When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I will be documenting my Budget 5.3 V8 Build taking my 944S to a 944S4 (4 Meaning 4 Extra Cylinders). The purpose of this documentation is to further assist those that are planning on going this direction but also I will be providing my build costs along the way. I decided not do this swap directly in my original thread for those above reasons and to make it easier to find for others in the search function. I ended up choosing the 5.3 motor due to cost, I originally planned an LQ4 6.0 build but the 5.3 was local and very cheap. I am not doing this swap because I feel like the 944 motors are bad or unreliable but just for the reason as I have always wanted a 944 V8 car. The 4 cylinders in these cars are fantastic and like most things with age they just need love and updated maintenance. They have been excellently designed and tested in a multitude of racing applications and for a motor to run close to 300k back in the 80's is a huge testimony to the quality of engineering brought fourth by Porsche. I have been blessed to own a few 951's and a 944S, this is more for the experience, fun of building and excitement of making something yours. Prices and parts list will be updated as I continue the build this is to focus on the cost of just getting a running V8 in the car not the other items needed like brakes, transmission, etc... Now onto the build....
Current Pricing Rounded To Nearest Dollar:
5.3 LM7 2002 285HP 100k-125k Motor With Harness And ECU- $500
C5 Corvette Bellhousing 2 Piece- $250
TPC Bellhousing Adapter- $385
TPC Motor Mount Uprights and Pilot Bearing With Adapter- $404
IFC Oil Pan And Pickup Tube- $475
IFC Clutch Disc- $188
Hooker 2312 Modified Headers (Used)- $300
Speedmaster Qualifier Intake PCE148.1008- $235
RockAuto- LUK LSC266B C5 Clutch Slave Cylinder- $85
RockAuto- Perfection MU501851SK C5 Flywheel and Pressure Plate- $196
Speedway Motors- LS1 & LT1 T56 Release Bearing to AN3 Line Fitting Part #: 5151396- $14
Speedway Motors- Stainless 26 Inch Brake Line with 90 Degree AN 3 End Part #: 91031893-3- $17
Speedway Motors- ARP 134-2201 LS Pressure Plate Bolt Kit, LS1-LS6 Part #: 1011342201- $20
Speedway Motors- ARP 330-2802 Chevy Gen III/LS Flywheel Bolts Part #: 1013302802- $36
Speedway Motors- GM T56 Release Bearing Remote Bleeder Kit, 48 Line Part #: 5151399-48- $30
Dayco Camaro LS1 Harmonic Balancer- $70
Renegade Hybrid Brake Booster Delete Kit with Cereal Bowl, Pushrod and Hardware- $242
36lb Injectors- $65
92mm Throttle Body (Ebay)- $65
F-Body Alternator Bracket (Ebay)- $65
Deep Motor Fuel Rails (Ebay)- $105
Adjustable FPR (Ebay)- $45
Lindsey Racing Fuel Adapters 16mmx1.5 and 14mm.x1.5- $50
Trans Dapt Oil Filter Relocation Bracket- $35
Various 6an and 10an lines and fitttings (Ebay) - $100
F-Body 99 Camaro Oil Dipstick- $40
Gates Water Pump (ls1 Camaro)- $70
VDO Temp Sensor LS to Porsche # A2C59517248-S - $ 21
944 14 Pin Harness Connector (New Ebay)- $52
Black Steel Flexible Radiator Hose Kit (Ebay)- $43
TPC Throttle Cable- $65
JEGS Straight Billet Water Neck Part Number555-53270 - $45
Porsche OEM 14 Pin Connector (New Ebay) - $60
4 to 3.5 90 Intake Elbow and 3.5 180 Pipe- Siliconeintakes.com -$65
Spectre Large Truck Air Filter- Advance Auto -$40
Heater Hoses- Advance Auto- $22
Four Seasons Heater Controp Valve- Home Depot -$14
Canton Bell Housing Dust Cover #21-870- Ebay -$40
3" Exhaust Pipe Ebay- $110
2.5 to 3" Y Pipe Ebay- $30
2.5 Header to Y Pipe Sections (Used)- $120
Optional Expenses:
EFI Solutions Microsquirt ECU and LS 24x Harness- $597
Low Profile Intake Bolts- $12
Rock Auto- Lifters, Timing Set, Full Gaskets, Head Bolts, Push Rods, Harmonic Balancer, Crank Bolt, HV Oil Pump,- $453
BTR .560 Lift Springs and Summit Sum-8713 Camshaft- $396
Deductions:
944 S 16V Sold- ~$1,100
5.3 Harness Sold ~$100
4.8 Short Block~ $50
The post that I've read a lot about taking the engine out the top disconnects the bellhousing, if I'm remembering correctly.
