Updated photos of the SH4RK (1980 Eurospec)

[ideola]

Took the car out to the 2nd annual Crazy Curtis show in Livonia MI this weekend, so thought I'd share some pix of the SH4RK freshly prepped for shine-n-show :-) We were the only Porsche representing, among a bunch of American muscle, a Ferrari 308, a few NSXs, and parked right next to a Pantera.

(Clicking any pic will take you to the high resolution version on my Picasa album...there are more pix there as well)

[MPDano]

Very cool! Same as mine. Now detail the engine already

[ideola]

no point, I have a very special motor in the works that is going to replace the stock 4.5L ........

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by ideola

no point, I have a very special motor in the works that is going to replace the stock 4.5L ........

Share the info. Whatcha gonna drop in her?

[ideola]

Project History
I acquired this 1980 euro-spec 928 back in Feb 2005, with the 4.5L motor. I have been driving it in bone stock form since that time. In mid 2005, I connected with David Lloyd, erstwhile president of the 928 Owner's Club, and principal in Musante Motorsports out in CT (he's since moved on to other ventures as I understand). After much discussion about my plans for the 928, I began developing a high performance replacement motor (details below). In 2006 I went thru a divorce which pretty much killed all of my projects for a couple of years (I own six other water-cooled Porsches: a 924 NA, three 931s, a 924S, and a 944 roller that will be getting its own special treatment).

Two years later, my 931 ultra-wide-body track car project is finally moving again, and the other cars (including the SH4RK) are all road-worthy and well-sorted. However, the engine replacement project for the SH4RK is on the back burner for the foreseeable future. While I hate to let go of this motor, I have been toying off and on with selling it, simply because I hate to see the hybrid motor just sit in a crate. The SH4RK runs just fine with its stock 4.5L, and I am at least a year or two a way from being able to tackle the replacement.

Details of the Motor
The short block is a 1985 5.0L acquired in 2005 from 928 International. The top end is a 1980 4.7L euro-spec acquired from a 924board.org/Pelican/Rennlist member (Colin Jensan, a.k.a. Lizard) in the Vancouver area, also in 2005. I had the short block and top end shipped to Musante Motorsports. David Lloyd helped me spec out the details. Musante subsequently reconditioned the block, fly cut the pistons for valve clearance, and performed a complete reconditioning of the heads. I have full receipts and documentation from Musante.

This is the exact same configuration that David was running in his track 928. In David's car, the CR is 11:1, which requires high octane + octane booster (or full blown race fuel...or even an E85 conversion...), and produces in the neighborhood of 350 BHP. The best part of this motor is that it is a direct bolt-in to an early chassis. There is no wiring harness conversion required, and the 5.0 block mounts directly into the early chassis. Easy-peasy. This is a complete, ready-to-build, fully-prepped motor, suitable for spirited street driving or a dedicated track car. The only things required to finish the motor are:
- seal & gasket kits for short-block and top-end
- typical tune up components (i.e. plugs, wires, filters, etc.)
- flywheel
- oil pan
- CIS (although if I keep it, the 4.5L CIS will stay, or I'll convert to EFI + E85)

After consulting with Dave, I opted for the hybrid-stroker approach because it was less expensive and more bolt-in than any of the available supercharger alternatives for the 16v engines. In other words, the biggest bang for the buck without requiring a complete engine+CIS+wiring swap. I planned to re-use the existing CIS setup in my '80 4.5L, so there was no need to source a complete CIS setup. I was also planning to reuse the same flywheel. So for anyone with an early chassis, the only thing required would be the seal kits, tune-up parts, and an oil pan (last I checked, 928 International had pans listed for $100). The engine has been in storage in my climate-controlled garage since 2005, wrapped in plastic sitting in the same crate it was shipped to me in from Musante.

[MPDano]

Nice!!!! Just wondering what a motor like this would sell for? Especially being able to use the old CIS without mods to the harness. I think Mike (DanglerB) is working on the same engine project as you.

[ideola]

I have close to $6K in the components and prep work described above. So yeah, $6K, just sitting in a crate since 2005

[Danglerb]

I think you will also need a Euro S WUR, but can reuse the rest of the 4.5 CIS.

Its a tempting sweet swap, but a hair less compression and you could run pump gas. Typical hybrid is about 10.4 I think, and runs on premium pump gas.

[ideola]

David Lloyd indicated that he ran the stock 4.5 WUR and simply shimmed the primary control pressure in the fuel distributor. If I stick with CIS, this is what I'll do. However, given what I've learned about EFI and E85 in the interim, if I ever get around to doing this swap, I will most certainly have to consider an E85 conversion. You just can't get around the advantages of 105+ octane from cheap pump gas. It would be worth the extra expense of the EFI conversion and would probably pay for itself in about 5 years of driving (vs. running race fuel).