 |
924Board.org
Discussion Forum of 924.org
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Scandy11
Joined: 12 May 2022
Posts: 4
Location: Denver
|
 Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 12:41 am Post subject: New 924 owner, need ideas planning a build! |
 |
|
I just happened across a ‘78 924 4 speed deal that I couldn’t pass up, I’ve been eyeing these for awhile (along with countless other cars) thinking they’d make for a fun project sometime, especially the safari’d builds! I love the look of them and always liked them more than the 944’s. Just wasn’t expecting to have one this soon. I know very little about them, or Porsches in general. I’ve been trying to gather what info I can about these and what options we have for mods etc.. but there’s a solid 20 year span of forum posts and info, and I’m not sure what’s still the best way to go about things.
Mines got a little rust on the rocker panels, lower front bumper, but otherwise looks pretty clean, body’s straight, my thinking is to do a street/rally style build, maybe use it for some rally x’s. Keep it light and lowish, not ruin the handling.
Since the rocker panels and bumpers aren’t in great shape, I was thinking of doing some tasteful not too over the top tube bumpers, wide fenders, some underbody protection etc. strip it and and do a roll bar or cage(the interior is completely toast). Eventually run coilovers, maybe do a torsion bar delete?
For the motor, to get a little more power, as far as I can tell the good options with the 2.0 are to go to bike carbs? And I saw that supercharger kit that recently came out. Or to go for a swap. I’m not sure what all it would entail but I think swapping the 944s or s2 motor, transaxle, trans, etc. if I could find a wrecked one, would be about as good as it gets without being too huge of a project?
I’m not crazy about making big power, but close to or over 130 would be awesome in one of these.
Anyway if i could get some advice pointing me in the right direction, especially the viability of doing a swap like that that would be awesome. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Scandy11
Joined: 12 May 2022
Posts: 4
Location: Denver
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 2:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Oh and my other thought was to just pull this motor and rebuild it. I’d probably prefer to keep it NA just for reliability, but not out of the question. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Cedric
Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 2616
Location: Sweden
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 3:18 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Scandy11 wrote: | | Oh and my other thought was to just pull this motor and rebuild it. I’d probably prefer to keep it NA just for reliability, but not out of the question. |
Keep it simple, throw some euro pistons in there, clean up the ports, port match the head/intake and put a sportier cam in there. Then you have quite a lot more power, but reliable and its already there and fits.
_________________
1980 924 Turbo
www.instagram.com/garagecedric/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Scandy11
Joined: 12 May 2022
Posts: 4
Location: Denver
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 1:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Cedric wrote: | | Scandy11 wrote: | | Oh and my other thought was to just pull this motor and rebuild it. I’d probably prefer to keep it NA just for reliability, but not out of the question. |
Keep it simple, throw some euro pistons in there, clean up the ports, port match the head/intake and put a sportier cam in there. Then you have quite a lot more power, but reliable and its already there and fits. |
Yeah I’m very slightly leaning towards that route. I just think the stock motor is neat, sounds reliable, and if I’m stripping a lot of weight out should be fairly quick. Plus rebuilding the motor would be a fun project.
What about transmission options if i went this route? Go 5 speed? I’m not that concerned about top speed. If it’ll do 100 that’s enough. I want as low of gearing as I can get. And an LSD would be awesome especially if I’m planning on some rally x. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
morghen
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 8886
Location: Romania
|
| Posted: Fri May 13, 2022 3:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
You can get 130 hp by rebuilding that engine with some better parts like lighter pistons, an improved cam and a better exhaust.
Carbs are a thing of the past, please dont put carbs on a 924.
The supercharger kit will probably give you more than enough torque and power if you just want a spirited road car.
_________________
https://www.the924.com |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Scandy11
Joined: 12 May 2022
Posts: 4
Location: Denver
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2022 12:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
| morghen wrote: | You can get 130 hp by rebuilding that engine with some better parts like lighter pistons, an improved cam and a better exhaust.
Carbs are a thing of the past, please dont put carbs on a 924.
The supercharger kit will probably give you more than enough torque and power if you just want a spirited road car. |
Yeah I see a ton of mixed thoughts on running carbs. Im somewhat used to them and don’t mind the idea, if there’s a reasonable power gain to be had it’d be worth it for me. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fasteddie313
Joined: 29 Sep 2013
Posts: 2596
Location: MI
|
| Posted: Sun May 15, 2022 3:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
I’d get it running perfectly first, then supercharger..
That will get you about to the top of what the rest of the package can handle..
I’d just concentrate on fixing it first though..
