New Guy from MA

During freshmen year of college I sat next to a guy who talked about dropping a vette engine into a Porsche.  I guess I copied his dream because here I am 16 years later about to embark on this quest.  I bought a running 944NA and it need some love but its gonna be mine!  

I'm currently living up in northern MA so if anyone lives in the area I'm more than willing to grab a beer and talk shop.  The most I've done to a car is change a timing belt which was extremely well documented.  This is going to be a 2-3 yr build for me so I'm in no rush, just going to take it easy and do tons of research before I make a move.  

Well that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.  Thought I'd hop aboard and introduce myself!  

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Welcome from Australia!

Welcome, I'm just starting my project as well. What have you got so far? Car, engine, etc? What do you want to do with the car when it's done?

majormojo wrote:Welcome, I'm just starting my project as well. What have you got so far? Car, engine, etc? What do you want to do with the car when it's done?

Currently all I have is the 1984 944NA. The body is good with its few dings and bumps for a 30 yr old car, but nothing that's not manageable. The interior needs some work as the sunroof doesn't lock into place, the dash needs a cap, and seats need to be reupholstered. As for what engine I'm going with, i'll be keeping my eye out for an LS1. I was looking at the other newer LS models but i've come to terms i really don't need that much HP (gasp) because my main focus is to make this a cornering machine. Whatever the LS1 gives me will be more than enough, but who knows if someone wants to give me and LS6 i'm not turning them down. My first order of business will be to strip down the car, pull the engine and sell the running 944 motor.

I removed my motor this weekend.  It was a great experience and I learned a lot.  I used this site, Clark’s manual, Haynes, and Google for references.  Considering I’m a total newb, I had to Google “What is a starter?” to even know what it even looked like when it was to be removed.  I learned a ton and as of now I’m feelin’ pretty accomplished.

The next step is I’m going to do is take out the torque tube to refurbish and figure out what I can and cannot remove in the engine bay.  I’m probably also going to remove the struts because it will be on jacks probably for a while or I just may put the cross member to put the wheels on. I'll just take my time finding a motor.  I have to get the kit first anyways.  Gotta save the pennies!

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Looks good!  I'll have my conversion with me in Boston as soon as this winter's snow is gone.  I found Greg's manual helpful, I don't know if you can still get them anymore, I know there was some drama about all that on this forum a while back.

Welcome! Glad to see another conversion in progress, used the advanced search feature and you will find a wealth of information. If you can't find it, ask! I'm in probably year 5 or so on mine, no rush, but getting anxious. Enjoy the build, take your time to get it the way you want, it will save you time and $$ in the long run. Speaking from experience, chased many options and spent a lot of money I could have avoided. Enjoy!

Mike

Thanks everyone for the support. I've learned a ton on this site for sure.

Luke714: I figure i'll get the manual if I hit a stumbling block and I can't find an answer on the forums. So far so good! And being in Maine, I'd love to see your build. I've never seen a conversion in real life so that would be kinda cool.

Mike: Yep, def taking my time. I'm in no rush, mainly its the saving up for parts is what makes it no rush. If I had the cash, I'd probably get it done in a month! But reading a ton of posts really helps with the do's and don'ts.

i'm a newb on the mechanic side as well but i find myself jealous in seeing your motor pulled and i have yet to do a single thing on my conversion due to my garage being held hostage to a garage sale in which nothing left my garage!

hoping to ditch all the garbage this weekend at a salvation army and get the car situated properly to be put up on jacks. I did the opposite as you. i have every single part known that i need at this point sourced and sitting in boxes or crates with the ls1 vette motor on a stand and haven't turned a wrench yet.

hoping to freeze my keyster off in the garage this winter and get something done.

 

I've grew up in Florida pretty much my whole life and it wasn't till about 5 years ago (i'm 34) till I first saw snow. It takes an unbelievable amount of motivation to get out in the garage when everything is stupid cold, so my heart goes to you man. For the winter I think i'll start stripping the inside and doing stuff that I don't need kits or an engine. My seats are torn up so I'll start there. I'm slightly jealous of those in warmer climates.