1987 944 Turbo --> LS

Hotrodz of Dallas wrote:The crossmember to pan isn't really the close fit. It's the steering rack to pan that's close. You usually have to bend the metal lines on the rack for more clearance.

Factory manual steering rack, no metal lines

I'll confirm rack fitment is OK on the garage floor before proceeding, but just eyeballing it I can't see where there would be interference.

Yeah, manual rack is no problem.

Well hello, Chrenan! Fancy running into you here. Excellent work, as always. I truly enjoy your machinations.

So...what's to be the fate of the 951 engine you removed? Got a buyer?

Simon how are you!!! Engine will be stored for now, who knows if this LS thing will actually work, so I'm taking a non-invasive approach so I can return to stock if need be. Send me a private message with your email or phone so we can stay in touch.

I haven't reached the post limit for sending pm's, otherwise I would.

my email is tango charlie alpha tango golf tango romeo at geemail dot com.

Regardless, it's great to see you tackle this project, mostly because I know you'll see it through and your approach is always thorough and methodical. Educational, in other words. I second your intent to keep the 951 power plant at hand in the event you're not happy with the V8, but I'll bet it'll scratch the itch effectively.

Anyway, enough chatter before I derail the thread. Excellent work so far! Cheers!

chrenan wrote:This little puzzle piece also arrived, M16 Male Metric Straight Thread x M18 Female Metric Straight Thread Adapter.  According some info posted on the board, this will let me run the stock 944 oil pressure guage off the opening behind the LS intake on the top rear part of the block.

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Had a chance to test fit this adapter with the stock oil pressure sender from the 944. Fits well behind the LS1 intake, I just needed to shave the corner of the intake ever so slightly for clearance.

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Test fit of the hyrdoboost unit...

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Test fit successful. Tried it with no cross member spacers, its tight to the hydroboost but fits. Need to test fit the TPC (Kooks) long tube headers without v-band clamps next, if they fit without the spacers then I'll move on to checking drive shaft insertion in the pilot bearing and the rest of the huge list. I'll go with a cowl hood to get it to shut.

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Kooks need the spacers. In my case with 1/2 in spacers they are a credit card width from the body.

P911P951 wrote:Kooks need the spacers.  In my case with 1/2 in spacers they are a credit card width from the body.

Interesting. I can drop the engine with my brace and slip them in pretty quickly. I guess I save money on a hood that way.

P911P951 wrote:Kooks need the spacers.  In my case with 1/2 in spacers they are a credit card width from the body.

Turns out they're fine on my car without spacers, at least on the passenger side, will test fit the driver side this weekend.  Did you have v-band clamps welded on?  I've got room for a slip fit connection, definitely too tight for v-band without the cross member spacers.  

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I used SS band clamps, 3 inches wide.

Alright, dislocated finger slowed me down a little, but back at it over the weekend.  

Had to drop the engine down a bit to test fit the driver side header. Got a length of metric bar stock and cut 4 long pieces to thread into the cross member holes on the body so when I lowered the engine it stayed lined up with the holes. Worked like a charm. Was able to go up and down at will and fiddle with the header to get it in from below. The passenger side goes in easily from below with the engine mounted. No such luck with the driver side as the spacing on the tubes is wider to allow the steering shaft to pass through them.

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Did the clutch install on the weekend.  Made sure the TRANS-SIDE sticker was on the correct side!

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Hello guys! Is there a part number that you can share about which clutch master cylinder works best ? I have used the stock version time and time again and it keeps failing. If anyone can give me some insight about this problem I would appreciate it. I really would like to return to driving my car without worrying that my clutch is going to let me down. Thanks!

jess2suityou wrote:Hello guys! Is there a part number that you can share about which clutch master cylinder works best ?  I have used the stock version time and time again and it keeps failing. If anyone can give me some insight about this problem I would appreciate it. I really would like to return to driving my car without worrying that my clutch is going to let me down. Thanks!

There was no part number on the one that came in the kit from TPC, just a tag with 7/8 on it. If you contact Kent at TPC I'm sure he could supply one.

Connected the torque tube last night.

Took some fiddling. To get the torque tube lined up straight down the tunnel when connected to the engine, the back of engine needed to shifted slightly to the passenger side from where I originally bolted it in place. I loosened the crossmember to body bolts, and the engine mount to cross member bolts, while the engine was hanging off the engine brace. That gave me the wiggle room to get the torque tube line up so it runs straight down the tunnel underneath the car. Once in a good position I torqued everything back down to mount the engine.

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the torque tube can be not straight down the tunnel ? once its all bolted i dont see how it cant be straight ?

If the engine isn't straight in the engine bay the torque tube won't be lined up down the tunnel. Once I aligned the engine correctly, the torque tube was properly placed.

Did the transmission install, a shot of the driveline from rear to front:

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Fitted the brake master. I'm working on extending the stock lines to reach the master with some pre-made lengths. Once that's done I can bleed the clutch (shares fluid reservoir with brake master) and test the clutch action.

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The F-Body dipstick and tube were a good fit!

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Used the power bleeder to get some fluid through the clutch and out the remote bleeder, and also started bleeding the brakes. Keeping my eyes peeled for any leaks on all the new connections and components.

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Starting to piece together the cooling system. Not looking forward to finding water pump to radiator hoses that will work, looks like it will be an adventure.

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Got to work on the alternator and started mounting the power steering pump brackets.

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