Cleaning up the engine bay on my race car
 

After refinishing the interior of my SP2 race car and replacing all the wiring with a PDM, I turned my attention to the engine and engine bay.

The current engine is the original 1988 2.5L NA engine with a LOT of track miles on it. The car was dynoing at just 118 HP and PCA SP2 rules allow me 146 hp, so it was definitely time for a replacement and rebuild. The enw engine is a purpose-built race engine with the following:

Bored to 101mm so it's a 2.55L, re-silicone and carbide impregnated.
10.6:1 Wossner 101mm pistons
oil pickup modificatio
Turbo valve springs
micro-polished 944 Turbo crank
forged 944 Turbo connecting rods.

Engine dynos at 165hp at the crank.

The plan was to yank the old engine, strip out any excess weight out of the engine bay, and then paint it white prior to the new engine being installed. I'm pretty happy with the finished product.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...b304dcbb64.jpg
New engine waiting for installation
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fc9fea699e.jpg
Current engine still in the car.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...0bedc2b819.jpg
Engine out, time to clean up the engine bay
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...31de6749c0.jpg
Stripped out about 35 lbs of excess wiring and other stuff I no longer needed. Engine bay painted a gloss white
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...1337d5d03a.jpg
New engine installed, a couple of items left to wrap up but the project is essentially finished

Now that's definitely better 👍

Nice job on the engine bay, i need to do that with my SP2 car one day.
Your engine will produce an extra 10 mental HP with that clean looking engine bay !

*** If i could suggest something for your front shocks , take some clear plastic gas line and cut it down the middle then insert it over the full length of your front shock lines, i took a big hit in the front left and that clear plastic line saved my MCS remote shock line from being sectioned …

Cheers
Phil

Looks awesome! I SO want to do that to mine!

(If there is a hint of envy in this response, it was intended...)

Cliff

Lookin' snazzy!

Looks great! Question why a turbo crankshaft? I thought 944 cranks where the same for 2.5 na and turbo. Just asking. I knew the rods, pistons were and head had the ceramic liners.

Next up is a rebuild of the original motor. As I mentioned previously, this is the original 1988 2.5 NA engine, currently registering 118 hp at the rear wheels. I will document the rebuild in a separate thread.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...16cea0da41.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...dd0930275c.jpg

Looks good. Not sure how you were able to prep the engine compartment before painting (it is difficult due to all the odd surfaces) but you did well.

Just a suggestion. Buy a new radiator overflow tank. I blew an engine once because with my yellowed tank, like yours, I literally missed the fact that the coolant was basically gone due to a small leak.

Yes, A new radiator overflow tank is on the list of things to do once we get everything back together in the car, if for no other reason than it will look better than the yellowed plastic tank that's already in the car.

I also have a lightweight Braille battery coming to replace the heavy Odyssey battery that's in it now. That will be another 20 lbs. of weight savings on top of the 30-40 lbs. we pulled out of the engine compartment already.

Pretty impressed with my 15lb Braille so far. I learned the hard way that key in ignition energizes the radio relay, while my car sat in the unheated shed for two weeks while temps hung around 0. Thought I killed the battery for sure. It came right back to life with an overnight charge. Beyond that it's gone all winter so far with no trouble starting the car every couple weeks regardless of temperature.

Clean.

Just wanted to post an update before hitting the track this weekend.

I'd like to replace the orange flexible air intake hose with something close to matching green, any suggestions on where to find one?

I am also replacing the intake manifold with a new manifold that I had powder-coated in the same green as the cam cover.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...5534409e36.jpg
New intake manifold


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...9baed2965e.jpg