LS1 conversion
#31
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My 0.02 Cents
The LS series are so cool because all the parts interchange between engine and they make bonkers power for the cost
(NOTE: this explanation excludes a lot of information see ( http://944hybrids.forumotion.com/f16...-questions-faq ) for the whole shakedown)
There is nothing stopping you from popping 4.8 pistons into a 5.3 lm4 ($300) and having 10:1 compression, Swipe some l33, heads off a 04 pick-up which are basically ls6 heads and have a good breathing base line.
You could steal the intake off and accessories off your buddy's f-body while he's "shotgunning a natty-lite" and find a cam from a LQ9 truck, with some modified hooker headers, a harness, a clutch from a late 60's Plymouth and a c5 vette bell housing, the beast nearly fits in the 944. An adapter for the torque tube and a brake booster delete you pretty much there. You have a engine that is deep in the 350hp region all from salvage yard part and should be rather reliable and the whole rig weighs 80lb more than the old set up.
oh and if you want to play the turbo game with this engine: (
)The dude who built this is on Hybridz forums and is a wealth on knowledge on the subject.
It will be all kinds of cool but one thing it won't be is a Porsche....
If you are looking for a cool Porsche-esque power upgrade I would point you to the audi 20v turbo that our cars nearly got, or a 951 engine. However, if you are looking for a cool project and are ok with the fact that this is going to be a hot-rod based on a Porsche there is nothing that approaches the LS engines for reliability, weight or power.
In other news: I can e-mail you my spreadsheet, if you would like, detailing all the parts needed for the swap, their costs and their sources. My spreadsheet accounts for the fact that I have access to a milling machine and fabrication tools but still might help clear things up. PM me if you decide that's something you'd be interested in.
Cheers,
Greg
The LS series are so cool because all the parts interchange between engine and they make bonkers power for the cost
(NOTE: this explanation excludes a lot of information see ( http://944hybrids.forumotion.com/f16...-questions-faq ) for the whole shakedown)
There is nothing stopping you from popping 4.8 pistons into a 5.3 lm4 ($300) and having 10:1 compression, Swipe some l33, heads off a 04 pick-up which are basically ls6 heads and have a good breathing base line.
You could steal the intake off and accessories off your buddy's f-body while he's "shotgunning a natty-lite" and find a cam from a LQ9 truck, with some modified hooker headers, a harness, a clutch from a late 60's Plymouth and a c5 vette bell housing, the beast nearly fits in the 944. An adapter for the torque tube and a brake booster delete you pretty much there. You have a engine that is deep in the 350hp region all from salvage yard part and should be rather reliable and the whole rig weighs 80lb more than the old set up.
oh and if you want to play the turbo game with this engine: (
It will be all kinds of cool but one thing it won't be is a Porsche....
If you are looking for a cool Porsche-esque power upgrade I would point you to the audi 20v turbo that our cars nearly got, or a 951 engine. However, if you are looking for a cool project and are ok with the fact that this is going to be a hot-rod based on a Porsche there is nothing that approaches the LS engines for reliability, weight or power.
In other news: I can e-mail you my spreadsheet, if you would like, detailing all the parts needed for the swap, their costs and their sources. My spreadsheet accounts for the fact that I have access to a milling machine and fabrication tools but still might help clear things up. PM me if you decide that's something you'd be interested in.
Cheers,
Greg
#32
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Lots of good info at http://944hybrids.forumotion.com
#33
Od, while I plan to swap my 968, I think you're going a bit overboard on the NA 924S/944 and its reliability. My 924S is such a smooth, no weird creaky noise ride... really strong engine. I don't plan to ever swap it unless I get a random catastrophic failure. If she keeps ticking I'll keep driving her as a DD. Then again, I was used to driving 90s Civics and Contours before I got this car, so I wasn't yearning for power like a lot of you.
Most people seem to be able to keep them on the road if they have a bit of know how.. or if they have none at all and hand the keys to a shop. And more importantly, aren't trying to squeeze way too much power out of them.
I'd say the high rate of attrition on the FORUMS is due to the fact that so many owners buy these cheap *** cars with the intent of modding them like crazy because they see so much potential in the well handling design. And those modders end up on forums like this. Not the DDers like myself. Most of the DDers like me aren't spending their life on this forum... I only do because I love Porsche and I love this line of car... and I am an internet kid, I was raised on it, lol.
Meanwhile 50-60 year old joe schmo out there just takes it out for a quick spin on Sundays and hands the keys to a local experienced shop to take care of the stuff that comes up. Rather than tackling every problem by themselves and possibly ****ing things up.
Most people seem to be able to keep them on the road if they have a bit of know how.. or if they have none at all and hand the keys to a shop. And more importantly, aren't trying to squeeze way too much power out of them.
I'd say the high rate of attrition on the FORUMS is due to the fact that so many owners buy these cheap *** cars with the intent of modding them like crazy because they see so much potential in the well handling design. And those modders end up on forums like this. Not the DDers like myself. Most of the DDers like me aren't spending their life on this forum... I only do because I love Porsche and I love this line of car... and I am an internet kid, I was raised on it, lol.
Meanwhile 50-60 year old joe schmo out there just takes it out for a quick spin on Sundays and hands the keys to a local experienced shop to take care of the stuff that comes up. Rather than tackling every problem by themselves and possibly ****ing things up.
Last edited by V996; 09-01-2014 at 11:00 PM.
