Help for my '84 NA project

[hevnsdevl]

I've read the forums quite a bit, and it seems the general consensus is that some people believe it's cheaper to buy a 951 than convert a NA. My situation won't allow for that as I live in South Africa and the 944 Turbo was never sold here, although there are a few of them in the country (very expensive -+$30000). I have made a few posts already asking about brakes, and they're finally fixed! Me and my father bought a '84 NA about 8 months ago for about $3200 but the idiot previous owners decided to add carburetters, these have been removed. But now to the point I'm trying to get across: I am completely rebuilding the car (as mentioned brakes are done) Currently the engine is removed from the car in my garrage where we plan to have the block honed, blueprinted and replace the clutch. I REALLY wan't to convert this car to forced induction and I'm relying on everyones help. This is what I've purchased so far:

84 NA 944 $3200
911 tan seats (full leather!) $600
Had head resurfaced along with valve job $370
944 Turbo low compression pistons $200 (bargain!)
EBC Brakes Redstuff brake pads $100
Full set of gaskets,seals and bearings $700

Here are the things I have gotten quotes on:

Dicktator standalone ECU+installation $750 (local product Home )
Garret refurbished turbo $700
Custom exhaust for turbo $600

The things I think I still need are BOV and wastegates, the engine job,clutch and performance brake rotors.
All things considered this isn't a very expensive project (about the same as a fancy student car here in SA). Now to my final point: what else will I have to take in consideration for my project? I'll appreciate any help/advice/motivation/insight anyone can give me.

[HondaDustR]

IMHO, the stock NA suspension and brakes in good condition are plenty to control 220 hp for sport, weekend, and daily driving. If I were to track the car, I would say they would also need to be upgraded for reliability and better overal track performance, but for pete's sake...a new stock toyota camry has more power than the turbo motor!..and that car is a POS. (just me complaining about the Porsche purists that are just a little too pure. ) Any good race driver could find the limits and drive within them on any car, and 220hp can still get you going pretty good, but stupidity and inexperience kills more often than just speed. Porsche built the turbo car that way because it was the best ballance for maximum performance in every aspect, but certainly not the only workable balance possible.

My only other recommendation would be to find a turbo transmission, as the NA final drive is not very strong and the turbo transmission is improved as well as has better gearing for the turbo power curve. The NA transmission sometimes fails at NA power levels and would be definitely be strained running under full boost.

[hevnsdevl]

Thank you very much for this info. I'm glad to hear you say the suspension will be able to handle the extra load. I was afraid that the transmission would be the weak link because Turbo parts are rare here and the shipping for transmission would probably be the price of the transmission two times over. My goal would be about 220-240bhp. Thank you for the help!

[kdjones2000]

You will also want to get an intercooler and the associated hoses and such to reduce air temps and prevent detonation. Your standalone ideally should also have knock control that can pull timing (and boost!) in the event of pinging. This is where things start to get expensive.

I am assuming that you are planning for a wastegate as part of the custom exhaust? I am not sure that your NA AFM will be sufficient for the turbo, so you will possibly have to get a Turbo AFM. Of course if you are staying with air volume (AFM), then tuning with the standalone will become difficult. Converting over to MAF or MAP is the more logical solution.

Next question is going to be the clutch/pressure plate - is yours still a rubber-centered disc and can it handle the additional power? You might want to get a turbo bell housing and clutch setup as well.

There is much more to be considered here than what you have mentioned above. I recommend that you check with Rogue Tuning or Pauertuning on what you will need before you get too deep into this.

Good luck, Keith

[hevnsdevl]

Thank you Keith for your insight. I totally forgot about the MAP sensor, seeing as the car had carburettors (...ugh) it didn't have fuel rails, injectors, inlet manifold, MAF sensors or an airbox. The standalone can retard timing in the case of pining. Regarding the intercooler, is this absolutely necessary? I believe the 951 had a slightly different layout to accomodate the intercooler, and fitting one on a NA wil be a bit impractical, is there any way to circumvent this? As to the tuning, we know a few very talented people who should be able to fit and tune the turbo. Thank you once again Keith for your input, I appreciate it!

[kmakovac]

the interccoler is absolutly necesary to get the right power from the engine.Without intercooler you must retard your injection timing thet will result in less power with probability of detonation.You can put an afterrmarket one in front of the radiator.

Its easyer to get all the components from a non-runing turbo,it's easy to find on internet everything you need,manifolds,oil tubes,westgates,exaust,flywheel with clutch(the clutch is not absolutly neccesary but with original clutch/trasmission you will destroy it quicly).

i buy a complete 951 and slow piece to piece i put everything on my 944 but is just a swap.

People put all the turbo accesories on the 944 NA USA block(9,5:0 compresion)without any problems!

If you do the engine job at least you will need a beeter suspensions,stabiser bar and brakes!
Rennbay sales a 4 pistons brakes to put on a 944 NA.After i put 951 brakes on my 944 NA i strongly racomands this ones.

[hevnsdevl]

kmakovac thanks for the info, you say I should fit the intercooler in front of the radiator, but will it fit there? As you say it would be much easier to just buy a non running 951 but the thing is, they are very rare here, only a few were imported in the 80's as Porsche South Africa never sold the Turbo. I am planning to upgrade the suspension eventually and fit performance rotors to the stock brakes, but the engine has highest priority at the moment. I was wondering, as I am not going to use the KKK-26 turbo from the 951 but a Garret (still not sure which one) will an intercoller still be necessary, I'm not sure if this is a reasonable assumption, as the characteristics of the turbo's might be different. Thank you kmakovac for your insight!

[hevnsdevl]

I'm thinking of buying an aftermarket light weight flywheel and stage 2 clutch, is this a good idea? Also will the engine need additional cooling ?