hello from NNY (Porsche 356 diesel conversion)
 

I just found this site and I'm loving it!

I have built a turbo diesel powered Porsche 356 that I run on bio diesel. I ran it this Summer but I still have some changes to make so it's back into my "Little Shop of Horrors" for the winter.

I'll be mostly in lurk-mode for awhile, there's plenty of good info here already :thumbup:

Welcome to EM! Always nice to see a few more Nor-Easter's around here.

Very nice. What engine are you using? What kind of mileage are you getting?

The engine is a 1.6 TD from a Quantum. It has a modded injection pump, a VNT15 turbo from an A4 TDI and a Porsche 944 turbo intercooler.

My highway mileage now is about 45 to 50, but my gearing is all wrong, way too low for this engine. I'm planning on installing a type 1 VW box with a higher R&P and custom gear ratios to knock down my cruising RPMs.

I found this site while looking for a Cd number for my car ('65 SC coupe), still haven't found it -- Let me know if anybody has a link!

Wecome to the group. It may be worth looking into a 914 tranny to get the 5th gear. I had a friend who put one into a Karmin Ghia. He did it so he could get up to 150MPH in 5th when racing, but it would be good at normal highway speeds. He used the nose cone off a 912 as the 914 tranny is normally in the rear of the car.

I would guess that your friends' Ghia was a later IRS car -- then that's not too hard to do. My car is a swing axle machine and you can't use swing axles on an IRS tranny. These cars can be converted to IRS of course, but that's a huge job and I just don't want to go there.

I completely forgot about the transaxles changing from swing to IRS in 69. It sure would be a lot more difficult to make that conversion. I was just thinking how nice it would be to add a 5th gear for on the highway. Do you have any pictures of the diesel engine in the car, or any pics of the conversion? I love the idea of putting a diesel in, especially for the BD.

OK, let's see if I can post some images here --

The car --

[IMG]http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/u...l/P7230018.jpg[/IMG]

The engine --

[IMG]http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/u...inebay0016.jpg[/IMG]

I used an adapter from Kennedy Engineering, putting the engine in is actually pretty easy, but then the REAL fun begins :rolleyes:

The engine looks stock! Nice work. The only part that looks like a tight fit is the pipes on the left. Did you have to make any modifications to make them fit.

That charge piping looks a little cramped in there!

Oh, my, what a beautiful ride that is.

Thanks! Yeah, the plumbing was a challenge, but the most trouble I had was with cooling. That rear radiator with ducted scoop from under the car just didn't work out. Now I'm fitting dual motorcycle rads behind the headlights, hope that gets it done!

Nice install and what a nice ride!!!:thumbup:

Welcome to the site!!!

What a cool car, moTthediesel!

Did you ever find the Cd? I'm guessing it's not that slippery, judging by the shape at the rear.

Where are you in NY? Sounds like we're in the same neighbourhood. I'm at the extreme east end of the Islands - Brockville ON.

thanks!

I did find a number on a German site, .39 -- not great, but it has a pretty small frontal area as it's a tiny car, and it's light. I got between 45 and 50 mpg with it last year running 100% bio. I've replaced the trans now with a custom VW unit with much taller cogs, so I'm hoping for better numbers this year. Still want to do some aero mods, air dam, front pan tray, and eventually four wheel skirts, like this --

http://www.cartype.com/pics/427/full...6_coupe_51.jpg

But we've got to get it fully sorted first --

Yeah, I know Brockville well -- Dave Jones Sports, New York Cafe, and a great little military surplus store too! I live on the river at Kring Point, so I'm a little southwest of you, right across from Ironside Island if you know where that is.

Do you have a web page about your car somewhere?

I know Ironside - went swimming off my friend's schooner just south of Grenadier central there last summer. I usually boat past it a few times each year. Oh - I see you're on Goose Bay. I've always been intrigued by the little "gap" into that bay. Never have gone in it though.

Are there any more photos of your build? looks really good.

What a jewel! Thanks for posting.

Didn't you run the diesel Porsche in the Green Grand Prix in 2010 and 2011?
Great project and execution!

I too was interested so I did some quick Google searches and came up with:

Pictures by motthediesel - Photobucket

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2145693/1965-porsche-356

Love this project, though personally I would've started with a replica both for weight and value purposes :) and a 1.9TDI engine as they can outperform the older 1.6TD in every way including fuel mileage, still VERY interesting. In fact too interesting now I'm tempted to find a 356 coupe replica and drop my TDI engine into that! :)

I just ran across this info
Groe Cw-Werte-Sammlung von Autos und ... zum Mitmachen

I thought the 0.39 didn't sound right and frankly those Cd values don't mean much but the CdA values (in the link they are labeled as cw and cw*F)

"Porsche 356/2 Gmünd Coupé u. Cabrio 1948-1950 0,29 1,62 0,469"

Cd: 0.29
Front Area: 1.62
CdA: 0.469

Very cool. What's your impression of the performance and noise? I had a 356 years ago with an old vw engine that would do 45-50mpg on the highway with the original 356 tranny, but it was pretty slow.

I'm looking for ideas for a hot diesel powered sports car that will deliver great economy too.

Dan

That's a nice project. I've already considered to get a 356 replica to adapt a 3-banger Euro-spec 1.4TDI for the track days...

Coupe or cabrio?

Coupe is my favorite for many reasons, but in Brazil it's easier to find the roadsters.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-grJK_no-Ld.../Photo0623.jpg

This is so cool... love it man.