924Board.org

[HSH90]

Picked up a 79' 924. sat in a barn for year and only has 35k miles on it. Guy who had it decided to get rid of the fuel injection and try to do a carb setup. Instead of chasing down all that, Was thinking of going ahead and swapping it with a turbo'd 4Cyl or inline 6.

Would love ideas on engines, what has worked, what hasn't.

I'm fairly new to these cars but has always loved them. This one needs to get back on the road. Thanks!
_________________
Hewby Dewby

[morghen]

Very very few swaps actually worked and even fewer were kept and driven.
Most end up at the scrap yard as technical challenges kill time, money and excitement.
Think about it this way, if a carb conversion ended up where the car is now..what do you think a 100 times more complex mod will do?

My advice is forget about any swap, it will lower the car’s value even more, and 99% sure wont make a better car out of it even if you pull it trough and get a running car out of it.

I’d suggest getting the two kits i make and sell.
Supercharge it and run my bolt on EFI system.
Provided the car is in decent condition and fairly original except the carbs, the stuff in the two kits are bolt on and you can be driving it within a weekend.
_________________
https://www.the924.com

[Beartooth]

Hey, were are you at in Montana? I live an hour SW of Billings, not far from Red Lodge. I've always thought a carb conversion would be cool; I might have leaned that way if I were in your situation. It is an easier path than a full motor swap. I don't think you're going to find anything cheaper than returning to CIS - if the budget is in question - although that's likely to take some work to get going right again unless it's off a running car or you're really lucky. Like morghen says, engine swaps aren't common - there's no golden path (for better or worse). This subforum is pretty good evidence of that: lots of "will this work?" threads and a few actual efforts, but very few have actually hit the road.

So, not to be a downer on that; it's just to say that my impression of engine swaps is that they're a big challenge except for the kind of people who do it for a living. If you're still thinking of making an effort, you can get plenty of ideas in this subforum. If you're on a budget, like I said, returning to CIS is probably best. If you've got a big enough budget, it's probably a good candidate for EFI - obviously with a great kit available from morghen. The carb conversion is a viable option too, but it sounds like you're not interested, in which case it's not worth the effort. It's a good option in general for guys like me who understand and like working with carbs, but it's hardly a good problem-solver. One other factor in favor of keeping the original engine is the low miles; the engine in it could be in perfect condition. I'd do compression and leak-down checks. It might be a decision point on the whole project if those don't come out, but unless you have some pretty lofty goals, the original engine is probably the best starting point if it's sound, which (hopefully) yours is.
_________________
1980 931 diamond in the rough