'86 951 recommendations

[GrayMatter]

Hey y'all - Been a long time. (been too long actually)

I recently acquired an '86 951 for a song and I'm trying to decide how best to fix it up. All 4 brake calipers are frozen and it's missing many engine pieces but the interior is pristine and the exterior just needs a little TLC. It hasn't run or been on the road in over 20 years so prolly needs other maintenance too. Many of the missing engine parts seem to be NLA or outrageously expensive (I don't have the list of missing parts handy at the moment)

Being in Cali, engine swap ideas are slim to none although I did see that there is/was a shop in Oxnard doing Cali-legal LS1 swaps but haven't found any contact info for them. A SBC swap is not my desired route and I've considered electrifying it so I'm putting this out there to see if anyone else has experience or recommendations with this type of situation to get a 951 back on the road.

Thanks!

[grendiers]

Here's a good start on a resurrection!

Bringing back a 1987 Turbo

[GrayMatter]

Thanks! That's got some good info once I get to that point.

Originally Posted by grendiers

Here's a good start on a resurrection!

Bringing back a 1987 Turbo

[nize]

i'd personally prefer you stay with the 951 motor but if you're going to do an LS swap renegade has been around for a while:
https://www.renegadehybrids.com/944ls.html

[GrayMatter]

Sorry for coming back so late to this but I agree. As I mentioned in my original post, an LS/SBC swap was not my desired route but if $15k+ from what I had read was accurate just for a turbo engine rebuild that would not have been in the budget. Plus, RH's methods are not legal in Cali for a post-1975 car.

I have tried to run leak down tests and the engine of TMU seems to be OK for now. Now that I got the car home and and was able to get in the car (doors and hatch were frozen shut), the interior is not as clean as I remembered all those years ago when I last saw it. The paint is shot and it needs a lot of body work. I'm planning on trying to do a restoration on it as best I can if it fits within budget.

Originally Posted by nize

i'd personally prefer you stay with the 951 motor but if you're going to do an LS swap renegade has been around for a while:
https://www.renegadehybrids.com/944ls.html

[nize]

wow! is this one of those one-weekend-a-year projects? i can relate!

[GrayMatter]

Originally Posted by nize

wow! is this one of those one-weekend-a-year projects? i can relate!

LOL pretty much. Maybe weekend and a half.