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@Culina Thanks! I used Mike at WMS (Wicked Motorsport)in Van Nuys. He's famous as a tuner for forced induction Audi and GT-R's. But he also has painted a Mercedes 280SE, BMW 840 Alpina clone, Audi Sport Quattro replica, etc for me, so long history with him. So obviously not an exclusive Porsche guy, but has enough of the marque in his shop that I trusted him to disassemble - and reassemble - the car and put my 4 year old daughter in the backseat. And every little detail was removed and replaced including washer jets, rubber door buttons, sound proofing (though much reduced), etc. So far I have not been able to find any overspray or flaws. I've had the car now 36 hours and already put on 500 miles : ).
Oh, and got some good news on the oil leak. It's only the driver side rocker arm, not the case and not the tranny. I thought it was worse, but was just oil being blown around as I don't have the bottom tray underneath the engine. Right now it's just a few drops overnight after a day of driving, or at least that's all there was last night, and no smoke or other issues when operating, so going to keep driving and see if it stays the same.
Amazing color choice, looks fantastic and the wheels go well with it. Congrats, you must feel like a kid in a candy store!!! And high 70s weather all weekend to enjoy it!!
A new clutch became a RS clutch and LWF, a LWF became a reseal as the engine did indeed have a small leak from the case, a reseal became a rebuild as why not while you're already so deep in there with 120k miles, a rebuild became a 3.8 turbo conversion complete with EFI for a goal of 500hp as the slippery slope took over. Moved the car to Fred at Valley European who built an engine for me in the past that outperformed expectations and was bullet proof. The trick is I want to keep it semi 'sleeper'ish so doing a custom intercooler under the stock deck lid (no whale tail). No track days planned so canyon carving should be fine at 100mph or less around the corners so aero doesn't really come into play. Anyway, removing all the mechanical deck lid apparatus and trying to mount a full width intercooler at an angle. The rest is par for the course. Photos to come or feel free to have a peek at new instagram 'tbonelarry'.
3.8 turbo engine is built. Everything except the block is new. Bummer I didn't decide to do the turbo conversion BEFORE the paint color change and interior restoration, but 'best laid plans'.... Fred at Valley European in Van Nuys is doing the engine build, but keeping Mike at WMS involved as they will have to paint to match the 3.8 RS style tail and front spoiler (also had them to a couple touchups of the engine bay as wanted it perfect before the new engine install). I thought about trying to keep the rear deck/spoiler stock, for a 'sleeper' 964, but with it would have seriously limited the size of the intercooler and with all the extra HP it will be helpful to have some aero. Always have loved the classic 930 tail, but with all the awesome backdated cars out there, I went with something more 'fashion forward' and thought the 3.8 tail would complement the liquid silver paint and 996 wheels.
Car is now being wired with the new Elite brain/EFI and hopefully will be at dyno within the next month to start tuning. Only thing we are waiting on is the custom intercooler.
Goal is a 500hp at the wheels daily driver so leaving in AC/heat exchangers (Fabspeed 935 exhaust), etc. and no cage, etc.
Being an East Coast car with no records from the first owner, again 26 years of ownership, wanted to be able to document some evidence of good care.
If you want to get the car’s early service records, check the service stamps in the warranty booklet in the leather folder in the glovebox and/or the DMV inspection records in the car’s CarFax to determine the original owner’s location and then call the service departments of the local Porsche dealers there and give them the VIN. Most of the service guys are pretty cool and will print out the service records for you if you give them the VIN (and are nice to them). Best of luck.
Thanks everyone for the positive comments. I sorta backed my way into this project, by not doing a proper PPI on a car, but excited for it nevertheless. Here are some more photos, including one of Fred Garcia the engine builder who has a long history with Porsche racing/Andial, yet now has a small low-key shop in the Valley. For people who don't need 'bells and whistles" he's a great LA mechanic and someone I've been treated fairly by for almost 15 years (and no affiliation). Dude can build a mean air-cooled turbo Porsche engine. Challenge so far mostly is trying to keep him from pushing and pushing the car into a 700hp monster when I'm really hoping for a streetable daily driver, albeit with 500 + hp. Not that I'm morally opposed to the car spitting flames, but...
Thanks everyone for the positive comments. I sorta backed my way into this project, by not doing a proper PPI on a car, but excited for it nevertheless. Here are some more photos, including one of Fred Garcia the engine builder who has a long history with Porsche racing/Andial, yet now has a small low-key shop in the Valley. For people who don't need 'bells and whistles" he's a great LA mechanic and someone I've been treated fairly by for almost 15 years (and no affiliation). Dude can build a mean air-cooled turbo Porsche engine. Challenge so far mostly is trying to keep him from pushing and pushing the car into a 700hp monster when I'm really hoping for a streetable daily driver, albeit with 500 + hp. Not that I'm morally opposed to the car spitting flames, but...
Awesome engine shots, thanks for posting...that thing is gonna be a monster!!
Turbo 3.8 build is going well. Engine is fully built and has been run. Electrical finished. Mocking up the intercooler, new front oil cooler (2nd cooler), and the RS rear wing. First dyno tune should be in the next few weeks.
Turbo 3.8 build is going well. Engine is fully built and has been run. Electrical finished. Mocking up the intercooler, new front oil cooler (2nd cooler), and the RS rear wing. First dyno tune should be in the next few weeks.
Great project!
With turbo engine its good to have second oil cooler. I have it opposite side, and newer got any issue with oil temp.
Thanks @Bruni for your post and photo. So helpful to see what others have done. Thanks to the forum there was so much discussion on where to put the 2nd oil cooler and although the consensus seems to be exactly what you have done, inside the driver/left front fender, either deleting the AC or stacked with the AC unit. Seems to work for most projects, I did notice that most track projects, however, went for the more involved conversion in the front of the car. Although mine will not be a track car, it will be high horsepower, with all the extra heat from the turbo, and since I live in Ojai, CA which regularly sees temps above 100 F, so I went for the front oil cooler. I will lose the ability to have a spare in the frunk, but other than that, and some new sheet metal, the appearance of the front bumper will be OEM. I'll send some more photos once it's in place.
@Bruni Gorgeous! Some call it turbo lag, some call it staying in the power band - ha. I have a couple big hp turbo Audis, one an inline-5 single and one a 2.7 V6 twin, and there's something romantic about the sensation of the single, but I also fondly remember racing 2-stroke motorcycles which had power bands so razor thin you had to be a magician with the clutch to keep them 'on pipe'. Is yours a C4 or C2? Would love to see more of what you did? And thanks!
@Bruni Gorgeous! Some call it turbo lag, some call it staying in the power band - ha. I have a couple big hp turbo Audis, one an inline-5 single and one a 2.7 V6 twin, and there's something romantic about the sensation of the single, but I also fondly remember racing 2-stroke motorcycles which had power bands so razor thin you had to be a magician with the clutch to keep them 'on pipe'. Is yours a C4 or C2? Would love to see more of what you did? And thanks!
This is C4. I like 4WD cars and i had them as Audi S2, Lancia Integrale 8v, and 16v.
03-15-2019, 06:41 PM
