951 Help & Suggestions Please

[sellingporsche]

Hello Everyone,

I typically post in the 911 or BMW area's but I just took a leap of faith and bought an 86 944 Turbo. This is my first 944 Turbo although I have owned several 911's and 2 944 Non Turbo's.

I hear the 951 can be made to be extremely fast but I just dont know where to start and what parts are out there to buy and or stay away from.

1. I bought the car on ebay knowing it needed a clutch, so I will be replacing it within the next couple of days, any suggestions on parts?

2. I also saw a few performance chips from Authority on ebay and they were selling pretty cheap, has anyone heard or purchased one of these chips? The stage 1 chips were under $50, the stage 2 chips with the funny bolt were under $150.....

3. I know there is a mass air flow meter upgrade for the car but dont know where to find it or who makes it?

4. Every car I own has sport suspension (H&R Springs) and I want to lower my 951 by use of sport springs, any suggestions on makes? I know the rear is torsion bar so does anyone know how many teeth I need to adjust the arm on the factory torsion bar to attain a 2 inch lower sportier look?

The car has 110K and the timing belts were replaced last year, any other service related things I should be doing to the car at this mileage interval? The turbo seems to be in good working order, spools up and hit the gauge at about 1.5 bar is this normal too?

My intention is to build a moderately quick streetable weekend toy. I have had more than my fair share of 911's and problems related to 911's so I'm used to spending money on Porsche repairs.....lol If this was a 911 I know exactly where I would go, but since it's a 951 I thought I would ask....

Thanks,
Steve

[ae1969]

1. Clutch options.. The turbo clutch kits you see out there are fairly good. You more than likely have the stock disc that has the little springs on it (always fail). So the easy solution.......sachs kit. Replace pressure plate, disc, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, needle bearings. Check flywheel and you are done.

IF you want some thing a little more serious. I use a KEP plate, cup disc and fidanza flywheel. It works well but it gives the leg a work out.

2. Authority has been around for a long time. They do work. I suggest you search and read about chip options. It is a steady slope once you start modifying. You have to be very sure of what you want in the end..... A stock k26 will easill give you 230-240 rwhp.... If that is enough....... chips/banjo bolts are easy solutions. The only chip I would spend the money on at this point would be one from www.vitesseracing.com

3. MAFs are available from vitesse as well.

4. Jason at Paragon is a great resource for suspensions. http://www.*****************.com/ You will also find great info in the tech sections at that site.

At 110K the waterpump is probably due if it has not been changed. Normally it is swapped out when rollers and belts are done.

1.5 bar........well the stock guage can be hard to read unfortunately.... Normally your car will build to approximately.... ~1.75bar and bleed out to 1.5 at redline...

Now realize that .75 bar is the actual boost.... 1 is ambient. So you are generating ~11 psi ~3K rpm and down to .5 bar (8 psi) at redline...

A chip/boost enhancer will have you building 15 psi at ~3K and hopefully it would hold to redline. (but number of factors that can affect this).

Have fun...........and READ READ READ before you change anything.

[sellingporsche]

Alex,

Thank you for the reply and input, it helped me figure out exactly what I want to do....but still have a few questions...

1. If I do the Authority Chip (Stage 1) they claim a 35hp gain and remove the rev limiter. A Stage 2 chip includes the banjo bolt, but whats the banjo bolt for?

I'm not sure I want to go as far as changing the MAF..... I hear the upgrade carries a $1800 price tag, not to mention the car just had the factory MAF replaced. Can I just do the Authority chip alone?

2. Replacing the factory blow off valvue and releasing it into the atmoshpere....to get that ppppppsssssssst sound.....is it possible with a 951? I always loved that sound.....

The car will pin you in the seat the way it drives now, but I dont want to blow it up so safe mods is what I'm looking for...

Thanks Again,
Steve

[JustinL]

1. The banjo bolt bleeds the boost signal to the wastegate so it stays closed and makes more boost. I would avoid the autothority stuff and just go straight to vitesse racing. You can get cheaper MAFs than $1800 you just need to shop around.

