pmason

Like others have said, its cheaper to buy one already built, that is what I did, narrowed my search down to S2 or 968, found a nice 968. All this after spending stupid money on my 84 911 (still have it, had is sense 88 can't part with it).

LTCMontana

968 engines are the best water cooled engines Porsche has built. Stay on top of the timing belt ans cam chains and they will run for a long time. I don't race but have probably about 10k miles of on track time on mine and have had no issues. It still pulls hard.

The platform is well developed too. 90% of suspension components are interchangeable from 924/944s. Check RL and see where many have built up 924s with 968 drive trains with little effort.

End the end, the 968 isn't much more competitive than the later 944 because they are the same car underneath (except the engine of course).

jpk

There are two values; one is what you value the car at, and the other is what the market would value it at. Realistic market value for a 147K mile car is probably not very much. If you have the time to wait for the right buyer, you might get 8-9k. It sounds like the car would have a higher value to you as a project of building up into the race car you want so go for it.
While many here on this forum would hate to see "another car taken off the road", I'd love to see another 968 on the track, competing and doing what the Porsche engineers designed it to. Especially if you can kick some butt in GT2!
To all those that say it's sacrilege to "ruin" a car like yours, I'd say step up and put your money where your mouth is; offer to buy/trade/exchange something for the car so you can put it on a pedastal and worship it; otherwise,

odb812

Have you tried DEing it yet? I'll bet it's hard to find time since you're racing the BMW. If you get a chance, try DEing it and see how you feel about pushing the car that hard. I'd say go for it. I'd certainly be in the stands cheering you on.

Are you going to be at Thunder Hill this weekend? I'm heading up after work tonight.

ckkrause

Yes, I'm going up this afternoon! Stop by and say hello ... I've got a Maroon 325is #225...

-Chuck

Are you doing DE? If so, what group?

-Chuck

odb812

I will stop by. I'm doing DE Group 1 in my RSX. See you there.

steve g

I am in process of upgrading my 968 and have been spending all my bonus/fun money in the process. I suppose I could have bought a less expensive car in worse shape than my 51K mile car. Your priorities may be different than mine. I am upgrading the suspension as a first step converting to Moton Clubsports - full coilovers / minimizing torsion bars, spherical bearings, delrin bushings, removing all soft rubber mounts replacing with nearly everything made by Racers Edge for my car, and M030 swaybars. I just got my air compressor (as a bday gift from my wife/kids) and having fun buying air tools. The fun begins this weekend. Based on my rate of procrastination, I will be ready to buy race seats, harnessess etc next year. My goal is to make a street legal (not street comfortable) DE car since there won't be a full cage at least until I progress to Club Racing.

JDS968

Don't get me wrong, I'm under no illusions about 968s being collectibles or valuable or anything, and I certainly believe that all (non-Cayenne) Porsches should see the racetrack.

I just think that 968s make great street cars as well as track cars, and I have the impression that yours is a very pretty and streetable one, so it seems a shame to rip it up...and furthermore, I'm not sure about your engine plans.

If you do decide to race it, I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.

richard glickel

Sure, go for it. It's a different ride from your Beemer, but then, that's part of the fun, isn't it?

TheBlau

a few nice options on ebay, although probably out of the price range you're looking to hit.

944 turbo PCA Class GT3:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/170678939308

968CS PCA Class F:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/120759696570

ckkrause

Exactly!!! What do you run your 968 in?

Any further comments on reliability of the this motor under the conditions I describe?? To be honest, that's what I'm most worried about... Suspesnsion upgrades are discussed a lot... so I have a feel that...

Thanks again!

-Chuck

ckkrause

Exactly!!! What do you run your 968 in?

Any further comments on reliability of the this motor under the conditions I describe?? To be honest, that's what I'm most worried about... Suspesnsion upgrades are discussed a lot... so I have a feel for that...

Thanks again!

-Chuck

Eric_k

Go for it!

I raced with my stock engine for 6 years with very few issues. It was still alive and kicking when I took it out for the turbo motor. If you are diligent on the maintenance, the engine should be bullet proof. I found the stock clutch discs not to be up for long term track usage but that is about it.

JDS968

My car's been running the stock engine without a rebuild (ever) and it's spent most of its life on the track. It's bulletproof if you take care of it.

FRporscheman

If you want to spend serious track time in the 968, I think you should have extra baffles installed in the oil pan. The firewalls like to crack - a friend of mine had a crack develop at the brake MC from heavy track use.

If you want to reduce hp, why not swap on an S2 intake manifold? It should drop your peak hp down to something like 215-220 at the crank, and it will increase the throttle response and low-rpm torque.

Personally, I don't like seeing 968s become race cars because they're rare and special, and offer little/no advantage over a 944 or 951. The way I always approached the DE/race car idea was to take a 944/68 with the lowest weight, as much modern kit as you want/need (like abs), and consider the other differences like steel vs aluminum suspension, early vs late offset, turbo vs NA, etc. So I see the 968 as a good but imperfect candidate, I'd go for an S2 for potent or 924S for petite, if staying NA.

But the one flaw to this logic is the assumption that track car builds (and cars as a hobby in general) involve logic! Just do what you think is fun.