Rotary Engine in a 356?

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ray nelson
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Rotary Engine in a 356?

#1 Post by ray nelson »

Has anyone ever put a Mazda Rotary engine in a 356?
How about an electric powered 356?
Just curious but I supposed now that the prices of these cars has gotten so high might not be viable.
Ray

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Matthew Devereux
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#2 Post by Matthew Devereux »

I believe electric conversions have been done. Google might reveal some info. IMHO a Porsche engine will surely pay for itself in the increased value of the car. If you need big power then a Subaru or VW Type 4 engine will be cheaper.
Matthew Devereux
'00 Boxster S
'58 356A coupe

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James Davies
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#3 Post by James Davies »

1953 1500S coupe 50058 had batteries and a GE electric motor put into it back in 1958, supposedly to be use by the US Postal Service? It's in Australia now I believe.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23146

Btw, the engine number shown is a VW block, probably put into service after the original block was "Hirthed" (Can I verb that?), a common occurrence on 1500S engines from 1953.

22 6v batteries! I bet you could bring that tally down with modern lithium-ion batteries.

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Craig Richter
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#4 Post by Craig Richter »

If you need big power, why don't you just get a different car?
 

ray nelson
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#5 Post by ray nelson »

Not really looking for "big power" , just curious to see if anyone has done it. There would obviously be advantages and disadvantages to doing either of those conversions and I seem to recall that 911's have.
As for getting another car, well, I've got too many cars and motorcycles already, besides lack of power isn't the issue with the original engines. The original designs were well balanced with the capabilities of the entire vehicle.
Also looking to the future there may come a time when the US limits or bans driving these old relics due to pollution, safety or whatever. Some time ago I posted a video of a classic (1970s) Fiat owner who expressed the joy of driving on the few days a month it was legal in Italy (details may not be correct since I didn't review the video prior to posting this).
Ray

Dan Epperly
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#6 Post by Dan Epperly »

ray nelson wrote:Not really looking for "big power" , just curious to see if anyone has done it. There would obviously be advantages and disadvantages to doing either of those conversions and I seem to recall that 911's have.
As for getting another car, well, I've got too many cars and motorcycles already, besides lack of power isn't the issue with the original engines. The original designs were well balanced with the capabilities of the entire vehicle.
Also looking to the future there may come a time when the US limits or bans driving these old relics due to pollution, safety or whatever. Some time ago I posted a video of a classic (1970s) Fiat owner who expressed the joy of driving on the few days a month it was legal in Italy (details may not be correct since I didn't review the video prior to posting this).
Ray
I think what he might be referring to is the banning of old cars in some of the city centers due to pollution issues, which is of course nonsense since they don't ban even bigger polluting trucks and buses...

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Phil Planck
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#7 Post by Phil Planck »

You can buy Speedster replicas with electric motors. On Ebay and thesamba quite often.
Phil Planck

Rafik Dous
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Re: Rotary Engine in a 356?

#8 Post by Rafik Dous »

I read an article about an RX2 engine into a 356. It was done in the '80s. If I find it, I will scan and post it here

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