Conversions & Hybrids - LS1/Porsche 911 Swap

It begins. I guess I'll keep this post pretty well updated as I go along.

I've got a '70 911, updated to a 90-94 964 look.

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs125.snc1/5380_574693901956_30500907_33354350_3753455_n.jpg

I know there are a few companies *cough*renegade*cough* who keep their information pretty secret, but I'm attempting to do this swap in 6 months with no external parts/vendors other than Kennedy Engineering who makes the bellhousing adapter/flywheel combo.

I'll start with the obligatory, me in the engine bay picture. :emb:

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs066.snc3/13358_595351558846_30500907_34118571_1929610_n.jpg

I'm still sourcing an LS1, but I hope to find one within a week or so. Looking for a <50k mile complete engine that I can drop in without having to rebuild.

loooool! man i love the picture of you in the engine compartment ! i do it with all my projects , good luck!

what are your goals for this project?

See you have a California license plate, however, if you can update your profile and give a little more information about where you live, perhaps some people on this site could help you locate your drivetrain.

Looking forward to updates :)

Sounds like an awesome swap ... you see plenty of carb'd gen 1 engine's in the porsche's

Updated my location, but more specifically, I'm in northern LA county, near Magic Mountain for anyone who knows the area.

My goals are to build a super reliable car. Initially I will just use a stock LS1 and get the car to be as reliable and smooth as I can. Nothing like modern EFI for cold starts, hot starts and everything in between.

Once I get the drivetrain in, I will do a full suspension/brakes build up.

Once I'm bored of the power, I'll build a new motor on the side to drop in. Once I get to that point, the 915 transaxle in the car won't take the power, so it'll be time to do that too.

Good luck friend. You'll need brakes.

Ugh. Why a 964:) It'll be the love of your life I promise. Best swap ever. You'll get more attention than the local Lambo's and Fcars at shows and prepare for lots of questions at gas stations.

It only looks like a 964 :-D It's a '70 911T.

I also made the decision this morning to order a 930 transmission. It's on it's way. The 915 just wasn't going to cut it.

I plan on some 964 turbo brakes, eventually. I also need the 23mm M/C for them, since my car isnt brake boosted :-D

lazy, do you still have contact information with Ron about that custom rad, and maybe the cost it ended up being?

It only looks like a 964 :-D It's a '70 911T.

I also made the decision this morning to order a 930 transmission. It's on it's way. The 915 just wasn't going to cut it.

I plan on some 964 turbo brakes, eventually. I also need the 23mm M/C for them, since my car isnt brake boosted :-D

lazy, do you still have contact information with Ron about that custom rad, and maybe the cost it ended up being?


You don't even need the 965 brakes if you aren't going F/I (you'll want to if it's over 2500 lbs) or regularly tracking the car. They're damn expensive. Get some $400 964 N/A 4 piston front calipers and $300 993 N/A 4 piston rear's and your good. I'm 2840 lbs with that combo and it gives a great 55/45 bias with no fade on good pads. Also, a big plus, you might be able to get away with your stock m/c since the pistons are so much smaller. If you've got a mushy pedal with 4 pots front/rear, get 964 C2 1990-1991 2 piston rears for $100 and they'll CLAMP with your light weight.
Those short wheel base 911's can be sub 2100 lbs...i'm jealous. If you stripped that thing, kept the exterior stock looking with a 964 decklid, no wing...2100 lbs, 400 rwhp 400 rwtq on a 230/230 H/C/I. You'd run 10.90's with some rear torsion bars. I'm excited to see how yours turns out.

Smart to not have to buy 2 gearboxes. The 915 would've been a pain to drive. You'd have to baby it, no fun. That 930 box should handle a 347 with spray or F/I no prob if its been freshened up.

I'll have to find it. I'll pm you. The Rad in my car won't work in yours, your tub is smaller and most have to cut they're gas tank down. If i were you, since you've got more room behind the bumpers to the sides of the tub with the 964 body up front you should mimic the 996 setup and have twin rad's under each headlight.

