Porsche 944+Chevy V8

Well, this will be a different kind of project for the coal forum.

In past decades I had a very bad Sports Car/Hot Rod addiction. 10 years ago I went cold turkey and kicked the habit. Now, I have fallen off the wagon!

I love driving Sports Cars but they always needed more power. This lead to a V8 powered 240Z, a V8 powered 914 and a V6 powered VW Bug among other hot rod and turbo projects. In the late 90's I had a series of Porsche 924's, 924 Turbo's and 944 Turbo's.

The 924/944's have very solid chassis, suspension and brakes that just beg for more horse power. The front engine, rear trans-axle arrangement means just dumping a 350 with a T-5 trans in is out of the question. I think I have it figured out now.

I now have a 1991 Porsche 944 S2. Today I put a deposit on a 2013 Chevy 6.0 LS aluminum V8 with 365 HP. This is at a local bone yard and they will have it pull out next week. Here are some pics of the start of this project. 1991 was the last year for the 944 and it has a different rear spoiler than all the others. It's in the garage now and we are starting to remove the engine. I have 1 video uploaded. This is just to show how the engine runs since it is for sale.


More videos later.

-Don

Thats going to be fun, can ya drop a V8 in my Fiero....

grumpy wrote: ↑

Fri. Aug. 09, 2019 9:03 pm

Thats going to be fun, can ya drop a V8 in my Fiero....

Maybe these guys can help you out Grump!



Here's the video overview of my little project.


-Don

Don, what is that 6.0 coming out of? Do you intend to run it as-is?

With the Porche being known for balance and cornering, how will the car work with the heavier? V-8? Horsepower is great but putting it to the ground and staying on the desired ground is, well....desirable. Looking forward to more pics and videos.

Kevin

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sat. Aug. 10, 2019 8:34 am

Don, what is that 6.0 coming out of? Do you intend to run it as-is?

It's from a 2013 Caprice Cop car with 34,000 miles. The specs say it's 365HP and 385 on torque. I've been looking all over the country for months for a Camaro LS1. Then I found out that the Caprice L77 motor has the right brackets to fit in my car too. Found this one at a local bone yard for less than all the other places.

We will run it pretty much as is. 365 is plenty of power for this little car. The ECU will require a little work. We have to delete the VATS and the rear O2 sensors. Also the motor is throttle by wire, we will be converting it to cable.

-Don

KLook wrote: ↑

Sat. Aug. 10, 2019 10:20 am

how will the car work with the heavier? V-8?

That might have been true in the old days with cast iron V8's. That's what is great about modern engines, they are stronger and lighter!

This aluminum 6.0 weighs right about the same as the 3.0 we are taking out. Same weight, almost twice the power, whats not to love?

-Don

That will be a zippy little car. Do you think the rear differential will stand up to that 6.0? If you are just running street tires and having some fun I think you will be ok. sticky tires at the drag strip is another story.

Rob R. wrote: ↑

Sat. Aug. 10, 2019 4:33 pm

That will be a zippy little car. Do you think the rear differential will stand up to that 6.0? If you are just running street tires and having some fun I think you will be ok. sticky tires at the drag strip is another story.

This car came with the 944 Turbo transaxle. That is the strongest one available for these cars besides the 968, 6 speed. The 6 speeds are pretty rare and very expensive. This trans with 124,000 miles will likely need a rebuild after running this motor for a little while. We'll worry about that after we get this part done!

This will be an everyday driver and occasional track day car, Pocono, Summit Point, maybe Watkins Glenn. You don't drag race one of these cars. The full throttle standing starts will blow this trans to bits.

-Don

Nice project Don, I like it. John Force might look at ya a little funny when you pull into Maple Grove, but that’s the point. Speaking of Maple Grove, if I lived as close to it as you do, I would be financially-embarrassed all the time.

Will be following this journey.

Thanks for the videos.

SWEET S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

grumpy wrote: ↑

Fri. Aug. 09, 2019 9:03 pm

Thats going to be fun, can ya drop a V8 in my Fiero....

When I was researching Buick's I saw they put a lot 3.8's in them, must fit well. They have the stock parts available for a supercharger. It's not a big supercharger but the base it can bump the HP to 240 and over 300 with dual exhaust, smaller supercharger pulley and tuned. I'd imagine 300HP would make that sucker move.

All I can say is there isnt such a thing as too much power. Have at it!

We made a lot of progress today. Everything is disconnected except for whatever little things I forgot about.
Like most newer cars, you remove the engine by dropping it out the bottom. To facilitate this I unbolted the control arms from the chassis and cross member. Then I removed the sway bar and popped the tie rods. Now when we unbolt the cross member from the frame it will drop down, then we pull it forward until the driveshaft clears the bellhousing. I cut the exhaust just behind the O2 sensor. The new owner won't have to fabricate a Y pipe or weld in an O2 bung. Just 2 bolts finger tight holding the torque tube to the bellhousing now. Here are the parts we removed.
Tomorrow we will drop it out. Now I remember why I stopped working on cars 10 years ago. A full day of this and I am BEAT!!! Cars are really complicated with lots of systems and sub-systems. Coal stokers are WAY easier.!

I got a bunch of videos to upload.

-Don