saying goodbye to the V8 944

some of you (Hongs, mostly) will remember that i had hot-start issues with the V8 944 at the $2008 Challenge. since the eBay auction ended tuesday, I figured i should probably fix it. yes, that's 14 months too late.

issue 1: relocated battery to spare tire well, wired with #6 wire. that's a pretty long run for #6. solution: relocate battery to passenger seat area, make the one 10-foot cable in to two 5-foot cables. goodbye voltage drop. cost: zero.

issue 2: starter was always kinda weak. tuesday morning it nearly stalled the engine of the probe when i tried to jumpstart it. solution: call the local starter rebuild guy and beg him for 24-hour turnaround. he was cool, i dropped it off on the 30th and got it back on the 31st. springs on the brushes were broken, one bearing was pretty rusty. he asked me if it was from a boat engine, LOL. cost: $60.

issue 3: using Ford starter relay on firewall. i like them for the convenience of power distribution. wheels777 says they're an unneccessary voltage drop, so i went back to using the solenoid on the starter for the starter, and kept the Ford part for power distribution only. never measured voltage drop across it, so don't know if this made any difference or not, but i'm sure wheels has measured it and i pretty much trust him on anything SBC-related. cost: zero.

I can't believe how easily the car starts now. cold, hot, whatever. i totally wish i had done this before the '08 event.

oh, and when it's 20 degrees out and there's snow on the driveway, Azenis RT-215s are as worthless as titties on a chicken.

Titties on a chicken are only worthless because baby chicks don't have lips.

That's good that you fixed it, even if it was for the new owner and not yourself.

Spent the day driving through Michigan and loading up Maroon92's old Crown Vic. Damn it was cold.

aussiesmg wrote: Spent the day driving through Michigan and loading up Maroon92's old Crown Vic. Damn it was cold.

how many cars you got now, aussie?

Did you do the V8 swap yourself? I've of course had V8 944 dreams. But some guys say it could cost as much $12k to do a good swap. Is this the case?

In reply to Drewsifer:

does that 12k include a golden crack pipe?

engine mounts, clutch bell housing adapter plate and crank to drive shaft adapter/pilot bearing, fuel system and ignition changeover.

four hundred? with allot of DIY welding... maybe less.

much more ($2100 for LS kit) with a prefab kit from renegade,but still no where near 12k, even with ALL the bells and whistles...

924guy: I think it comes with some magic beans. I'm not sure how they got that number. I think a lot of guys started with 951's for some reason. Maybe so they can start with the M030 suspension and what not. I think the rest of the price some how came from having a shop do the work. Which is why I'm curious. I'd love to have a V8 944, however in my current housing situation I have limited work space.

For a start it ran in the Challenge in 2008. Just a subtle hint