1/1985 swap to 1986 Turbo LS1 Porvette

Where are you seeing these transaxles for $200? They're all $2500+ on ebay. Even the broken ones are $600+ on craigslist (and there are a few broken ones out there).

Ahhh, i see. You're using the VW version.

It's the same thing. It's like looking for a 012 for the Vw vs Boxter. VW=inexpensive & Porsche=expensive.

I figured as much, it just wasn't turning up when i searched
Although, the one you listed doesn't have the Boxter as an interchange, so there must be some differences.

I found out that the rods that are in this setup are SCAT 4340 H-beam Connecting Rods - 6.100" Length

This guy had a serious engine build going, all that money wasted because he didnt want to build the rest of the engine. LOL. His loss.

SCATs are pretty good. It will definitely be a stout engine when you're done! Time to put a supercharger or nitrous on it

convience my wife to let me run juice and maybe. But as far as a supercharger goes, that is a project that might be for another day if I get bored.

Got my rotating assembly back today, I was told that the rods and piston setup weighed in at +2/-2 grams of one another. That is pretty precise machining for 16 parts. They took a couple grams off of the crank but all in all they said it was a good setup and should be good to go.

Going to start putting it back together and start locating a final cam spec and get it ordered with lifters and upgraded push rods and some ARP head bolt sets.

Finally ordered my cam,lifters, rockers, and pushrods today.

Here is the cam spec page:
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lifters:
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rockers:
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and Hi-tech push rods:
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This is coming together to be a freaking beast for road racing and highway driving.

Got to love my dyno shop guy. He managed to get my parts he said would be special order from the suppliers from a different warehouse in three days. I now have all the components for the majority of the build besides some of the gaskets needed. Cant wait this stuff looks sick, I will post pics tomorrow.

It's been awhile since I've been on. I have to say, I was glad to see this post; great job on the Porvette!

thanks, I am hoping this new body will work out better. I will get pics of the new stuff up soon

Great. Can't wait for the Pic's

Managed to get the piston to valve clearance check done. With out a head gasket the clearance is .06-.07 in the valve reliefs depending on how much the digital caliper rested in the play-do. So with a head gasket I will be right in the .1 ball park. That is awesome.
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Now I just have to buy some new gaskets and this engine should be ready for a complete assembly.

FYI, if you dont have a tap or thread chaser to clean out Head bolt holes, you can use an old bolt by grinding off to opposing sides of threads and make yourself your own chaser for absolutely nothing since it was soon to be in the trash can.
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sorry for the bad pictures, the camera likes to auto focus

New body pictures of when I picked it up last year to the most recent with the work I have been doing.
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This was the interior at first, it was pretty nasty
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part of the stupid aftermarket alarm system I had to rip out in order to bypass the stock alarm
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I swapped interior from my early so make it look better,
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bought a custom harness bar that is a perfect fit for any 944
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swapped doors, due to someone breaking the pillar on the drivers door breaking into it.
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Test fitting the rear Porsche Light I bought off ebay. It is the original style not the new one that doesnt match the rear lights.
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Thats it for now, the most current is the engine build I am doing for it. It should be a pretty nasty thing when it runs. After that I plan on getting coil overs all around and working out the bugs. Once I have it half way settled I will do a serious paint job as long as the world is still around after Dec 21, 2012. LOL.

WOW what a journey! Glad to see you stuck with it. When you are finished it'll feel that much better enjoying her on the twisties and straightaways. I don't feel so bad about mine taking from last October until now. I had no obstacles, just work to much.

I love the pic with your kid in the corral watching you work... "Sure honey, I'll watch the kid, you go on to work, we'll be right here watching Barney.."

It's looking great!! Glad to see it all coming together.

Last update, Got my gasket set in and assembled the engine. Good News!! my valves still clear the pistons, YEA!!!.

I have a couple more items i am waiting on, i.e. water pump, misc bolts I need to find for the vacuum vent across the front of the engine They seem to have vanished.

Also awaiting the arrival of my new cam gear, crank sprocket and the LS2 timing chain. The sprocket and gear are slightly oversized to tighten the chain up. I guess stock engines had problems with harmonics around 4500 rpms, and with on and off the gas road race driving. The chain would bounce around and break. They made a damper but stop producing the ls1 bolt spaced ones and went to the LS2 bolt spacing so you would have to drill yourself new holes or fabricate the damper to fit the ls1 holes. The manufacturers, Cloyes, says with this set up though I wont need to mess with a damper. So hopefully this will help, plus the LS2 chain is suppose to be tougher in design.

Here are the pictures of me test fitting my fuel rail covers, Did anyone else run these? I had to swap my fuel rail intake to the driver side, now i have to figure out the fuel solution to that. I guess longer hose. Maybe I had it backwards from the start,who knows?

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So I knew it was too easy to assemble the valve train. There had to be a catch. Since I upgraded too short lift lifters and my new rocker arms non adjustable, which I did not find out until I got them in. The Hi-tech pushrods are too long and are causing my valves to open prematurely. Which is good for the sake of my clearance since I did them with more lift then will regular be on the engine since they were open already.

Now I have to pull the valve train apart and have teh machine shop figure out what length pushrods I need for the intended pre load. Oh well. I have to wait a week on that timing set anyway.

Was looking over my parts before re-installing them on the motor. I found out the RH oil pan and the bolts with the spacers for the PS delete pulley set up were all corroding. So I had to do some painting.

Here is the oil pan after a couple layers of rustoleum and 500* red paint. It matches the fuel rail covers nicely and will hopefully stay some what undamaged during install.
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Here is the P/S delete kit
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I think the LS6 motors had drive by wire on them too, the throttle cable bracket is interfering with the fuel rail covers, so I have to modify the throttle cable bracket to remove the cruise control section and possible trim the cover some too.

Headers are back on too, they complete the beast look.
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Looks nice Collin. I wish the Moroso pan had stepped oil relocation lines, would make life easier in there with a wrench. Also, you guys are loosing cooling efficiency looping the in/out WP ports like that, a large % of the block water is going right back to the block. It's better to cap them individually.

Dont you need to flip that fuel rail to the passenger side?

Xschop, The step does make it alot easier. Also I dont plan on having the heater hose looped like that for long. Once I get the motor in the car I will be hooking up the heat system. But until then the Setup works. I dont want to mess with caps and plugs.

Bluemach1, I looked at flipping the rail to the passenger side but the problem with the fuel rail covers is that the fuel rail slot is on the driver side, I have not figured it out just yet on the mounting of them. But if need be I will either run a longer section of fuel hose to the driver side or just flip the fuel rail around and modify the cover to accommodate the setup. I really want to use these covers so I am trying to work around them.

I have never seen the fuel rail covers up close. Are the letters stickers or painted on with the outline of them indented into the plastic? I would look good to take them off and get Porsche in the stock script lettering put on them. That would really piss some people off.