My Porsche 928 / F136 project (and the struggle to make it work)

Hey GRM - 

I'm Jeff, and I've hit a road block. I spent the past few years bringing a 20 year dormant body shop orphan Porsche 928 back from the dead. I got lucky to get one of the 'rare' 5 speed no sunroof cars, and after a formidable assembly process, including a respray - I finally got to drive it. 
And what a disappointment it was. It is a nice freeway cruiser, but with a 240 hp (probably) 4.5L V8, its not really anything special in the sound or performance departments. But it looks fabulous. 
So I set out to change the deficiencies. I found a physically smaller V8 from the Maserati Quattroporte, and gathered up a bunch of spare Maserati (clutch setup and bellhousing) and 928 (trans, torque tube, bellhousing, flywheel, pressure plate) parts to see how I can get them all to communicate and work in the car. 
Problem is, I'm no machinist. I don't even know one. I am stumped at this point on how the best way to get the 928 trans, shifter, and torque tube to talk to the engine in the space I have to work with.  I know the 'easy way' out would have been LS swap, but I don't want the car to sound like another LS swapped car. 

Looking for advice and input on how I can do it the most efficiently. The video below goes into some of the details about what I'm working with and my limitations.  Thanks for any input you have - I think with the ideas here and over at Rennlist, I can come up with some type of manageable solution.  I know I'm not the most qualified person to be undertaking this type of build, and I'm definitely among the lowest funded person trying something this ridiculous. 

Have you considered going the LS route to make it a little easier on yourself and just doing something with the exhaust if the sound is the big reason you don't like the LS?   (180-degree headers, single, 4" collector  ala celertech, etc)

Haven't watched the full video so my apologies if it's stated, but why not use an adapter to keep the Porsche bellhousing?

I have considered the LS swap. I don't disagree that it's a much easier way to do things. I also don't want to have the same thing that others have done. The LS is a great engine, but the swap is so commonplace that it just doesn't do anything for me. 

There's no commercially available adapter for the F136 engine, and especially nothing that makes it mate to the porsche items. The closest item there is would be the boxster swap from squonkwerkz.  But that uses a more traditional setup, and not the torque tube stuff like I have in the 928. 

I'm going to see how much a couple companies are charging for custom clutch setups, it may be cost prohibitive for me to go that route vs. the output shaft adaptor for  $1200-1300. Room in the car is also a big factor.  It may be significantly cheaper to put it into a car I can cut to pieces and modify at will - aka regular trans  and rear diff.

Have you considered going back to a Porsche engine and chasing more power? The later engines have a decent amount of power, and IIRC all of the engines take to your choice of boost really well. 

Edit: and it has all been done in recent enough history that there should be threads you can use as a guide.

If the bell housing is the same bolt pattern as a 944 (or just use the 944s torque tube) that would open up an 07k swap from a VW. May not be a v8 sound but 5cyls sound amazing and they like turbos. The reason I bring that swap up is that it's being done quite a bit to 944s. Probably much more budget friendly than swapping a Maserati engine 1 off.

I do not want to dissuade you from your idea, as it is pretty cool, just trying to outline another option (I am also a huge 07k fan). Some light reading:

07k 944 Swap

Son of a guy in our local SCCA is swapping a barra into their 944.

The later porsche engine (like the 32v 5.0) does probably sound quite a bit better. The engine bay on these cars are packed to the gills with anything porsche, though. They made the engines to fill the bay (my impresssion) and making power on them is definitely not a money saving proposition. I did see locally a 5.0 32v for sale that had questionable history for more than I paid for a 35k mile maserati engine.  The maserati 4.2 is also physically smaller than either of the water cooled porsche engines. 
I don't think the torque tubes share the same pattern. They are definitely not the same length.  I wouldn't be opposed to a boosted 07k, but I also may save that swap idea for my vw rabbit. It would be an easy engine to fit into a 928 though. I would probably be able to stand in the bay at that point. 
I wanted to do a barra swap for a while in the 928, I bet in a 944 it will be a screamer. 
I'm going to try and get measurements over the holiday weekend and get some clutch quotes this week. 
There's also a parts 951 in the area that I may be able to get crazy cheap. I wouldn't feel terrible about cutting up a parts car and fitting whatever I wanted into it. A regular transmission and rear diff setup would be easier to modify, and with 400hp on tap, weight distribution isn't as big of a deal. Suspension tuning can take care of a lot of those issues. 

