The V8 Conversion Thing

[MRM]

Originally posted by Porcupine
I would think a Buick GN motor would be a good choice.
Compact lots of hop up parts. Parts are priced so a person can afford them.

I have a good friend who's putting a Buick Wildcat (aluminum) engine in his old Triumph. I think it's a TR-6. It's a popular modification in those cars because Wildcat engines are very light, provide good power, and are readily available at a good price. I would think that a similar engine would be a good place to start if you were intent on doing a conversion on a 911.

I know people have done it, but to me, the technical problems of replacing an air/oil cooled engine with a water cooled one seem overwhelming. Of course, that may be the point. If so, go for it, but I can't see how it would be cost-effective unless you do all the work yourself. And if you were going to do that, you could probably rebuild your original 911 engine yourself for less than the cost of the conversion.

[ks911]

dd74,

I have been tracking a V8 911 for over two years. I love the car and have driven and owned many 911's. The car handles basically the same except with a little extra polar weight. You will lose some agility but you will gain a bit of stability also. You can ask any 914 track guy and he will tell you that a 914 is almost impossible to recover because it does not have much polar weight.
True, every once in a while you will meet up with mr. anal Porsche man like, roGERK, but 99% of the people you meet will like it. I have only had one guy that made a ugly comment to me at the track and I made it a point to run him down at the next session, no more smart ass remarks from him.
If you are paying the bills and not driving a Porsche only to seek other peoples approval, than by god, do with it what you will and stick your middle finger in the air to the man that wishes to down grade your idea of the perfect car.

Freedom, aint this country grand!!!

[dd74]

Well - seven months earlier when I started this thread, I can now say I don't know if I'll ever do a V8 conversion. I appreciate the 300+ horsepower, etc., but the 3.0 I dropped in place of the 2.7 is adequate enough for me, at least for now.

If at all, I would probably buy some banged-up old second 911 and "test" the V8 conversion thing on that. Then again, there are lots of Vettes, Mustangs (Shelbys even) and Z28s out there who really, in an engineering viewpoint, make use of a V8.

Don't jump on RoGERK and others. His/their opinion is important: a V8 does detract from the essence of a 911 and what a 911 is about. A 911V8 could be fun, yes. But all in all, 911s, up to the newest model, have not been designed for small block V8s.

After getting somewhat "flamed" on this thread months ago, and before I installed the 3.0, I did some math and found a "proper" V8 conversion costs very close - within a few hundred $$ - to a 3.6 swap. As well, there are brakes and suspension mods to consider.

In short, it's up to the owner.

[B.Lane]

Scew all that boys! Just throw a 5.9 Litre Cummins in her and call it all good...Hell, ya got yerself a turbo n' six cylinders and whats even better is 788 lbs of tourqe!! Member boys...Horse power sells cars, tourque wins races! Shoot son...you can get her to fit...just use yer chainsaw to cut out the back to make the room..and dont forget to use yer 6" hole saw to cut the roof for yer stack exhaust sytem...get her looking like a Kenworth if ya keep at it. I'ma sure yous can get a kit to put the Dayna 60's on her too and t-case n all! **** son..4X4!! Mud bogger n sports car all in one!!

Better even yet! Call Rolls Royce n see if ya can get one o them 747 engines from em fer cheap, weld it to the roof n mount some wings on her so she can be an airplane!!

Porsche is a Porsche...keep it that way or go by a Chevy. Nuff said. Gees..makin me sick thinking about it......*puke*

[eion]

Originally posted by B.Lane
4X4!! Mud bogger n sports car all in one!!

*cough cough* Cayenne *cough cough*
Sorry, I said the 'c'-word.

Originally posted by B.Lane
Gees..makin me sick thinking about it......*puke*

Well said.


On a serious note, I don't have any problems with people doing the V-8 conversion thingy - but if the price is comparable to a 3.6 swap, why would you want to do it?


edit: speling

[k9handler]

The project plans Jack has been posting are all just a hoax to lead us in the wrong direction! His plans are on another level...he really is making Black Beauty II a "Hot Rod"!

[930fan]

Has anyone put a 996 motor into an a/cooled car before? I'm sure there is a plentiful supply these at wrecker yards and probably decently priced too.

[JonT]

k9--I read Mel Gibson is doing another Mad Max movie--how sweet would that car be as the Mad Max mobile!

[k9handler]

Mad Max in "Black Beauty II"...hmmmm

Makes me think about making a movie trailor spoof!

Ha Ha

[pbs911]

George "Swap Monster" over on Rennlist has a pretty awesome v-8 conversion. Very well done.

It will be interesting to see if the attitude changes if, and when, Porsche comes out with a V-8 powered 911.

[dd74]

It's selling w/o an engine and trans.

Check the link:

1976 Non-sunroof coupe for sale - NICE Project!

Could get a pretty fast machine for less than $15k