928 transaxle, ford/chevy small block mid engine bug idea
 

so i want to build a mid engine bug with a 5 speed transaxle and the first thing that poped into my head was the basic 914 transaxle and a chevy/ford were the rear seats are suppose to be

only problem is that the 914 can hold like 250-300hp and thats sorta pusing it and this to be a daily driver when it's all said and done.
so i was thinking, hell the 928 has a 5speed transaxle why doesn't anyone use that?
i know the motor is in the front and the transaxle is in the rear, but how the hell does the clutch work?
can u even bolt up a chevy/ford straight to the transaxle?

i know the early (pre 1985?) transaxles had the clutch mounted to the engine and some sort of shaft linking the transaxle and engine/clutch combo.
does the later (after 1985?) run a clutch up against the transaxle and a shaft connecting the 928 motor???

is it possible to get the later 928 transaxle with the clutch attached and bolt on a chevy/ford? or would i have to shorten up the shaft between the engine and transaxle?
has this been done?

i searched around online, and i searched on this forum but i've gotten no leads to anything like this even attempted.
thanks u guys

It's basically the same set up on the 944's. the clutch is at the back of the block, with a bell housing over the clutch set up, then the TT running from that bellhousing to the trans. It would probably be cheaper to run a 944 turbo trans axle with a early 5th gear.

Look at the LS1/LS2 conversion kits for a bellhousing. I really never heard of that being done, but I've been considering something like this for my 914.

Other than the engine being cheap, or really free almost, why would you use a Ford or Chevy V8? I could understand 25 years ago, but with so many lighter and higher output engines out there now why use a very heavy iron block motor?

This comes to mind,

Norman Rest's 1956 Austin Healey 100 with Ford SHO V6 Engine

lightweight porcelain engine, higher output per displacement than those older V8s.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282683496.jpg

you could do it with a 914 trans . did you ever hear if a 914/6 . you could also use a 911 trans many people do and just turn them up side down . thats what is done with a crap load of the kit cars out there . as for why would you use a chevy or foed motor ? that big cast iron motor only weights about 50 lbs over the 944 motor . i scaled a lot of motors to find out the weights . the 944 motor dressed out weighted 398lbs with a hp of 150 , chevy 350 sbc iron block and heads weighted 447 lbs with 400 hp , the ls7 motor in my 944 weights 439 lbs with 650 rwhp . i do love the 944s i own 7 of them at this time . but porsche did a crap job with the motor ! they took the ez way out and just cut the 928 motor in half . ( thow none of the parts are the same but that was the idea behind the 944 motor ) . they are big heavy under powered motors . 150hp from a 2.5L ????????

Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, not arguing with you but it seems like stepping over a $1 to pick up a dime.

I drove a C2 convertible in the late 90s in Germany my friend owned which had all of 250hp. That car got up to 168mph in a hurry.

Max. hp numbers don't do much for me, don't really tell where in the powerband the hp is or tq output. Overhead cam motors tend to gain revs a lot quicker and hold them much higher. I just don't think a V8 with roughly four times as much hp is four times faster or whatever. Case in point:
Dep-O Magazine - Frontline MG MGB GT

Extra weight is usually never good. 944s even with the 4 banger do very well on the track though because they were so well engineered for front to rear balance. The new Corvettes and Cadillacs put out some serious hp (also thanks to direct injection), but I dunno, just seems overkill using an iron block motor in this day and age making the car nose-heavy throwing all that weight around. Makes a lot of tire noise, etc. and more power to you if you like it, just saying if it was the answer of going faster there would be a lot more V8s in Miatas out there.

928 boxes are a real waste of time...
LS-1 or even LS-6 are all alloy construction lightweight and easy to obtain.
930s 4 speed are going for 2k and even less nowdays.They can hold at least 400 hp+ in stock form.If you like the engine in the front you just have to invert it (935s run them inverted)...

Jim