ktel

I know my stuff... Converting an na to turbo involves great effort and money. But I own a very nice car with suspension, brakes, bushes, tyres almost new.

I also prefer the square dash, Fuchs wheels and manual steering rack of my early car.

Buying a turbo locally is not an option since they are far too expensive and not as good as mine in terms of condition. I am emotionally attached to my car for many reasons.

What are the parts required for a proper swap except from engine, ecu, gearbox, intercooler and drive shaft?

I don't mind using stock na suspension and brakes, at least for the moment.

odonnell

Are you trying to mimic a factory 951 setup? Or are you ok with custom fabrication. Plenty of information on the former. A rear mount internally gated Td04 would be cool, with a basic standalone controlling everything. People are practically giving those turbos away in favor of upgrades. You would be putting effort into the design and fab, versus putting effort into swapping in dozens of 951 parts which vary in condition.

ktel

I would feel better going the factory way...

V2Rocket

everything is more or less plug and play.

the part youll have to ask yourself if you're comfortable doing, is cutting off the front nose panel and cutting out a lot of sheet metal underneath in order to fit the intercooler in the 951 position - this area was the major revision from early to late chassis, among others.

MAGK944

There are a bunch of ancillary parts that are needed to do it factory such as heat shields, exhaust system, coolant radiator/coolant tank/rad bottom mount/rad fans & shroud, turbo AOS, water pump, turbo engine mount, rear axles (which also require aluminum arms/stub axles iirc), coolant hoses, vacuum hoses, geez I could go on and on. If I was doing this I’d be buying a wrecked 951 with good engine, trans and mechanicals but that’s obviously not an option in Greece I suppose.

Have to ask but if your na is in such good shape why would you want to mod it? It’s likely to be worth more stock in the future.

odonnell

You could also compromise and do a "light" conversion. Doing it to OE spec has been done but requires more work than can be possibly be conveyed until you start to do it. Hell, I bought an actual 951 and rebuilding it after the PO's engine fire has proven to be more work than I was honestly wanting to do.

"Light" conversion would be installing the 951 turbo itself/mount/exhaust. For an oil line you'll have to drill and tap the upper balance shaft cover (unless you have a very early block like I do, in which case, good luck with that). For the cold side, just do whatever you need to do to adapt a 3rd party intercooler. You'll probably have to move or space out the NA throttle body, possibly go with 951 parts here.

For the driveline, go with some trans besides stock NA, you know why. Axles and suspension will be fine if they are good quality and in good shape. EMPI or Rockauto/Autozone/Gyrozone (whatever they have in Greece) joints do not count as good quality. Plenty of v8 swapped cars on NA axles. For the clutch you need to keep in mind your power goal. This build would be targeting stock to mild-modified 951 torque. You can keep the stock clutch (200-250 ft-lbs), convert to a complete 951 setup, or get something nice like a SPEC push-type clutch that is built for an NA. Depends on power goals.

For the motor I would keep stock internals for 200-250whp. It's been done... if you can tune it properly, you are going to be fine at that power level. Remember the early NA is the lightest 944 variant besides the 924S, it will be quick even at 200whp. You should probably go for 951 parts otherwise, open your wallet. The parts can be had for cheap but look up costs associated with a proper rebuild, and the people having ring seating issues and oil pressure issues. Your mechanical skills here will be the decision key - issues can be avoided if you are 100% up to speed on the procedures.

For the ECU/management don't even bother with 951 parts. If you had a late 944 maybe - since the ECU is at least on the same side as the 951 and the firewall and existing body wiring is designed for that. Look into standalone options or a pro to tune the stock ECU (late style DME probably needed). And get a wideband for sure. Things like injectors are as-needed and sized appropriately.

End result = cheaper than going full 951, still plenty fun. Just make sure it's tuned right.

V2Rocket

gyrozone

ktel

Thank you guys for the responses!

I will try to get myself a donor car for the swap. In case this proves to be impossible I will go the other way, turbocharging my existing engine.

MAGK944

Here is some motivation for you. It’s an turbo build based on a 1983 chassis (not mine).