83' Porsche 944 LM7 Build

Finally got all of the wiring removed. Next step is to clean up the wiring harness and remove all of the rust from under the pedals. Ordering my clutch and flywheel this week decided to go with a Spec Stage 3. Did get some more parts will post pictures below...[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Finally got the car completely stripped down (Not a single bolt/screw/nut) left on the car. It was dropped off at the Sandblaster today to be taken all the way down both inside and out and then they will be applying an epoxy primer to the entire car. The question is, I noticed a decent amount of rust on my front fenders at the bottom. Now while looking a different fender options I came across a local set of Duraflex Fiberglass fenders and front Turbo bumper for $300 brand new never mounted. I can post pictures if needed just let me know.

I do not know much about the aftermarket Fiberglass parts so I am curious if anyone could shed some light on quality and looks and let me know if I should pull the trigger on the set or not?

Here are some pictures of the car being dropped off earlier today.

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please post some pics when it is done. Are they sand blasting or glass bead or high pressure water and sand mix? Regular sand blasting will heat the metal to much and it will distort.

Spoke to the blaster today and he was surprised at how thin the panels were. He said they typically use coarse Coal Slag at high pressure but that will probably warp the panels. He said he plans to use some stuff that's been used several times and turn the pressure down pretty low. He plans to do some trials on the floor pan which is getting replaced and certain sections of the body that will be hidden to see what it does. He said if that does not seem that it will work he will just use a sander and take down the body panels that way.

I will post pictures once I get some from him. He is good about sending pictures over so I should get some more tomorrow.

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Glass bead does not create heat. The high pressure water sand mix does not heat the panels. I have had glass bead blasting done on aluminum and it does a really nice job. Look forward to pics.

Little update on the blasting process. Spoke to the guy yesterday and he said the paint is coming off pretty good. I was a little disappointed when he said the old rubber undercoating underneath would not be able to be taken off. Not sure what I was thinking when I bothered asking him to remove it though. That stuff is so thick and strong Porsche was not messing around when they applied that to the underbody. He said he will be spraying it anyway to remove all loose debris and clean it up really good instead.

He has done the whole rear end of the car and no big surprises thankfully. Just a little bondo that was applied to sharpen some edges and cover a small indentation above drivers tail light. Hopefully I can get some of the engine bay and interior today or tomorrow.

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Car is complete and ready for pickup. Here is some shots of the primed body. Looks like the car was maybe side swiped on the driver side at one point in its previous life. Other than that car was in pretty good condition. Car is currently headed to Weapon X Motorsports in Cincinnati, Ohio where it will be built.

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Have not posted in a while but the car has been moving along quite nicely over the past 3 days. The car has pretty much sat since July. The car should be completely back on the ground rolling on her own by Saturday once I drop off the front tires. As the thread describes I went with a 5.3 and full C5 drive train including rear sub frame and suspension from an 04 C5 Z06. I will post pictures of the build in more detail when I go look at the car but these are some initial shots I received from a friend. Rims and Tires are not pictured I plan on going with a set of CCW's these were just used to get it rolling on its own.
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Nice to see the progress. Looks really good. Please post more pics when you can.

Couple more pictures show the rear subframe setup.

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Whoa, no way! I was poking around your car several months back when I took my swap to Weapon X for a tune. At the time it looked like it had just come back from the blaster. At least I'm assuming it was your car. One of the builders I was talking to was saying "yeah, it's my job to get a 'Vette driveline and some fat turbos in there..."

I was like, hell yeah!

Are you in Cincy? PM me if so.

JP

Yeah that was definitely my car. They are making some good progress. Good group of guys at that shop. I'll post more pics as they come. Thanks

Stopped by the shop today and took some more pictures. Car is sitting on its own weight now in the rear. I dropped off my front tires today along with front and rear corvette brake calipers and some other odds and ends. Here are some more pics.

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Little bit more progress...Fuel Cell was installed. I did order some miscellaneous parts we were missing including rear shocks and shifter linkage. I ended up going with a set of 2008 Z06 rear shocks for the rear. Probably going to end up going with either Bilstein or Koni insterts for the front. I hope to make it up there this weekend. Have not seen the car in person in a couple weeks.

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That looks really nice. How big is the fuel cell? post more pics when you see it.

17 Gallons. Plan is to connect it to the existing fuel neck location. Ill post more hopefully this weekend.

Nice, look forward to the progress.

Awesome build! I will be following for sure. I need a tube bender and a plasma cutter and this maybe in my future.

Not much work has been done on the car but I did order some goodies that should arrive next week.

I ordered the Racepak Street Smartwire Power Control Module. This will eliminate all of the fuses in the car and power all of interior and exterior like lights, wipers, etc. Ordered the rest of the fuel system including injectors, fuel pump, Holley Hi-Flo Fuel Rails and Flex Fuel as the car will run off E85.

Next thing we will order is Holley Digital Dash and Holley Dominator ECU. Just need to do some measurements to ensure it will fit in the dash where the gauge clusters were previously.

The shop made some good progress on the cage today.

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Not a ton of progress has been made on the car. They did wrap up mocking in the cage. Before they do final welds on the rear end they will be taking it to ensure the rear end if square and aligned. Hoping to have this done in next week or so. Once all of that is complete I am hoping they can close up the floor and start mocking in the motor, piping, etc. I did get me new driver seat installed with steering rack. I know it's been 3 years since I have physically sat in the car but man I forgot how small these things are.

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Picked up some local wheels this weekend for the car.
CCW Classics
Front: 17x11
Rear: 17x12

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Little update...

Rear shocks have been mounted and installed
Cars alignment was completed
Rear sub frame assembly and cage was fully welded
Floor pans are being installed currently along with motor install and fitment. Working through finding a good solution for turbo and exhaust manifold.

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Looks good! What are you doing to run the front corvette calipers? Did you change the bolt pattern up front?

As a short term solution, we will be buying conversion spacers from porsche 5x130 bolt pattern to gm's 5x120 I believe bolt pattern. Temporary solution to get it on the road for $150.

Long term we will machine new hubs or something not sure but not looking to spend that money right now.