Spo944S2

Rennlisters:

A "few" years ago I had a 1984 944 which eventually became a down payment on our first house. Last Spring, I found a red over gray '91 944S2 with 75K miles. I tracked down the previous owners, obtained some of the service records, and had a PPI done by a respected Porsche wrench. He was impressed with the car, so I bought it. I paid a bit of a premium because of the low miles.

When I returned home, our local Porsche dealer went over the car and we created a short "to do" list. With new oil in the transaxle and a starter motor on order, I headed to an upholstery shop to get the seat seams restitched. After that a modern stereo went in. I had a wonderful summer and fell back in love with 944s (this one was even better than the last one).

Last Fall, as we were climbing out of a long twisty canyon, the engine let go. The good news: it broke about a mile before the officer who would have given me a ticket; the bad news: burned piston in the #2 cylinder.

I spent the Winter doing lots of research and I have read most of the posts on this forum. I have a several questions for all of you.

It appears that the "smart" thing to do is to pull the 944 engine and replace it with a 968 engine. Unfortunately, I have no wrenching abilities.

How difficult is the "swap?"

Any curve *****?

Are there any "how to" directions out there anywhere?

What would be the expected labor range?

How much should a decent 968 engine cost?

Will my old engine have any value and if so, how much?

In the alternative, if it's too expensive for a person who cannot turn wrenches to do a cost effective conversion, what's the general value of a '91 944S2 that, with the exception of the engine, is in great shape?

Thanks in advance for your collective help.

chilibluepepper

Since you are starting with an S2, you already have a few if the pieces you might have to get otherwise, such as the S2 flywheel, bell housing, clutch fork, exhaust, and harmonic balancer. With these things in hand, the 968 engine is physically a straight swap, and should bolt right in. You might want to upgrade your clutch disc & PP in the process. You also already have the S2 transaxle, which would be a nice match with the 968 engine due to its strength, and lower gear ratios. You'll need to get the 968 harness, DME, and MAF with your 968 engine.

Connecting the 968 harness to the S2 is not a straight swap, but not too tricky, and very doable. The information needed to splice these together is available. In fact, I believe I still have it.

You should be able to find a whole 968 engine for ~$3,000 +/- a few hundred bucks.

Dependent on the condition of your broken S2 engine, you might be able to recover significant funds from selling the 3L crank, block, cylinder head, etc...

I can't help with the estimated cost of having this done, as I was doing the work myself.

TReedCooper

You might indicate where you are. There are a few of us who do our own wrenching and might be willing to help if we knew the location.

Tom

Spo944S2

Spokane, WA Go Zags! (sorry).

Chads996

I am presently doing this very swap. I have in wait a '95 968 engine with 55K on it.

C.

Spo944S2

Good for you! I've had a heck of time finding a decent engine. Keep me posted.

chilibluepepper

Spo944S2 - here are a few postings I grabbed from pelican forums. I have no affiliation to any of these.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...ght=968+engine
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...ght=968+engine
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...ght=968+engine
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...ght=968+engine

mopar bob

This was well worth it. I went to Parts Haven for the motor, they were good to work with. The motor was $3000.00 plus the core and they took my S2 motor for the core but the motor wasn't broke just tried.
When you put the motor in now is the time to do belts, water pump and new gaskets to stop all oil leaks, with a new S2 clutch. It's cheaper to do now than later. I like having no oil leaks.
You need the 968 oil cooler, harness, computer with all sensers, and throttle cable. Short of the wiring it's just a bolt in, plus you have to build the piping to go from S2 air box to the 968 intake.
You could also find a good S2 motor but the cost willbe about the same and the 968 motor has more power. My son likes the Chevy LS1 swap but that maybe more work and it's not Porsche.

Good luck and have fun

J Berk

Nice work!

If my S2 ever gets too tired I will probably either go this route or just go buy a 968...

mopar bob

The swap is cheaper than buying a 968 and doing repairs when you buy it. If your car was like mine, well sorted but just needing a motor the choice is easy but if the car needs every thing you may want to look for a new one. It sounds like this car is in good shape replace the motor. You will have more money in it than it's worth but if you are keeping it so what. in the last 30+ years playing with hotrods I never made money. I keep the cars for a long time and race them form time to time and I drove nice cars.

R.J.

Hey Bob, good looking swap! I'm doing the same thing on an '88 944S. Couple of quick q's for you: Is your A.C. and Cruise Control hooked up? do they work? Anything special required to make them work? I'm pulling bits off a complete '92 968 donor. I want both those functions operable after my swap.

Spo944S2

Guys! I've obtained a 968 engine and am headed towards 944 S3 conversion land. If any of you have any advice or links to other forms that I should read, I'd greatly appreciate it. Greg