ENGINE SWAP FOR 924
Discussion
Hi everyone. I'm a "new boy" so bear with me. Not sure if this question has been asked before (be supprised if it hasn't) but what, if any, newer Audi engine will fit my 924. Looking for something easy to fit (using existing bell housing to marry up to torque tube) that will give me more power but the same reliability. I've looked at the option of fitting a V8 but it's very expensive & i'm not really looking for that much power. Thanks.
So, no replies then? Is this because i mentioned an "Audi" engine in the Porsche form? Or is a 1985 924 considered too "low brow" here? There must be other 924 owners out there who, like me, use them as every day transport & have thought about an engine swap. we all know the history of the 924, thats one of the reasons i asked about Audi engines, thinking that would be the easy route &, when all's said & done, the "origional" route. I saw a 924 on ebay about 6 months ago fitted with a Ford Pinto. Who know's how they fitted that! Come on guy's, someone speak to me!
No conspiracy here honest, you get the odd converted 924 but I'm not aware of one on here. There was a chap who put an ex TVR Rover V8 into a 944 but thats a different engine conected to a diiferent bell housing.
Apparently there are companys advertising in various kit car magazines who do any engine to any bell housing conversions (within reason), so anything is possible ! Maybe try Rennlist or Pelican parts forums ?
Apparently there are companys advertising in various kit car magazines who do any engine to any bell housing conversions (within reason), so anything is possible ! Maybe try Rennlist or Pelican parts forums ?
interloper said:
No conspiracy here honest, you get the odd converted 924 but I'm not aware of one on here. There was a chap who put an ex TVR Rover V8 into a 944 but thats a different engine conected to a diiferent bell housing.
Apparently there are companys advertising in various kit car magazines who do any engine to any bell housing conversions (within reason), so anything is possible ! Maybe try Rennlist or Pelican parts forums ?
Thanks for the reply. It's good to know there's someone out there! I will try the forums you sugest. Hope i find something. I've been serching the web via many serch engines but, as of yet, can not find any information on engine swaps for 924 anywhere apart from an American site which gives you info on fitting a V8 & tell's where to get the fitting kit from. As already mentioned, very expensive. They say cost could be as high as $6000!!! (don't know current exchange rate so won't quote sterling price) & not realy sutable for 924, more for 944 or 986 as, according to them, the 924 gear box is not strong enough to take all the power. If anyone out there is interested, let me know & I'll give you the web address.
Hi diver
Thanks for your reply. Don't really want to go the 944 route if I can help it. Might sound strange but when I first decided to buy a Porsche i looked at many 924's, 924S's & 944's, what made me buy the 924 was the fact that 2 of the 944's I looked at blew their head gaskets on test drive! Wasn't driving hard either, so that put me off to say the least. I picked the 924 as, apart from it being one owner, full history etc, the engine apears to be un-breakable. With that in mind, as it is basicaly an Audi engine, the Audi route seemed to me the best option, reliability, more power & ease of fitment (I hope!), not to say the cheapest route. I'm sure I could pick up an Audi at the scrappers a lot cheaper than a 944. Would hate to think how much a 968 engine would cost, even if I could find one in a breakers yard!
Someone out there must have thought of going this route in the past & found any pit falls, etc, that they can tell me about.
Thanks again.
Thanks for your reply. Don't really want to go the 944 route if I can help it. Might sound strange but when I first decided to buy a Porsche i looked at many 924's, 924S's & 944's, what made me buy the 924 was the fact that 2 of the 944's I looked at blew their head gaskets on test drive! Wasn't driving hard either, so that put me off to say the least. I picked the 924 as, apart from it being one owner, full history etc, the engine apears to be un-breakable. With that in mind, as it is basicaly an Audi engine, the Audi route seemed to me the best option, reliability, more power & ease of fitment (I hope!), not to say the cheapest route. I'm sure I could pick up an Audi at the scrappers a lot cheaper than a 944. Would hate to think how much a 968 engine would cost, even if I could find one in a breakers yard!
Someone out there must have thought of going this route in the past & found any pit falls, etc, that they can tell me about.
Thanks again.
Blow,
Never known of this being done to a 924, however a popular swap for Golfs ec & a swap that I think could work well for you & be reasonably cost effective & give good gains, would be to use the combination of an Audi 3a block (2.0litre early 1990s Audi 80s etc) & the advantage of the 3a engine is thats its longitudinal so sump, & engine mounts etc etc set up correctly for 924 fitment, then mate that to the cylinder head & Bosch K ket injection from a 16v Mk2 Golf/Jetta/Corrado (not the 2.0l tho) you want the KR 1.8 head & cams (tho you could use a 9a head from Corrado 16v as long as you used KR cams)
That little lot properly set up on the rollers should see about 170 ish bhp & if you went for slighly lumper cams & a gas flowed head 185 or so is posible, & if you optimised evey thing i.e. flowed the inlet & exhaust manifolds to head & a few other odds you can see a real 200bhp out of a 3a/KR combination.
