not the normal inline, but still in need of help...

have a 69 subaru w/ a 360 cc, 2 cycle, air cooled, inline 2 cylinder. made 25 hp and 25 ft lbs originally. the resulting 66 mpg sounds great, but 0-60 took 37 sec (if it makes it at all). the car has been in the garage for years, and doesn't run. i'll be pulling everything apart, and am looking for ways to get a little more power. any thoughts? its a pretty rare car since it was only imported for like 3 years and a couple years after that most dealers denied they even existed (including the dealer that sold mine), so i suspect experience and/or exposure is limited, but its worth a try.

i've found sites dedicated to these cars, but not much info along the lines of performance enhancement.

Thanks

Greetings . . .

As you probably already know, 2 cycle engines are an entirely different 'souping' game than Otto cycle engines. Since you are tearing it all down and looking to get 'creative' you might want to see if anyone out there has tried (on your Subie engine) the killer 'trick' used extensively in the model airplane and dirt bike world - Schnuerle porting.

As in the 4 cycle world, volumetric efficiency is also a problem in the 2 cycle engine. At higher RPMs the exhaust gas tends to mix with the intake mixture - the result is dilution. Schnuerle porting uses the inertia of the incoming intake charge to continue to push the exhaust gases out - even after the piston face has covered the main exhaust port. Scavenging in reverse to us Otto cycle types.

The challenge will be to find someone who has done some solid engineering on your particular power plant. I say this because many an old-time model airplane builder has taken a Dremel tool to the exhaust ports of an older Enya, OS Max or Super Tigre power power plant - only to make matters worse.

Good luck. Sounds like a fun and unusual project. Nothing like standing out at the show or cruise night.

regards,
stock49

I can't give you any advice on modifying your little 360 but I can tell you that the DuPont site I worked for had a couple dozen of them to run around a very large site 24 hours a day as this was a rotating shift plant and they stood up to terrible abuse.Employees were not too kind on how they were driven.Eventually the severly damaged ones were used for parts to maintain the rest because their distribution in the US waned and then all were auctioned by DuPont rather cheaply to employees.Some took home 2-3 and they were seen driven in near by communities for some years.You may know that Malcomn Bricklin, later of the short lived Bricklin sports car,was the first importer of these Subarus to the US and to promote them had a 1/4 mile rental twisty sports car track behind the first Subaru office in South Jersey.We used to run them for 5-20 laps for a couple of bucks. His idea was to show their reliabilty.There main office is still nearby, but alas no test track. It was recently announced that he is the first US importer of a new sports car from China.

thanks for the suggestions and help. i've done some research, but until recently haven't found much info on the cars. found a foreign car repair manual in an antique store over the summer, with a whole chapter on the 360. i did spot a 360 van (the vehicle came in sedan, van and pu models... and a rumored sporty model) in a driveway last week. i just don't have a clue as far as perf goes. am considering a v-twin or small L4 (e.g., kawasaki 600, etc) swap, but that'd require a lot of alteration throughout the drivetrain. just want more power. anyway, thanks again

Hi, I'm new here but I have a little experience with small 2 stroke engines. its all about the porting and the exhaust system. Correct piston port timing and a set of tuned expansion chambers can make a ton of power out of a small engine.(my 350cc street bike makes about 60bhp) Of course it may be un-driveable in a car.
just a thought.