[Lemming]

If you are a dedicated reader of the watercooled section of Rennlist, then you have likely seen the long thread (924S# update) detailing my track car build. If you did, stop here and read no further, if not continue on.



I bought the car, a 1988 (924S), about 1.5 years ago. The car was in very nice shape with only 38,000 or so miles on the clock. My goal at that time was to turn it into a DE car. The only mod I did at first was to add heavier front springs and Koni yellows. I did 2 or 3 DE's and decided to strip the car and add safety features (rollbar, 5-point harnesses, etc). That lasted for about 9 months until I decided to upgrade the suspension to Leda coilovers and delete the torsion bars. This was a great move and made the car an absolute blast to drive on the track. The one nagging problem that I had was that there just wasn't enough power in that little 2.5L engine. I new that I was going to have to get more power, but how?



At first I planned on going with a non-porsche motor, an LT1 <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/blink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> I got the chance to pick up a 951 tranny for relatively cheap so I did as that is the tranny of choice for that conversion. About that time, I bought my 1995 968 and fell in love with the engine and I know what I had to do, a Porsche transplant. I purchased a 1995 968 engine with 57,000 miles on it from Ebay and was poised to build my beast. The problem is that if I took it to the shop to have it done it would cost me an arm and a leg to say the least, and I'm not a mechanic. What was I to do? Everyone told me not to attempt the transplant by myself but I did. With the money that I would save from installing it myself, I purchased a mid-rise lift to make the job tolerable. After nearly two months, I'm happy to say that the car has been on track and is fantastic. Below is a list of some of the specifics:



968 engine

New belts, rollers, and waterpump

951 transmission with LSD and oil cooler

944S2 flywheel

Spec stage III clutch

Converted from power to manual steering

replaced a-arms

replaced most of the suspension bushings

gutted all fans, ac, and non-essential wiring from under the dash



I got the car running last week and took it to the dyno on Saturday (see below). On the dynojet I was getting around 200 and 200 (hp and torque). I was pleased with that, hell, I'm happy the car actually runs. Then on Sunday, I got the chance to go to Little Talledega (1.35 mile road course) to test her out (www.dpo.uab.edu/~tnagy/924sdebut.wmv). I'm happy to report that she worked better than I could have hoped for. I'm off to Road Atlanta in a few weeks and hope she continues to do well.



The car is being built to run in the GTS challenge in GTS3.

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[Anchorman]

WOW! The most amazing statement is "...and I'm not a mechanic." I should be so incapable.

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[Lemming]

[quote name='Anchorman' date='Sep 27 2005, 07:17 PM']WOW!  The most amazing statement is "...and I'm not a mechanic."  I should be so incapable.

[right][post="10390"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]





It's absolutely true, I'm not a mechanic. If I can do this project, anyone can.



I've spent the night going over the car to see what "broke" on Sunday. So far, the engine and tranny look good and major problems. The car does run rough under 3,000 rpms but sings happily above that? Not sure of the problem, but I swapped the MAF from my daily driver and that had no effect.



The only thing that seems to have gone are my front brakes. During my last run I heard a squeal so I pulled into the pits and yelled for a fried to look at my front pads. He said there was very little and I pulled in for the day (only about 10 minutes lost on the day). So today I ordered some Hawk blues. Tonight I tore into the brakes to get them ready, low and behold on the right side I had blown through the pads and it appears that I've screwed the caliper. I pulled the caliper and cannot get the piston to go back go back in????? Looks like I need to upgrade, sort of thought that would be necessary at the beginning. By the way the pads were KFP golds and this was the third track day on them :-( At the start of the day, the pads looked new!



I went back and reviewed my last track day at Little Talledega (about 1 year ago), this was prior to RA1s, Ledas, the engine, and quite a bit of track time. I cut about 21 to 22 seconds off my time, hard to believe <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Graham]

Cracking job Tim,



I am thinking of pulling the engine in mine to sort teh shell properly.



It has already been out once in the last year so I am in two minds really



Graham

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[Graham]

Its also interesting that you sold the M3 to mod the Porsches.



I gave up the chance to trade for an M3 to mod my car



Graham

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[Lemming]

[quote name='Graham' date='Sep 28 2005, 06:38 AM']Its also interesting that you sold the M3 to mod the Porsches.



