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Yes he did a great job and I agree about the shifter, in fact the whole interior was nicely done. Still hoping he chirps in on this post with some insight.
funny...my brother's first car was a Millenia with this engine and the thought of swapping it came up many times...it does make a nice noise, but needs the huffers for any motive power.
Yes he did a great job and I agree about the shifter, in fact the whole interior was nicely done. Still hoping he chirps in on this post with some insight.
I'm surprised to see this here! That's my car. What do you want to know?
I'm surprised to see this here! That's my car. What do you want to know?
You shouldn’t be surprised, that’s great work right there and I doubt if I speak alone in saying a lot of folk here would like to know details of the transplant and the hurdles you had to overcome. I take it bell-housing and mounts are custom, did you have to modify the pan? Possible to lower the engine or fab the intake to avoid the hood bump? Battery relocated to lh rear like rhd cars? Braking system/booster? AC still operates? What engine management?
You shouldn’t be surprised, that’s great work right there and I doubt if I speak alone in saying a lot of folk here would like to know details of the transplant and the hurdles you had to overcome. I take it bell-housing and mounts are custom, did you have to modify the pan? Possible to lower the engine or fab the intake to avoid the hood bump? Battery relocated to lh rear like rhd cars? Braking system/booster? AC still operates? What engine management?
Just a few questions, hope you don’t mind, ty ��
Thank you!
- Bellhousing is 951, with an adapter plate I milled. Flywheel is KL, with the ring gear cut off and replaced with the clutch locating ring from a 944 flywheel. Clutch is Spec for 951.
- Mounts are custom
- Pan is custom, and a source of issues for me. I think my pickup is pulling in air. I made it to set he engine as low as possible, so no dice on avoiding the hood bulge. Its a tall engine.
- Battery is behind the passenger seat. Previous owner put it there when it was 951 powered.
- Brakes are a wilwood dual master setup, with a bracket I made. Pedal ratio is modified as well.
- No AC. The forward facing exhaust makes it pretty much impossible. The engine is small, but the engine bay is narrow. Definitely designed for an inline engine only.
- Management is a Syvecs S6
Some other hurdles:
- Trans/ troque tube moved forward 30mm so the LH head would clear the firewall
- Narrow engine bay means the turbo has to sit in the front. Tiny twins may fit better
- Thermostat normally sits at the back of the head, but it interferes with the firewall. It's a C&R inline unit now
The real issues were all packaging. 944 engine bays are narrow and short. The original intake may fit, but faces the firewall. It may have fir with a 120 degree coupler on the throttle
If I did this over, I would probably do it to an NA car. A standalone and I/HE would do 200whp and sound great in a 944. The engine itself is only 240lb, so some weight would be saved too. Dry sump would be nice, with the split case block you could just put a flat plate on the bottom of the engine.
I love the sound of this engine. If you go on my IG (turbocarrera72) there is a video on the dyno at low boost.
Sweet!
Appreciate all the fab that went into this. Looks very tidy!
Making it work is one thing, but making it look like it belongs there is an entirely different level.
Currently finishing up one of those infamous VW 1.8t swaps. The amount of work required for a swap is staggering...
Nice build, clearly a lot of time and thought went into it. Just curious, from your join date, you have obviously been on the site for a long time. Have you had this car that entire time and just recently switched to the V6?
Nice build, clearly a lot of time and thought went into it. Just curious, from your join date, you have obviously been on the site for a long time. Have you had this car that entire time and just recently switched to the V6?
I bought the car in 2010, with a 2.8 stroker, LR Super 61 setup. Made something like 335whp if I remember right. I drove it for the summer, did some track days. End of the year, last track day at our local road course before it got shut down, it popped a head gasket and scored #4 piston/ cylinder.
For about a year a planned to rebuild, played with the idea of a few different 944 engines. Bought a lightened 88mm crank and some other parts from a well known specialist. Waited a long time, got bad parts.Had a dispute via VISA, got my money back. I was pretty sour at this point, and was looking at swaps. I don't like LS, but was looking at Audi I5. I still have an AAN sitting here. Then my friend showed me some KL stuff, and the rest is history. Swap started around 2011, but University, work, moving and life slowed it down. First start/ drive was 2017.
I bought the car in 2010, with a 2.8 stroker, LR Super 61 setup. Made something like 335whp if I remember right. I drove it for the summer, did some track days. End of the year, last track day at our local road course before it got shut down, it popped a head gasket and scored #4 piston/ cylinder.
For about a year a planned to rebuild, played with the idea of a few different 944 engines. Bought a lightened 88mm crank and some other parts from a well known specialist. Waited a long time, got bad parts.Had a dispute via VISA, got my money back. I was pretty sour at this point, and was looking at swaps. I don't like LS, but was looking at Audi I5. I still have an AAN sitting here. Then my friend showed me some KL stuff, and the rest is history. Swap started around 2011, but University, work, moving and life slowed it down. First start/ drive was 2017.
Thanks for sharing. Really amazing to me that you hung onto your project for so long and eventually finished it the way you wanted. So many cool builds out there never come to light for the exact reasons you mentioned.
Last edited by 87944turbo; 09-25-2018 at 05:19 PM.
09-08-2018, 08:06 PM
Mazda KL-ZE V6 Turbo Engine Swap
