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1958 ST4 Snow Trac Friction Drive

vintagebike

Well-known member
So close- but so far away. This is the 70hp 1958 Porsche 1600S engine for our Snow Trak.
Now all I need are a few more hours in the day.
IMG_5289.jpg
IMG_5290.jpg
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Very cool, and an expensive motor to.

Are you sure with twin carbs it is just 70 HP?

With twin carbs, I don't think it will fit. Snow Trac used the single carb industrial version of this engine. I always read that they were 70HP..

I have found a couple of these engines, industrial versions on E bay over the years, but never jumped on one. None of them were runners, and for the price asked I did not figure rebuilding one would be economical.

Regards, Kirk
 

vintagebike

Well-known member
The 1958 1600S engine , as the 616/2, was conservatively rated at 70-75 hp depending on what literature is read. The early industrials, as the 616/18, were 50-60hp depending on the specific build. I will be stripping the engine down to the long block, installing it for fit and then putting the accessories back on while modifying them for any clearance problems. Time will tell.:flowers:
 

JimVT

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I was thinking it wouldn't fit as you show it.
are the tracks good enough to use?
jimvt
 

Lyndon

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
The Porsche engine pictured above came in 60 HP ("N" engine), 75 HP ("SC" engine), and a Roller Crankshaft version rated 90 HP in the "Super-90". The Industrials were generally the 60 HP version. They have a special prefix by the serial number. It was mostly done by changing the compression ratios. All the Porsche 1600's had an extra main bearing, and were factory balanced to Much, Much higher RPM's. VW engines of the same era were balanced to 4500 RPM's, the Porsches were balanced to close to 10,000 RPM's using a Westinghouse automated balancing machine. The engine would not withstand that high a speed, but it ran inordinately smoothly. In addition they sport a form of "Hemi-heads", with angled valves, ( rectangular ports), and much bigger intake as well as exhaust ports. They continued making the 90 HP model for 912's without the Roller bearing crankshaft.
They had an entirely different sound from a VW engine. That improvement came from the tuned exhaust. Instead of a pulsating Rum, rum, rum sound they had a steady Swish sound that did not pulse. Besides having RPM ranges up to 7500 RPM, their Torque band started sooner and went thru a higher RPM range than a VW.
Thus the moniker from the first Vintage ST4 Owners Club: "Dedicated to the preservation of the Rare Swedish Snow Porsche"
A Snow Trac with one of these is a real "Champion-of-the-snow".
Nice engines!
 

vintagebike

Well-known member
The very worn tracks are both complete with all of the special cleats and in one piece but they will be used for display only. i am working with a rubber belting and molding company to have new ones built. :yum:
 

NorCal

New member
Nice engine indeed!! I was contemplating putting dual carbs (single port Kadrons) on my ST4 and was wondering about clearance issues. Keep us all posted with your build. Still got your gas tanks...
 
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