On a separate note, since you're in there, any chance you could take some good pictures of your vacuum lines? I screwed up and didn't document that very well and now I'm piecing things together from various places; there's not a single, good post I can find that really outlines things well.
Very nice, what has to be detached for the bellhousing to come off complete? I imagine, starter and slave cylinder, do you have to mess with clutch fork? I made the mistake of coming in and getting lunch then got tired and took a nap lol. Man I must be getting old.
I will be ordering these items very soon as well. Huge thank you for Kent from TPC for the diagram and parts needed to complete this. I purchased my throwout bearing/slave cylinder from RockAuto instead of using TPC so the bearing will need some modifications. The parts mentioned in the image and the base of the bearing needs to be grinded down to fit in the bellhousing adapter. I will take pictures of it after I get it finished.
Just noticed this clutch disc has the same spline count and input dimensions as the c5 clutch disc. This tells me the disc I received should be incorrect as I believe the 944 is 1" x 23 spline and the corvette is 1 1/8" x 26 spline, if I am correct that is.
Splines appear to line up. Yep using C5 clutch tool both disc sit perfectly on it. So this conversion disc will have to be sent back. No sweat accidents happen, just reached out the the vendor.
Not going to lie rotating this made me super nervious as I don't have the lever on the back of the stand to rotate (second hand stand from 10yrs ago). Took the pan bolts off going to plasti-gauge the mains and look at the bottom end. The oil pan looks like it had some dried sludge at the bottom but the oil came out nice nothing suspicious. Haven't got a good look under the windage tray yet but seems good from what I can tell I still see cross hatching on bores as I rotate the crank. If the bearings check out I'll run it as is, maybe run some atf/oil mixture in it to clear make sure passenges are clear.
Waiting on some new parts and should paint the block soon after some wire wheel action. Going to hit the inside of the intake as well to just smooth the casting.
Since it's upside down I could probably change the cam and spring really easy lol.
cylinder number 7 typically runs lean from intake charge deprivation or has a misfire from unknown coil/harness issues. these symptoms are exacerbated when adding boost. the primary on your number 7 may cause issues (the hard bend. i know this is how people do it on these cars, i would just keep an eye on it). I would suggest watching that primary with an IR temp gun once things are up and running.
cylinder number 7 typically runs lean from intake charge deprivation or has a misfire from unknown coil/harness issues. these symptoms are exacerbated when adding boost. the primary on your number 7 may cause issues (the hard bend. i know this is how people do it on these cars, i would just keep an eye on it). I would suggest watching that primary with an IR temp gun once things are up and running.
Opened up the motor to realize....it's a 4.8 not a 5.3. I was honestly pretty frustrated but found a 5.3 short block dirt cheap which I will be picking up this week. Once I get the short block I'll sell the other one to make up the difference or just steal the 4.8 flat tops for more power lol. I don't mind a 5.3 with a mild cam they can make 350whp in a 944 pretty easily but a 4.8 just won't cut it for me part of the v8 fun is the torque. I really wanted a 6.0 the most but a 5.3 is still a good motor and can make nice power.
02-22-2021 | 10:48 AM
944 S4 Build: 5.3 Engine Swap With Pricing
LS1 & LT1 T56 Release Bearing to AN3 Line Fitting
Stainless 26 Inch Brake Line with 90 Degree AN 3 End
ARP 134-2201 LS Pressure Plate Bolt Kit, LS1-LS6
ARP 330-2802 Chevy Gen III/LS Flywheel Bolts
GM T56 Release Bearing Remote Bleeder Kit, 48 Line, LS1/Corvette/GTO
