HiWind

Amazing skills - I'm sure you'll love the outcome.
Can I ask what made you go with the Elephant stuff?
I saw it on a bare metal SC rebuild this week and it looked proper.

Ruf964

I had a set of their 964 rear adjustable plates, other than that no particular reason. I like the adjustability of this car. thank you for the kind words

Ruf964

made the water pump mounts today. tidying up things and making it all a very clean install. I want ppl who aren't Porsche nuts or gm nuts to look under the decklid and think wow that just belongs there.

cobalt

Very interesting project.

It is your car so do as you wish however I am at a loss regarding your logic. Nothing against you I applaud your enthusiasm and ability but once you put money into the equation you loose me. I agree the power for the buck is amazing and I like vettes have many neighbors with a variety of them although I find them more similar to my 928 with no excitement unless you are on them all the time, the NA 964 engine to me is always engaging and highly interactive although not very fast it is still respectable for 20 years old. I have a 450 HP turbo and have friends with modified turbos in the 700+ range and to be honest they are IMO far less exciting to drive it is only about power and straight line acceleration.

As much as I love these cars and I enjoy ingenuity like yours I can't help but feel you are throwing money away when you could sell off what you had and start with a true project car tub and save a prime example of a desirable highly sought after car.

Too me as many of us the beauty of the 964 is the interactive connection that these cars are all about. Adding excessive HP and changing the characteristics so dramatically IMO kills the fun factor and it just becomes about speed. I have a C2 I use for track only it has 290 Hp and I have no issues with vettes on the track in the turns including C5 Z06's Although I have to work hard to do so it is very rewarding knowing it is skill and not HP or electronics doing the work for me. So how much power is necessary and how will you use it? There are serious downsides to these cars when you start overpowering them. Yes you can smoke GT3's in long straight runs but you are still in an old design and have other disadvantages that will be hard to overcome. Having HP might make you fast but does it make you a better driver or will all this HP just kill you?

I guess my confusion is why would budget be an issue when you had such better opportunity. You have a low mileage C2 in a highly desirable color which are steadily increasing in value. You claim money is an issue yet you have a car I could easily sell for double you paid and prices are on the rise. You have a G50/52 you plan on gutting when I can easily get $7500.00 and are nearly impossible to come by lately. So you have essentially $40,000.00++ you could have used to buy a tub and build whatever you want. You could have easily done this project and saved $5000+ or more and preserved a classic car. I see no issue with what you are doing but in a few years when that C2 will be worth $40-45k as it was what will you have but a car you won't be able to sell for half of what you have into it.

Same goes for the SC's and carrera's low mileage clean examples are bringing big $$. As much as I applaud your creative workmanship I see no issue in what you are doing if money wasn't brought into the equation.

I wish you the best with your project and I am sure it will be a blast but from a purists perspective I hate to see clean examples sacrificed for a project like this when any old high mileage tub would do.

Please don't take this as an attack, all the best and enjoy.

PS cobalt blue

Ruf964

cobalt,

thank you for the constructive criticism. I value all opinions.

first I have been in the Porsche 911 world for around 30yrs now. I have owned 20 plus 911's over the years. all years, all shapes and sizes. I have had short wheel base pre 69, 69-73, 74-77, 78-86, 87-89, 90-94 cars. have a tube chassis 993 car as well. so maybe I have become hum drum with the 911 after all these year. I love the cars but want more performance. I have mostly street driven, and light track use over the years.

this particular car in question, 1993 964 c2 cobalt blue, money is of no object. maybe I didn't explain myself better, and was just showing the thriftiness of the conversion of big hp without turbo prices. I am currently building 4 ls v8 based 911's and a couple of them I am doing a budget build on to show I can. one Is a 76 3.0 car. the other is a 78 sc.

also this is meant with respect and no ill feelings either direction. maybe just some clarification from my side a little.

but nonetheless, I am doing it for fun as I am retired now. I can go buy regular 911 drivers all day long but whats the fun in that? lol I was joking. I love the cars but have never been impressed with their lack of speed in the air cooled cars.

thanks again, always ready for positive discussions

cobalt

Like I said it is your car do with it as you wish. I appreciate your workmanship and have no issue with the concept in fact as I said I applaud it. I have been lucky enough to see Robert's one off America GS (sticky thread above) a car that was incredibly special from the factory. It has so many upgrades it was one of the nicest examples I could imagine owning and although like you he saw it as a test bed for his creativity. As much as his work is outstanding and I am in awe of the craftsmanship coming from a manufacturing Foundry background I am disappointed that what was done could have been done to any vehicle and left both to be admired instead of just one to be questioned accepted or rejected depending how you look at it.

