924Board.org

[Rick MacLaren]

I'd prefer they smell like haggis than look like haggis! Didja click the Tom Jones link?

[ This Message was edited by: Rick MacLaren on 2002-05-11 01:44 ]

[Cbass]

I have been in contact with some people who have done this, it adds power, yes.

It also destroys your weight balance. If you do this swap you must get a fiberglass hood and bumper.

Not too difficult from what I've been told.

I think we have been through enough ethnic bashing for one forum, lets move to another

[ccsf-student]

iwas thinking of building a small block 350 with a 400 crank turning it into a 383 stroker but to lighten the car i thought of maby a one pieace carbon fiber nose with either a hood scoop or a cowl.do you guys think its a good idea to put plastic windows and maybe rear fender flares me and my friend have calculated the cost to about $3,800 (us).

[Cbass]

My advice is stay away from carbon fiber, it's really expensive and really fragile. Go for good old fiberglass, it's about half the cost, a lot more durable, easily repaired, and not much heavier.

The only good piece of glass to replace is the hatch, you can put a 17 lb polycarb hatch in place, which saves 60-70 lbs.

My advice is go for a 924 Carrera GT air dam, with 944 fenders. How big of a tire do you want to run? If you plan on running more than a 245 on the front, you will need a widebody kit. The 944 1/4 panels allow for a 255 on the back, a widebody will let you run a 275 front, 305 rear.

You still save a great deal of weight, but I would keep the hatch on the back, relocate the battery to the trunk, and go for the FG hood. This should keep a nice weight balance.

[larso]

If you're going to save weight make sure it's done evenly...getting rid of teh hatch means getting rid of some weight at the front too, It's better to lose more weight at the front IMO if you do have to be uneven. If you have more power at the back you might need some extra weight at the back. The problem is, there is a lot of weight in these cars at the back that you can lose. the sound padding in the trunk, back seats, gas in tank, hatch, etc.

[ This Message was edited by: larso on 2002-05-16 08:51 ]

[Cbass]

Yeah, but he wants to do an engine swap, and that'll add weight to the front. I'm advising he lose weight off the front. A 50 lb battery going to the back will greatly offset things. A FB hood will be another 60 lbs off the front, and so on.

[Geddy T]

If you're going to paint it anyway, definitely stick with the fiberglass over the carbon fiber. Why would you pay more whilst (God, that word's hillarious-gotta use it whether it's in the right place or not) risking horrible itching and sneezing at the mere sight of epoxy resin? Remember also that there are different grades of glass fibers. S-glass is pretty cool stuff, but also expensive. You won't need more than E-glass. Also, like Cbass said, although carbon fiber does have slightly better specific strength than E-glass, it's main strong point is its specific stiffness. Which isn't important enough with body panels. Glass is the way to go.

[Cbass]

Then there is the other age old way of removing weight, start ripping things out until the car won't run anymore, and put the last piece you removed back in

Sort of like the Colin Chapman Lotus 7 thing...

[Geddy T]

It was Dr. Ferdinand Porsche himself that once said, "A properly setup race car is one that crosses the finish line and subsequently collapses into its component parts--otherwise, it's too heavy."

[Cbass]

Oh thats good.. <wipes tear from eye>

It was Colin Chapman, who when designing the Lotus Super 7, built a wonderfully strong tube frame, and proceeded to remove pieces until it would lose integrity in a corner. Then he put two tubes back.

[Rick MacLaren]

Hey, my car does that...the latter part.

[Cbass]

Ah, now you have a good excuse to get a TIG welder and play with it for a while

I have a question though... I know 924s handle well, but I have no idea what the chassis flex is like. Are these cars really stiff, or wishy washy, or what?

[Rick MacLaren]

Dunno, ... um, compared to 'what'?

Try this: Drive your car with and without the sunroof in it's place. Under which circumstances does it handle best for you? For me? I like it without the sunroof, it could be totally in my imagination, but I swear it handles better on the street.

[Cbass]

Well, obviously it's going to have a stiffer body than a 70s domestic boat, I just mean as sports cars go. I know they added those fancy aluminum crossmembers in the 944...

I don't like sunroofs, they take a lot away in structural integrity. Of course, it doesn't make a lick of difference if you have a roll cage.

[Rick MacLaren]

Nope CBass, try it on a track requiring lots of turns. And you'll take the sunroof OUT and it'll handle better. Honest!

Again, it COULD be in my imagination, but ...