924Board.org

[Rick MacLaren]

Rico I can't agree with you.

The costs for making a V8 924 are waaaay beyond reasonable. How do I make this claim? Why am I sure of it?

I tried to get a V8 put into my 924. To do so, I first consulted with a mechanic in Toronto who builds V8's and shoehorns them into Jaguars. He recommended the idea. After 2 days in his shop, doing measurements, making notes, consulting with experts, this guy, a German mechanic, simply concluded that the cost for me would be around $9,000 CDN (around $5000 USD) and even at that price, the engine would overheat in traffic, would break control arms, would require ALL non-stock plumbing (metric to imperial), would require a new tranny and torque tube and simply would be worth more than a hopped up Porsche.

Not satisfied with his answer, I wrote to Renegade Hybrids. Renegade is in the business of making V8's for 944's and other Porsche. Their conclusion? Do it for a 944, but for a 924, the cost would be prohibitive.

Some things, regardless of 'arrogance' or 'ignorance', are simply solved by asking a few knowledgable experts.

YMMV

[Cbass]

It all depends on who does it, how they do it, and where they get their parts. If you get a 951 parts car for $2000, it contains all the parts you need to do the engine swap. That simple. There are some modifications that need to be made, but thats it.

If you can get a 3.5/5.0 or other compact V8, not like a SBC 350 or SBF 351 mind you, than you can probably manage to hook it up to the same drivetrain, with a lot more trouble.

If I can get a 944 TT and tranny for $500, and hook it up to a $1500 low mileage 5.0 from a wrecked mustang, I'd have a 5.0 924 for $2000 of work. I'd just rather have the 951 motor that came in the parts car for $2000. Plus I get a whole 951 parts car to upgrade from.

It's not arrogance, it's opinion. If you want a V8 in your car, than put a V8 in your car. I'd just rather have the turbo 4cyl.

[Rick MacLaren]

CBass: I can dig that. If you can get 944 Turbo parts for that cheap, then yeah, doing a 944 swap inside a 924 makes a lot of sense. It'll be WAY easier to get parts and talk to guys about it too, cause they're all Porsche and you're not mixing up Chevy and Porsche (guys just look at you with this confused look when you start going into the list of needed mods).

I don't have a garage, and I think for a lot of owners it really depends on whether you can do the work yourself. I'd LOVE to do a V8 or 944 turbo swap JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT, but fact is I can't get the space and hoist to take on a project like that. And you DO need a hoist or pretty damned high ramps to do it comfortably. So, faced with that limitation, I have to depend on mechanics and their hourly wage. I think that's, for me, the big limiting feature.

[Cbass]

Yeah... I've got a garage. I have to rent the hoist though. I want to build a Turbo 968 motor, but they factory turbos used the 951 cylinder head. Whats the point? I could just as easily get a 951 motor. If I can track down 968 or S2 low comp pistons, it'll work.

[Rick MacLaren]

The 968 is an excellent motor for the 924. If it's done with the 6 speed it'll beat anything around turbocharged or not. But the 944 motor turbocharged is also a rocket.

[ricomartinez]

Yeah, Rick. That's what I was getting at. If you have all the tools, skill, and time, the only thing you'll be paying for is materials. While that's still not gonna be dirt cheap, it sounds like most here have sources to get just about anything for less than the norm. With all that knowledge on how to cut costs the right way. These swaps can be somewhat reasonable.

[Cbass]

Thats exactly the point. If you already have all the materials, the room, and the tools, it'll cost next to nothing.

If I had a 951 motor and drivetrain sitting in my garage, you had better believe it wouldn't be there for long. It'd be in a 924.

I don't though, so I'll have to wait. Shops love to charge a ton of money for engine swaps. They charge you shop rates for labour, shop rates(+ markup) for parts, and anything else they can think of that will cost you money.

Unfortunately for most people, it's their only choice.