Nathan's '87 944 NA LS1 Swap

Hi all! I'm starting this now as a rough placeholder for me to document my build. (inspired by Ray's forum)

I have a 1987 944, 250k+ miles (rough estimate, odometer was broken when I bought it, have since fixed it, reading ~205k). I purchased the car in March of '23, running and driving, (10 months of ownership at the time of posting this), and have since done a bunch of work to it (water pump, timing + balance belt and all new rollers, converted to manual steering rack, fixed odometer, upgraded fuel lines, fixed the sunroof, other stuff I'm forgetting now) and been daily driving it and canyon carving it on Route-9 in Northern California.

Here's some pictures (will figure out the cropping and all of that later);
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LS1 is in the machine shop, getting a slight bore and some machine work done. Hope to pick it up next week.

Already have TSP Bald Eagle Cam, Upgraded Pushrods + Valve Springs, Summit Pro LS Pistons and rings, Polished Crank,

Debating on upgrading heads and intake now or later

Great Start Nathan!

I was just posting some instructions for posting while you were actually posting this. Clearly you got it figured out so most of what I sent can be ignored.

You car looks very clean! I like the silver too!

Hi Nathan great looking car. I'm in South Cali. Can you document a list of your build as you go along your project and of course the emissions part as well. Thanks.

Hi Nathan great looking car. I'm in South Cali. Can you document a list of your build as you go along your project and of course the emissions part as well. Looking to build when I have the funds. Thanks.

I'm hoping to document everything fairly well. I'm debating making videos. At the minimum I'm writing notes and taking lots of pictures and will document afterwards. The focus has been heavy on the engine build for me lately, and I feel that's "less" interesting because it has been well covered and most of what I'm experiencing thus far isn't specific to 944's. I think there are some important considerations and decisions (flywheel choice, powerband, torque/hp @ lower RPM's as opposed to peak hp, etc.)

One specific question I have for anyone that has done or owns a swapped car; is it possible to swap the heads without pulling the engine? I'm thinking that there might not be room, particularly where the engine is close to the brakebooster (even the smaller BMW setup) and firewall?

I'm in the middle of deciding whether to run the 853's (they came with my block, they're solid- supposedly pressure tested, I have a set of springs for them) or find a good take-off sets of 243's (~$400-600 in my area, $1350 for a set of CNC ported 243's from my machine shop + my $350 springs) or splurge for a set of AFR Enforcer's (~$1500 for the set).
I'd love to run the car with the 853's, and do the upgrade to a better set of heads later (would be fun to experience the two different levels of power, and saves me spending $$$ now or gives me time to find a good deal)
HOWEVER- if I need to pull the engine to do a head job, no way jose, I'll spend $ on a good set now and forget about it.

Let me know if you know- thanks guys!

Nathan,

The driver's side is without a doubt the challenging side.  I went through the exercise of just removing the valve cover and there was just enough room that I did not have to remove the hydro boost or the brake master cylinder...or drop the engine.

However, when it comes to the head removal, the required space depends on if you have factory head "bolts" (less space) or aftermarket head "studs" (more space).  

Factory head bolts engage the block about 3/4" by my estimate so there should be ample room to at least disengage the head studs for head removal.

If you have head studs like I do, you will need several inches of space to lift the head off the studs and that will be a problem as far as I can tell.  Note that I do not have direct experience removing the heads while the engine is in the car.  I have factory 241 heads which aren't the best but I'm hoping to get the power I want just the same.  

Hopefully someone on the forum can chime in with direct experience.

On a positive note, the engine is easily lowered while still connected to the front cross-member.  Only 4 bolts....