LS4!!!

[bennyboy]

Somebody, somewhere, needs to develop the parts for this conversation and offer an 'all-in' convesration cost of £5k. I for one would be queuing outside the door!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHEVY-LS-GEN-IV-6-LITRE-ALUMINIUM-V8-CRATE-ENGINE_W0QQitemZ160303358825QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item160303358825&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A3%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

 

[Diver944]

That price sounds waaaay too good to be true, but if they do have one in the Bristol area for inspection/collection I'd feel a lot happier.

Maybe Andy & Roger should bite the bullet and install one of these things in that empty shell I know they have in the Promax workshop []

 

[bennyboy]

Apparently it's on it's way! LS2 though I think!

 

[Suffolk944]

It is something I investigated as a possibility for my old 944. Safe to say yes £5k for an all in conversion is a tad optimistic, assuming you were getting someone else to do it for you.

 

[Alexw]

yeah ive looked at that several times and even asked the people over at Renegade Hybrids about it, they said it wasn't possible, something to do with the steering iirc. I refuse to believe its impossible, just a challenge

 

[Suffolk944]

I think there was an issue with steering rack and other things with the LS1 engine for right hand drive conversions which Renegade use(d) as it is asymetrical, whereas an LS2 is symetrical and so has no right hand drive adaption problems. No idea about the LS4. Am sure an Oracle will be along to correct me soon enough but that at least is my understanding.

Nonethless with the various adapted ancilliary bits required, removing the original engine and fitting the new its not a cheap exercise. At the time I had the money to get it done, but in the end couldn't quite reconcile the idea of an American V8 in a 944 despite the power and lag free delivery (even though I would in no way class myself as a "purist").

Some days I regret not going through with it and somedays I dont. I rather like boooost. []

 

[Fen]

They didn't tell me it wasn't possible, rather that some of the parts they have may not be mirror images of those needed for a RHD conversion.

I discussed with them the possibility of buying part of a kit, selecting the parts they knew to be common (which was fine with them) and of having some sight of the parts I didn't get as they are LHD specific, which they were less keen on.

They were concerned about their kit being ripped off basically, which is a fair concern. We got into discussions about contracts where they would retain the design rights of any RHD parts I had fabricated based on their LHD parts design or me offering their kits in the UK with the LHD parts substituted with my RHD equivalents as I recall, but ultimately other things took priority and I didn't proceed any further.

I also had a conversation with Andy about Promax fitting an LS1 to my car for me way back at a dyno day in 2006, but while I had (and have) no problem with him it would have had to to have been a cold day in Hell before I'd have done business with the company at that time.

Edited to respond to the cross post above:

It's not the LS2 that's symmetrical as far as I know. The LT1 is the symmetrical one, but it's an older version. I don't know anything about the LS4, just the LS1, LS2, LS6 and LS7.

 

[zcacogp]

Have to say, a new engine of that sort of spec for £3.5k is a bargain. Just how much is necessary to make it fit into a 944?

I know that Renegade Hybrids do kits, but I am guessing that the difficult bits will be getting the mounts to work and getting it to bolt up to the torque tube. Everything else (fuel/sparks/starting/throttle) must be pretty simple.

Fen, sounds like an interesting conversation you had with Renegade Hybrids. How much of their kit was LHD-specific? How much additional fabrication would be necessary for a RHD model? (Did you ever consider buying a LHD 944 just to make the fitting easier? That would be a simple solution if you could cope with a LHD car in the UK.) Also, why were they worried about design rights - they would potentially have this problem every time they sell a kit, surely?

The other snag about buying from RH at the moment is that the £ is on its knees when buying $, so it would not be quite as cheap as you'd like ...


Oli.

 

[Fen]

It was some time ago and my memory is similar to that of a goldfish so I don't recollect exactly. I think engine mounts and manifolds were the key issues in terms of what wouldn't fit RHD. Design rights were mentioned I think because I asked about the plans for the parts so I could fabricate replicas in a mirror image so it was legitimate as I would have been seeing all the details rather than having the item and needing to reverse engineer it to understand it.

I also spoke to a chap Jim Hearnden put me on to who builds LS1/2 or 6 engines from new parts in the UK. He was conifdent he could help with engine mounts without a problem and we discussed that he'd recommend an electric in-hose water pump meaning that in my application the front of the block could have a flat plate fitted across it as I have no need of air-con and power steering or the associated belts and pulleys