If you could do the engineering work yourself it could cost naff all & I reackon you could get all the major bits for sub £500 ish, thou maybe you might need specialy fabricateed exhausrt manifolds etc on top.
Also although they dont have big power figures as standard a simpler option maybe just to transplant the engine directly in off an Audi 80 sport 16v using all the injection etc, only 140bhp as standard tho.
Also not been done that im aware of on a 924 but something that has been in the back of my mind for a while that could be a fun wagon, is that if you have a larger budget & want to kick the arse off 944 Turbos & alot of 911s
for really big perfomance id say go the VAG 1.8T route.
Easily tweeked for big power figures- £200+ bhp is few hundred £ & 350bhp is not at all tough to achive & still remains reliable, would go v well in the light & narrow 924! the only downside is the 1.8T engine sounds like a hair dryer, a powerful one tho
If you thought about this route you would want the 1.8T from an A4 (or perhaps an A6 is the same) as they are longtundinal engines not transverse like Golfs, Leons Ibizas etc etc.
Good 1.8T engines with all electrics (must have all these as other wise unless you plan to chance the ECU for an aftermarket jobbie it just wont run otherwise) can be had for around £1500.
Gearbox & dif may be the weakpoint so perhaps useing 944 turbo items may be the solution if you went the 1.8T route.
However despite all that, you can get good power gains even out of the standard 924 2L as the 924 racers are rated at 143bhp (I think it is) by using a piper camshaft and Im sure more is posible if you played about with properly gasflowing the cylinder head etc. & 924 racecars on track (obiously the have properly set up race suspension & are completly stripped) but they are very respectibly rapid in comparison to far more expensive wagons.
Anyway good luck which ever route you take & if you did fancy a V8 have a read of this-
www.pistonheads.com/porsche/default.asp?storyId=7895
Never known of this being done to a 924, however a popular swap for Golfs ec & a swap that I think could work well for you & be reasonably cost effective & give good gains, would be to use the combination of an Audi 3a block (2.0litre early 1990s Audi 80s etc) & the advantage of the 3a engine is thats its longitudinal so sump, & engine mounts etc etc set up correctly for 924 fitment, then mate that to the cylinder head & Bosch K ket injection from a 16v Mk2 Golf/Jetta/Corrado (not the 2.0l tho) you want the KR 1.8 head & cams (tho you could use a 9a head from Corrado 16v as long as you used KR cams)
That little lot properly set up on the rollers should see about 170 ish bhp & if you went for slighly lumper cams & a gas flowed head 185 or so is posible, & if you optimised evey thing i.e. flowed the inlet & exhaust manifolds to head & a few other odds you can see a real 200bhp out of a 3a/KR combination.
If you could do the engineering work yourself it could cost naff all & I reackon you could get all the major bits for sub £500 ish, thou maybe you might need specialy fabricateed exhausrt manifolds etc on top.
Also although they dont have big power figures as standard a simpler option maybe just to transplant the engine directly in off an Audi 80 sport 16v using all the injection etc, only 140bhp as standard tho.
Also not been done that im aware of on a 924 but something that has been in the back of my mind for a while that could be a fun wagon, is that if you have a larger budget & want to kick the arse off 944 Turbos & alot of 911s
for really big perfomance id say go the VAG 1.8T route. Easily tweeked for big power figures- £200+ bhp is few hundred £ & 350bhp is not at all tough to achive & still remains reliable, would go v well in the light & narrow 924! the only downside is the 1.8T engine sounds like a hair dryer, a powerful one tho
If you thought about this route you would want the 1.8T from an A4 (or perhaps an A6 is the same) as they are longtundinal engines not transverse like Golfs, Leons Ibizas etc etc.
Good 1.8T engines with all electrics (must have all these as other wise unless you plan to chance the ECU for an aftermarket jobbie it just wont run otherwise) can be had for around £1500.
Gearbox & dif may be the weakpoint so perhaps useing 944 turbo items may be the solution if you went the 1.8T route.
However despite all that, you can get good power gains even out of the standard 924 2L as the 924 racers are rated at 143bhp (I think it is) by using a piper camshaft and Im sure more is posible if you played about with properly gasflowing the cylinder head etc. & 924 racecars on track (obiously the have properly set up race suspension & are completly stripped) but they are very respectibly rapid in comparison to far more expensive wagons.
Anyway good luck which ever route you take & if you did fancy a V8 have a read of this-
www.pistonheads.com/porsche/default.asp?storyId=7895
Iguana
Thanks for the info. Like the sound of the VAG 1.8T option. Have started looking for a suitable donor already. Don't mind it sounding like a hair dryer, as long as I get more power & the same reliability.
I'm gona be fitting a Carrera GT kit soon so the power gain should make it go as fast as it looks like it should. Once I've fitted the kit & re-sprayed the car, I'll try to post a picture on here
Thanks again
Thanks for the info. Like the sound of the VAG 1.8T option. Have started looking for a suitable donor already. Don't mind it sounding like a hair dryer, as long as I get more power & the same reliability.
