The start of a huge gaping hole in my wallet

Remember me? The lurker from a year ago? I have finally decided the time is right to start my LS1 V8 conversion so I will be asking lots of technical questions and making my usual jackass comments. I'm very familiar with things that are mechanical in nature and I'm very familiar with the Porsche 944 (I've owned 7 of them) which is exactly why I'm ripping the over designed and under developed heart out of my 951.

Well here we go...

We'll start off with my '86 951 that I bought as a parts car for another project. It had a cracked number 2 cylinder wall (very common) and other than the missing front end and interior, it was a complete car.

Everyone loves pics, so here ya go:
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This is about how it looked after sitting in what my neighbors affectionately refer to as "the Porsche garden" for over a year. I swapped another 951 front end onto it that just happened to be the exact same shade of "I never wax my Porsche" red and I'll use the interior from a past parts car. No, I will not be reusing the second moldiest steering wheel in the world (I'm pretty sure I've already had the winner of the most disgusting steering wheel in history competition).

...and this is how it sits now:
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I already feel better and I can tell you that the Turbo motor had been on the ground for no longer than 5 minutes before the bellhousing went in!

Plans for the car:
Manual everything
S4 brakes
Hardtop conversion (I'm in Seattle)
No A/C (again, I'm in Seattle)
Drop in V8
Show aggravated 996 drivers my "signaling hand" as I blow by them



More to come...

Excellent!

Made some progress collecting parts this week...

'05 EVO 8 Recaro seats. Not bad for $400, thanks Craigslist!
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These seats are almost a direct bolt in! Just remove the EVO brackets and 3 of the 4 holes in the Recaro seat rails line right up with the '86 mounts. The 4th hole will line up by using a drill, a hack saw and about an hour of time. Will post details later

BTW, this is not the steering wheel I will be using. I just tossed it in there because it's just nicer to touch than the rotten Zombie flesh that covered "old moldy" in my previous post.

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Also scored 928 S4 calipers with adapters, '87 951 knuckles/hubs, and a Euro rear bumper with brackets!
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Cut a hardtop roof off of a 924 and started mocking up the wheels/suspension.
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Got the wheels from docwyte an eon ago. Thanks again Doc! (not the rear wheels, view the whole image to see the fronts)

Keep in mind that this car is being mocked up right now. After it is running, I plan to tear the whole thing down for paint, interior and fine tuning.

Next project: Procuring clutch components

What do you guys recommend for an LS1?

I've researched this, I'm just curious what set-ups others have used and what results they've had. Also curious about the approximate cost of your set-up.

I'm just dropping in a stock LS1 for now.

Your input is greatly appreciated!

I'm running the Spec setup with the stage 2 disc from TPC. Working great. The seats look good in there.

Rich

I was looking into the Spec stage 1, says it's good for 599 ft-lbs of torque. Should I just go for the stage 2?

I'm planning to drive this car fairly regularly and take it out for AX events. Shooting for an even 300 HP at the wheels.

Does anyone know who I can contact at TPC? Their email function does not work, it just keeps telling me that "all fields are required" no matter how much information I put in or how many times I type in the different security codes.

I'm trying to inquire about LSx headers, oil pan, mounts and Spec clutch. Unfortunately due to poor phone service at work along with different time zones, I'm not able to call.

Email Eric at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]...

Made a little progress with my mock-up process...

Front and rear 928 S4 calipers:

I'm using '87 hubs/spindles while keeping the '86 offset. Reason for this is that I plan to run extended wheel studs and 15mm spacers all around. This way I have the option of running whatever wheel I want and also because the 18" OZ wheels stick out too far for my liking on the '87 offset unless I run crazy negative camber.
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Got the Euro bumper in situ:

This will be painted when I paint the car after mock-up
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And finally, this little part showed up!
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Oh, I also traded some unwanted parts for a set of Cup II wheels (pictured above). I'll powdercoat them later, they will not stay red!

Did I mention that I hate red? Almost every car I have ever owned has been red and all but one of the seven 944s I've owned have been red. The running joke amongst my friends is "I won't buy it unless it's red"! If you enlarge the picture of the motor, you will see another red 944 along with my red truck in the background. I hate red! I appreciate red on cars that other people own, but not on mine!

Question...

Is there any reason this radiator won't work?
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I plan on welding fittings for the expansion tank and steam vent, and also factory mounting points. It's just barely smaller than the opening in the car, but thicker than the 951 radiator.

Or maybe this one?
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I prefer the dual pass with extruded tanks over the crossflow with stamped tanks.

Any comments?


Also contacted Eric abut clutch, headers etc... Expect an order soon!

I used this rad with some mercury cougar / ford contour fans....

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P.S. I really like those seats!!

Hey guys, it's been a while since my last post due to the purchase of an even larger money pit. I recently bought a house built in 1911 that is in desperate need of a remodel. Fortunately I am a carpenter and can handle the task! The main selling point of this house is that it has a 4 bay shop with attached RV parking. As soon as I wire the shop to run my welders and other equipment the 944 V8 build will continue. Same bat time, same bat channel!

I want to see you install that hard top!! Please document that process once you get there.

Good luck with the new homestead!

Where'd you find the rear euro bumper?