944 v8 conversion questions

coilover944 · coilover944's Garage

hi, i am looking to do a ls1 swap in my 951. I have looked at renegade hybrids but i want to know if you guys know of a cheaper solution. what exactly needs to be changed, whats in the way, what parts can i make my self.... that sorta thing- thanks

Techno Duck · Techno Duck's Garage

Alot of good info about swaps floating around. Here are just a few good sources of info..

VT951's Build

Basic 944V8 Swap Info

Texas Performance Concepts

and a good forum at..

Home

The big stuff that most cant just do in a garage themselves needed are mainly the uprights (engine mounts), bell housing adapter, headers and obviously the rest of the exhaust. Regarding the headers, there are off the shelf parts available from Jegs/Summit..etc that fit, but the passenger side needs to be modified a pretty fair amount in order to clear the steering shaft.

A buddy of mine will be doing an LS1 swap over the winter, we are hoping to have it done by spring of next year.

flash968 · 12-01-2010, 11:22 AM

if you are already looking for "cheaper" you are headed in the wrong direction - if you don't do it right, what you will end up with is a rattly mess that is a beast to drive

save up and do it when you have the money to do it right

962porsche · 12-01-2010, 02:18 PM

i'm now on my 2nd 948 build aka 944 v8 . the 1st has a ls7 motor the this one i'm going with a SBC 350 carbed ? or i can use a LT1 i have that needs a head . my 1st 948 was cheap fo me to do . around 1500 dollars . the motor came out of an ABA car at my shop . as did the SBC i may do in this new build . this build will run me about 900 dolars to do . all i had to buy is the C5 one peice ballhousing ,clutch and the adapter plate . i built every thing else . most of the time if you have to get all the parts and you can't do fab work it will cost thousends to build . its all just how nuts you want to go . doing a swap will take any were from a week doing it at night to years . again just how nuts do you want to go . so let me put it to you this way for what it costs to do a total rebuild on a 944 8v motor you can do a SBC V8 swap for the same price . that build would be a TOTAL REBUILD !! new oil pump , water pump , pistons , all seals and barings , belts , every thing ! about 8000 to 10000 K . for the swap you will add about 50 more LBS to the car from as it sits now . you will start with 350 to 400 HP right off the bat with real good tork too . i like the 944 model cars i have 7 of them but after i did the 1st 948 i realy think porsche should have built the 944 with a V8 motor . stop in at the 944hybrids forums .

flash968 · 12-01-2010, 03:26 PM

knowing that the chassis, suspension and brakes are NOT up to the task of handling that engine, i am wondering how you factor in the cost of those?

properly done, you are looking at at least $15k to do the job

otherwise you end up with some hillbilly rattlebucket death machine, which is what most of these conversions are, which is why they mostly seem to come up for sale about 2 years after they are done

i've done a number of V8 conversions, and one in a 944 - it isn't easy or cheap to do it right, and it's really expensive to do it wrong