924Board.org

[Def85]

Hey guys, I’ve been looking over the years at a bunch of cars that I would love to start as a project. I’m a qualified fabricator (boilmaker) but I’ve never really worked on cars before besides your normal maintenance (oil filters, tie rod ends etc.)

I’ve always sort of had a dream to do something like a v8 swap into a car, and I’ve recently been looking at the 924 with a ls1 swap as a potential project.

I have been looking at a few non running half done ones for sale,
And was wondering if this is a bit to big of a idea for a beginner.

I had the idea of buying a damaged Holden commodore manual ls1 that is for sale, and swapping out most of the running gear into the 924.

I have time, space , and drive to take on a project car., and I want this car to be a cruiser... nothing boosted or anything.

I would like the car to be engineered and legal , so I have been trying to get ahold of some vacc approved signatory people to talk about my idea, but unfortunately I have t had anyone wanting to take a little time to hear me out (or to take me seriously)

I really want to start this project before I have kids and then find it harder to put time into a project. I really want to tick this of my list of life goals.

I’d like to say I’d love to stick to. A budget of 15k - 20k aus.am I dreaming ? That would be me doing all the work.

I’m not looking for the car to be all original body and interior wise. I’m happy for it to be sort of ruff on the edges in a way. I’m not to worried if I’m missing a few original bits and pieces from the interior for example.

Am I going to the rite way about this by trying to talk to engineers first before actually buying a car? It seems to make sense to me.

Any wisdom and thoughts would really help

Thanks guys

[Cedric]

If you are handy at fabricating it shouldnt be a big issue to get this car sorted. There are hubs, brakes etc from the 931, 944, 951 cars that can be used to make the engineering process easier. You need to sort the gearbox though, a transaxle and gearbox from a 951(the gearing might suit a cruiser better) or 944s2 could be a solution. I hope you plan to keep it narrow body, that would be cool, you can fit some decent tyre sizes under there, easily 245mm wide.

Though swaps in the real life is much more time consuming than most people think, theres so much small stuff that will take a lot of time, hence there are so many half done projects.
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1980 924 Turbo
www.instagram.com/garagecedric/

[peterld]

Many, many people have undertaken V8 swaps into 924/944 bodies, particularly in the States. There are companies which sell kits just for that purpose, though they seem to be for the old all iron 350s.
MacBdog (Brisbane), and others on this forum, have accomplished this task.
The LS1 would be a sweet motor combo. Transferring the complete drivetrain from a Commodore would be more challenging.
If using just the engine, then a stronger torque tube and gearbox from a later 944 would be necessary, and the upgraded brakes and suspension would be very desirable.
Either way check with engineers first..........here in Qld it's not a problem......don't know about Vic though.
Check out some other scenarios in the motor transplant section of this forum.
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80/81 932/8 ROW

[Def85]

Thank you for your responses guys I really appreciate it. I’m currently in the process of emailing engineers my ideas for the build, hoping someone will get back to me to see if it’s doable.

I’ve really been trying to spend any spare time reading and watching videos about the car and following Porsche to LS motor swaps on 924 -944s, and just really trying to educate myself with the workings of motors itself, fault findings, words of wisdom on taking on a car project, and panel beating skills etc.

I went down to a Porsche specialist in Melbourne (Weltmeister) the other day and spoke to a really helpful bloke for a bit of advice and words of wisdom.

I also spoke to a very helpful mechanic who took the time to Google search the car for me to see if my ideas could possibly work for me.

Both blokes definitely agreed that I should speak to engineers first. I really do not want to leave a bad taste in my mouth buying a car that’s just going to sit in the backyard rotting away because I don’t know how to go about getting the car roadworthy.

I’m really just waiting for a response from engineers now to give me some kind of direction on this possible build

[XLR8]

The NA 924 is a great place to start. They are so simple.

The NA engine does respond to turbocharging very well, but you'll need to do an EFI conversion first.

That's the way i'd go, if I had your skills.
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'81 Porsche 924 NA
'89 Eunos Roadster NA6
'06 Landcruiser HDJ100