1974 911 with LS2

[ChopShop]

Welcome and sorry in advance.

This car has been in Project Purgatory for more than a decade. You might have seen it recently come up on eBay as an unfinished project car with a bunch of good quality parts hung together on a painted 74 tub with an LS2 attached to a 930 transmission.

Skip the next few parts if you don’t care for the back ground story, it’s mostly for comedy value. For those who don’t like any of the wordy part, skip to the pictures.

After my better half (commonly referred to as my better 3/4’s, anyone who meets us realizes pretty quickly that I’m batting out of my league!) said she wanted it, we went halves the most expensive car I have ever bought.

Daryn (better 3/4’s and comedy genius) has had 911’s in her life since 1980 (year she was born) when her Dad bought an SC new in Germany, drove it around there and then shipped it back to California. It got stolen a few years later and the only part that was recovered was the steering wheel (which he still has on a hook in the garage, along with the 85MPH speedo he had changed out). Her Uncle had a 1987 930 Turbo in green with a caramel interior in 1989 for a few years (I would marry this girl if he still had it, just on the off chance I might get to drive it) and currently has a 996 S(ok, maybe we should get engaged.). She drove the 996 for the first time in July this year (she learned how to drive stick weeks before just so she could surprise her Uncle with her new skills and request a drive in the Porsche) After that drive, she declared in no uncertain terms; “Yeah, I gonna need one of those...” with that look that says “You make that happen.”


I, however, specialize in P.O.S $2000 or less cars that haven’t moved in 20+ years(the current record is 46 years). If I can drive it away, I’m not interested. If it has a clean title, I’m not interested. If it has paint, an interior, an engine, wheels, intact glass......you get the picture. This car only sort of fits the mold, I can’t drive it away, it’s missing lots of parts and I couldn’t see it in person(added a certain element of surprise).

After making the deal with a very nice guy in Ohio, (Oddly the buyers remorse stayed away after the sale, most unlike me. This must mean it’s a good idea.) the car has made it’s way to Colorado. (Where the buyers remorse kicked in hard, apparently it only stays away when the car is in someone else’s garage!)


Welcome back those who skipped the preamble, let’s get down to the car part.

Soooo....never buy a car without looking at it first. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that bad, but you just can’t get enough info from a couple of phone calls and a few random pictures (the only other car I bought sight unseen was an Audi wagon, when I asked the guy what the interior was like he said it was in great condition. He must have been looking at the back of the rear seat headrest when he said this because when I got the car, it looked like a goat had been living in it).

Regardless, there were a few surprises, like the puffy radiator that looked like it was left in water for too long and swole. I’m pretty sure it was filled with water when it froze during it’s long term storage in a unheated garage in Ohio. More on that later, it will be a surprise to us all because I don’t even know yet if the motor has suffered the same fate. Also the quality of work was questionable in some areas (nothing the P/O did, his work was really nice. I swore I’d never buy a car modified by someone else after I bought a 4x4 converted 61 Ford Econoline van done by a guy who didn’t own a drill. He did, however, own a gas torch. Are you starting to see a pattern in my buying habits?).

Anyway, on the positive side, it has a really good collection of top quality aftermarket parts (I see now why you buy good aftermarket when you don’t have the stock part, because it’s cheaper!). Motor is low miles, transmission is rebuilt, body is solid and pretty well painted even though it was 10 years ago and some of the filler has shrunk(Daryn refers to it as “just a little cottage cheese on the thighs, who doesn’t have that.”).

Long story short, the car rolled(it was more of a limp) into my shop(and life) in late September and I’ve been working on it since (I’ve taken some time off when I’ve had other things to do or I’m generally just annoyed with it).

I figure this is a good a place as any to share this story, those who are interested in motor swaps might not hate it and the haters can dip in and out as they see fit. I also figure it’s a good place to stop for now, this is a lot of waffle, the car is not going to build itself.

Thanks for sticking with it.

And so on with the pictures........

[ChopShop]

It’s been in the lift since this picture was taken







Boxes of parts. Best Christmas Ever.



Not a bad looking rear end. The car, I mean the car.

[ChopShop]

It’s all worth it though. Look at that face, who could deny her a nice 911. No seriously, try denying her anything, see how that works out for you!

[John_Kaufmann]

Love it!!!!

Sent from my SM-T290 using Tapatalk

[ChopShop]

Just take lots of little bites!