I gave up the chance to trade for an M3 to mod my car



Graham

[right][post="10401"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



I really did like the M3, with 333 hp it was amazing. What I didn't like was the clutch problems that I was having and the reluctance of my local dealer to fix it. I did get the work done under warranty but had to drive 60 miles to the next nearest dealer. I didn't want to have to make that drive for all my warranty and service work and I refused to go back to the local "stealer" (three miles from my home).



I also like having a daily driver that has the same feel (ergonomics) and characteristics of my track car.

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[mike]

Congrats Tim. Outstanding job! It's inspirational stories like these that give courage to the rest of us who are "not a mechanic". Wish you could have had the car ready by the time I met you at Barber a couple of months ago. Have fun at RA.



Mike

'95 968 Black Metallic Coupe

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[bob blackwell]

Great job Tim! I used to drive a 924S with the stock engine and know what you mean about the desire for more power. Mine was totalled in an accident and that led me to the 968. You seem to have the best of both worlds now. How much trouble was it to convert to manual steering? Good luck, Bob Blackwell.

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[Lemming]

[quote name='bob blackwell' date='Sep 30 2005, 04:10 PM']Great job Tim!  I used to drive a 924S with the stock engine and know what you mean about the desire for more power.  Mine was totalled in an accident and that led me to the 968.  You seem to have the best of both worlds now.  How much trouble was it to convert to manual steering? Good luck, Bob Blackwell.

[right][post="10530"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Bob - The conversion was a breeze, I just bought the entire rack package from Paragon. So far I really like it, the only down side is that it wasn't cheap <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/ohmy.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Mike - don't worry, you'll see the car around, I plan on keeping it for a while!

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[Lemming]

Well, here are a few photos of the pads and caliper <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Guess that means I get to upgrade. I ended up going with the Rennbay Wilwood 4 piston calipers, they fit in the 15" phonies <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Richard]

Tim,



Great job on the 924S3 and thanks for sharing the pictures and information as it gives me some needed confidence to work more on my 968. By the way, what does the 924S3 weigh?

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[Lemming]

[quote name='Richard' date='Oct 6 2005, 12:39 PM']Tim,



Great job on the 924S3 and thanks for sharing the pictures and information as it gives me some needed confidence to work more on my 968.  By the way, what does the 924S3 weigh?

[right][post="10792"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



It has not been on the scale in quite a while, the last time it was it weight 2450 without me in it. I've removed a lot of stuff since then, but also added a slightly heavier engine. I'm guessing it is slightly below 2400 at the moment. I really need to get it scaled and corner weighted. When I do, I'll post the numbers.

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[Leonard]

Lemming,



I am interested in the swap you performed. Can you elaborate on the advantages you have or lost by using the 924 in conjunction with the 968 engine as far as classification? Is there an advantage you would have over your compititors?

Are you in the same group as 968s, 944 t, Boxsters? Where would you be placed, modified 924 class?

I am thinking of buying/building a car to race locally.



Thank you,

Leonard

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[Lemming]

[quote name='Leonard' date='Jan 13 2006, 10:51 AM']Lemming,



I am interested in the swap you performed. Can you elaborate on the advantages you have or lost by using the 924 in conjunction with the 968 engine as far as classification? Is there an advantage you would have over your compititors?

Are you in the same group as 968s, 944 t, Boxsters? Where would you be placed, modified 924 class?

I am thinking of buying/building a car to race locally.



Thank you,

Leonard

[right][post="14543"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]



Do not build a car like this if you are planning on running PCA or SCCA as it pushes you into a class that you cannot be competitive in. For example, in PCA the car would be classed as GT3 and you will be running with 500hp turbos. On the other hand, I think this is a strong car for the GTSchallenge in which all cars are based on weight/hp ratios. Currently that class is dominated by the E36 M3's and my little beast can easily run with them.



To buy or build? Well, it will cost you 5 times as much to build your own car compared to buying one that is already built (assuming you do all of your own work). Having said that, why did I build my own? Well, I just wanted to: I like to learn new things and I'd never done any wrenching on a car (I had done a lot of work on dirtbikes).



There's a very long thread on Rennlist that documents the entire build. Search my user name, I believe the thread title is "924S3 update".



Buy the way, I just picked up a '94 968 motor with the intention of either keeping it as a spare, or selling it for profit. So, if your desperate for a motor, I'll take offers <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/cool.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Leonard]

Thanks lemming for the information. I had been thinking Boxster, but then thought why not a 968, and now this.... it sounds very interesting. I will have to do some major research.



Thank you,

leonard

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