Looking to upgrade the engine in my T34. Have given some thoughts to a porsche upgrade. Would be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this. Should I keep it stock? Any suggestions who would be best to do the conversion in Sydney? Anyone dropped a porsche engine in a T34?

How bout gloss black fins and a homemade gas turbine:P

what the? Nah my other car has that already.

dean in melb has a 911 6 cyl in his T34 i think

do you realise what you have, do you understand the value of stock original in such a significant model? these are like rocking horse shit if you are gunna hot rod a kg chop up a type 1 theres heaps of them around

topless bug has a good point. It will effect the value in the future.
heres a link to my 911 powered T34. ====> http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=33898 

nn[ Edited on 3-7-2005 by Grey 57 ]

Thanks for the input. I am totally aware of the significance of this model and how rare this model is. Its a nightmare getting even basic parts for the car. I aim to keep this one for as long as I can. Its good to get a reality check sometimes and some sound feedback. Any suggestions on how to keep it stock yet give it some more grunt?

put a worked type1 engine in it

lotsa different options out there from 1641 to 2387cc

just remember the old engine building saying:
"speed costs money, how fast to you want to go?"

combined with the "power/relable/cheap" dilema...... choose only two!

you get the idea

i decided to go type4 cos i thought it would be cheap. it isnt. but it will be reliable.

i would recommend a built type1, would probably go that way myself in future.
just make sure that its built by someone who knows....

what year is it ,mines an early if you have a later model with twin carbs and domed pistons they were a bit better and you can certainly entertain a lot of mods and retain the appearance of a stock set up 90.5 x76 or thereabouts with a cam is not crazy and will certainly give a big performance increase and can be fed with those carbs:beer:beer:beer

Michael , a good source of info and parts is the Type 34 register.

http://www.type34.org/ 

Check it out.:thumb

Oh and just because its a rare model shouldnt stop you from making changes to it so you get more enjoyment out of it. Remember fun first, thats what this hobby is all about for mine. Theres nothing I enjoy more than giving my T34 a good flogging on the weekends. Will be going in some controlled motor racing events sometime very soon too. Cant wait.nn[ Edited on 4-7-2005 by Grey 57 ]

Hey Michael,

I recently bought a 1964 Karmann Ghia and have been mulling over the thought of an engine conversion, and possibly an IRS conversion. I have decided that I'm going to do it (probably a Subaru EJ22 with possibly a trubo in the future) and te IRS conversion to make it handle. While it may affect the resale value of the car a little, I'm doing it for my own benefit and I plan to keep the car for a long time also. Another consideration is that parts are becoming scarcer and scarcer all the time, and if you can substitute commonly available parts where possible, these bits become less of a worry in the future and the greater the possibility of keeping the thing on the road.

It's easy for me to crap on given that I've done nothing to my KG as yet, but I've only had it for 2 weeks and am currently renovating and building a townhouse at the rear of my block so it's going to have to wait a while longer!

I say if you feel the urge..do it! Every modification is reversible given enough money and effort so no mod is the end of the world.

Steve

given that parts are becoming more and more scarce for t1 ghia the idea of substitution is comendable however the easily accessable parts that simply will be available for the forseeable future and then some( and cheap) will be the engine parts so the idea of swapping comon parts doesnt hold any water .the bits you need to keep one on the road will be type specific

Very true toplessbug. I guess my point is that modern running gear is more reliable, more powerful and more economical to run, as well as more robust etc etc. And older vw engine blocks are subject to fatugue and later mexican/brazilian engine block can be suspect quality wise.

But you are right in that motor bits and pieces are still plentiful.nn[ Edited on 4-7-2005 by stephenianjames ]

Unless you are going to have to hack up the engine bay metal to do your engine conversion I don't see how resale value will be affected - unless of course you try to sell it with the converted engine.

Eg. even if you have a 911 engine in there or subaru or corvair or whatever....as long as you can put back a stock 1500 or 1600 to sell it without having cut up sheet metal there should be no reason why not to do it.

As many people have said already...its your car so do what makes you happy!

Converting a T34 from a 911 motor back to stock is a big big job. Lotsa metal to replace

I'd say go WRX, but being what it is, put a 1916 in it. Plenty of go and reliability and 'original' with no holes for radiators etcnn[ Edited on5-7-2005 by VWCOOL ]

go a pobjoy 120 hp engine although you wont get much change from 10 grand you said yourself you plan on keeping it for aslong as you can then why not?? alot is said about the workmanship of a pobjoy engine im not gonna start the whole argument again about it all but stick with a type 1 engine id say!!
cheers
rhys

Thanks for the input guys. You have all given me plenty to think about. The car is a 1965 model with the 1500s engine. It runs ok, blows grey smoke ocassionally on start up. Have been told it has sticky valves and it has been suggested to convert to a 1600 and harder valves to allow unleaded petrol. I was thinking of a rebuild and then thought well why not see where I could take it. The suggestions have been great and I suppose it does all come down to cash. The car is a daily driver and I really want to keep it that way. It needs some rust and panel work and it could do with a respray. So far the quotes I've had have really shocked me. Nothing much below $20 000. I suppose that's Sydney prices for you and the fact that I have only approached classic car restoration places. So if I pay that sort of money for the resto work (which I'm hoping not to) and then some for the chrome, interior and rims then its going to take a while before I can afford to do any serious engine work. Here it is as is:

I'd say stick with an engine that doesnt require any cutting of sheetmetal. As much as I like Porsche engines and subie engines, the installations are never ever as neat and clean as stock. I dont think parts availability will be a problem, look at the market now, they havent sold them here for about 30 years. Porsche parts will be exy and that may make the "unavailable" anyway. Also who knows where you can get parts for an EJ20 in a decade or two. Its difficult to get stuff for an EA80 (so i've heard)

i owned one of these beauties and had a 1600tp in it when i got it in 83. The only prob was the power in the stock unit made the handling quite restricted with the stock swing axles on std radials.

My 60 cal kg with G Berg 1835tp ported and str cam, twin dellos handles all the pwr wit IRS CONVERSION AND IS SMOOTH, SAFE AND COMFY TOO ON 14' wheels t3 pan etc widens track of course

So with pwr think of safe handling & then you have the brakes to think of.... good luck and enjoy

Nice one, thanks for the advice.

I know of a guy here in Melbourne who has a t34 with a 2100cc motor in it.
Don't know much about it though it is very clean and has 90.5 pistons and barrels.
He wants $2500 (for the motor)
Best to call me and give you his number 0438 300 182.
Cheers OLnn[ Edited on 8-7-2005 by empikg ]

thats for the mtr not the car i guess

Yeah just the motor, carbs etc

you will never need such abig mtr as you would not tow a yacht and fuel is getting dearer.

I worry about my 1835 as the cam and twin dellos oo9 dizz etc with such alight car cost enough.

go for quality and unleaded.

go for the 2.1