It's Alive! Another LS3 944 is on the road

First off, let me say a big Thanks to this discussion board.
Although I had a local shop do most of the work, they had never done a Porsche swap before (mostly classic muscle cars), so I was involved quite a bit, and we had somewhat of a learning curve. That, and more so all the planning, was made much easier with the help of this group here. So thank you.

Second, I need to give a thanks to Kent at TPC. While he might not always be the easiest to get a hold of, he was also instrumental in helping me plan, look at different options, and of course supply me with parts. His new small header design works great, and my local guy who did the exhaust appreciated how easy it made that part of things.

Third, not that it helps out too many people on this board, but my local shop is Big Willie's Garage in Grand Junction, CO. And they were great. This was something totally different than their usual show winning resto-mod classics, but the issues we ran into were very minimal, and they worked great with me keeping (pretty) close to my initial budget.

Details:
'86 N/A
Turbo trans
Early offset wheels 17x7.5 & 17x9
Bilstiens all around
Ground Control coil-overs in front with adjustable camber plates
Wilwood 6-piston calipers
Hydroboost
LS3 430hp crate engine
DBW GM pedal and controller kit
AC & Power steering
Superior Radiator (thru TPC)
Custom made radiator overflow
Custom made intake tube retaining stock hood latch and flip up headlights
3in exhaust from Y back to muffler then to Chevy Bow Tie exhaust tip

I think that's pretty much it. So how'd it drive?
Awesome!
I'm still getting used to the drive by wire pedal feel, but the clutch feel is perfect. And I'm also pleasantly surprised with the grip from 255 wide Bridgestone Rivals. I think I was expecting it to want to burn out and get loose, but while I really haven't pushed it yet, it's totally driveable. And the torque....oh the torque is amazing.

Well that's the scoop. I'll post pics to show it off soon. And am happy to answer any questions about my experience, and maybe that will help you with yours.

Here are some before and after shots. Most are of the wheels, since that's pretty much all you can see with the hood down!
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I can see the smile on your face from here! Looking good!

have some pics of ur exhaust setup? and ur manifolds ?

I guess I don't have any close up of the headers, but here is the exhaust from two different angles.

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That is a 3" downpipes ? And in the rear you whent over the Axel's not under ? No flexibles pipes on there?

I'm pretty sure both of the headers collect to 2.5in pipes, then my setup goes into a Y and comes out of that with the 3in pipe. It's kinda hard to get a photo of the headers, but I tried to take a pic here of the passenger side one. TPC's newer design is different than what's on their website, now it collects in more of a straight pipe that has a conical design, and that pipe runs along side the engine at an angle, then the exhaust can come straight off that.

Also, you'll see the other pic that the rear goes over the rear axle to the muffler. So that should answer your questions. (sorry if the pics are rotated, they were straight on my phone, but I noticed some in the earlier posts got rotated)

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jho,
looks like the exhaust is rubbing on the axle

Hmmm, funny I didn't notice that even after taking the photo.

Since the engine is a crate, and has only 200 miles on it so far, at 500 the shop will do the recommended oil change, and look over everything. At that point we'll have it back up on the lift, and we'll take a good look at that.

Thanks for pointing that out!

It most likely rubs when your doing burn outs. LOL. The shocks and torsion bars will allow it to squat when you jump it. On my front end I installed 900lb springs and in the rear 600lb, its a little stiff but the car rides flat.

U didnt install flex pipes on your downpipes?

No flex pipes. Just use the exhaust hangers to allow for movement.

It's my understanding that there are pros and cons to flex pipes. Some rely on them to make up for manufacturing inconsistencies. Another reason is if the exhaust is mounted to the transmission, and thus might have other movement to allow for. Cons include rough inside surface affecting airflow and potential for holes/leaks.

But like most things with a build like this, we'll just wait and see if we chose wisely...or poorly.

jHo wrote:No flex pipes. Just use the exhaust hangers to allow for movement.

