RE: SOTW: Porsche 944 track car

[ian_touring]

B'stard Child said:

Stupid/Brave? Neither it's a gamble and I'm sure you'll be fine - did chuckle at the after a few beers bit

Even if it was something horribly terminal and unfixable (and I'm struggling to think of anything that would be) I wouldn't mind betting you'd still recover your outlay breaking it for spares

Start a thread on it in readers cars (or whatever the section is called) and I'd bookmark it just to share in the adventure that I'm sure you'll have

^This appears to be the real SOTW by popular demand
FTW

[vinnie83]

SteveRST said:

So am I stupid/brave ? - Will find out soon as I'm going to tow it home later (only 5 miles down the road - the location kinda sold it to me too!) I'll let you know how I get on. Fingers crossed!

Steve

I may be talking out of my arse, but I seem to remember from my 968 ownership a long time ago, that you shouldn't tow these cars as it can damage the trans-axle?

I'm sure someone here will confirm if this has any truth in it or not.

[NJH]

St John Smythe said:

NJH said:

Honest opinion, the ropey cars under a grand are a good buy to break for parts.

...and another thing. How is it that when the cars were generally in decent nick, easy reasonable OEM price parts availability and ripe for making into cheap track cars hardly anyone did (thinking back to about 10 years ago). Now when many of em are basically heaps of crap that will burn through your wallet like a wild fire everyone suddenly thinks 944s are ideal track slags.

An early Renaultsport Clio would make a much better track car than this 944 imo !

As a cheap track car yes, no doubt about it. Same for many other cars such as mk1 MX5, could easily find a decent one for £2K and a grand or so on mods would make a great little reliable track car. The more powerful models though such as S2, turbo and the 968 can make very rapid track and race cars but they cost serious money to get to that state and keep em there. I know one of the main preparers of racing 944s and 968s, their latest one has something like £26K sunk in it on top of the purchase cost which was for a minter. To buy and prep a really nice 968 race car for example is not going to see any change from £40K if starting from something like a non-sunroof 968 CS. This is why some of us who have been around the cars a long time get a bit cheesed off by these shed fake track/race car disasters. If that thing this thread is about is as big a nail as it seems I reckon my 1.2 Panda would see it off let alone anything remotely quick like a decent clio.

[legalknievel]

Liquid Knight said:

Or if you don't win the Lotto there are plenty of cheap 540/740 BMW's to borrow a V8 from.

Is that doable or is that just a throwaway quip?!

[GC8]

You can fit an S4 32v V8, if you have the engineering ability and/or the budget. Youll need a lot of both though, even for the GM engine conversion.

[kikiturbo]

ok, if you lived in the us, the LS conversion would be the logical choice, as those engines are cheap over there... and there are ready made kits..

A forum friend used to race 968's in sweden with saab turbo engines... those are a dime a dozen and much cheaper than maintaining original porsche engine, let alone a turbo 968..

[dom1102]

I run a virtually standard tune 1990 944 turbo on track days with half cage, recaro race seats, 4 point harnesses, K&W setup, braided hoses, track pads, semi slicks etc etc. Last out on the 25th may Pistonheads day at Rockingham. Yes the desired parts will obviously cost more than buying a straight car as your starting point but once they are set up correctly they really do provide big grins for relatively a small budget and you dont need to do it all at the same time. Saying that, I wouldn't touch this particular specimen with a bardge pole!

[tr7v8]

GC8 said:

You can fit an S4 32v V8, if you have the engineering ability and/or the budget. Youll need a lot of both though, even for the GM engine conversion.

Not sure it'd fit as it is too wide, as is the BMW. The LSx is the ideal choice, lots of them done, mostly off the shelf bits in the US which are standard GM bits, bellhousing, flywheel etc. The bellhousing to torque tube adapter is well drawn in various places & is simple machining & fab.

[GC8]

Any Porsche 928 V8 is too wide Jim, thats why you need engineering skills (and probably, a semi spaceframe too)! I believe that the GM engine conversions suit LHD cars, making them far from simple.

[dinkel]

944 turbo is what you want: In 1988, Porsche introduced the Turbo S. The 944 Turbo S had a more powerful engine with 250 hp (186 kW) and 250 lb·ft (340 N·m) torque (...) the boost would decrease from 1.75 bar at 3000 rpm to 1.52 bar at 5800 rpm. In June 1988, Car and Driver tested the 944 Turbo S and achieved a 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 13.9 seconds at 101 mph (163 km/h). Top speed was factory rated at 162 mph (261 km/h).

I say Beng!

[tr7v8]

GC8 said:

Any Porsche 928 V8 is too wide Jim, thats why you need engineering skills (and probably, a semi spaceframe too)! I believe that the GM engine conversions suit LHD cars, making them far from simple.

I researched the LSx swap & reckoned it was pretty simple. The LHD/RHD issue only affects the manifolds & I'd bespoke that any way. The rest is relatively simple.

[ILoveMondeo]

What a heap, not a patch on last weeks jag. In fact I'd rather smoke an xjr round a track than this. I know the old boat would be more fun than pushing this back to the pit lane.

[Gary C]

eliot said:

Because the wife had told him to get that POS of the driveway this weekend or divorce papers go in next week.

Good point

[UK952]

tr7v8 said:

I researched the LSx swap & reckoned it was pretty simple. The LHD/RHD issue only affects the manifolds & I'd bespoke that any way. The rest is relatively simple.

The starter sits where the steering shaft goes and the cross member is very different lhd to rhd. The cut out in the sump needs to be on the other side which then fouls the oil pick up. Should still be possible to make it work though.

[1974foggy]

A friend breaks 944s for spares, weve had the best fun on trackdays before they were dismantled- presumably as he wasnt too scared to make them dance!

Got to admit the ones he gets for parts are generally better than this one...
Great handling cars though.

[GC8]

UK952 said:

tr7v8 said:

I researched the LSx swap & reckoned it was pretty simple. The LHD/RHD issue only affects the manifolds & I'd bespoke that any way. The rest is relatively simple.

The starter sits where the steering shaft goes and the cross member is very different lhd to rhd. The cut out in the sump needs to be on the other side which then fouls the oil pick up. Should still be possible to make it work though.

Werent you doing a conversion Tony?

[vsonix]

Limpet said:

Worth £500 tops. For that, it might be worth a punt.

^ ropey and overpriced, even breaking it wouldn't bring loads since everything looks pretty well-worn/knackered.

[UK952]

GC8 said:

Werent you doing a conversion Tony?

In theory yes, in practice not yet! I have done lots of research, but not actually taken anything off the car yet, or sourced any parts. I think the starter will go closer to the standard position but this requires a different bell housing from a pick up, this then makes the torque tube connection harder. It might be possible to get a geared offset starter that clears the steering.

If I procrastinate long enough someone else might solve the problems!

[carinaman]

I'm not sure why anyone would want to put a V8 into this when it's soon be crushed before being recycled in China. Some say the 2.7 Twin Turbo Audi V6 mates to the bell housing that allows retention of the rear mounted transaxle and the weight distribution and handling benefits that provides.

[Ftumpch]

At least the seller is being hinest and straightforward about the origin of the green bits.