Porsche 356 Replica - Which engine? - Page 2 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

depends how accurate a replica you want. I'd be tempted by a Subaru 3.0 Flat six and sod originality

Hi all, I'm seriously considering purchasing a replica Porsche 356. I have a villa abroad and I'm looking to import the body kit from the UK and build the car over there. I've been reading online that the best chassis to put on the car is a VW beetle which are easily available to purchase where it'll be and take off around 12-13 inches and reweld etc. My question is, what's the best engine to put in this? I've read online that a lot of people in the US are installing 2.5lt Subaru Boxer engines. However, they're hard to find over there. Any recommendations would be helpful and your reasoning as to why. Many thanks Blake Edited by blakebull on Wednesday 17th March 17:25

Hey Marki Thanks for the reply! Aesthetically, I'm going to keep it as period as possible with modern day touches. Air con, heated seats, radio, and sound system etc. With regards to the engine, I'm really open to anything Cheers Blake

You can get brand new VW flat fours in all sorts of sizes and states of tune, as they're in demand for resto-mods and the racing scene. I would go air-cooled with a decent power output -120hp will be plenty in a 356 rep. I have only one experience with a Subaru 2.5t engine - they have a reputation for 'boiling' - blown head gaskets, and I fell victim to that. I know the Yanks put the 2.0t into Boxsters, maybe it's a better shout. I suppose if you want to run an air-con compressor, then a modern design might be better.

blakebull said: Hey Marki Thanks for the reply! Aesthetically, I'm going to keep it as period as possible with modern day touches. Air con, heated seats, radio, and sound system etc. With regards to the engine, I'm really open to anything Cheers Blake well my ultimate would be an aircooled Porsche flat six, but they aren't cheap these days

The flat six is a arguably a bit heavy for a 356 and spoils the poise. Consider if you will the Polo engine, a flat six reconfigured as a flat 4. Now available as a kit. http://www.polomotor.com

loughran said: The flat six is a arguably a bit heavy for a 356 and spoils the poise. Consider if you will the Polo engine, a flat six reconfigured as a flat 4. Now available as a kit. http://www.polomotor.com That's for response! Any idea on pricing for these?

blakebull said: loughran said: The flat six is a arguably a bit heavy for a 356 and spoils the poise. Consider if you will the Polo engine, a flat six reconfigured as a flat 4. Now available as a kit. http://www.polomotor.com That's for response! Any idea on pricing for these? Around $30k so probably not my best recommendation this week. A more sensible suggestion would be to have a look at DDk, a forum for early cars that has good replica content. It's a convivial crowd that love a project and are incredibly knowledgeable about all things pre 73 Porsche. https://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/index.php

My mrs has had two over the years, both had rebuilt 1800cc VW engines (circa 110 bhp) More than enough performance and a lovely noise. If we had one again it would be great to have a 5 speed gearbox. How about a electric motor ? https://chesil.co.uk/electric-chesil-e/

Why not put in a Subaru Im Imprezza Turbo Engine into it ?

Can you get a 4 pot from a 718 to fit?

Here are the instructions for fitting a 718 engine into a beetle and everybody knows the 356 is just an old VW so it should work fine. https://jalopnik.com/what-will-you-need-to-do-to-s...

Where's the villa? Will you be able to register the car?

The 3.0L 'H6' Subaru boxer is the bomb proof-est one, chain drive cams too! The 2.5 is the worst-est, avoid this at all costs. Have you seen Hoovie's garage series on a kit 356 build? It will give you some ideas.. https://youtu.be/8bJUDIYXkls I think some episodes are under the spin-off 'Car Wizard' channel. I always thought an early Porsche Boxster 986 2.5L would be best, had for around a grand, can come with 5 or 6 speed transaxle, is a Porsche engine.. etc. Edited by Pistonsquirter on Tuesday 23 March 12:04

You could also consider the Alfa Romeo 'Boxer' engine. They're pretty robust and not exactly expensive to buy. Or if it's raw power you want, then the Subaru 2.0T could be a good option.