It's my understanding that there are pros and cons to flex pipes. Some rely on them to make up for manufacturing inconsistencies. Another reason is if the exhaust is mounted to the transmission, and thus might have other movement to allow for. Cons include rough inside surface affecting airflow and potential for holes/leaks.

But like most things with a build like this, we'll just wait and see if we chose wisely...or poorly.

If the exhaust system is built right and you have good rubber hangers where it needs to be able to move, then there is no real reason to use flex joints. And since your exhaust is bolted to your transmission, then it will move with the whole drivetrain anyway. You shouldn't have any issues at all.

Just to put these results on this thread, I did a before and after weight on a set of LongAcre scales:

Before -
2910 lbs (150hp, or at least that was the power 30 years ago)
52.3% to the rear
695 LF & 692 RF
749 LR & 774 RR

After -
3044 lbs (430hp, crate engine...so a pretty reliable number)
49.9% to the rear (how's that for 50/50?)
766 LF & 758 RF
764 LR & 756 RR

Now that before weight already included the Turbo trans and upsized wheels.
My before weight did not have the AC compressor or condenser, and the after includes those.
Both my before and after have a car seat in the back, 10in subwoofer on the rear seat behind the driver, and amp in the spare tire well, and yes the spare tire and jack are in there too. And both before and after were done with a full tank of gas, filled up within 1/4 mile of the house that I weighed it at.

My after swap weight, 1/2 tank of gas was an even 3000lbs

Are those wilwood 6 pistons bolt on for the NA rotors and spindles?

Yes they are, I used the adapter brackets from Wagenswest.
I had to grind them a little bit to make the 6 piston sit flush, because the brackets are like the Rennbay ones and designed for 4 piston Wilwoods, which have the same mounting hole location but just didn't quite fit the different caliper correctly.

Stock rotors, stock spindles. And even the 6-piston fit under the stock 15in wheels. Of course under the 17in wheels they look like I need bigger rotors.

That's awesome. Seems like a cheap option for good brakes then. Do they only work with the later cars?

I'm not sure about early vs late with these.

I know there are other cost effective options too, but especially since I bought the calipers used for half price, it was very cost effective to me.

And so far they great. Hopefully I'll have my first track day in a week or so, and will really get to test everything out. Can't wait!

Just another update, thanks gdopnt for pointing out the exhaust rubbing. It definitely was an issue that was easily solved with a little heat and squeezing of the exhaust there.

Also, let me tell you that there is a HUGE difference between 7in wide 15in wheels and 9in wide 17in wheels. For my first track day, I was still trying to use up some Toyo Proxes RA1's and not abuse my new street tires, so swapped back to the original wheels with these RA1's. And holy crap is there a difference in trying to hook up. Quite a few times coming out of corners did it feel like ice, as the tach shoots up and I'm thinking I'm not in gear before I let off and get traction. That was quite an experience. But on the other hand, OH the joy of flogging it down the straightaway.

Only other issue that came up were exhaust bolts that backed their way out. So while everyone thought the car sounded great when I arrived, boy was it loud when I left. Again, another easy fix.

Next part of the project....suspension.

So what the deal to swap my LS1 and replace it with a LS3 in my 89'. Can I just plug then PLAY???

wallstreet804 wrote:So what the deal to swap my LS1 and replace it with a LS3 in my 89'.  Can I just plug then PLAY???

This link will explain what you need to do.

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There are minor differences between the LS2 and LS3, but this article covers everything.

What all were you able to delete with the new ls motor as far as under the hood?

I didn't delete anything, actually. Which is kinda what I wanted.

My build is a reliable road car, so I have AC, power steering, hydroboost brakes, custom radiator, etc. I kept the working flip up headlights (now with E-code bulbs), plumbed the air filter into the nose and around the stock hood latch (so I kept that too), and had a new custom radiator overflow built.

I did delete the rear torsion bars when I went to coil overs in the rear. but aside from that, I didn't really delete anything.