I started at the front(who wants to eat an elepahant from the rear end first anyway). I stripped the body work and started to look at the radiator area and front suspension. The gas tank front mount floor had been replaced, it was done pretty well but the upper part was missing. In it's place was an i-beam cross brace sort of thing between the front suspension mounts that was quite firmly welded in (I liked the concept but not the execution) and some body work around it that wasn't as firmly welded in.

The radiator was sort of mounted but as mentioned earlier it looked like it had been stung by a bee and reacted badly.

There were a few extra holes here and there, a Renegade Hybrid cut down alloy tank that was not mounted, some wiring and a battery floating in the smugglers box. It was generally a good start and something I could work with. So I did what I thought any logical human would do and cut it all out.

One of the saving graces to this project is that all the mechanical areas are painted with Por 15 instead of body color so I have been able to grind away to my hearts content(and my ears discontent) and weld in whatever I wanted and just touch up the paint without worrying about matching the body color. Is it show worthy? No. Is it practical? Yes indeed!

[ChopShop]

[ChopShop]

Got a bit carried away with taking parts off before taking pictures.

Car was only really hung together to get it rolling by the P/O so it was good to strip it and start again.

[JackDidley]

Keep posting and I will keep clicking. Looks like an awesome project.

[lackingmind]

The previous seller in OH would never answer my calls. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

[Pelicun666]

cool project!

[MichiganMike]

Now I know who I lost my bid to!! Haha! Glad to see it being built on here. Keep the posts coming!

[ChopShop]

There have been a few moments since owning this car that I wish someone else had won it, but when you have the backing of the Lady of the House, not winning was not really an option.

These are some of the original eBay listing photos, seems like so long ago now.









Lots of good work done, lots of work left to do!

[ChopShop]

This is how I found the frunk.



The upper bar for the radiator was a bit janky, the radiator was puffy and the fuel tank was only placed in there. The suspension was missing a few bolts here and there. Best get it cleared out!

[ChopShop]

Setting up on the lift. I really like the 2 work benches that come with a 4 post lift!


So many new things to look at. Where to start......

[ChopShop]

Figured I strip the fenders and hood instead of damaging them, that would be a first for me!


Makes it easier to get to the brakes at least.


Fancy shot from above, like in the magazines.

[Ryan_Cunningham]

This is going to be awesome to follow. Do you mind sharing with us how much you purchased it for?

[ChopShop]

....is Greater than the whole.

We won the car at $19101. It cost about $1200 to get it shipped from Ohio to Colorado in an enclosed trailer with the boxes of stuff packed in it and around it.

I figured it was worth close to that as parts if I got overwhelmed with it and wanted out.

One of the hardest things has been not knowing how the car is supposed to go together. I’ve done a lot of trawling of this site for pictures and info. It’s different when you take the car apart yourself. On the flip side, I am fortunate that it’s not a stock build so I can kind of make up the bits I’m not sure about (within the constraints of what is acceptable for a 911 build).

I’m learning as I go, trying to make the best of what we have. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, the whole LS swap business gets plenty of push back from more than the just Porsche purists, it’s the easy choice and so gets a bad rap. It’s the easy choice for a reason though, light, powerful, reliable, plenty of support and aftermarket parts galore(if someone wants to donate a 6 speed and twin turbo motor from a 996, I’ll consider stuffing it the back and using the LS for something else).

[Ryan_Cunningham]

I'm with you on everything you just said. I purchased a physically rough, but well-running 1972 Porsche 911 with a 380hp SBC, 930 trans, 996 turbo brakes, and 11" front / 13" rear tires finished in primer white about two years ago. I think I paid $32k or $33k plus about $1,500 shipping.

Its painted now, with functioning gauges, and an actual carpeted interior which is a vast improvement from when I picked it up and could see the road through the holes in the floor.

The car is incredibly simple, but hard to work on because you're learning as you go with zero references. I think it'll probably be truly finished... Never. But it runs and drives well and never fails to turn heads.

[ChopShop]

When I first read 11” front/13” rear tires I thought it must look ridiculous with those tiny whee.....oh he means width.....

I remember reading a bit about your car in my research, I like the style a lot and might end up doing something similar to this car. I’m not in love with the 993 style front fenders hut that bridge is a long way from here. But I plan on putting the radiator in such a position that if I change the front end, I won’t have to move any of the mechanical parts (finally learning to think a few steps ahead).

[ChopShop]

....time for work!




This is the cross brace for the front suspension. Notice the cut outs for the rad tanks either side of the front pan (we'll be fixing that).








Here is the upper radiator support, 1 inch box with a couple 1/2 inch spacers to hold the radiator away from the bar. Radiator was pretty snug in there and was quite secure. Functional but not exactly pretty.