I was just saying I prefer these projects when a basket case is brought back from the dead and becomes something unique just like Singer is doing with their cars. There seem to be numerous cars needing restoration up for grabs but everyone has been converting the clean cars.. I guess I am just as guilty by turning my C2 into a dedicated track car which is a low mileage example. Although I also owned a 74 RS clone built on a 79 that was an amazing car and was again a car that can never be restored but it came from a car that was caught in hail storm in Germany and needed complete restoration. The Max Moritz built 3.2 liter motor was not powerful but incredibly engaging.

I too have been around Porsche's since the 70's and have been a PCA member or affiliate since 1977. I have owned far more than listed but those were the most memorable and restored several models including some 914's. I have never been disappointed in any 911 and find I am only more in awe as time goes on. I appreciate what you are doing although I must have misread what you were saying when it came to money. I personally am always on a quest for clean stock low mileage cars I wish I got to it before you especially since I am partial to cobalt blue. I was very disappointed when the only 928GTS in cobalt had an engine issue and instead of rebuilding it they parted it out. What you are doing is similar to what Tony 77 did with his 5 speed 928GTS he had a nice example and completely modified it. Great work, care and attention to detail was outstanding although it is one less of 170 928GTS 5 speeds to cherish later on. I recently tried to purchase a 1993 cobalt blue cab with 32k miles but when the seller wouldn't budge for anything less than $40k I decided it was too much however the car sold at his price. I am always looking for low mileage cars and finding 964's with less than 100k miles is getting to be tough so when I see a nice example gone I shed a tear for its loss. Power is great but these cars were great drivers as they were.

I wouldn't call myself a purist since none of my cars are 100% stock although if I want power I prefer the widebody for stability and almost purchased a 94 C4 widebody which needed tons of work. I was going to convert to RWD it already had a low boost stage 2 turbo so it had ample power for the tracks I drive. So don't misunderstand me I love what you are doing I just wish I could have shipped you an 89 C4 with my spare G50 tranny for $7500 and had you work on that while I enjoyed the cobalt blue C2 as it was.

It is obviously too late to buy the car from you as it was so I wish you the best with your project and look forward to following your progress. I am sure the end product will be great.

BTW the 3.0 76 is going to be a highly sought after car one day soon another shame to see it go when any tub will do. I guess I am mor eof a purist than I thought.

Ruf964

cobalt,

thank you again for your positive critique. I totally see what you are saying. the great thing about my car and my conversion is everything is bolt in, this car is still unmolested. I have not cut the front for the radiator yet. and when I do that will be the only mod done to the tub. everything else will be reversible. as well as the radiator hole can be welded back in if one chose. my lsx wiring harness does not butcher the Porsche wiring in any way. so again the car could easily be put back as a Porsche purist car.

Ruf964

the coolant log is installed, reworked the ac lines to the gm compressor, cleaned up the engine bay a bit.

Ruf964

returnless gm fuel filter installed, starting on the custom fuel lines.

Ruf964

back view with my lsx cradle

Ruf964

side view with my cradle and meziere 55gpm remote water pump

Ruf964

new gmpp 2013 ls3 vette oil pan is cast aluminum with trap door baffles for road racing.

Ruf964

going to just run my little motor now, not wanting to run a triple disc clutch on the street. little motor is a ls3 modded to around 500hp at the crank. I can still run a single disc Kevlar clutch with that setup.

HiWind

Looks like you're enjoying yourself!
Will be time soon for a vid I hope

Merle

Interesting project. Your next investment should be a better digital camera.