Lux to Turbo and beyond

[Quarterflash]

I am about to undertake a major upgrade to my ' 84 944 lux. I have a complete set of late 944 turbo suspension and gearbox. It appears that the gearbox mounts are different - does anyone know of any other mismatches such as drive shafts, steering, suspension and fixing location points on the body? Also if anyone has pictures or diagrams of the underside of a 944 turbo showing fixing points, especially around the gearbox arera, I would be most grateful. I have the Gmund 944 turbo workshop manual. The ultimate aim is to fit a chevy 350 (5.7 litre) engine using the Renegade Hybrids conversion kit (www.renegadehybrids.com/main.htm).

 

[AJLintern]

How about using the 32v 5.4 V8 from the 928? I know the parts aren' t as cheap, but its probably quite a bit lighter than the Chevy engine, preserving some of the balance of the car. The engine is afterall the other half of the 944' s unit, so it makes sence really! I' ve also been looking into doing this, under the assumption that it might be cheaper to find a reconditioned 928 engine than to fit a supercharger

 

[John Sims]

How about using the 32v 5.4 V8 from the 928?

Snot gonna fit is it? I thought the guys in Stuttgart threw that out as it was too big in its original form and wouldn' t fit under the bonnet.

Just asking[]

 

[Diver944]

I read a lot (on the Net) about chevy engines in 944' s a few years ago. From what I can remember, it' s actually a fairly light engine and only 30-40 kilos heavier than the 944. This throws the balance out by just a few percent to around 53-47 with the bias at the front. You can balance this up by sticking 30-40 kilos of ballast nice and low in the spare wheel well.

With 350 bhp of V8 grunt this will not hurt things too much []

Also, the 350bhp is a starting point. This is very undertuned and very very reliable. The american tuning industry is very popular and a reliable 450-500 bhp can be had for a little outlay. Again I have no knowledge of this, just read it on the Net

I wouldn' t want to pay our fuel prices with this thirsty an engine though []

I was too scared to go down this route though and just bought a Turbo instead.

 

[Quarterflash]

Hello All
Here is an update to this thread. I got rid of the Lux and bought an "˜89 944 Turbo as it already has all the right bits on it.

This car has been undergoing the V8 transformation and you can see a short video of the first start-up here - You Tube video.

The engine is a Chevy 350 (5.7 litre) LT1 from a Corvette and is rated at 300 bhp. Standard Turbo gearbox and Chevy clutch. Brakes and suspension later.

More updates when we get the cooling and clutch sorted.

Regards
Q

 

[Suffolk944]

You Sir win our prestigious "Thread Resurrection of the Year (or in this case decade !) Award"

 

[Quarterflash]

no worries, some members had asked to be updated []

 

[colin944]

ORIGINAL: Quarterflash

Hello All
Here is an update to this thread. I got rid of the Lux and bought an "˜89 944 Turbo as it already has all the right bits on it.

This car has been undergoing the V8 transformation and you can see a short video of the first start-up here - You Tube video.

The engine is a Chevy 350 (5.7 litre) LT1 from a Corvette and is rated at 300 bhp. Standard Turbo gearbox and Chevy clutch. Brakes and suspension later.

More updates when we get the cooling and clutch sorted.

Regards
Q

What did you do with the turbo engine?

 

[Quarterflash]

Hi Colin - the Turbo engine and ancilliaries will be for sale once we are sure we have all we need. Are you interested?
Regards
Q

 

[944Turbo]

Congrats on getting it to the point of running - look forward to the first drive video

 

[PSH]

well done and congrats on getting her running...now looking at the time scale in this thread and remembering that i'm in my 50's i suspect that i will have fallen of my mortal perch before the car hits the road......good luck though...have fun...

Pete

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: Quarterflash

Hi Colin - the Turbo engine and ancilliaries will be for sale once we are sure we have all we need. Are you interested?

Elliot would be.

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=846003


Oli.

 

[colin944]

ORIGINAL: Quarterflash

Hi Colin - the Turbo engine and ancilliaries will be for sale once we are sure we have all we need. Are you interested?
Regards
Q

Wouldn't mind first dibs on it. I'm currently deciding weather ti rebuild my S2 engine or pop another in .

 

[robdimond]

Wouldn't mind first dibs on it. I'm currently deciding weather ti rebuild my S2 engine or pop another in .

You thinking of joining the hairdryer brigade Colin! []

 

[Diver944]

Nice update John and good to hear it running.

For anyone else considering this sort of engine it's very viable right now that the dollar exchange rate is healthy once more.

A brand new 350 5.7L crate engine like this can be bought from UK dealers for just over £2000, then you just need the Renegade Hybrids fitting kit and it pretty much frops right in with no messing about (well only a little [])

http://www.partsworldperformance.com/350-290hp-crate-engine-chevy-small-block-v8

What has been the trickiest part for your conversion John?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I've always laughed at people who say the noise a 944 engine makes is important. It's all about driving it, not trying to make small children reach for their camera-phones.

Listening to that I've changed my mind. []

Sounds so much better than the Rover V8 conversion I saw, and for £2K the engine's cheaper than my brake overhaul....[&o]

 

[Quarterflash]

The engine I used is an LT1 which has the iron block although as it came from a C4 '95 Corvette it does have alloy heads. I paid £2500 but it did include all ancillaries and the wiring loom. If anyone is planning this conversion then I suggest you use the LS series engines as they are all aluminium alloy.

Some tricky bits have been getting the right flywheel and clutch, and the wiring. Luckily the garage found a guy who has previous knowledge of matching American and German wires. We ditched the Corvette loom and I bought a "hot rod" harness from the states that included a re-programmed PCM (Powertrain Control Module).

Future tricky bits look like clutch bleeding and the cooling system as we have no hoses to start with. However I may be getting a set and Dart Corvette in Tonbridge, Kent are quite helpful. Also it was necessary to remove the brake servo. Any advice on running without a servo would be appreciated.


You can see photos of other completed projects or some of mine here Porschevy Project

Regards
Q

 

[colin944]

you could always use a remote brake servo.

 

[carreraboy]

Surely the Audi/Porsche RS2 engine is the choice?

 

[colin944]

Audi RS2 engine is only 2.3 lts I think. I would have thought 3lt Turbo conversion would be the boy for a 944.