[T3] T-4>T-3...

[Keith Park]

I think I will answer this a couple of ways.

One would be price; I was able to source a newly rebuilt engine at a great
price. I was also able to source a great set of Italian Dellorto 40's for a
great price. As of right now I am less than $1300 total investment in this
conversion, and I feel that some of the will be returned when I sell the
type 3 engine I have. Even if I were to only get $600 for my current engine,
I am then $700 invested. I will be the first to say that my expenses are FAR
from final, but the bulk of the expense is going to be in carburetors and
engine. And I suspect that I will be under $1000 total at completion.


I completely rebuilt T4 engine is about $6K, Id be VERY wary of something
this cheap, something is likely wrong with it.

  


Then you factor in the fact that the type 4 engine was designed for the
heavier Type 2 and performance oriented 914. They are more robust, come
stock at 2.0 and cool far better, by design, than the type 1 engine. They
were the next step in VW engine engineering. They also have power at the
lower RPM range that the type 1 engine simply does not have without stroking
it and decreasing longevity. I am not saying that stroking a motor cannot be
done without a decrease in life, but I would venture to say that most people
that stroke an engine do it for performance and not longevity. 

This is what I thought in the beginning, but discovered that the T4 914
engine with the baffle in it is designed for much taller gearing, at 70 even
with the freeway flyer the T4 with baffle will suck the sump nearly dry with
the oil completely full.  You will need to remove the baffle or modify it,
or at least put a tuna can on it.  I was getting oil lights every time I
changed lanes on the highway. They are virtually the same stroke as the T3
engine.

The T4 based T4 engines has horrible reliability problems in their day,
especially with the camshafts.  If you tighten the sump bolt over 9ftlbs you
ruin the case.  Hydraulic lifters were also a disaster in these.  They do
NOT run cooler than the T3, especially the Porsche ones ran A LOT hotter,
and hotter than they needed to in stock form and trim.  Jake Raby has done A
LOT of work to make them run cooler and last a lot longer with the right
combination of parts which is why I bought the kit from him, but even then,
in the T3 application that I used mine in I had serious problems.  I believe
I have worked these out now, but it was $$ and I wont really know unless I
put the engine back in the car and try it.

Keith