Tom R.

If you're gonna stuff another motor in the car why not stuff the motor from a wrecked BMW? They do make the sweetest straight six around, the M3 comes with about 230 hp stock, has room for more etc. Best of all you only need one set of wrenches!

ribs

Because there is no conversion kit for BMW's, and being the first to do one would be a hellofaPITA unless you have done this kind of thing before, and BMW engines are probably too long because they are I-6es, so to make it fit would require huge amounts of fabrication, and unless you find an M3 engine (which would be $$$$), I don't find many of BMW's engines to be "extreme" examples of engineering prowess.

I think another great engine swap would be a gnx/gn/turbo regal engine, and renegade's kit works with this engine, too, and you could make serious amounts of horsepower with this motor, more easily than you could with a small block.

ribs

Wow, do you have an NSX, too? Lucky bastard.

Adam Richman

I wish (I think . . . nah actually I don't then I'd have to buy groceries in the track car). Same motor of the 91-9? (SOHC VTEC - unlike the ITR VTEC on in/out - latter is good for ~108HP/L vs. my piddly ~82HP/L) just add 500# of balast. CL-S, which I tracked until the cost of tracking the car (brakes were costing me a fortune) was more than buying a dedicated track car - ergo, the 944.

Actually, the car is rated at 260 HP from the factory, add the bolt-on Comptech Header and voila 290 HP (I'll look for some dyno slips). They have seen it (the CH) get up to 36 HP. No clue what that translates to in WHP but most of what I have seen puts it over 300 HP with CAI, Header and Exhaust. As the saying goes, "Three most feared words in racing . . . Powered by Honda."

So I've been looking for a bumper sticker for the 944 that says, "my other car is a Honda."

Untier

im in the process of doing my 944, right now its running sweet as can be, for a na. if i had a turbo , yes id keep it the way it is. this is a na and NOT very powerful. ive been working on this project for about 1.5 yrs collecting parts as cheap as i can. everything is now ready, the motor is all together, on a floor dolly. everything is ready. im waiting for the registration/smog date for the porsche. the chevy will be completely smog legal but i dont want to be pushed to get it done. yes the car will be down for a little while, but this is a hobby car so why rush it? i will weigh it when done for everyone. yes could have done a camaro or vette but who wants that gm trash?
i did a 914 a couple years ago, sold it for $9,300, GOOD MONEY! and i made about 5,000. i did a 74 mgb w/a 215+350 turbo, awesome ride, only made a few bucks. 215s are getting scarce/pricey. ive got a exceptionally clean (my opinion) 944 that doesnt have ANY power. i think this will be better when done...

ribs

V8...good to hear that you are making headway. Please keep us updated. This is a very interesting project that I may pursue when I have the time/money (when I graduate college sounds about right). But PLEASE don'$hit on our other board members like you did in the 383 thread. This board is regarded (at least by me) as the best electronic source for information regarding my car, on demand...it is kept that way because the members here show a level of respect for each other...please don't ruin that by calling people names and personally attacking them...that is what email is for . A disagreement is one thing and often leads to very interesting (and informative) threads, but calling somebody stupid/an idiot/a moron/ etc...is something not for here. Take it to the [H]ard for that, or try something awful. Anyways, I am sure you will be full of knowledge about this project that plenty of us will be interested in hearing (as well as some of the guys on the chevy boards), but tone it down a bit, and keep us updated. Thanks,

adie

No, I did not use the renegade kit, for around $400 you can do the conversion properly with engine of choice that fits in the hole. Of course you need know more that how to clean you expensive alloys but is as easy as changing the original engine.

adie

Bugger it, so let's get this straight, if you own a 924 the answer is sell it and get a 944, if you own a 944 sell it and get a 944 turbo, you harp on about keeping your porsche and all you do is tell people to sell it, this is not aimed at everyone but you know who you are, to the rest just remember it's your car, your money and your not answerable to anyone, least of all purists, so weither you upgrade the turbo, injection, ECU, wheels ar even the whole engine or car take little notice of whatever the 'experts say', I was hoping perry951 would be around to flame the idea of conversions but he's not so I'll have to do it, the conversion will no longer make the car a true porsche, end of, so! I am not bothered about that as I have a VW 924 and I can't buy seatbelts from my Porsche dealer, but I got some from Audi, I do however have the original wheels, and looking at the state of the rubber the original tyres aswell , Some will love them some will hate them, some will only ever have pic's on there wall and tell everyone else what there's should look like, and others will own 4 or 5 and be the leading authority on what's wrong and right. Me I just do what I want and enjoy, surely there's enough of these cars around for people to do different things with them. Then again maybe not, now i have a 944 turbo according to previous posts I will never want another car again, or do I have to spend increadable amount of cash to try to make the car something that it's not, if so won't I still have the same car as my V8. I think I'll rest on that one and decide after just one more drive.

Matt O.

My 2 cents:

I think a v8 in a 944 is pretty cool, seeing how you get to stick with one of the greatest body styles ever, greatest balance, etc., yet you get good old American muscle.

I love Porsche, but I also love torque. My brother drives a Formula, I drive a 944. His can't hang with mine on the back roads and I can't hand with his on the straight roads...

SO...

The logical choice would be, if you have the time, money and extra 944 lying around (or purchase a donor) would be to drop it on in. Just don't call it a Porsche, which is I think part of the problem those who call it sac-relig are thinking...

I would remove the Porsche crest (cry) and remove all other markings of Porsche. I would then purchase a "FIREHAWK" sticker from my local Pontiac dealer (the one from the Firebird Firehawk) and slap that bad boy on the back so it would read "944 Firehawk"

I mean, how bad would that be?