_________________
80 Turbo - Slightly Modified |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Beartooth
Joined: 05 Apr 2022
Posts: 212
Location: Roberts, MT
|
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 4:42 am Post subject: Re: New 924 owner, need ideas planning a build! |
|
|
| Scandy11 wrote: | I just happened across a ‘78 924 4 speed deal that I couldn’t pass up, I’ve been eyeing these for awhile (along with countless other cars) thinking they’d make for a fun project sometime, especially the safari’d builds! I love the look of them and always liked them more than the 944’s. Just wasn’t expecting to have one this soon. I know very little about them, or Porsches in general. I’ve been trying to gather what info I can about these and what options we have for mods etc.. but there’s a solid 20 year span of forum posts and info, and I’m not sure what’s still the best way to go about things.
Mines got a little rust on the rocker panels, lower front bumper, but otherwise looks pretty clean, body’s straight, my thinking is to do a street/rally style build, maybe use it for some rally x’s. Keep it light and lowish, not ruin the handling.
Since the rocker panels and bumpers aren’t in great shape, I was thinking of doing some tasteful not too over the top tube bumpers, wide fenders, some underbody protection etc. strip it and and do a roll bar or cage(the interior is completely toast). Eventually run coilovers, maybe do a torsion bar delete?
For the motor, to get a little more power, as far as I can tell the good options with the 2.0 are to go to bike carbs? And I saw that supercharger kit that recently came out. Or to go for a swap. I’m not sure what all it would entail but I think swapping the 944s or s2 motor, transaxle, trans, etc. if I could find a wrecked one, would be about as good as it gets without being too huge of a project?
I’m not crazy about making big power, but close to or over 130 would be awesome in one of these.
Anyway if i could get some advice pointing me in the right direction, especially the viability of doing a swap like that that would be awesome. |
It's been pretty well covered, but I'd chime in and say that getting it running and driving in its current form is the first step. My thought on a project like this is to spend as little money as possible until you can get it going and be sure the mechanicals aren't going to need a pile of expensive repairs. Not sure exactly of its current state, but you could easily run into issues that would make finding a car in better shape and using this one for parts or passing it on to someone else more practical.
There are lots of threads on suspension setups, and the two things that stick out are that you may want to swap parts from newer cars if you can find them, and it seems quite a few people like to use a mix of torsion bars and coilovers in the back. But that's more down-the-road stuff...
For the engine, just getting it up to euro spec would be a big bump in power if you can find the parts. I like the idea of a NA setup with more compression (euro pistons and a thinner head gasket would get you close to the limit on pump gas), a moderately aggressive cam, and a header. I'd think you'd want to avoid shooting for max HP figures because that'd make the motor peaky. You'd ideally want a cam, header, and intake setup that keeps the powerband fairly wide.
I don't get the hostility to the idea of carburetors, except to say that a lot of people look at k-jet and assume the grass is greener anywhere but here, when k-jet is actually a pretty good system. You've probably already found the fabricated manifold available to use motorcycle carburetors. I know a bit about those carbs from the snowmobile world, and you could probably make them work with enough know-how and tuning. A better choice, I'd think, would be Weber DCOEs, and apparently there is a kit. https://www.vertexauto.com/porsche-924-dual-40mm-dcoe-sidedraft-carburetor-kit-p-528195.aspx If my car wasn't a turbo, I'd be sorely tempted, even at the $1600 price. That said, on its best day, you'd probably do no more than equal a well-tuned k-jet setup in terms of function and feel, and at most make another 5HP due to eliminating the flow losses from the k-jet plumbing. Then, the k-jet is probably going to make more power when the weather changes (short of constantly adjusting the carbs), and work better for daily use. I think the reason a lot of people call carb swaps a "bad idea" is because if you learn to work with k-jet, you can get it to work great and support all the power mods you're likely to throw at it; it's only if you really know your way around the carb setup you're proposing that you'll be working with less of a learning curve. Then there's the cost, and a lot of people would say "why spend that money to go backwards instead of forward to EFI?" To my mind, neither that, nor an EFI setup makes economic sense though. EFI has plenty of cost and tuning associated with it too. In either case, if you're only considering economics, you'd abandon the whole car for a used Corolla or something. But personally, I'm still in love with carbs. You can make them work great for you (I drove a '64 Fairlane with an Edelbrock carb for 9 years and 75,000 miles), and the sound, simplicity, and look when you pop the hood just aren't something anything else can replicate. So yeah, don't go throwing money at it on a lark, but if you're of the same mind as me on carbs and are committed to the car, go for it!
_________________
1980 931 diamond in the rough |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
924 FAQ (Technical)
