New to forum. Gonna resurrect my 968 from the dead!

[beeza]

Hi all,

Newbie to the forum. Actually I'm a newbie to the concept that I could fit American muscle into my German sports car!

Time to introduce myself. I am a Brit expat living in the Dominican Republic. I bought my 968 cabriolet eleven years ago and did a full restoration on it. It's my baby and nothing comes close to blasting along the roads in the Caribbean with the top down. A million smiles per gallon. And it's unique, the only 968 in the country.

I get most of my parts from eBay, Pelican Parts or DC automotive and ship them here via a courier from Miami. That has always been my biggest cost, shipping parts from the US to DR. And any item with a price tag of over $200 has an extra 28% VAT added on. So it makes shopping interesting and I have to break down each purchase individually to make sure I don't go over that $200 threshold.

But alas I am now looking into spending big bucks.

My stock 3.0L variocam engine sprang a coolant leak. At some stage in its life, a previous owner put water in the cooling system, which started a tiny patch of corrosion on the rear engine block wall. That corrosion eventually gave way to loss of coolant and subsequent engine overheat. During our Coronavirus lockdown, I got down to stripping the engine and found a large crack in #4 cylinder wall. The engine is toast.

Browsing the internet, I stumbled on the option of fitting the Chevy V8 engine and I was hooked! I have convinced myself that it makes so much more sense to fit a reliable, modern and much more powerful engine into my car, rather than spending the money on restoring an old and troublesome engine, which is far too delicate and expensive.

So my goal is to fit the right engine for the right price. Considering it's a cabriolet, I don't need tons of power. The stock 968 drivetrain and brakes should be sufficient as they are. I have the six speed manual transmission and I want to keep the power steering and A/C.

So my first question is what would be the best donor car to look for to get as many of the required components to go with the engine? I was thinking along the lines of an 2005 Corvette with the LS1.

[beeza]

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[beeza]

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[smkn951]

Awesome another build!!
well the only component i needed from the donor car was the engine, pcm and harness. now that I'm knee deep in this, i gave up on the reprogramming the original PCM and put aside my rebuilt harness and went with the Holley terminator x system.
aside from the engine out of the 2004 GTO, i didn't need anything else.
you mentioned a corvette, the bell housing i bought is from a corvette and it's single piece and i modified it to fit the torque tube adapter plate and throw out bearing.
maybe someone can chime in on what else may be used form a donor car.
again welcome and hope to see more of your build.

[beeza]

Thanks!

If I was to buy an '05 Vette engine as an example, are the ancillaries such as alternator, power steering pump, A/C compressor and bell housing in the right place to fit inside the engine bay?

The reason for the question is to get as many useful pieces with one straight purchase from a wrecker off eBay or Craiglist and get it shipped here to the DR.

For the kit components, I am looking at TPC.

I need to get my shopping list compiled to give me an idea on budget.

[Rich L.]

No, the Vette accessories don't really work. What you want is the '98 - '02 Camaro accessory drive for the easiest LS1 swap.