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Fun car modifications:

Leppah

Leppah

Turbo Monkey
Mar 12, 2008
2,294
3
Utar
blue said:
Erik? He still does.

Chevy 350 into a Porsche 944 (okay, 924S). Is the summer project. The best news is that the hardest thing to source thus far has been a hood.
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That's him.


i think i've seen a few pics in Grassroots Mags with cars that had a swap similar to what you're talking about. They were usually in those 2009 or whatever year it happens to be "challenges". Man, there are some interesting cars at those challenges.

Did you autocross? I used to about 7 years ago. I think it was right when the first WRX's were being sold that i actually quit.
 
B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
Leppah said:
That's him.


i think i've seen a few pics in Grassroots Mags with cars that had a swap similar to what you're talking about. They were usually in those 2009 or whatever year it happens to be "challenges". Man, there are some interesting cars at those challenges.

Did you autocross? I used to about 7 years ago. I think it was right when the first WRX's were being sold that i actually quit.
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Chevy V8s into 944s is nothing new (or technically that difficult). The newer aluminum LS series SBCs are popular owing to their light weight, but they're spendy as balls to get your hands on (and lighter than the stock Porsche lump). I'll be going with an older all-iron 350 that has been gifted to me. It ups the weight by about 150lbs so there's a bit of suspension tweaking involved, but it'll still be a fairly well balanced 2700lb car with 300hp/350ftlb of torque. Plus a helluva lot more reliable/easier to work on than stock. I just have to figure out if the carb is gonna clear the hood. I will be doing suspension and brakes before ripping the engine out, though.

I've done a couple auto-x races at the ECenter (not in my own car), as well as some track days at Laguna Seca in my BMW e30 when I was living in CA. Nothing that long ago, though.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
blue said:
I just have to figure out if the carb is gonna clear the hood. I will be doing suspension and brakes before ripping the engine out, though.
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That's going to be an interesting noise coming from under that VW... I mean Porsche 924 ;)

What cam is in it. Duration/Lift.

Does the 350 already have the manifold/carb already on it (i.e. you don't want to buy anything new for it). If not I bet there are some more low profile FI setups out there. Cant be too hard to find an old TPI (it was a few inches lower than your standard Edelbrock/Holley setup, I know back in the day there were a number of aftermarket systems that allowed them to be retrofitted to older cars.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Leppah said:
Lower the car if you want it to look a little better. Make sure the bump stops get trimmed down. If you want it to handle better and you're on a tight budget, get a rear sway bar like someone else was saying. Also get some cheap KYB adjustable struts. I think they're called AGX's.
As far as not having traction, you can drive with finesse. You don't have to stomp the pedal to the floor everywhere you go. If you want to learn how to really drive your car without killing it, go autocross it. There was a guy out here that had a 1.8t years ago with a bunch of mods to it. He was always in the top three in the street mod category. That's probably the hardest category to race. But, it's mostly driver too.

Change some of your inter cooler piping. Those things are kinked as eff. They're pretty cheap too. I highly recommend getting a cat-back exhaust too. That helps a turbo car a lot.

Coilovers are nice, but usually a lot more money than springs. Unless you're just getting some of the Ground Control sleeves and springs. Those actually work pretty good too. I had some on my old Rabbit.

If you're just making your car peppy for driving around, i'd do the catback, a rear sway bar, and some lowering springs. Then i'd probably look at messing with the ECU.
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Thats exactly why I'm lowering it... mostly looks. Apparently this suspension setup makes for better turn in as well, but that's not really why I'm doing it. The car looks tall stock. As for trimming the bump stops... no need. 1.4 inch drop to be exact. Thats hardly a low rider.

All the other stuff you mentioned... that all good, but thats at least another $1000-$1500 for maybe 15-20 horsepower. The ECU is the largest gain for the least amount of cash $600 for 50 hp. If I feel like I want more power (which I probably wont), the exhaust is where I'll turn, but it wont be catback. I'll shoot for the downpipe... that POS has 2 freaking cats on it. All the restriction is up in there. That's probably 15-20 hiding in that 1 pipe... problem is, how do I fool the damn sensors if I remove the 2 cats for a single more efficient unit. I suppose I could relocate them both to adjacent areas near the same cat... but I'll never know if that will work till it's too late.

To sum up... this may be the extent of my mods. Again... I'm not racing, I'm addressing issued that I don't like about the car. Fender gap, underpowered.