No idea what you’re building your 356 replica on but I’d be thinking whether I really need that much power a 356 SC keeps up with modem traffic really well so you really don’t need much more power than that. If you go for a lot more power then you need to start putting bigger wheels and brakes on etc so you’ll be adding weight in the worst possible place together with probably a bigger and heavier engine. I’d be looking for the lightest engine that makes decent power rather than thinking I need a 3.0l engine which I am not sure you do

As Pete.g says ^ pete.g said: You can get brand new VW flat fours in all sorts of sizes and states of tune, as they're in demand for resto-mods and the racing scene. I would go air-cooled with a decent power output -120hp will be plenty in a 356 rep. Fit an air-cooled engine for the full experience. 120hp will be more than enough, my engine makes perhaps 85hp and is a hoot, perfectly at home in modern traffic.

Blake - is it possible for you to keep the thread updated inc. a build if plans come to fruition as its something im (mentally) toying with doing. For me, id go with the subaru engine as its tried and tested. If you do go down the subaru route, would it be best buying a donor car so you could raid it for other bits and pieces as required?

Subaru EJ engine come in about 50 different iterations. 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 3.0, SOHC, DOHC, Carb, Single injection, Multi Injection, NA, Turbo, Twin Turbo and incremental power from 95hp to 320bhp and everything in between. Your local market and will determine availability. How much power do you want and will water cooling be a big compromise on design and packaging? Obviously there is a ready supply of transaxles available too. There is a ready supply of 2.5 NA engines in the States from the Impreza RS, which should not be confused with the turbocharged EJ205/7 engine. Edited by TEKNOPUG on Wednesday 24th March 13:07

pete.g said: You can get brand new VW flat fours in all sorts of sizes and states of tune, as they're in demand for resto-mods and the racing scene. I would go air-cooled with a decent power output -120hp will be plenty in a 356 rep. I have only one experience with a Subaru 2.5t engine - they have a reputation for 'boiling' - blown head gaskets, and I fell victim to that. I know the Yanks put the 2.0t into Boxsters, maybe it's a better shout. I suppose if you want to run an air-con compressor, then a modern design might be better. I would do this. Keep it air cooled.

Hi all Firstly, I'd like to thank all of you for contributing to this thread. It's been a lot of help with choosing and understanding what's the best course of action. Secondly, I'd like to apologise for not reply so frequently. It's just been manic over here. My villa is in Oludeniz, Turkey. I bought a piece of land, 2000m2 and have just about finished construction on it. Labour is cheap over here... for a reason! Having to do things 2-3 times over, standing over workmen for the past week has well and truly been exhausting... but.. first world problems eh!! With the house almost complete I can now focus a lot of this passion project. I've bought a 1973 VW beetle is good nick for just around £4500. No rust and chassis looks in great condition. I've also spoken to a few mechanics, welders, workmen locally and got a price of £250 to cut and reweld the chassis to exact specifications. I've decided to go ahead and buy a second hand Porsche Boxer engine. They're much more available over here then subaru's etc. I was toying with the idea of keeping the VW engine and trying to tune it up. However, after a bit of research I just couldn't find anyone over here even in the big cities like Istanbul who's got some decent experience in doing it. I will try and keep you all updated with the project and let you know how it progresses.. I would still like to keep the thread open and would love to see your builds. To try and understand what hiccups you may have come across along the way, things you didn't anticipated and maybe how you overcame it. All the best Blake

Might be teaching you to suck eggs as such but have you search the VW Beetle forums for tips on the installation and if theyve done it? I know with the scooby engines theres a wealth of information and kits are sold for the conversion. might be worth looking there to see whats required. Unfortunately, my build is all talk as ive been mentally talking about putting a scooby engine into a beetle/356 for years

For the real period look, that m96 Boxster engine would suit a bank of 6 downdraft carbs..

Holy Thread resurrection batman? OP did you get any further with this? I am seriously thinking about this myself. Going to see one on Friday with a Beatle engine in the back, but a project build would also be pretty cool. I mean complete ones seem to be £30k plus, which I would hope is more than enough to build one.