#34
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Location: one thousand, five hundred miles north of Ft. Lauderdale for the summer.
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yes. I'm buying all of what your saying.
I appreciate the post..... I'm at about 98.7%.....
1 thing though... with the exception of the 968 which is has been granted permanent immunity by the car gods,
I pretty much have zero-confidence in the spazzy ignition/electrical systems on the 944s.
they're just not reliable. effing Bosch sucks. but, to be fair, that's not necessarily the problem here. electrical systems from all the '80s cars are pretty much fried nowadays.
still, Bosch sucks the big one in the 3rd millennium.
I appreciate the post..... I'm at about 98.7%.....
1 thing though... with the exception of the 968 which is has been granted permanent immunity by the car gods,
I pretty much have zero-confidence in the spazzy ignition/electrical systems on the 944s.
they're just not reliable. effing Bosch sucks. but, to be fair, that's not necessarily the problem here. electrical systems from all the '80s cars are pretty much fried nowadays.
still, Bosch sucks the big one in the 3rd millennium.
#35
It's because of that forum and another one like it that I started that this thread in the first place.
That forum is great if I want to read 10-20 pages on one person building his car, what the problems were, the workarounds, etc. What I'm looking for is a more condensed set of instructions as I described, with the story removed.
Oh, I read several of the stories, and enjoyed reading them. They were very informative, but not very instructional.
Like I said, I'm looking to skip the trial-and-error part and just want to do it.
#36
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Location: one thousand, five hundred miles north of Ft. Lauderdale for the summer.
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i'll post the complete and elective parts list.... it's a fairly long list.
I'm doing a little organizing, but i'll have it up in a few hours.
I'm doing a little organizing, but i'll have it up in a few hours.
#37
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yes. I'm buying all of what your saying. I appreciate the post..... I'm at about 98.7%..... 1 thing though... with the exception of the 968 which is has been granted permanent immunity by the car gods, I pretty much have zero-confidence in the spazzy ignition/electrical systems on the 944s. they're just not reliable. effing Bosch sucks. but, to be fair, that's not necessarily the problem here. electrical systems from all the '80s cars are pretty much fried nowadays. still, Bosch sucks the big one in the 3rd millennium.
This has been my experience. Please correct me if I got this wrong. Also, who else makes better electronics?
#38
Od I agree with you about the electrical. But saying that I think if you did a complete overhaul of the wiring and fuses you would have a really well sorted, reliable car.
It's just not cheap or quick to do that so most of us deal with issues as they come up.
It's just not cheap or quick to do that so most of us deal with issues as they come up.
#39
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Wow, I never thought the day would come when I would hearing such things about Bosch. Are you telling me the American cars have better electronics? Last I remember, most of the components last at most 75k miles, be it alternator, starter etc. all the harness connectors suck and are the major cause of electrical issues.
This has been my experience. Please correct me if I got this wrong. Also, who else makes better electronics?
This has been my experience. Please correct me if I got this wrong. Also, who else makes better electronics?
Everyone has different experiences, but I put almost 200k miles on a 2000 jeep grand cherokee, 150k on my 2500HD chevy, have about 100k on my wrangler, and have never replaced an alternator/starter/ or anything else electronic for that matter. My dad had to finally replace the alternator on his expedition at 145k miles, and he was so pissed that he sold the truck because it was going to hell. I told him, Dad, Porsche guys replace their alternators about every 40k miles.
I make my living by working on Porsches, but I drive American vehicles so I don't have to ever work on my own cars. Change the oil and other general consumable items and that is about it.
I'm a member there, too, and have yet to find a single set of all-encompassing instructions with every single step explicitly detailed and including a complete detailed parts list that says exactly what to use and where to get it.
It's because of that forum and another one like it that I started that this thread in the first place.
That forum is great if I want to read 10-20 pages on one person building his car, what the problems were, the workarounds, etc. What I'm looking for is a more condensed set of instructions as I described, with the story removed.
Oh, I read several of the stories, and enjoyed reading them. They were very informative, but not very instructional.
Like I said, I'm looking to skip the trial-and-error part and just want to do it.
It's because of that forum and another one like it that I started that this thread in the first place.
That forum is great if I want to read 10-20 pages on one person building his car, what the problems were, the workarounds, etc. What I'm looking for is a more condensed set of instructions as I described, with the story removed.
Oh, I read several of the stories, and enjoyed reading them. They were very informative, but not very instructional.
Like I said, I'm looking to skip the trial-and-error part and just want to do it.
#40
I don't see why that needs to be true. Lots of car repairs and maintenance use play-by-play instructions. An engine swap should be no different. All it takes is for someone to actually condense what's already been tried into a set of step-by-step instructions. If someone wants to deviate from the basic plan, that's up to them, of course.
#41
Rennlist Member
If I were to do another build then it would make sense to go through several hundred photos and several hundred pages of documentation to construct a how-to manual, but I'm not and thats a lot of work for no return. Doing an LS swap is an adventure and if thats not for you then call Eric at Texas Performance Concepts and he'll do the work for you.
#43
Nordschleife Master
This ones for Doc :-)
Step 1. Write check
Step 2. Wait three months
Step 3. Pick up car
#44
Nordschleife Master
I don't see why that needs to be true. Lots of car repairs and maintenance use play-by-play instructions. An engine swap should be no different. All it takes is for someone to actually condense what's already been tried into a set of step-by-step instructions. If someone wants to deviate from the basic plan, that's up to them, of course.