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I've owned my '86 944 for 9 yrs. In 2012 I had the opportunity to buy a friends LHD '94 968 6-spd parts car with 62k miles, imported to New Zealand from Japan. NZ is a RHD market, he bought it hoping to comply it for use on NZ roads but it didn't comply with the set criteria so he stripped it for cosmetic parts- the wheels, interior, the rear hatch, wing mirrors, door handles, and other miscellaneous parts for his '86 944 Turbo. I bought the rest in 2012 as a going concern. I'd always intended to use it to convert my 944 to my interpretation of an 944S3.
I've dragged this car to 3 houses now. We've started a family and my dream of a 944S3 keeps getting sidelined but my wife is giving me the push to get it done before life makes other excuses for me.
I've befriended a local shop that builds hotrods and classic cars. They service my car and put it through its 6-monthly road worthiness checks. Today when I dropped it off for a service and Warrant of Fitness I broached the idea of the project to them they were happy to look over my car to see how easy it would be to do.
This 968 was serviced a few times after it was imported. I got to drive it only once before it was pulled to pieces and went into storage. It felt nice and tight, but because it's been sitting there's some routine maintenance during the conversion I want to run past this sub-forum to make a concentrated effort in the right areas.
I'm looking at doing a straight conversion of the engine, torque tube, shifter and linkage, transaxle, all the suspension and brakes, etc, from the 968 into the 944. I’m considering with going to a VEMS P&P standalone from Peep.
As part of the conversion, because the 968 repower is an increase in displacement and power I have to get my car certified that the brakes, suspension and worksmanship are up to the job. As I’m going with the OEM 968 brakes and lowered 968 suspension this should be fine.
Feel free to chime in and contribute to my Conversion/WYAIT list. Any links to vendors, etc, is greatly appreciated. I buy most of my parts from pelican/paragon/allzims/sierra madre/rennbay/, etc, anyway as there’s usually better selection and prices overseas.
Objective:
Convert my 944 with 968 engine, drivetrain, suspension and brakes. It’s not going to be a show car or track car, it’s going to be a daily driver. I’m not going to spend a crazy amount of money or time restoring, powdercoating or zincing every piece. Just converting it and doing some maintenance so it’s clean, reliable, certified and legal and back onto the road asap.
Green means already installed on my 944. Blue means I have the parts on hand or on their way.
Engine: Full service – Filters, lubes, belts, rollers, timing chain pads. S2 airbox and filter under the badge panel (For stock S2 placement) New OEM engine mounts
New fuel lines 968 Engine loom
Engine Management:
VEMS plug & play (I may just stick with stock until it’s running first)
Exhaust: 968 full exhaust with cat
Suspension: 968 control arms New castor blocks New bushings all round RS Barn lower control arm brace 26.8mm front sway bar with triangulating brackets 968 front struts with koni sports shock mod & 200 lb lowered springs 968 25.5 mm torsion bars Bilstein HD rear shocks or koni sports rear shocks. I’ve heard some people like the koni/Bilstein combo. 18 mm rear sway bar 968 brakes, however I don’t want to install the ABS.
New braided brake lines
Wheels:
I was toying with staying early offset so I could stay with 16” Fuchs but tempted to go with 968 offset so I can go to 17” OEM wheels one day. I already have a set of D90’s, Clubsports and 968 narrow spokes for late offset.
The wiring/computer from the 's3' will have the proper leads for the motor ie; the vario solenoid, oil temp sensor in the head, MAF, idle validation, ect
I met a guy at the 2016 Porsche Parade who had a 924 (s?) that he added the 968 drivetrain to. Interesting result. he detailed his project in his region newsletter. You should try and locate it as it may highlight a few challenges that you are sure to hit. Good luck.
The wiring/computer from the 's3' will have the proper leads for the motor ie; the vario solenoid, oil temp sensor in the head, MAF, idle validation, ect
Good point, will add the looms. Hopefully there isn't any wiring length or routing complications with a LHD 968 engine going into a RHD 944 body.