2. You can vent to the atmosphere, but be aware that you will run rich any time the BOV is venting. You must also make sure that it stays closed at idle otherwise you could suck in unfiltered, unmetered air.

[sellingporsche]

JustinL,

When I have tried to rearrange the factory BOV to release into open air the car will barely run at idle....actually it wont idle....

Any suggestions? I'm going to call Vitesse Racing today maybe they will have some answers....

Thanks,
Steve

EDIT: Does anyone have a phone number for Vitesse Racing?

[ae1969]

Originally posted by sellingporsche
JustinL,

When I have tried to rearrange the factory BOV to release into open air the car will barely run at idle....actually it wont idle....

Any suggestions? I'm going to call Vitesse Racing today maybe they will have some answers....

Thanks,
Steve

EDIT: Does anyone have a phone number for Vitesse Racing?

If you did it right it should not affect idle.

Take a look and see if the diaphram is ripped....

P.S I emailed John asking him to reply to this thread. He lurks in the shadows here as well.

[JustinL]

I would suggest testing your current valve as Alex suggested. The easiest way to check is to suck on the nipple at the top (I know, I know). If you can pull air through then the diaphragm is torn. The valve should just pop open and let no air through.

When you go shopping for a new BOV and want to vent to atmosphere, then make sure it's strong enough to stay closed under idle vacuum or get an adjustable one like a HKS SSQV. You will also need to plug the hole in the rubber J-pipe that you unplugged the valve from. A big bolt will work, but make sure it's secured and not going to get sucked into the turbo.

[Tapage]

And is posible obtain the pppppsssssttttttt sound same at evos or subarus in a 951 .. ?

[nynor]

venting to atmosphere is hurting your performance. it is designed to that venting back into the intake keeps the impeller spinning, making the turbo lag between shifts shorter.

[Evan70]

Get the "cup" clutch kit. I just got mine back today from having this installed and it is great. A lot stronger than stock, withou any noticeable increase in pedal effort. As a matter of fact, my new cup clutch has less pedal effort than my worn out stock unit did.

For chips, don't bother with anyone except Vitesse. Yes, Autothority and others will make more HP than stock, but John's chips will make way more than those do and be better for driveability. If you want a MAF, get the whole kit from Vitesse, but honestly I'd recommend you start off with chips first. One other thing, you'll have to have some kind of boost control with John's chips as they are designed to bypass the stock cycling valve. My advice would be a good electronic boost controller, but hey are somewhat expensive (but worth it in my opinion).

One of the first things you should do is get a good aftermarket boost gauge (electronic boost controllers will include this function if you go that route). The stock gauge is only good for stock boost levels. Once you start approaching the upper end of the stock gauge (~14psi/1bar over atmospher (2 bar on the gauge)), it becomes pretty worhless. The main reason being it won't display past 2 bar, so if you are running greater than stock boost levels you won't have a clue as to how high of a boost level you are actually getting.

[sellingporsche]

I talked to John from Vitesse yesterday and I'm convinced he is the man to see about the car.......lol

Jason from Paragon reccommended the cup clutch too and it looks like thats what I will be doing. I'm waiting on John to get back to me about a Stage 2 turbo replacement......Might as well while they are in there doing the clutch replace the turbo too..........right?

John and I had a great conversation about where I want to go with the car and he offered up enough info and references to the capabilities of the car and the motor which put me at ease. As I said going from building 911's to now trying a 951 was a leap of faith but John put me at ease, especially after telling me about the potential of a properly tuned 951.....WOW, I cant wait!

I'll keep you all posted and try to post a few pics of my 951 as a sort of "before" and "after" affect....

Thanks, Steve

EDIT: I wanted to ask, has anyone heard of Broadfoot Racing? I read something about they have a "rebuilt" engine exchange? I assume they sell you a completely rebuilt 951 motor and you send them your core? Just thought I would ask....

[Evan70]

You might want to do a search on them on rennlist, they don't have a very good rep there.