I'm gona be fitting a Carrera GT kit soon so the power gain should make it go as fast as it looks like it should. Once I've fitted the kit & re-sprayed the car, I'll try to post a picture on here
Thanks again
Save up for a 944T or 968 gearbox and 944 torque tube as well, the stock 924 one is p*ss weak and will not handle more torque than a tweeked standard engine.
Then get yourself some big red brakes on 993TT discs because the damn thing will not stop either!
And then there's the handling..........
Then get yourself some big red brakes on 993TT discs because the damn thing will not stop either!
And then there's the handling..........
Hi Iggy
Yes I'm still here!! Thanks for the tip. I had a sneeky look at the feature in Asda last night when shopping with the wife. Intend to buy it on Saturday & have a good read.
Thanks for remembering me.
Blow
(p.s. BLOW PW is my reg number. If you see a red 924 thats part fitted with a Carrera GT kit (still not finished, not enough hours in the day!) with this reg, give me a wave)
Yes I'm still here!! Thanks for the tip. I had a sneeky look at the feature in Asda last night when shopping with the wife. Intend to buy it on Saturday & have a good read.
Thanks for remembering me.
Blow
(p.s. BLOW PW is my reg number. If you see a red 924 thats part fitted with a Carrera GT kit (still not finished, not enough hours in the day!) with this reg, give me a wave)
currently bringing a 944 back to life.....V8 V8 V8 V8 V8 V8 V8 
No probs blow, PH is almost public service after all
I think the chap in Retro did it to get more grunt & keep to a 2 litre limit for the regs, said it was a sod to fit it in tho.
Supprsied he only got 160bhp out of it, a well set up & proper spec 2.0 in a Golf with lairy cams & a flowed head & throttle bodies etc can be good for 215 bhp or so & even 200bhp on the old K jet injection.
Thinking about it if not to get under 2litre race regs, im not sure what you would really gain over shoving in a 924S/944 lux engine (& from what 9m added the gearbox too), by the time all the effort to put the VW/Audi lump in is taken into account its perhaps not worth it just to save a few quid on the engine & should get a lot more mid & bottom end torque out of the pork 2.5 too.
Having said all that I would consider slinging my own reasonable spec VW lump in a 924- maybe an ex 924 racer if one came along sans engine at the right price, a skelital 924 should go well with over 180bhp 'eh
I think the chap in Retro did it to get more grunt & keep to a 2 litre limit for the regs, said it was a sod to fit it in tho.
Supprsied he only got 160bhp out of it, a well set up & proper spec 2.0 in a Golf with lairy cams & a flowed head & throttle bodies etc can be good for 215 bhp or so & even 200bhp on the old K jet injection.
Thinking about it if not to get under 2litre race regs, im not sure what you would really gain over shoving in a 924S/944 lux engine (& from what 9m added the gearbox too), by the time all the effort to put the VW/Audi lump in is taken into account its perhaps not worth it just to save a few quid on the engine & should get a lot more mid & bottom end torque out of the pork 2.5 too.
Having said all that I would consider slinging my own reasonable spec VW lump in a 924- maybe an ex 924 racer if one came along sans engine at the right price, a skelital 924 should go well with over 180bhp 'eh
Sorry if I'm pissing on your chips here BUT all this engine swaping will cost you a load more that you first imagine.
Why not if you want a powerfull 924.......buy a Turbo & tweek it.
However, if your just into modding cars then had you thought of a Honda S2000 unit? 240bhp@9000RPM
If you fit the whole engine Gbox unit you get 6speeds as well.
Why not if you want a powerfull 924.......buy a Turbo & tweek it.
However, if your just into modding cars then had you thought of a Honda S2000 unit? 240bhp@9000RPM
If you fit the whole engine Gbox unit you get 6speeds as well.
BLOW PW said:
Hi Iggy
Intend to buy it on Saturday & have a good read.
Hi
There's also an article by a guy who ran a 924 in the PCGB race series in "911 & Porsche World" (I think) April 2004. If I remember correctly, he ran throttle bodies, a different injection system, and a 2.3 liter conversion, getting to his class limit of 160 bhp/158 Lb Ft. If you're interested, and can't get a reprint from the mag, drop me a line, and I'll see what I can do.
Remember though Ninemeister's points, if Colin says the tranny's marginal for the power, then it is: You'll need to budget for lots of 944 bits...
Good Luck,
Sean
Wow! What a great response from all. You have given me lots to think about. Prob won't start on engine swap until the New Year now. Still not sure which avenue I will take yet, but rest assured, it will happen. Silverback, hope all goes well with the V8. Did you buy the adaptor kit from the States? If not & you need some pointers, try this, www.renegadehybrids.com/944.htm
you may find it helpful
BLOW
>> Edited by BLOW PW on Friday 3rd December 16:14
you may find it helpful
BLOW
>> Edited by BLOW PW on Friday 3rd December 16:14
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