w00ts '83 944LS1 Hybrid

Greetings fellow 944 enthusiasts, after many years of debate on whether or not to do such a conversion. A few months ago i finally bit the bullet as they say.
I want to give a BIG thanks to all the forum members who've posted their questions and experiences as it has been IMPERITIVE in my project, namely (but not limited to) xschop, and Eric@TPC.

My cars journey:

After being rebuild and saved from the scrap yard due to flooding in Miami, the previous owner had the engine rebuilt and punched out to 2.7l @ ~45k miles. After "flipping" about 20 cars, I bought my 944 when i was 18, and rolled the ODO to 90k. I absolutely fell in love with my 944. After a few years of happy ownership, it caught fire on me in pompano beach, fl. And thought the car was dead, after further investigation I found that it was just the wiring harness that runs above the steering shaft, which was rubbing, and eventually arced. After ordering a new(to me) harness, I paid a shop to get it done, and sadly they did not. My 944 sat for nearly 6 years before I took it back, and decided to start this conversion( with the help of this forum ), and ordered my kit from Texas Performance Concepts and have NOT looked back.
I still have a few things to complete before its running but this is where I am so far. I apologize for such a long post, thank you for looking.
PLEASE if you see something out of place, or have a recommendation feel free to let me know, as this has been an on-going learning project for me as well.

Engine+Mods:
Early LS1 from WS6 w/ approx. 65k miles
GMPP Hot Cam
GMPP "High Volume" Oil pump
CompCams Double timing chain
LS6 Valve Springs
Walbro 392 Fuel pump
ARP "Cracked Rod" con-rod bolts
ARP Flywheel bolts
GMPP Pressure plate bolts
TPC Manifolds
'98 ECU+ Stand-alone harness tweaked by Eric@TPC
LS7 Flywheel
LS7 Pressure Plate
TPC Clutch Disc
ex-Nascar "muffler"/tips
Cooling:
All Aluminum 951 radiator
New GM Waterpump
2400CFM fan (may not be enough, open to suggestions)

Braking:
Mustang Cobra Hydraboost Booster
Mustang Cobra Master Cylinder
Stainless braided brake lines
Stock calipers
Ceramic pads

Suspension:
Konis on all four corners (old need to be replaced)

Wheels + Tires:
17" 2001 Carrera Turbo Twist wheels
1" Spacers up front
3" Spacers out back
225/45/17 Fulda Carat Extremo (front)
275/40/17 Fulda Carat Extremo (rear)

Pictures:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mocked up exhaust:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Compressed and tack welded bumper absorbers:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Lookin' good. Love the red valve covers.

Rich

Nice to see another 'early' model being converted.

Agreed.
Nothing like the first US model year to lead the way.

The build looks great. I look forward to seeing the projects progress.
Welcome to the society of blissful pain   

Thanks for the vote of confidence guys! I truely cannot wait to get her running and let it rip. Going to be working on the electrics this weekend, could o e of you guys post a pic of your main "plug box"? Im not sure what the true name for it is, but am not sure where the spade connectors hook up, minus the LS1 harness which is pretty "easy" in comparison.
Are early 944s just that u common to swap? Or is it a "purist" thing? Lol

Here my '87, the late ones might differ.

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

Some of that hacky-stuff going on is the "fog light mod" as I'm using the existing fog switch and wiring to operate my Accusump.

Rich

The early fuse/relay box is very different along with the harnesses. There is someone here that has some pictures of the connectors in their gallery that shows what to connect. I think it is 944-LT1. There is alot of good stuff in the galleries as well.

Thanks for the pic Rich!, wish it was like mine though, attached are pics of my box and "Mystery Wires"
. The car inside is manual everything except for climate control and the windows, and the replacement harness 944online sent me is for one with a sunroof and some other accesories, so not exactly sure how many of these I actually need, if any. I cant really find a good diagram/wire codes for the car, and in looking at the other end of the harnesses I cant ever seem to find the same color wire. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be awesome!

I have a bit of time off this week so this is what im going to try to focus on:

*Hook up stock box/relays, and the LS1 harness.

*Clean the fuel tank out and install the Walbro inline pump I have
-Any expert tips in this area?
-Would a "carbie" fuel filter work well as a prefilter for my pump?
-Using c-5 filter/regulator better to have at the rail, or delete the OG return line and run closer to the pump?

*Find a clutch reservoir, fill and bleed clutch system

*Install the engine belt drive system

*Install radiator and asassociated lines

My true goal is to get the engine atleast running and starting from the car itself.