Keep us updated.

I'm pretty excited, though the '70 is a long wheel base car still. I will take a look for the 964 NA brakes and see what I can find.

Im still debating changing the rear to coil over and cutting out the rear torsion. Easier/cheaper.

I was also thinking about the 996 rad thing too, someone else mentioned that to me the other day. There doesnt look like enough room under the front fenders though...

I'm pretty excited, though the '70 is a long wheel base car still. I will take a look for the 964 NA brakes and see what I can find.

Im still debating changing the rear to coil over and cutting out the rear torsion. Easier/cheaper.

I was also thinking about the 996 rad thing too, someone else mentioned that to me the other day. There doesnt look like enough room under the front fenders though...

I think you'll have to cut up the torsion housing anyways since your going with the 930 box? Relocate shift rod maybe?

Would you need 964 trailing arms?

Good luck with the cooling system, I'll stay tuned to see what you end up doing. COUGH COUGH, DON'T DEAL WITH RENEGADE.

Coil overs are worth going with. Fo sho

I keep getting different answers. The only difference between a 915, a short nose 930 and a long nose 930 are the bellhousing length.

Since I'm making my own engine mount, I will just move the engine back 25mm rather than destroy the torsion system, makes sense to me?

Unless I scrap the entire torsion thing and just do coil over, then it doesn't matter.

The shiftrod should still go in the same hole in the rear access are.

I wont need new trailing arms unless I go wide body and don't want to run crazy custom offset, or spacers.

I won't deal with them :) I can do for less than half of what they do for $1100.

And I thought I was the only weirdo who had his picture taken standing in the engine compartment... I feel a little better now!

loooool! man i love the picture of you in the engine compartment ! i do it with all my projects , good luck!

what are your goals for this project?

What are your water pump plans? The stocker won't work

I'm going to run a big Mezier electric pump. I'll put a small tank with cap in the back as the highest point in the system to bleed it.

Mezier also sells the billet block plates to adapt to AN for the lines. I just need an alt. bracket.

You might give us a look, www.944hybrids.forumotion.com, we have a lot of DIY types that can help out with a lot of the fab work.
Oh, And RH hates us with a passion!:D

I can say i know nothing about these cars but this is awesome! I will be watching this one until its done. Great swap and keep the pics comming!

nice. yeah i live like 10-15 minutes south of you in san fernando... good luck, cant wait to see it

Once we had the engine out, I noticed that it needed new shocks. I then noticed that the previous owner had screwed the lower sideskirt panel and then filled and painted over, so removing the torsion bar was also not happening.

We started by cutting the torsion bar out of the car.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/CuttingTorsion.jpg

Once it was out, we reassembled the radius arm and got the suspension swinging again.

We prepped and ground down the lip under where the stock shock goes.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/CoilPrep.jpg

We planning on welding this plate to the bottom of the upper support as a brace for the new suspension.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/ReinforcementPlate.jpg

And the we mocked up the QA1's upper support to see how we'd need to support it.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/UpperMount.jpg

Once we had the plate in, and the coil mounted to the top, we checked the play and motion on the passenger side.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/InstalledBare.jpg

Once we saw that everything was fine, we duplicated all of this on the drivers side, and painted flat black to match.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/InstalledPainted.jpg

All done for now!

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b105/MBaran/Finished.jpg

Right now, the car is slammed, so the coils look on the short side. In reality, they're quite perfect in size and ride at the recommended 10.5-11.5 ride high range. The QA1's are awesome in their adjustability. 0 Clicks and it has the spring of a caddy, turn it up to 5 and it's rock hard. It goes to 12!

Looks great. Should be a interesting swap.

Looks good..lots of work going to be going into that one. :)

Looks like you'll have a fun car to drive. What is the weight difference between the stock engine and an LS engine? Bob

The LS1 engine should weigh LESS than a fully dressed 3.0 SC engine. The engine I pulled probably weighed just a few lb less than an LS1, but was only a 2.0L making ~120bhp?