2056cc 912 LIVES!

[Griznant]

In what has to be a historical event, I have actually gotten one of my own cars running! In this case, it's my '69 912, a 75k original mile car that needed some TLC after the midwest rust worm attacked it and it suffered years of so-so maintenance. It's not completely done, but it does move under it's own power and boy, does it ever.

The engine is a Raby-inspired 2056cc. Jake did the balance work on it, and gave me some tips and pointers for setting up the combo to best work with the 912. In the end, it's somewhere close to his own 2056 in his 912E. The difference being that I put this one together, and it wasn't dyno tuned, so it's probably no where near as optimal as his is. Needless to say, JAKE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT! This isn't a butt-kissing festival, but we got it on the road yesterday and I had no idea what to expect from this thing. Having driven the car with the original 1600, I was blown away by the seemless power of this thing all the way through three gears. At that point I was around 90mph and backed off of it since these country roads are really not favorable to high-speed running.

Unreal. Anyone who has a 912 should really consider this. Personally, I think if you don't consider it, you're just nuts. NO body mods, and you can store the stocker away for future use. Just plug the T4 in the back and you're easily able to keep up with traffic, or pass them, or whatever.

I can't give all the specs out since Jake has given me some great advice and I think that it's up to him to decide who he tells this stuff to, but I'll tell you the following:

-1.7L EA case (drilled/tapped/plugged)
-1.7L heads, 44x36 stainless valves, HD springs, chromo-retainers, port and polish, 3-angle valve job, 45cc chambers by Headflowmasters
71mm stock crank
2.0L rods w/ARP bolts
96mm KB cast pistons
Webcam cam and lifters (grind is ancient Chinese secret)
Shadeck 30mm T1 pump
914 flywheel, 215 clutch & PP
914 cooling tin (modified to fit 912 body)
NOS 411 heater boxes
Bus header
Turbo muffler with mandrel bent tubing
Full dynamic balancing by Raby's
Dual 44 IDF Webers on port-matched manifolds
Compression is "adequate" and over 9:1

I am just in awe of this thing. All hail the T4!!!!


Need to put on some emblems and a hubcap yet.


Need to tidy up the wiring and get my new oil pressure sender (just a temporary light sender right now).

Hopefully we'll get some video and sound clips of this thing. It really does rip. 6500rpm and who would have thought it was a stock crank/rods/flywheel. On top of this, it runs cool as a cucumber!

Later,

G

[Tom Perso]

Griz is right, I drove this thing myself. It's unreal, it's not quite like the "snap your head off" 2270 in my Bug, but this thing PULLS.

It comes off the line pretty decent (we weren't really pushing it hard" but when it hits around 3000rpm, hang on! It pulls straight up to 5500+ (I didn't take it any higher myself) and is smooth as silk.

There's a few teething problems with the fuel pump and some timing, but the main stuff is all there and working. The car looks great, along with the engine... Just a few oil leaks (pushrod tubes again!) and thats it.

I'm impressed as hell.

Nice job G!

Later,
Tom

[61beeetle]

Very nice Grant!!! Paint looks fresh did you have it repainted as well? You'll have to bring it over to BC and let my dad and I take a peak at it.


Kyle

[Griznant]

Very nice Grant!!! Paint looks fresh did you have it repainted as well? You'll have to bring it over to BC and let my dad and I take a peak at it.


Kyle

Yep, painted it myself. Looks pretty decent, but I still need to color sand and buff it out for a super shine.

I plan on driving it quite a bit this year, so hopefully I'll be able to come up that way with Tom and we can have a T4 rendezvous.

Should be fun. I think I have fuel pump issues. I'm working on it, but it may just be that the facet pump can't feed this thing. I may need to step up to a Holley.

Later,

G

[Tom Perso]

You bet G, the beauty of the T4 is to be driven and not worry about it!!!

I'd have no issues to get into my car right now and drive it whereever I wanted to.

I love that feeling.

Later,
Tom

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

Grant, Great to see that you had a good experience with my combo!! I knew you would love the powerband! What did I tell you????LOL

Anyway, great to see another one on the road, your attention to detail deserves compliments for sure!

[61beeetle]

Sounds great Grant. Naaah dont bother with the Holley setup. The regulators they come with tend to leak (and you have you get the lower pressure one if you do it). If you pick up the CB pump its a constant 3.5 PSI with no need for a regulator. Perfect for Webers, and only around 40 bones. My dad ran one, I will be running one (2276, IDA`s, big heads). Mark Herbet and I had a big chat about them and he explained that most people over do it on cars with the Holley setup. It's not really needed. Hope that helps Grant.


Kyle

[MASSIVE TYPE IV]

Grant, you may be able to get a tad more out of it than what you have....email me and I'll set you up with the settings and jetting you should need to get it damn near perfect..

[bottomend]

That thing looks great! Please post a video with sound ASAP. Very cool.

[radavidson]

Congrats Grant! It looks great, and sounds like it runs well. Looking forward to doing the dueling Porsche thing. I finally decided to tweek my carbs a little, it was running rich, I got it down to a really nice and smooth 750 rpm, it was way snappier tuned in, but it was popping on one side at about 3000, I think I still have a little imbalnce problem. Tom drove mine a little, can you tell the difference Tom? I would hope so since mine is a much milder setup. Looking forward to getting together. I'm hoping to have mine done in the next week or so...are you ever really done! OBTW, I'm running an ancient Facet pump and it has yet to run dry, did you set your floats to spec? Yhat can really make a differnce

Randy

[Tom Perso]

Hey Randy and Kyle...

Do yah think we can borrow that camera again? I'd like to make some video of G's car. I really like the way the conversion turned out, it'd be great to document it.

There are lots of T1 conversions out there, but just a handful of 912 (non-E versions) conversions.

Later,
Tom

[radavidson]

Sure! You can stop by the house and pick it up anytime!

[Wesayso]

I have to say this,

It sure is a thing of beauty!

Hope you get the last problems fixed soon... would love to see and hear it run (on video)

Saw the video of Tom just the other day while searching the net

"I smell Tires or Brakes, one of the two"

[Tom Perso]

LOL, yeah - in that video, the rear brakes were dragging. So, the 0-60mph time is with a brand new motor, me short shifting it, and the brakes dragging.


Ummm, yeah - it's quick...

So is Grant's car!!!!

Later,
Tom

[Griznant]

Well, thanks alot guys! I'm beside myself that I have actually put a completely running car back together. Usually it's start one project, get half of it done, put it in the corner, start another project, etc.

I went through all the fuel lines and even removed the tank pickup and screen. Everything is clear. The floats are/should be good since the whole setup is brand new. I've had one apart, and it works as it should, but I don't have a specific measurement on it. The pump just doesn't put out the pressure it should. The lines are all good and not kinked, regulator is set to 3.5psi, and I even rechecked all the electrical connections to insure good grounding. It just won't keep the float bowls full. I get about 30 seconds of solid acceleration out of it, and then it quits. Let the pump catch up and it goes like hell again.

It's one quick little bastard. Tom's is downright fast, but this thing is an entirely different animal, and it is a blast to drive at 80mph+.

Minor things and it'll be driven daily!

Thanks again!

G