Still need to get:
Brake Prop. Valve
Brakes lines
Exhaust made
Many things you might suggest

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

When i get home tonight i can help. I don't have any diagrams at work.

v8carreragts wrote:When i get home tonight i can help. I don't have any diagrams at work.

Thank you sir!

The reds with the large white plugs go to the H terminals. There is a group on the back of the fusebox--they are all the same.

The white wire goes to G8 -- there are a group of G terminals that are marked G1- G8. These are all for specific things, mostly for options like A/C; power windows; alarm.

The yellow/white wire goes to G6

The black/red wire is an extra wire that goes through the large grommet ti the engine compartment and isn't used. It is an extra wire to use for add on's like headlight washers.

The yellow/black I am still looking for. It may not be used. I went out to check mine because I am putting the harnesses back into the car now. I started on Saturday.

If you PM me your e-mail I can send you the diagrams in jpg.

Don't mean to be too critical but you have the worst flowing heads LS1s ever had, 806 Perimeter heads were found on early LS1s and most people swap the out, I didn’t understand their limitations until my conversion was complete.

If you have a hotter than stock cam, good flowing heads are a must, if you look at most LS1 upgrades, heads and cams go together.

I started out with 806 heads and couldn’t wait to get rid of them, while driving the car around, I picked up a set of 243s with a fresh valve job and 600 lift springs. I installed them about 6 months ago and the performance increase was astounding, I also gained some additional clearance because perimeter valve covers sit higher than center bolt.

By the way, I still have the 806s but I can’t even give them away.

pormgb wrote:Don't mean to be too critical but you have the worst flowing heads LS1s ever had, 806 Perimeter heads were found on early LS1s and most people swap the out, I didn’t understand their limitations until my conversion was complete.

If you have a hotter than stock cam, good flowing heads are a must, if you look at most LS1 upgrades, heads and cams go together.

I started out with 806 heads and couldn’t wait to get rid of them, while driving the car around, I picked up a set of 243s with a fresh valve job and 600 lift springs. I installed them about 6 months ago and the performance increase was astounding, I also gained some additional clearance because perimeter valve covers sit higher than center bolt.

By the way, I still have the 806s but I can’t even give them away.

I know the heads i have arent the greatest, but new heads werent in the cards for me, Im doing this as "bare bones" as possible due to my very small budget(compared to most of the swaps ive seen, ill have ), and im not looking for "peak 600+ HP" either. My 2.7l 4cyl made my car move pretty good before, i can only imagine what it will be like with over double the stock power. If anything i can always upgrade the heads at a later date since those were the only things that werent really touched/replaced except for the valve springs.

v8carreragts:
thanks for the help, ill be PMing you my email shortly

For the yellow/black wire, try to see where it comes from. If it comes from plug "A" position 15 (on the back of the fuse box) it need to plug into a black/green wire that comes from plug "A" position 17. This powers the backup lights. This is shown on Part III current path #21 & #22. This is slightly different between 1983 and 1984. I see now that there are some minor differences between 1983 and 1984.

This is the only wire that I see that has a single wire connector on it.

Whats up guys?, Apologies  for the lack of updates, works had me a bit tied up, but I have been making progress, getting ever closer to ignition.
I've removed the old fuel high pressure  and return lines, and replaced with a single line up to the rails. Walbro392 and c5 filter/FPR are mounted in factory locations. The torsion tube area was a PITA. What did you guys do for your fuel vent? Ive got a check valve looking thing (great description, right?) from my donor WS6 parts that was plumbed into the vent tube on the fuel tank hookups, so i would assume: do the same with the 944 setup?

Fuel Lines+Pump+Filter
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
After that was handled.. the wiring issue I've been putting off forever, HAD to get done.. .so i installed the new-to-me harness, and was left with ALOT of unused connections. That coupled with the way the fuse/relay block looked, made me very uncomfortable to proceed this direction with it. So, i ordered a new(which I couldn't believe)OEM fuse/relay box and repaired the old, melted harness one wire at a time. In the pics you can see the burnt section, and the difference between the two harness'. If anyone needs a dash harness with sunroof let me know!
Harness Differences
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Burnt Harness
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Old(burnt?) Relay/Fuse box
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
New relay box (woo!)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Also finished up the power center, hooked up all the sensors, new plugs, wires, TPC manifolds wrapped and installed. PCV system plumbed but still trying to work out the intake piping a bit though. I read on a post about loosening the motor mounts and jacking the car up to make a bit more room up front, sound about right to anyone? Im gonna dig around and see if i can find that post again maybe try that.
Power Center
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Passenger Side
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Driver Side
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Brake Prop Valve
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Intake Clearance
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Radiator/Fan
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Engine bay
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


I sent the alternator off today to get the single-wire treatment, and need to run my heater core lines then i should be ready to test fire. Hopefully by then my seats and dash are done being recovered and i can start on the inside. If you see something blatantly wrong, let me know!