Sorry for the lack of recent updates. 
After a lot of grieving and acceptance, I decided that an Audi ABZ is a much better fit for the car with a 4 inch lower (nearly matching the 928) crank to oil pan height, and a front sump like the 928. 
I'm currently on the hunt for a way to marry the 928 bellhousing to the ABZ engine and then figure out if the 034 flywheel insert adapter will work as a friction surface for the twin disc clutch. The flywheel on the 928 and the ABZ flexplate are nearly the same outer diameter. I'm sure this portion of mathing is 2nd nature for some here on the board, but it's all foreign to me. 

I'm gonna plug for AngryCorvairs build here, as he designed/had machined an adapter to mate a GM LT1 engine to an Audi transaxle in the process of his build. If I can find a link I'll drop it here. 
 

glad to see updates though!

Well, you have the Maser bellhousing, and you have the 928 torque tube. Does the tip of the 928 drive shaft reach into the Maser flywheel with a bit to spare (maybe 1/4")? Yes - Great! Grab a piece of MDF or cardboard or what have you, and find center of the TT (where the driveshaft needs to be) and mark it up, drill some holes. Do the same at the end of the bell. That will be your adapter plate more or less. If you dont have that reach, you will still need to do this step, but cut the flange off the end of the TT and then weld it on a little further back. Next step figure out your pilot bearing situation. You want the tip of the 928 DS to fit nicely in the flywheel. Take measurements and see what can be had (mcmaster carr or fastenall is a good place to start to try a couple sizes to see what fits).  Now figure out the clutch. Does the 928 clutch fit between the flywheel and pressure plate? Awesome, lucky you. If not, you might need to find other clutches with the same spline and different sizes to fit (good luck) or have a custom clutch built (try here https://www.kennedyeng.com/clutches). Now head off to the Home Depot Racing Supply Store and get yourself a plate of aluminum, same thickness as whatever gap you have from bell housing to TT we talked about earlier. Center up your MDF templates and drill away. Assemble all your pieces, figure out where you went wrong, break stuff, repeat, enjoy. 

Agreed that the 928 is a beautiful car, even more so for lack of sunroof.

Agreed that the 928 is a mile-eater not a sports-car. I can respect that.

Agreed that for all its swiss-watch-rube-goldberg complexity and cost, the 928 engine is wet toilet paper in the power dept.  by today's standards. All the ones I have met are also expensively broken, so that leaves an impression

Where I don't agree is that the Masserati driveline is going to be any more  life-affirming than the 928 drivetrain. It will certainly be broken more often with more expensive parts than the 928 to repair. So it will feel like you are dating an Italian chick rather than a german frau.

I think that by the time you are "done", you are going to be a lot wiser and know how you SHOULD have done the job. By then you will be ready to move on because you will also be facing the two-year de-bug/development phase of the project that none of us budget for emotionally or financially.

The LS swap is the correct answer BECAUSE it has been done to death, It delivers what you want without the short and long term pain. Forget Ginger, jump on Mary-Ann.

Then again, there is always something good to say about a good Bunga-Bunga party!

In reply to throttlegrotto :

First, an apology: I didn't watch the video, so I don't know if you've answered these questions:

what fabrication tools do you have? Drill press, lathe, mill, plasma cutter, welder, etc?

what fabrication skills do you have? ie the ability to safely use any/all of the above?

how much do you want to make vs buy?

are you willing to fail your way to success?

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

"Fail your way to success"

Now THERE is a term I can relate to!