BTW someone mentioned above the diverter valve... AWE makes a unit to adapt a porsche valve to work in it's place. It's rated to handle far more boost than I'll ever be pushing, so if mine fails, problem solved. Hell, I may even preempt it... the VW diverter valves are prone to failure even on stock cars.
 
Gunner

Gunner

Monkey
May 6, 2003
533
0
Framingham, MA
pics of your GTI or STFU :)

My 20th Anniversary Edition is paid off in a week and now I'm dreaming of a few mods I might be able to afford....unless I decide that I need to buy a DH bike :(
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Gunner said:
pics of your GTI or STFU :)

My 20th Anniversary Edition is paid off in a week and now I'm dreaming of a few mods I might be able to afford....unless I decide that I need to buy a DH bike :(
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If you want to see my car as is now just Google, "Black 2008 VW GTI" and that will be my car. Next week all the wrenches start to turn. Middle to end of next week I should be all done... then I'll post pics.

BTW APR is running a special on ECU programs if you're interested. You can get a fully loaded ECU for $600 (4 programs). Typically its around $800 just for "Stock" and "Chipped".
 
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B

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
golgiaparatus said:
That's going to be an interesting noise coming from under that VW... I mean Porsche 924 ;)

What cam is in it. Duration/Lift.

Does the 350 already have the manifold/carb already on it (i.e. you don't want to buy anything new for it). If not I bet there are some more low profile FI setups out there. Cant be too hard to find an old TPI (it was a few inches lower than your standard Edelbrock/Holley setup, I know back in the day there were a number of aftermarket systems that allowed them to be retrofitted to older cars.
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No idea on the cam, I'll prolly be switching it out. It's a complete motor, but I'll be getting an aluminum intake mani and likely a new carb (and a rebuild). FI was a thought, but I think I'll be keeping it carbed. I've never owned anything with a carb, learning how they work hands-on is something I'd like to do, and the wiring involved with FI isn't something I want to get messy with right now. Carb'd engine is dead simple to install from the electrical perspective.

I'll prolly end up relocating the battery to the trunk and swapping for a manual steering rack (it has a power one right now, but the pump is hosed).
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,322
13,436
Portland, OR
golgiaparatus said:
I know back in the day there were a number of aftermarket systems that allowed them to be retrofitted to older cars.
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IIRC Painless makes a kit for the Vette TPI setups that is crazy easy. Not exactly cheap, but so worth it from a performance/ease of use perspective. I know a lot of guys who have swapped an LS into a classic C10.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
blue said:
No idea on the cam, I'll prolly be switching it out. It's a complete motor, but I'll be getting an aluminum intake mani and likely a new carb (and a rebuild). FI was a thought, but I think I'll be keeping it carbed. I've never owned anything with a carb, learning how they work hands-on is something I'd like to do, and the wiring involved with FI isn't something I want to get messy with right now. Carb'd engine is dead simple to install from the electrical perspective.

I'll prolly end up relocating the battery to the trunk and swapping for a manual steering rack (it has a power one right now, but the pump is hosed).
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I was just trying to think how to get that intake height down. From a low profile perspective I think you might be able to fit a TPI style FI setup easier than you could a carbd setup.

Gotta go a little lopy on the cam if you have the compression to support it... nothing sounds more american than the rumbly V8 sound... from under a porsche it'd be pretty awesome.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
jimmydean said:
IIRC Painless makes a kit for the Vette TPI setups that is crazy easy. Not exactly cheap, but so worth it from a performance/ease of use perspective. I know a lot of guys who have swapped an LS into a classic C10.
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Imho that was one of the best/cleanest induction setups that GM has ever designed. Worked, and looked pretty clean too. Back in the day when they were rolling around under the hoods of all Vettes and the Irocs I wanted one for my Monte just based on the looks of it. I might have tried it if I hadn't just rejetted my Quadrajet and had my car running absolutely perfectly.
 
golgiaparatus

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma
Well all mods are done. Skipped the wheels for now just couldn't drop the $1k for them after buying the software, can and springs back to back to back.

Total list:
APR Stage 1 ECU upgrade
BSH Catch Can System
H&R Sport Springs

Car now boosts 22 PSI instead of 14 and is significantly quicker. Still feels totally stock until you jump on the gas pretty hard. Looks much better about 1.5" lower, no more SUV wheel gap.
 
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