In my case (in-progress 928 swap), I re-used both the OEM Porsche roll-over check valve and the pressure relief valve.  I kept the roll-over valve in the stock location, but shortened the line between it and the pressure relief quite a bit.  I was also able to place my Corvette fuel filter in the stock Porsche location. I relocated the relief valve because the OE set-up had mounted it above the rear bumper support using about three feet of vent line.  I just moved it near the roll-over valve and kept it in the driver's rear fender area with the fuel filter and other parts of the vent system.

One thing I did check was the pressures on the vent valve.  If a vent valve isn't working correctly there are a couple of possible problems.  The first is that the gas tank can pressurize trapping excess pressure in the tank.  The other problem, and the one that seems to cause the most problems for 928 owners (no idea about the 944 situation) is that the valve can malfunction cause excess vacuum inside the tank, which can damage the tank by collapsing it inwards and flexing it repeatedly over time until it cracks.  The pressure check valve should prevent the free flow of air in both directions, but open in both directions with only a tiny bit of vacuum or pressure.  I think my valve tested at 1 or 2 psi in one direction and 3 the other.

I absolutely love what you have done.
I did notice one thing on your exhaust manifolds.
I also initially wrapped mine and was promptly advised by Admin to remove it.
Apparently, even with the high heat ceramic coating they are very prone to corrosion.
Other than that it looks great.
Cheers!

Lookin' good.

On my swap I left the 944 fuel vent system including the carbon canister, deleting only the steel vacuum regulator and running the line into the intake before the MAF.

Erioshi:
Thanks for your input, i plan on cutting my vent line and using the WS6 unit mounted behind the bumper, will double check flow and replace with new if necessary.

RS Technic:
I appreciate the vote of confidence! Im Only trying to take the information provided and do the best i can with it! Call me a Spleen i spose lol. My concern with heat under the hood outweighs my concern about rusting/gone mani's. I mean, what kinda life expectancy are we talking here? like 6 months wrapped vs 5 years unwrapped? I dont live where theres snow would that matter? or just the fact of having a wet membrane in contact with the metal for an extended period? ie: driving in the rain, then parking the car.

Rich:
I dont remember seeing such a setup on my car, i looked in my parts boxes and could not find it. Is there a reason to plumb the vent to the intake for performance or reliability reasons?


So, went to install the brake booster assembly, and whoa boy! What a PITA! Could not for the life of me get my booster installed, all to find out i didnt cut my valve cover enough >:O . SO, luckily i had an extra set that came with my engine, so fearing the same result i CHOPPED them lol. Bye Bye powder coated covers….
Looked like it was going to fit:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Valve cover cutting and brazing:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hydrobooster clevis done:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

M/C Clearance: (REALLY worried about heat here)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
My hydraulic guy nailed the fitment here, 45 degree JIC hose end and a 90 metric to JIC fitting:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Silicone heater hoses are run, Booster/master and “new” set of valve covers installed. Still cannot figure out where the intake piping can go..(help?!? Lol) Lately its making me consider some headlight buckets.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Also, ordered my suspension and some of my braking parts last night. Here’s what I ended up getting, let me know what you think:
Weltmeister 250# AutoX Front Springs
Koni Yellow front shocks (to match the rears that I already have)
Weltmeister 28mm solid torsion bars
Zimmerman Cross drilled rotors F+R
Am considering bigger calipers from the front, and seems ive missed the boat as it were on XSCHOPS bad ass adapters. I know a lot of cars ive seen use the big blacks, and boxter, etc etc.. But im trying to do something a bit more uhm “cost effective”. Has anyone used the Wilwood caliper adapters from the VW busses? Apparently the NA 944 brakes are an upgrade for the busses(news to me). Theres an adapter for 150$, that uses off the shelf “universal” Wilwood calipers PN:120-6816 (120-6816RD for red) 175$ ea @Summit. So, roughly 500$ for a big brake kit that uses stock 944 rotors. I feel like this may be too good to be true, any thoughts?

Adapters:  http://www.wagenswest.com/partstore/index.php/disk-brakes/944-front-disk-brake-wilwood-adapter-bracket-pair.html

Calipers: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

FINALLY GOT TO MY FIRST START!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

2nd start:https://youtu.be/p2KOqSfETbc

Few minor systems like clutch, and brakes, then should be up and goin soon!

Sounds great

Great setup! I'm looking to hookup my late model with power wires soon! Keep it up anyone have a write-up for late models power lends?