john_h.

Am considering either.
Money has a 65% aspect to the decision.
What would you do, and which systems to consider?
Thanks all.

(If I switch out with a Chevy short block, I will have the current engine available for sale. Any interested party would rather have drive the car/inspect)

Fabio421

Well. First of all, there isn't a "kit" currently on the market. There should be one soon but only for the 85 & 86 MY's. The rest should come later. The Chevy engine swap is more time consuming and potentially troublesome. The chevy engine would decrease the "value" of the car if you are considering re-sale. The chevy parts would be cheaper to purchase. Talk to Evil Patrick. He has done the engine swap and he may be able to answer some of your questions.

MarkRobinson

I'll sell him the kit off my car.....in a month or so once the kits come out...but that would mean there were kits available. Hmm.

In general, I agree with Fabio's response regarding conversions having watched Patrick's car evolve. I don't know if it was more troublesome than he (Patrick) expected (maybe with the carburetor-to-EFI conversion), but certainly more than I expected.

Patrick's car is quite a hoot, i need to race him if he can get enough spider webs off his car to get it out of his garage. Patrick, when we doing lunch???

Mark.

Jim bailey - 928 International

John I see you posted in an earlier thread .."I am not handy with a wrench" if that is in fact the case neither of these is a very effective option but the Chevy swap if you pay someone to do it can become extremely expensive.

Herr-Kuhn

I'll have a twin turbo setup done for S4 later this year. It won't be a cheap bolt on, but long ter for the power it will make it will be far less than shoving a Chevy engine into the car. Watch out for the hidden costs associated with such an engine swap. You could easily be in 12K for a 500 HP chevy engine swap.

Shane

We need more info?!
What model year is your car?
Is it running good, ie as close to stock as mileage allows, better or other?
What transmission does it have?

heinrich

the car has a V8

john_h.

The car in question is an 87 auto with about 85K. My 86 runs quite well and was expecting a little more out of the 87 (recent purchase)
Previous owner, 2 back, rebuilt the engine.
Low torque on start up but does come through in midrange.
There was a system for sale from F.A.S.T. in Austin, Tx.
I have been in touch with Renegade systems in California. About $2,500 for their conversion kit plus about $4-5,000 for an engine, plus 20-40 hours of wrench time @ $40/hr. Total: approx. $8600.
Seems like a lot to get an extra 40- 50 hp?
The 400 HP Z06 engine will not work on their system.

heinrich

Sounds easy

Lance J

there not in cali there in Las vegas. right around the corner from my office. there kits are clean installs. but @ 8 psi Mark's kit would put out more than that z06 motor they cant put in your car.

bcdavis

I'm not biased, since I also contemplated a swap.

But after hearing a lot of stories, it seems like you will end up spending a lot
more $ than you think, when you do one of these swaps. A lot of things like
guages, senders, wiring, and other things all add up.

The way I look at it, the engine conversion is only cost-effective in the long run.
When it comes time to rebuild or repair the American engine, it will be a lot cheaper
than the 928. But it won't be cheap to do the initial conversion.

If your only goal is power, and you are looking for the best deal,
just stick a supercharger kit on the car... It's a one-weekend,
bolt on affair. You'll be up and running in no time...

But if you want long-term power, then look at a properly built
turbo 928 engine, or look at a stroker, or look at the conversion.
But don't think that any of these options are going to be cheap.
Plan on at least $15K for any of these options.

If you want something for around $8k, just toss a supercharger on the Porsche...

john_h.

Mark, I see you are in Austin.
Will have to meet up in a few weeks. That is where my 86 is parked: Mom's garage! (I am 52)
FAST used to sell turbo kits out there.
Is that what you have on your car?
Let me know what you have or give me a link if you don't mind to previous thread discussion.
Thanks.
(I also have a bum 95 S600 I need an independent mech to fix. Ben's has been my local favorite)

Warren928

With an 87 auto, you have options:
Tim Murphy's stage II vortech supercharger kit will give you around 500-550 hp, and its rock solid, well engineered and reliable as they come.
928 specialists kit with a twin screw supercharger will be great too for engineered quality and reliability, plus you get huge torque off the line with it compared to murphy's kit,yet its still around 500 hp output.

There are other people working on kits for turbos and such, but they are not in a full production mode yet. Mark Robinson is the closest to making one for your car and might have one for the S4.

I have owned a conversion car and its engineering will never compare to what porsche did from the factory, which was awesome. Check your engine first to see if there is a problem before spending money on upgrading it. Thrust bearing failure, flex plate pressure adjustment and a newer timing belt ( and running gear for it) are going to be your top priorities because those things need to be checked by an experienced mecahnic to determine if you can proceed with more power.
I had my flex plate adjusted and all new hardware put in for about $275. At that point they measured how much it moved when they loosened the bolts and it was nil, so I was lucky. A couple years previous, my engine was replaced at the dealer so I was nervous that the mechanics may have missed the flex plate.

Fabio421

If your engine was "rebuilt" by a previous owner, do you have the reciepts? Do you have any documentation showing what was done? If it has good low end but loses power in the mid range and upper range, you may have mis timed cams.

As far as the F.A.S.T kits. I believe that was Mark Robinsons old company. But I could be wrong.

MarkRobinson

I was a minority interest in FAST when kits were available, but the FAST kits were low-boost centrifugal blowers.

My kit will immediately bolt right up to an S4, but my 2nd exhaust is required for the muffler & a coupler or two needs to be changed at the intake: both things that could be done during the installation. You're welcome to schedule a viewing/ride/drive of my car any time you want. It's my daily driver, ZO6 tamer (2 so far), and my daily driver: I've never missed a day of work nor needed a ride in the 7k miles I've had the system on my car.