944 street/track with a 6.0 Litre V8 (LS2)

[chrenan]

I've run a 1987 944 Turbo as a street legal track car since 2007.  It's been good to me and I've got it setup to be a perfect dance partner.  I've kept up on engine maintenance over the years, rod bearings, head gasket, fresh head and turbo etc.  A few years ago a driver side balance shaft leak and a few others have been getting steadily worse, so I really need to pull the engine and address it.  That prompted action on an LS swap that I had been considering.  Here's some details on the car.    

Engine:

Turnkey Engine Supply crate LS2
MEFI 5 engine management
TPC swap kit
SPEC stage 1 clutch
SPEC lightened steel flywheel
Ford hydroboost brake booster with Turn One pump
Superior Radiator aluminum radiator
RX7 oil cooler

Front Suspension:

400in/lbs springs
Racers Edge Camber Plates / High Strung 44 Control Arms with monoball bushings
Ground Control coil over / Koni Sport
30mm front sway bar

Rear Suspension:

650in/lbs springs
Elephant Racing Poly Bronze Bearings / Solid torsion carrier mounts and monoball bushings
Ground Control coil over / 30 series Koni
19mm adjustable rear sway bar

Weights:

Corner balance (Prior to LS swap):

818.....810
782.....747

Cross weight 50.4%

Total weight 3157 including half tank of gas and 215 for driver (2942 without driver)

Brakes:

Front:

996 GT3 4-Piston calipers on 330 Cayenne rotors
Pagid Orange pads
944 Turbo Cup cooling ducts and 968 air spats

Rear:

Stock 944 Turbo calipers and rotors
Pagid Black pads

Safety/Interior:

Heigo bolt-in rollbar
Cobra Evolution GT halo seat
Scroth harnesses
Momo Mod 07 wheel on NRG quick release

Transmission:

Stock 944 Turbo with added Quaife TBD
Lindsey Racing Semi Solid Mount

Steering:

Factory manual steering rack

Body:

IFC cowl hood
TPC air splitter

Wheels:

Enkei NT03 18x10

Edited by chrenan on Saturday 26th January 15:07

[chrenan]

[8bit]

Super cool! Keen for more details/photos about the swap?

[jas xjr]

Good work. More details please

[AndySheff]

If ever there was a thread crying out for a video !!

[Dr G]

What a great thing! I'd also like to read some more about it.

Is the standard gearbox/transmission happy with that amount of torque?

[chrenan]

AndySheff said:

If ever there was a thread crying out for a video !!

Just got it on track last summer after a couple years working on the swap, unfortunately not too many videos. Did plenty of street driving and six track days to break it in.

First time running.

https://youtu.be/DAm9nRtDqvc

First time at the track, I drove it around my neighbourhood a few times and then straight to a track day, so I wasn’t really on it in this video, but you get a sense of the sound at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28SQkl9g_1A

[Dannbodge]

Looks awesome on those enkeis

[chrenan]

Dr G said:

What a great thing! I'd also like to read some more about it.

Is the standard gearbox/transmission happy with that amount of torque?

Appreciate the kind words from everyone, thanks! Been reading this forum for years and love it but never contribute, figured I should finally make an effort even if I’m not UK based.

The 944 Turbo transmission has been fine so far. I try to be kind to it, there really isn’t another easy option for a stronger transmission.

[chrenan]

A few more details for those curious. In terms of doing an LS swap it’s fairly “simple”, there’s no cutting required and there are off the shelf solutions from vendors for all the big obstacles. I got my swap parts from Texas Performance Concepts. This included oil pan and oil pickup, torque tube adapter plate, radiator, engine mounts, hydrobooster for brakes including firewall adapter plate, larger clutch master, clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, headers and some other smaller items.

The magic really happens here, the adapter plate that mates the torque tube to the C5 Corvette bell housing. The hydraulic throw out bearing is also C5 Corvette.





Here you can see the custom oil pan on a mock-up engine, AN fittings to go to/from the remote oil filter and cooler. It’s got 4 trap doors in the sump, one in each corner, for oil control.





Here you can see the engine mounts, they bolt up to the stock cross member. (Also a good shot of my 993 hollow spoke rims that I ran before the Enkeis)



The long tube swap headers are a tight fit to the block. This is one area where there isn’t an off the shelf solution for you RHD folks. You’d have to make custom headers, and it would be tight on a RHD 944 as the starter and the steering shaft would both be taking space on the same side of the engine.



Engine gets pulled up into place from the bottom (transmission in the rear of the car is removed and torque tube slid back to allow engine install). You can see the large swap radiator here, as well as the big RX7 oil cooler I’ve beem running for a long time.



Let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like to see on the swap or car.

