Help identifying front engine tin

[hazetguy]

Picked up this engine tin with Porsche 356 characteristics, but no channel (and no signs of ever having one) for the rubber seal on the front.
Can anyone identify the application?
Thanks.

Compared to a VW 36hp tin (lower in the picture):

[tallman206]

I cannot answer your question directly, but may be able to offer a suggested direction for your research. You have already come close to what I think is the answer. Porsche made industrial engines, just as VW did. There was one particular Porsche Industrial Engine model that was presumably used as an upgrade to early Volkswagen vehicles, or in applications where a Porsche industrial replaced a VW industrial. To correctly fit the existing VW engine compartment, the front, side and rear tins would have to be similar to the original VW tins - no lip for the sealing rubber. That particular Porsche engine used a single two-barrel Zenith 32NDIX carburetor, centrally mounted similar to the original VW Solex carb. That particular Zenith carb had a "fuel enrichment" control on it (think of it like a manual choke, but it was not a choke). So this carb utilized the central large hole in the front tin for the throttle cable, and the smaller central hole for the fuel enrichment (manual) choke) control, similar to the old VW 30PS engine with the 28PCI carb. The other two holes on the tin may have been for some other carburetor or fuel arrangements.
Just a suggestion.
_________________
Jerry Henning
Southern Classic Works
St.Petersburg, Florida
1973 VW Type 181 with 616/33-6 powerplant
1962 356B-T6 Cabriolet Rustbucket

[hazetguy]

Thanks for the info. I had considered it could be for industrial purposes where a seal was unnecessary or already on the unit it powered.