I met a guy at the 2016 Porsche Parade who had a 924 (s?) that he added the 968 drivetrain to. Interesting result. he detailed his project in his region newsletter. You should try and locate it as it may highlight a few challenges that you are sure to hit. Good luck.
Thanks I'll do a search. There's a few swapped cars around. Theyre not as popular as a turbo swap. There was someone rennlist that dedicated a website to his swap but I haven't been able to find it.
I've never seen any positive reviews of URO products. I'd avoid URO parts like the plague.
Hugo
Neither have I. I might just buy genuine.
The 944S3.com website I used to refer to ages ago is a dead domain now. The guy is still active on rennlist so might drop him a line. The attached doc is what I've accumulated from multiple threads over 3-4 forums so far.
Still collecting parts to service the engine and suspension.
Buying parts from Paragon, Elephant Racing, Sonnen, All Zims and Pelican. Unfortunately we've just come out a 2 week fuel shortage. A main fuel supply line was cut accidentally by a digger. Aviation fuel was the majorly affected and airlines had to ration it meaning a lot of air freight from the US to NZ has had a 2 week delay.
Have also sourced an LSD from a 993 and just waiting for news that it has shipped.
Conversion is finished and legal. Lots of delays with parts and little complications- too much to be bothered to list here. It is such a different car now. It pulls likes freight train, it feels solid and planted. I had to check my Speedo against my phone's GPS, I thought it was reading high but it was actually accurate- my car is actually fast now!
A brief summary of work done.
Engine:
* 968 engine serviced (belts, rollers, water pump, etc)
* New chain tensioner pads.
* New rocker cover gasket and hardware.
* New sparkplugs and HT leads.
* Some billet pulleys with machined and balanced rollers I bought from rennlist for my 944 years ago.
* Rennbay A/C delete mount for alternator.
* New clutch kit from paragon products including correct pressure plate and new hardware.
* New tensioners for the power steering motor and alternator (only944 and KLA)
* New sound deadening shaped foam insert for around the torque tube at the shift lever.
* New brake fluid reservoir.
* New clutch hydraulic lines
* Custom fuel lines in the engine bay and new OEM lines at the fuel tank.
* New metal heater valve from 928 motorsport.
* Motul 4100 power 15w50 and oil filter.
* New fuel filter.
* New Porsche engine mounts.
6 speed transaxle:
* Checked over by a specialist.
* LSD from 993 Turbo installed.
* Motul gear 300LS 75w90
* New cv bolts.
* Speedo pick up from LR.
* Only944 shift lever and inner boot (from my 944)
* Function First classic shift **** with 6-spd pattern.
Brakes:
* Stock 968 brake discs and calipers.
* Custom brake lines front and rear
* ABS removed.
* New mintex pads ( have some hawk HP's in a box too)
Front and rear axles/suspension:
* New tie rod assemblies.
* 968 castor blocks
* 968 strut mounts
* Reused 26.8 mm sway bar with triangulation brackets and bushings from my 944.
* Reused RS barn control arm brace from my 944.
* Modified 944S2 struts with Koni sport inserts and 200# lowering springs.
* New elephant racing spring plate bushings
* 968 Clubsport rear shocks with helper springs
* 16" rear sway bar.
Wheels and tyres:
* Qty 4 of 968 narrow spokes in 16x8
* Qty 4 Goodyear Eagle F1 assymetric tyres in 225/50/R16
Miscellaneous:
* New headlight harness with relay to compliment H4 night breakers already fitted.
* H3 night breakers fitted to park/driving lights.
Budget, time, availability, weak NZ dollar, priorities with moving and my daughter being born. I already had the 26.8 on my 944 so it fell off the radar. The conversion was supposed to be a 2-3 week job and I was about to move cities and couldn't take my parts car (moved with the military, 13 hrs drive and 2.5 hrs on a ferry south). I bought a lot of parts in advance but neglected to get a clutch kit. That took a month to get here from the US and another 3 weeks to clear customs. By then I had moved and as my 944 was my daily, my main concern was getting it finished, legal and to me.
08-08-2017, 06:08 AM
944S3 Project