Edited by chrenan on Saturday 26th January 15:11

[TonyRPH]

IIRC, the 944 gearbox was always a weak spot with those cars.

Have you upgraded the 'box at all?

OOPS: Just spotted this in the OP:

Transmission:

Stock 944 Turbo with added Quaife TBD


So does it cope ok with all that extra power / torque?

[chrenan]

TonyRPH said:

IIRC, the 944 gearbox was always a weak spot with those cars.

Have you upgraded the 'box at all?

It’s a 944 Turbo, so the transmission is a fair bit stronger than a normally aspirated 944 transmission. It’s had a quaife TBD installed, that’s it. They seem to hold up OK, the stock axles act as a fuse and usually snap before damage to the transmission. The normally aspirated 944 transmission won’t handle an LS, the ring and pinion will fail.

[AndySheff]

chrenan said:

Just got it on track last summer after a couple years working on the swap, unfortunately not too many videos. Did plenty of street driving and six track days to break it in.

First time running.

https://youtu.be/DAm9nRtDqvc

First time at the track, I drove it around my neighbourhood a few times and then straight to a track day, so I wasn’t really on it in this video, but you get a sense of the sound at least.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28SQkl9g_1A

Excellent.
Almost like a mini 928.

[J4CKO]

Thats cool, removes the main issue with 944s, tired and/or lethargic engines, well, thats if the sills are ok. Would take an LS over any of the original engines.

You mentioned Corvette bits, the C5 onwards has a transaxle like the 944, has anyone converted to a Vette box ? guessing it would be stronger seeing as it comes with big V8's as standard.

[chrenan]

J4CKO said:

You mentioned Corvette bits, the C5 onwards has a transaxle like the 944, has anyone converted to a Vette box ? guessing it would be stronger seeing as it comes with big V8's as standard.

There’s one recent thread on the 944Hybrids forum of someone doing just that. However, it seems to require the Corvette torque tube as well as the trans, and it looks to be a VERY tight fit as the GM torque tube is much thicker. It’s not impossible but not exactly “bolt in”.

[blade7]

J4CKO said:

Thats cool, removes the main issue with 944s, tired and/or lethargic engines, well, thats if the sills are ok. Would take an LS over any of the original engines.

You're hardly an authority on the potential of the original engines.

[chrenan]

blade7 said:

You're hardly an authority on the potential of the original engines.

Not that it's directed at me, but I thought I should state I'm not an original engine hater by any stretch, I ran the stock engine in my track car for many years. I'm also still part owner with a group of friends of a normally aspirated stock engine 944 race car that we race locally.

Edited by chrenan on Tuesday 29th January 16:42

[J4CKO]

blade7 said:

J4CKO said:

Thats cool, removes the main issue with 944s, tired and/or lethargic engines, well, thats if the sills are ok. Would take an LS over any of the original engines.

You're hardly an authority on the potential of the original engines.

Not many people are and beyond some tweaks on the turbo most leave well alone, there isnt really any easy extra power to be had from an S2.

I was kind of thinking of the legions of NA 2.5's out there really, they arent any great loss and not sure people are going to be pulling Turbo or even S2 engines these days.

I did say over any of the original engines, 200 to 250 bhp fours versus a 400 odd bhp V8, hmmm, easy choice.

I did read about the potential of the original engines and some of the projects people do using the various combinations and modifications but its a complex area versus a crate engine and a tried and tested route to power with reliability.

Developing something from 30 year old engines is very interesting and kudos to anyone who does but it sounds like a lot of work, which is beyond most folk, which is why V8 conversions make sense, but always interested to hear about those who have gone in other directions.

[J4CKO]

chrenan said:

J4CKO said:

You mentioned Corvette bits, the C5 onwards has a transaxle like the 944, has anyone converted to a Vette box ? guessing it would be stronger seeing as it comes with big V8's as standard.

There’s one recent thread on the 944Hybrids forum of someone doing just that. However, it seems to require the Corvette torque tube as well as the trans, and it looks to be a VERY tight fit as the GM torque tube is much thicker. It’s not impossible but not exactly “bolt in”.

Funnily enough there was a C5 ZO6 on Wheeler Dealers tonight that had a clutch change so got a good look at the Corvette drivetrain, similar layout but not the same and scaled up a bit.

[blade7]

J4CKO said:

Not many people are and beyond some tweaks on the turbo most leave well alone, there isnt really any easy extra power to be had from an S2.

I did say over any of the original engines, 200 to 250 bhp fours versus a 400 odd bhp V8, hmmm, easy choice.

The engine in the picture I posted came out of an S2, it's now got around 600 bhp. It would be easier, and cheaper for me to make 400 bhp from my 2.5 four cylinder engine than to convert to a V8. You really shouldn't make sweeping statements about things you know very little about.