924 V8 Conversion

[daza]

Hi,

I've been told of a 924 for sale

I was thinking of a v8 conversion.

What bad points should I be looking out for on the car?

and

Does anyone have experience of putting a Rover or TVR v8 in a 924?

Thanks

Daza

[will_968]

There's plenty of info on v8 conversions on here for the 944/968 - do a search and have a read - a 924 would be 90% the same.

Your problem is I presume your TVR engine is a Rover V8? If so, it's too wide to fit in the engine bay without serious modification to the car. However a Chevy LS1 engine will fit straight in and is hence a much better starting point.

[daza]

Will,

Thanks, I have seen a post on another site with a rover V8 fitted, but have no other info. Are the chevy engines more expensive?

[wildoliver]

Few pointers, this thread has been done before, have a hunt for it it will help you.

In my opinion the v8 route isn't in keeping with the 924s character, the prototype I built used an audi straight 5 which was far better suited.

The Rover v8 will fit. Most TVR v8 engines are based on the Rover v8. However they did make the AJP v8 (in house designed and built like speed six) not cheap to buy, nice engine, but just buy a chevy if your spending that much.

Be aware you will lose money on the conversion, it is never going to make money because no one will want the car when it's done, the standard 924 in very good condition would be worth more and be easier to sell.

If you want a faster 924 buy an S or 944.

[daza]

Olliver,

Thanks,

I was looking at the project more as a fast road/track day car anyway, with the view of keeping it.

I have had a 69 TVR Vixen 20 odd years and have owned a 4.3 Griff for 2 or 3 years.

I'm just toying with the idea of a trackday project.

[wildoliver]

Wouldn't make a bad trackday car, but then again a standard 924 gutted out doesn't either, don't think they are slow! I seem to recall some of the 924 race cars were lapping circuits not that far behind 911s (sure someone will come along to confirm or deny that soon).

[daza]

What are they like on auto boxes?

[wildoliver]

Shocking!

Well that's unfair, but don't expect it to be fun to drive, as a daily driver bimbling around it would be a nice car, would be a waste of space as a track car though.

Not too hard to convert to manual though, especially if you were doing an engine swap.

[Daggerpie]

this is how you do it, makes 997tt feel like a Saxo! (in a straight line of course!)

[wildoliver]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

[daza]

There's a turbo that turns up at the ACE Cafe with just as many holes in its bonnet toooo!

Can you keep the fish and chips warm on the top of that lot?

[Daggerpie]

daza said:

There's a turbo that turns up at the ACE Cafe with just as many holes in its bonnet toooo!

Can you keep the fish and chips warm on the top of that lot?

I reckon you could even make your own chips, just feed them into that MASSIVE impellor...jeeesshh

[GC8]

Better to use the VAG 20v engine. Its essentially the same block (it still has the provision for a camshaft in the block, from the original DKW engine. I bet you thought that it was an VW van or an AUDI 100 engine, didnt you?) so Id expect that it would bolt in simply and well over 200bhp can be seen with ease.

[GC8]

wildoliver said:

Shocking!

Well that's unfair....

No it isnt, I was about to post the same thing. They are shocking, as are three speed AUDI 200-boxed Porsche 944s

[wildoliver]

GC8 said:

wildoliver said:

Shocking!

Well that's unfair....

No it isnt, I was about to post the same thing. They are shocking, as are three speed AUDI 200-boxed Porsche 944s

Shudder..... In many ways an automatic 944 is worse, at least a 2.0 NA 924 doesn't try to pretend it's anything it isn't, far more a cruiser, a 944 though is a capable sports car out of the box!

Is that true about the 20v engine? I know the history of the 2.0 924 Engine but wasn't aware they hgad carried the block across?

[GC8]

Neither was I, until a particularly well-respected Porsche engine builder told me the other week. Im assuming that mounting the block to the torque tube shouldnt be too difficult as this is the case.

[wildoliver]

Well when I was messing around with the Audi lumps I found the job wasn't as easy as I first thought, but it was possible and was quite good fun. Don't think I would actually bother for a car on the road though.

[Brett928S2]

daza said:

There's a turbo that turns up at the ACE Cafe with just as many holes in its bonnet toooo!

Can you keep the fish and chips warm on the top of that lot?

Hi

Is it yellow by any chance ??

Back to the OP`S question.....you put any V8 in the front of a 924 and you have a major weight distribution problem for a track car....its going to be VERY front end heavy, even with the Chevy lump in it....


All the best Brett

[wildoliver]

The 924 Engine is far from light as standard.

I know the LS1 engine is not far off a 944 engine in weight, so would imagine there wouldn't be a great deal of difference on a 924 either.

[Brett928S2]

wildoliver said:

The 924 Engine is far from light as standard.

I know the LS1 engine is not far off a 944 engine in weight, so would imagine there wouldn't be a great deal of difference on a 924 either.

Hi

The manual LS1 engine weighs 497 lbs...and the auto weighs 457 lbs...i don't know how much a 924 engine weighs ? but I would think its less...

Also the chevy is very tall, which would definitely mean a big hole in the bonnet.

All the best Brett