Porsche Powered Mid-Engine Double Cab Introduction

[67dubcab]

Hello, well not sure were to introduce myself as I really don't fit in anywhere but this is the forum I spend the most time lurking, at least my car (bus/truck?) has a 911 engine.
Or maybe the 944 forums as it has a 944 suspension and transaxle?
Like I said, not so sure.
I have started a build thread in the V.W./Porsche Conversion Tech Forum to share my project. It is a 67 split window double cab that I am doing a bit of modifications to.

I spent a year researching before coming up with a plan and most of that has been on this and other Pelican forums so a big thanks for all who have made this place a wealth of knowledge and a great place to get into all sorts of fun trouble!

Once the plan was made I went into hunter gather mode and again the board and Pelican Parts were amazing resources.

the d.c. working as my daily driver/shop truck with only mild Porsche content(944 brakes, rear arms,front seats, boxster wheels).



Engine kinda goes about here. Much more Porsche content.

stand in daily driver (the anti-double cab) on the way to Seth's shop to put engine kinda there.

And yes I have been to The Samba, I posted up a build thread there under readers rides. just hope I could hang out here as well.

Thanks, Stephen.

[village idiot]

Looks like a fun project. I look forward to the next update

[jpnovak]

I like it. How do you mate the motor and 944 transaxle?

[gearheadgreg]

Yes - interested in the mating of those two also. And props for a cool double cab.

[john walker's workshop]

what makes you want to go mid engine? cool engineering feat, but probably will make for very difficult engine access and servicing. they do fit the other way around. i had a '63 double cab like that and i replaced the torsion bar tube with a 911 tube and hung all the stock 911 suspension/trans/engine from that. '68 and earlier 911/912 has the same distance between torsion bar center and axle center as the bus. '69 and later, you move the tube forward about 3" from where the bus tube was. pretty nice bus to potentially sacrifice if things don't go right.

[67dubcab]

All good questions, and like John said, why?
I am familiar with your old double cab John, I actually tried to buy it from you when you had it for sale on The Samba, I talked to you about it then called back after I checked flight times and rental truck tow dolly info and it sold. One that got away, I really liked your build and was a inspiration to what I wanted to do to my d.c. which at the time was running well with the set-up I purchased it with, you may recognize it as it came from Seattle and used to carry Porsche engines around in the bed.

The reasons I went mid-engine are weight distribution, better engine access, the abundance of inexpensive 944 transaxles( I went with the later s2 as it has the stronger ring&pinion).

The connection between a 911 and 944 started with a aluminum 915 core cut and machined flat aft of the input shaft bearing then Seth the fabricator welded a plate to pick up the g50 rear mount and provide a indexed spot to weld the cut off 944 engine bellhousing to accept the shortened torque tube then aft to a stock 944 set-up(mostly) Simple really, only uses four bellhousings !
These pictures should help show how it was done.There are many more on the build thread in the lonely V.W./Porsche Conversion Tech Forum on this site.

[john walker's workshop]

that's going to be pretty rad. was that paul weir's shop bus? here's the link to the other forum http://forums.pelicanparts.com/vw-porsche-conversion-tech-forum/524564-porsche-powered-mid-engine-double-cab.html

[Steve F]

SWEEEEEEEEETTT !

[carrera turbo]

very nice

im putting a 2.7 into my 68 camper. mounting mine in the rear and am up in the air over a 915 or 091 heavy duty tranny.

congrats on the cool build.

ed

[KarlCarrera]

That's pretty cool! Maybe simple for you, but it looks like you have done your homework, and have some technical knowledge to follow it up with.
Keep the pic's and notes coming, this looks like fun! At least for us :>).

Karl
88 Targa

[67dubcab]

Hey thanks all for the kind words and interest,

John, yup, you are correct. I knew you would get the obscure P.N.W reference!
and thanks for the kind remarks, I figure if you think it looks good I must be doing something right!
speaking of rad trucks do you have some build photos of your present shop truck?
also thanks for the link to the build thread.

Stephen

[john walker's workshop]

what's the plan for the front end?

[78SCRSMAN]

I've always wanted a Westie with a porsche six in it. (I saw one in VW/Porshe mag, years ago) Yours is VERY cool. I'm curious how fast it will be. Keep posting. Thanks for sharing.

[67dubcab]

The front end is mostly a holdover from my first build. It is a Wagenswest beam, narrowed 4", adjustable, with bay balljoint arms, 2.5" drop welded 944 s2 spindles, wheels are 16-7 et55 with new toyo tr1 215/40
The beam should really have been 2" narrowed as the late offset need a 1.5" spacer to push out the wheels.
For this build I added the 944s2 spindles with the baby Brembos and the Bilstein coil-overs to up the spring rates, I just put on some 220# coils as a starting point.

I would like to have Seth my fabricator design and build a A arm, rack and pinion set-up but that is not in this build budget (future project).

The Brits are fans of 911powered split busses and I have read about a few campers with Porsche engine conversions, best way to get the good spot at the campsite.

The gumball rally split bus was clocked at 145mph with a 3.2 and mild nitrous shot, so I guess I should do 130 at least! The truck will get a digital speedo, programmable with a hall effect pick-up so I should get some accurate data.
Best guess on weight is around 2800# w/o driver(we will see!)

[Kevin Stewart]

cool thread, Kevin

[67dubcab]

Well after about 4 years I have the double cab running, I have some progress posts in the porsche conversion tech forum for those interested.

I thought I would post here for some input on a problem with metal flakes in the oil.

I bought the engine used in"excellent condition" with around 74k on it from the owner which pulled it from his 1984 911 after a accident.

The d.c. would not start initially with a no spark no fuel fault and after testing all my wiring I sent it to 911chips to have Steve bench test and put a performance chip in.
He found lots of bad previous work and a dead coil transister and another intermittent no start fault.
When it came back I plugged it in and it started right up, straight to solid idle while I checked for leaks, none found so when warm I took it for a drive.

All seemed well till I found all the glitter in the oil after I changed it after 30 miles.






Oil pressure good at 20psi when warm at idle and 50to60+ psi driving.

[80-911SC]

Got my attention .... old v-dub guy from the bay area ... Good work .. I am going to check your other thread out ...

O .. and thanks .. needed to see that ..