Few people know that the Porsche 914/6 was far from the wildest 914 built. In fact, the factory assembled two V8-equipped cars, one as a test mule and another as a birthday present to Ferry Porsche himself. Today, they both reside in the Porsche museum and are quite valuable; therefore, you might want to give this Chevy 350-equipped project a look here on eBay.
914 V8 swaps are not terribly common, but a wide range of domestic V8s have found their way into the midship engine bay of Porsche’s affordable sports car. If often requires the extensive hip-widening you see here, which not only looks bad-ass but also adds the necessary fortifications for the larger mill. The body looks tidy on this example, other than bearing the scars of long-term storage.
The seller references a number of additional upgrades along with the motor itself, including brakes from a Porsche 911, a ZF-sourced manual transmission, heavily reinforced frame, and “racing” seats not shown photos. It appears you’ll also get some ancillary gauges. The engine is described as being built by Keith Black, whose name is associated with competition-grade pistons for the 914.
The seller also mentions a curious anecdote, which is that the race-spec motor was built to handle twin turbochargers. This 914 must have been a handful when it was running, and the custom build seems worth reviving. The seller says they began tearing it down to restore it, but doesn’t confirm if its current condition is what it currently looks like. There’s no takers for the opening bid of $8K and not much time left in the auction.
Jeff, Jeff, Jeff….
I hate to nit-pick, but the two factory-built eight-cylinder Porsches were equipped with FLAT-eight engines, detuned from the units installed in the Type 908 and 910 race cars. From what I remember, they were not considered a success….
Some of the V8 914 conversions, using SBCs, were probably better. A guy called Rod Simpson in California sold a kit so owners could roll their own. He also did a 911/SBC conversion, which must have been a real handful on a winding road!
Keith Black would probably better be known for his top fuel Chrysler Hemi engines!
That’s what I think of when I see the name Keith Black.
People say “an engine built for twin turbochargers” like that is a good thing. It might be, if you are going to use twin turbos. Otherwise the compression and cam will be waaaayyyyy off.
The Chalon body kit is, apparently, an acquired taste. Been looking at them for 40 years and still haven’t acquired it.
The parts here are worth something. Otherwise . ..
I’d swear that’s a first-gen RX7 front bumper.
The 914 is so butt ugly as it came from the factory, one with the Chalon (or other) kit is the only way I would consider owning one. Evidently, Porsche liked it, too, coming up with the slant nose 911.
The really trick conversion used the aluminum 215ci V8 from early 60’s Buick. Stock 185hp and almost as light as the 4 cylinder it replaced. It was for sale. I drove it and recall it was scary fast.
Rover in the UK made and upgraded this engine for another 40 or 50 years… I agree with you, not only way lighter but way more interesting than an SBC
TVR also made a upto 5ltr version too! 340hp is the number I remember from factory
1. I saw a SBC 914 conversion at an autocross in Reno NV. It was wicked fast!
2. Keith Black worked with a company in Carson City called United Engine. United engine made pistons for many different companies, GM, Ford, and many replacement parts brands.
As most of us know drag race engines eat and destroy engine parts. And in the Top Fuel and Funny Car sector it is unusual for one of those cars to actually complete a single run and still have it “firing on all 8”. One of the demands put on these engines are engine quick RPM build up. (Quick to rev.) Everyone in their right mind uses forged pistons in boosted applications.(turbo, supercharged) The problem with forged pistons is that when compared to cast pistons they are really heavy. Which is not what you want for a quick rev’ing engine. So Mr. Black worked with United Engine to develop a lighter piston that would take the punishment of 5,000 supercharged horsepower. The result was a piston that lasted about the same as a forged piston and lighter weight. It was marketed by their Silv-O-Lite brand and is now available through many outlets like Summit Racing. It will not stand up to continual high load boost or nitrous. BUT in any other high performance non-boosted, non-nitrous application where you would normally think “forged” it does a very nice job. It has a very high silicate aluminum alloy crown that dissipates very quickly. Where a standard cast piston will not.
I used to do some consulting for the engineering department. (I miss you John!) And the attached pictures are from my gifted jacked from United Engine. United Engine moved their production facilities to Mexico many years ago.
“Hypereutetic;” spelled it wrong I believe. High silica-content cast piston. There were some teething problems originally. If the silica and alloy content wasn’t evenly ‘mixed,’ they could shatter apart. Nitrous guys were the biggest sufferers of this catastrophe.
Like you said, not developed for boost. They are much better these days, good option for a n/a mild-to-moderate build on an SBC-type build
Odd he wouldn’t include a picture of the main feature of the vehicle.
My sentiments exactly.
I’m not into these 914’s, but around sports cars most my life, and wasn’t the 6 cylinder bada$$ enough? I’d think this would be a handful. Looks intense.
ELEVEN GAUGES??………REALLY?? Probably worth more in parts IF the ZF trans is worth that much money!
Holy carp…I can’t imagine what this must be like to drive once you put it into gear.
Wait…yes I can…must be like “I’m just going to jump onto the back of this Tiger and see if I can ride it”
A “V8” 914 for sale with NO pictures of the V8 install with a big part of the seller’s description pimping an engine built by Keith Black. This seller has over 400+ “Feedback’s” concerning his selling items on Ebay so this “Ain’t His Debut” at this Ebay selling thing.
Sure makes you “Wonder” what he’s hiding about that “Keith Black” 350 installed this Porsche he’s so proud of???
Maybe this is a whole LOTTA Nothing or maybe it is Something!
The world may never know!
Just to let you know “I” like the car!
Used to race a 914 with the 231 Buick V6. It was wicked fast and handled like it was on rails as well as a very streetable car. Ahh, the good old days.
Ugly duckling hideous vehicle