Porsche engineering melded with American muscle. If you don't want to do it, don't, but don't make fun or slam someone for wanting to. IHMO again...

Although I say again, I would only do it if I had my Turbo and an "extra" 944 lying around the house somewhere (and a lot of time and money). Unless of course my dad financed it...

-Matt

Super Space Monkey

I seem to remember the 944S2 cleaning the firehawks clocks during the early nineties in the show room stock series. Then when the 968 came out they banned the car because the V8's would be so outclassed. Then when they finally let the 968 run they made the 968 add so much weight they actually weighed more than the firehawks!

I also have fond and vivid memories of Hurley Haywood driving his 914-6gt and Jugen Barth with little old 2.5liter naturally aspirated motors completely humiliating the Big V8 race corvettes, real 289 cobras and shelby gt350's at Laguna Seca 1998.

V8's we don't need no stinkin V8's!

Perry 951

Ok... so you twist my nipple. Here goes.

I am not a "purest", no "concourse" car here, but I have a belief about Porsche vehicles. Since I was a little man.. I knew that the Porsche badge was a mark of performance, excellence, and above all else, exotic. From the 356, 914, 24's, 44's, 11's, all of them, they stood for something more than a car. Call me crazy, but that is what I believe.

Perhaps that it came from my father. He always wanted a 930, but with a family, the career, loans, etc, the funding was just not there. Many years later, he finally aquired an '83 911SC Turbo Look Cab. It was the car he wanted, minus the turbo and the 3.6. Thru the years, he has tinkered, modified, and made that car an image of himself. It has a persoanlity. I have done what he has, but we always keep that "exotic" mindset. Whatever modification, it still had to be as close to Porsche as possible. It has now been 9 years, and his car is nothing what it used to be, but now a vision that Porsche always conveyed.

It has been revised and modified many many times, and as it sits now... well... it sits in many peices. The final revision is underway. The car looks exactly like a 993 GT3, full race body, full 930 interior, roll bar, full race suspension on 18" BBS's. And it is a cabriolet to boot. Motor... 3.8, twin plug, big cam, supercharged beast.. on an engine stand. This is the car that Porsche raced, but it keeps the second most important dream that Porsche has, a feel of luxury, a feel of exotic, and the drivers experience. Top down, some Bach from the sound system at a low level, and that massive 3.8 at full song behind you.

That my friends, is a PORSCHE coversion.

Yup.. twin spinners would be nice, some big *** intercoolers and BOV's, but like everyone else... we wanted something diffrent. At every glance, the car drips Porsche. It lives.

Taking something outside the Porsche dream defeats the purpose of owning one. Sure, a V8 in a 944 still bears the Porsche name.. but the spirit is long gone.

I guess that I view my 951 as more than a car. I wanted one since I could remember. I'd take a pristine 951s over a pristine 930 in a heartbeat, no matter the cost. Hell, if you gave me the option to take either as a gift, the 951 would be in my garage before the tire smoke cleared.

I am not going to tell you that you can't put American spirit into a Porsche. That is your thing, and I wish you as much fun as I have with my car. Perhaps you are building your dream... but don't loose the ideals that the car was made for. Excellence, performance, and of course, EXOTIC!

I have 1 question for this board. Start a new thread if needed. But think before you respond.

Why did you decide to buy a Porsche?

Matt O.

Sounds awesome wish I could write like that.

Again, I would never do it to a 951, or a stinkin 911 class for that matter!!

Just a beater 944 and I would remove all markings of Porsche. Simply would be my fun, 944 body beast.

If I had the money.

But if I had a 951 I would probably spend my $$ fixing that up to be a German beast.

Can't do that to a NA. I would never do that to my current NA anyway, too nice.

-Matt

Racer X

AMEN????v-8 buy a 928 then supercharge it!!!

MAS

Yeah... well, I guess some people do have a point. There isn't that much harm in buying an old beater 944 (or 924) with a blown engine for cheap, and doing a V8 conversion. I mean, if the car was headed for the scrapyard anyway...

-MAS

Tabor

Well, here it goes:
I was 16 and was driving a 1984 Honda Accord that had seen better days. It needed a new carborator, and many other thinks. The carborator alone would have cost as much as the car was worth.

I decided that I wanted a 1992 Acura Integra GS-R. It was basically the prototype for the Type R that you see today.

But I didn't have the $8,000 that it would take to acquire one, if you could even find one for sale! They were very reliable and the owners didn't want to sell them!

Anyway, a friend of mine told me about the 924/944 line. So I was interested. Then, he got a 1981 924 NA. And I drove it. And I fell in love with the steering feel and the handling.

So, I managed to muster together $4,000 at my $12/hr job and purchased a 1987 944 NA for $2,600. This left a nice cushion for immediate repairs.

Mind you, this was not a Good example of a 944, but I was not afraid to work on it. Now I have brough it almost entirely up to snuff. I am also happy to say that, even including wheels I don't have more than $6,500 into the car. That means I could actually recoup my money!

Now I could afford am Exellent condtion Turbo S, if I really wanted one. Oh well. I own this car out right. I plan to do a 968 engene swap soon. You see, I don't really like the 944 Turbo. This car is my daily driver, and I am more concerned about low end than all-out-Autobahn-burning-top-end-power. Maybe I will buy a 944 Turbo for a track car some day. Or Turbocharge the 968 engine! Now that could be some fun! Actually, Huntley Racing is coming out with a Supercharger kit, sometime. They have had some setbacks.

So there you have it. At first it was becuase it was cheeper. But then it was becuase I fell in love with it.