tammons

What should a well sorted LS 944 turbo go for?

I am interested in one of these and curious.

SloMo228

That's probably going to vary widely depending on just what went into the build. An iron-block 5.3 that runs without major issues, probably less than $7-9K, assuming the rest of the car is in average shape. A built aluminum block with supporting upgrades to the brakes and suspension, and is in excellent condition could conceivably be worth north of $25K or more. IMO, on swapped cars, the vast majority of the value is in the build. The car itself has as much value as a roller would.

Buying other people's projects is always a gamble. I'd want to have a very thorough inspection and test drive before buying something like that.

87944turbo

Here is at least one data point. And even then, it's not clear what the selling price was, just the asking price. However, I think it still provides some useful information.

http://bringatrailer.com/2016/06/17/...che-944-turbo/

V2Rocket

I wouldn't pay any more for an LS-swapped car than a regular 944 in equivalent condition.
I am in no way opposed to engine swaps - I have often toyed with the idea myself.
But who knows what the swapper deemed "acceptable" when putting it together - at least with the original Porsche engine the faults are a known quantity.
I've seen good V8-944s and terrible ones.

odonnell

Dougs951S got an LT4 swapped car for $1000, but there were some serious shortcuts done by the swapper. Maybe he can chime in.

Dougs951S

That's an understatement.

The car is an 86 with a 96 LT4. Some nice parts in the car, and some not so nice. I firmly believe the build was started by someone who cared, and then it fell into the hands of someone who finished it up very half assed. I am just now getting the car ready for daily status after 6 weeks of ownership, and the car will be the subject of it's own more detailed thread but I will recap the good and bad briefly here.

The good:

Strong running LT4 ~360 rwhp/360 rwtq
has a cam and sounds nasty AF
Koni yellows on all 4 corners
250# welt lowering springs
951 sway bars
LSD 951 gearbox
17x9.5/18x10.5 Z06 wheels
the interior is pretty much all there

The Bad:

Had basically all the things broken on it when I bought it. The clutch hydraulics were shot, the clutch was toast, the alternator and battery were toast, ect ect.

That's all been fixed now.

The still Bad: The jackwagon who installed the engine somehow managed to put the damn thing in offcenter..to correct this, he sliced a chunk out of my driver side frame rail to make the header clear..I wish I was kidding. Other things were poorly done as well. The car has a nice fluidyne aluminum radiator, but the install was done extremely poorly and the mount is a joke. I'm running an alternator only setup but when I bought the car, it was continuously throwing belts (I'm talking it was ruin a new belt if you ran the engine 30 minutes) because the PO made this ugly booger welded, cut down alternator bracket that was off center

lets see what else...The exhaust was this disgusting piece of **** mild steel contraption made of 2" pipe, the car is now running dual 2.5" dumps.

The wiring is a joke, it looks like Helen Keller did the looming. The old radiator hose setup was an absolute embarresment; it used this ****ty flex pipe that was too long so it had a double loop in it that trapped air...The icing on the **** cake was the duct tape and plastic ABS home gutter ducting "Cold air intake" that leaked vacuum and the ****ty transmission coupler that the dude had jb welded the coupler bolts into because the threads were stripped and the spot weld snapped off so the square welded on parts were just rattling on the trans input shaft.

I could on and on. My point is the car was an absolute piece of trash when I bought it and probably isnt worth too much more than the ~2500 I have into it. It's pretty fun though, and that's why I bought it.

I think I still came out on top and you definitely couldn't build a 951 or any 944 to be as quick as this car is for 2500.

V2Rocket

the car isn't red chassis with yellow body and black hood was it?

Dougs951S

No sir, black on black and pretty stock looking at first glance. The hood pins are the only real give away something isn't quite right..

odurandina

are you talking about Cale's car???

I assume small world but not that small.

Cale doesn't seem like the type that would do a car like that.

KoB

+ a gazillion ... with a more-or-less stock car, you're buying the car. With a heavily modded car -- and an engine swap is about as heavy as it gets -- you're buying the builder.

I'm in the camp that says, "roller value until proven otherwise."

Dougs951S

No, not Cale's car at all. I know nothing about this car's past..its just a hoonmobile now with no real value beyond it's value to me as said hoonmobile. I bought it purly to have fun in. I'm just about to slap a pair of Hoosier R6's on it and go eat some mustang's lunches at stop lights.

KVDR

I would consider paying more for a clean, fully functioning 944 with LS swap over a comparable 944NA....but I would not pay more for a LS swapped car over a comparable stock Turbo.

Of course, it all depends on the quality of the work.

LS swapped 968 almost sold for $13.6k on Bring a Trailer last year. Apparently reserve was not too much more.
http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-porsche-65/

A few more that were listed for sale and captured on BAT
http://bringatrailer.com/2016/01/14/...8-porsche-944/
http://bringatrailer.com/2015/01/17/...8-porsche-944/

arthropraxis

I would not consider less than $15K for mine but it is a very nice car inside and out. The LSD transaxle has been rebuilt and it is a well sorted daily driver for the last 5 years.

87944turbo

Another one on the higher end, appears to be well thought out and put together.

http://bringatrailer.com/2016/05/12/...8-track-build/