H2

The 1979 Porvette listed on eBay (No. 2442261866) sold for more than I thought it would. 340HP, 5 speed. I contacted the seller and it sounded liked the car had lots of issues to fix...more than I was willing to deal with...but maybe a new trend is starting?

H2
928 32V, '86

MikeN

Ya I saw that to. The car to me looked like a disaster......wires all over the place, etc......

Somebody must have really wanted an expensive project. I would not have paid over $3k for it.

Hopefully a new trend of "not taking care of the Porsche engine results in a blown one and then a Chevy is plugged in" is not developing. Would rather see the poor thing just go to the graveyard. I mean we all know a Chevy will fit and run........so what's the point?.........to just have a Porsche shell roaming the streets with a foreign engine? Kinda like putting a Chevy in a Ferrari, Lambo, etc........most likely more reliable and cheaper to run, and could even be more powerful........but what's the point again......you might as well go get a kit car and build it.

Big Dave

Send it to the junkyard rather than put a Chevy engine? I'd prefer to keep the beasts on the road, even if it's with a heart transplant.

LukeSportsman

I agree with Big Dave. So the Chevy push rod design may be simply, aged, and less expensive.....but you can't argue the race sucess of this power plant. I never understood the purist opinion to the point of letting a car disappear. Let's face it, there is several cars that have not caught on with the collectors that are beautiful and worth saving. These same cars including the 308 and 928 can be hard to justify "restoring" if the engine costs more than the remaining structure or even than the completed "restored" car. I have seen carcass 928 go for less than $2k, anyone want to build me an engine for that amount? I've seen 308 carcasses go for under $15k with nothing more than a blown engine. Can anyone build me a 308 engine for less than $5k, because that is what a running non matching one might be worth.

Why would you rather see a Porsche rust than be driven? I'm just not on board with this. Is a full blooded Italian Thourobred cool and superior? Yes, but I'd like to see a Northstar powered 308 over a pile of parts disassembled for spares. Are they really a Porsche or Ferrari anymore? The clubs would say no, but are they still great machines....they could be.

There is two options with different answers in my opinion.
Cut up a good car to make it cheap and fast.
Save a bad car with a financially warrantied/feasible route for the owner.

Off soap box now, and I know many will disagree with me, but thats OK

bcdavis

It all depends on the quality of the transplant.

If you stick a carbureted truck engine in there, it really spoils the character of the car as a smooth running supercar. But if you put a 350-450 horsepower LT-1 EFI engine in there, then it makes the car just as powerful as it was before, but in a different way. It makes it more like a GT-40. Remember, it still has the transmission in the back... So it will still handle well, just a different power curve.

I also dislike kit cars with VW engines.
But as long as the power is in the same ballpark as the original, I have no problem with it.

BrianG

Sometimes it's a matter of taste, and sometimes it's a matter of expediency. I suspect that most of the guys here would have liked my '74 Datsun 350Z and my '86 454/700R4 VandenPlas.

Lizard928

if you want something with a chevy engine - buy a chevy,
if you cant afford to put the factory engine back in there sell/give it to someone who can, I mean if porsche wanted it to have a chevy engine in it they would have built it that way!

Jim V

Dunno, 9K is a good price for a decent '79. You could say that 9K for a chev. conversion with issues might indicate a raise in value for the chevy power.

Pierre Martins

How many times have we opened this can of worms?

Big Dave

We'll keep opening it as long as people are negative towards the conversions. If someone doesn't like the Chevy engine, they can scrap their own car.

I applaud anyone who keeps the 928 on the road, even if it needs non-Porsche parts.

For me, I've got Momo parts, Aiwa stereo stuff, Lloyd floor mats, and lots of other non-Porsche stuff. I guess my car would be a freak to some people, too (I even have an Ott crossover...egads!), but it's still on the road and looks very nice.

MikeN

The question is not whether anyone is negative towards conversions or not.......the real question is when does a Porsche stop being a Porsche in whole?

It's just my opinion.......but change the engine to something totally foreign and you don't have a real Porsche anymore........whether the end result is better or worse then the original package.........it's just a Porsche skin floating around.

Big Dave........you have a few assessories and add-ons.......pure and simple.....nothing near an engine swap to a different brand.

Hypothetical question........Let's say you have a pristine '55 Chevy, '67 Stingray, or a vintage Ferrari that blows an engine and you don't have money to fix it. Now you just happen to have a solid early 928 engine that can be shoved into either of the above..........question is do you do it, or wait and find a good used engine or even wait till you have the money to get the correct engine back in shape??

Now the 928 engine will definitely move any of the above around, but is the cars character still in tact???.........not by a long shot in my opinion......you would just ruin any of them.

That's the way I feel about a Chevy in a 928......sure it will move it around, but the true character of the car will be gone.

tresamore

OK. So with some of the statements I'm reading here, I would conclude that some of you would think that a Shelby Cobra is a crappy car because it has a Ford engine and not an AC engine?!?! Hmmmm. Think what you want. If I buy a car and want to have a damn gun turret on the roof I'll do it. You don't have to like it. I'll pay the price good or bad on the resell. I have many people say they don't like the look of the 928. So be it. I like them, I bought them. Sure the engineering is superb. It better be for the money they cost. That doesn't mean it can't be improved. I had a few jags that were crapcans until I converted them to chevy powertrains. They were lighter, faster, cheaper, more reliable, more fuel efficient. If someone wants to put a different motor in a car, more power to them. Where do you guys think the heritage of performance cars comes from? Do you think all cars left the factory to live and die with their original parts? Experimentation is what has allowed us to have 300+ Hp sports cars. I wish more people would experiment with alternative powerplants. To be honest I enjoy my S and will enjoy my S4 (someday), But when I really want to have fun I drive my bright orange 69 vette convertible w/ a 454. It didn't come from GM that way, I did it because its mine and thats what I wanted to do. I built it to suit MY desires. I wish more people would do the same. Thats how we advance! OK, where's my Valium!!

hacker-pschorr

Chevy engine in a Porsche not a Porsche anymore? Go to any street rod show. Find how many Chevy's have Hemi's, Ford's have Chevy motors etc...They are still considered whatever is on the grill. Why? A car is more than it motor.

So, by your argument, drop a 928 motor into a corvette and its now as good as any 928? If its only the motor that makes a Porsche a Porsche then it would be.

MikeN

It's just a difference of opinions that's all pure and simple.....

I would never do it, and don't like cars that have had it done, but if that's
what some would like to do.........have at it and have fun.

Big Dave

I just think the alternatives of sending the 928 to the boneyard or selling it to someone else (who will also send it to the boneyard...let's face it, there are a lot of cars out there that still have running engines) are not as attractive to me as a transplant that keeps another car on the road.