotation corvair into a 914
> once - Nice setup!! Still would't shift - other weirdness, too.

There's some nice (and not so nice) examples of conversions. The Ford/MB
swap is a good one. The engine is light enough as to not really change
the ballance and the car is strong enough and has RWD to make use of it.
The Chevy/Jag conversion is sacralige (in my opinion), on cars whose
value is measured by how few are still in existance I feel that it's
neccessary to preserve the breed. As for the Chevy/914 conversions, the
914 is an ideal recipient for more power. But compared to the cost of a
conversion, the engine is not a very significant factor. And as long as
you're putting in a air cooled flat six, why not a porsche engine. The
cost of a good engine is not so significant compared to all that has to
go before it in a conversion. O.k. so I'm somewhat of a purist. 

> Proposal - I'd like to hear any helpful comments on following this up. For
> the guys who plan to flame me for even suggesting this sort of sacrilege,
> please note that I haven't cut ANY metal - just toying with the idea. I do
> have a wrecked 5KS (donor for the engine in the car I'm driving now), so I
> have something to measure (engine bay, tranny bolt pattern, crossmember,
> etc.) to determine if this is feasible at all - or just a random pipe dream.

Definately on a project of that scale you really want to have everything
planned out before you turn the first wrench. You don't want to get
halfway in and discover that some crucial component won't fit, and
you're left with alot of expensive junk. My personal opinion in engine
swapping is "if the fanufacturer already makes a bigger, better, badder
motor that mounts to your tranny, use that one. It'll save you lot's of
hassle in the long run". 

So I'd say go for a 20V turbo. That's what I'd like to do anyway. But
the race car gets first dibs on the bank account, so the engine swapping
won't happen for a while for me.

-Josh2

-- 
Joshua Hadler          '74 914 2.0 CSP/Bi - Hooligan Racing #29
                       '87 Quantum Syncro - aka stealth quattro

jhadler@everest.com
http://rainbow.rmi.net/~jhadler/jahome.html