The Official 356Talk Forum

John also has a 1925 cc engine that puts out about 129 hp. It might be worthwhile to talk with him.

Mike

Make it into an SC with the later heads, stock S/SC/912 cam and Solexes, and 1720cc. You will not have to reinvent anything and it will be pretty perky. Or spend $3000 more and add Nickies, even better.

Where do you intend to drive the car, city, country, highway?

Are you aggressive with the throttle and rpm or do you drive in a more dignified manner? Are you hyper or mellow? Either is ok but the engine build required is different.

Most of my career with 356 cars has been with the Normal engine. Looking at the specifications you will see that the torque of the engine is reasonably consistent between all 3 horsepower ratings. The next question you have to ask yourself is how are you going to use the extra power. As you approach 75 MPH in a unmodified car, you are at the limit of your safety. When these cars were built highway speeds were in the 60 MPH range. One of the significant safety features on the 911/2 is the collapsible steering column. On the 356 is is a thick iron tube which when you crash will impale you in the chest. The steering wheel will shatter (especially if it is wood) cutting your face. One of the situations with the VW engine is that the exhaust pipes form cylinder 1 and 3 will not clear the hoop mount in the 356. It will be difficult to find a good 6 volt flywheel for the VW. You can take a 12 Volt flywheel and put a 6 volt ring gear on it (Zim's does that ) the use the 12 volt starter with 6 volt teeth. A complete conversion of the car to 12 volts will be necessary to start the engine and run the auxiliary and keep the battery charged. How fortunate it is that the Porsche factory has thought this out and the new 911 vehicles have all this taken care of. Seriously look for a G50 911 you can probably purchase the car for the money you will save in building a high horsepower engine and the decreased value of you car from installing it. The turbo (491) cars are much more stable than the standard 911 and will go down the road 15 MPH faster because of this stability. al zim aldwinzim@gmail.com

Once again, thanks, All; this has been very helpful.

Does anyone know where I might obtain a PDF of the Pellows ABC'S book?

My advice to you is do not read or obtain the Harry Pellow books! I am a college graduate more than one time, and i cannot read his books. Perhaps if they were written in some for of the American language that would be possible. Since his death many advances in engine construction have occurred. al zim aldwinzim@gmail.com

Al Zim wrote:My advice to you is do not read or obtain the Harry Pellow books! I am a college graduate more than one time, and i cannot read his books. Perhaps if they were written in some for of the American language that would be possible. Since his death many advances in engine construction have occurred. al zim aldwinzim@gmail.com

His videos are a hoot though.

Al Zim wrote:My advice to you is do not read or obtain the Harry Pellow books! I am a college graduate more than one time, and i cannot read his books. Perhaps if they were written in some for of the American language that would be possible. Since his death many advances in engine construction have occurred. al zim aldwinzim@gmail.com

Sorry to have to disagree with you Al, but there is a wealth of information in Harry's books. Granted, you had to get past some of Harry's opinions and nuances, but his basic information was mostly spot on.

I don't have any answer for your not being able to read his books, however.

Wes Bender wrote:

Al Zim wrote:My advice to you is do not read or obtain the Harry Pellow books! I am a college graduate more than one time, and i cannot read his books. Perhaps if they were written in some for of the American language that would be possible. Since his death many advances in engine construction have occurred. al zim aldwinzim@gmail.com

Sorry to have to disagree with you Al, but there is a wealth of information in Harry's books. Granted, you had to get past some of Harry's opinions and nuances, but his basic information was mostly spot on.

I don't have any answer for your not being able to read his books, however.

For the beginner his books are great, the first time I dropped a 356 engine I was using a Pellow Book. Unlike shop manuals that are written for mechanics, Harry's books are written for the average guy in mind. Granted his side-winding folksy story telling takes some getting used to, but like Wes said, the info is spot on. That's why they still sell and for good money.
A copy of Elfrink's manual can be had for $10, a Pellow book sells well into the $100's, so I'll fall back on an adage I use a lot of times in this business, don't believe me, but you have to believe the market, it doesn't lie.

I'm with Al. Too hard to read, and tons of mis-information and unsubstantiated opinion.

PaulLima wrote:I'm with Al. Too hard to read, and tons of mis-information and unsubstantiated opinion.

Sort of like Internet forums?

iffen you don't like the way Harry wrote, run it through Google Translate 8)

I just got my first copy of the 356 B factory workshop manual from an add in the classifieds. I have been getting by with the lesser books for years. The factory books are amazing, and worth what I paid for them.. not cheap. They cover the differences between the normal, super and S90 engines well.

Thanks for everyone's input. Ultimately, I purchased a 912 engine that was previously installed in a 356. I'll pull the original engine and pickle it. With any luck, installing the 912 engine will be a bolt-in procedure and it will generate ~90 hp. If the engine has issues, or if more power is required, I can augment it. For the purists out there, you can mark a win; no VW engine.

Adam Wright wrote:

Wes Bender wrote:

Al Zim wrote:My advice to you is do not read or obtain the Harry Pellow books! I am a college graduate more than one time, and i cannot read his books. Perhaps if they were written in some for of the American language that would be possible. Since his death many advances in engine construction have occurred. al zim aldwinzim@gmail.com

Sorry to have to disagree with you Al, but there is a wealth of information in Harry's books. Granted, you had to get past some of Harry's opinions and nuances, but his basic information was mostly spot on.

I don't have any answer for your not being able to read his books, however.

For the beginner his books are great, the first time I dropped a 356 engine I was using a Pellow Book. Unlike shop manuals that are written for mechanics, Harry's books are written for the average guy in mind. Granted his side-winding folksy story telling takes some getting used to, but like Wes said, the info is spot on. That's why they still sell and for good money.
A copy of Elfrink's manual can be had for $10, a Pellow book sells well into the $100's, so I'll fall back on an adage I use a lot of times in this business, don't believe me, but you have to believe the market, it doesn't lie.

I'm not skilled enough to comment on the technical details in Harry's material but I would add this. How many years has it been since Harry made those videos? How many other videos/books on engine building have been offered since? Especially when you consider that pretty everybody now has a portable high quality camera