To turbo or not?

Find a friend who can hide the car for you and turbo.

octavious wrote: Is the 924 up and running now? I'm confused if you are looking to get it running or are looking to increase the POWAR! Also if you sell it how much? One way flights from Knoxville are $150 and that would be one epic road trip back.

Yup, runs and drives, its even road legal and passed local emissions. Needs some MegaSquirt tuning (ITB's what was I thinking?), but it would cruise along ok.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/my-79-porsche-924-journey/56036/page2/

Swank Force One wrote: Turbos: The replacement for displacement, now with more awesome!

No. Turbos: The addition to displacement

evildky wrote:

Swank Force One wrote: Turbos: The replacement for displacement, now with more awesome!

No. Turbos: The addition to displacement

Hey, you can replace all of the displacement if you really want...

Of course the thought of selling the car begs the question, what is it worth?

924's aren't worth dick of course, everyone wants at least a 924 turbo or at least a 944. Especially a low compression 2.0 with the dreaded dogleg gearbox (I actually like it, but I'm weird like that)

This car has essentially been rebuilt from the ground up; new TT bearings, fresh CV joints, Koni rear shocks, 944 5-lug brake conversion with braided lines, rebuilt calipers and aluminum trailing arms. Weltmeister adjustable rear sway bar and 28mm torsion bars. New brake hard lines with the proper metric bubble flares.

New polyurethane bushings in the front with new tie-rods and ball joints, GR-2 front struts with 325lb/in springs on adjustable perches. There's a huge Weltmeister adjustable front sway bar for it as well, but its way too much bar for the car, IMO. There's also a front stress bar installed.

New clutch, rebuilt alternator and slightly lighter Audi 5000 starter. EDIS distributorless ignition system controlled by a MS1 running MSExtra, rebuilt stock head with an Integral Stage 2 camshaft and Franco automatically adjusting camshaft gear (think old school VTEC yo). MSDS header, ceramic coated internally and externally with a fairly straight through 2-1/4" exhaust, new cat and super turbo muffler. DCOE intake manifold with DCOE-style throttle bodies, Bosch injectors from a Turbo-Dodge, adjustable FPR and braided fuel lines.

Interior has been stripped bare, including the sound deadening, lightweight carpet installed with the stock dash and door cars (black). eBay racing seats and harness bar are installed along with a removable steering wheel. I adapted the stock shifter to fit an aluminum shift knob from a Ferrari with the proper shift pattern.

Body is mostly fiberglass from A.I.R. and consists of the front bumper cover, front and rear quarters and the hood. There is a deep 3-piece rear spoiler to go along with it as well. The front bumper is completely gone, leaving only the fiberglass and the 924 Turbo vented nose as the main structure. I added baffling to direct air into the radiator and to stiffen the front end in the case of any bumps. Carrera GT style headlights were installed as well which removes weight in the nose. I shaved the rear bumper pads and filled them in along with removing the lighted center panel to relocate the plate properly. I painted it with Rustoleum white gloss paint with a roller and it came out ok, but it needs some wet sanding and buffing to make it pop.

Needless to say the car is very light in the front and I could feel it understeer at low speeds, so the suspension will require some tuning to get right. I'm thinking of dropping the front spring rates to about 225 and fitting Koni's in the front would help a lot. However, other than being very light and having very little power boost for the brakes (ITBs plug bigger cam equals low vacuum signal), it cruises along fairly well, just needs more power and more tuning.

I have a BAE turbo manifold for it along with a freshly rebuilt Mitsu TE04H turbo along with necessary fittings to connect the oil and water to the car along with an intercooler that will fit nicely in front of the radiator. There's an RX-7 oil cooler and oil cooler sandwich plate to help with the thermal capacity (I think it would fit the vented nose with some work). I also have a set of solid lifters and new valve springs to help improve the valve train (lighter and more capable of spinning to 7+ grand) and a couple of spare cylinder heads. The stock intake and TB would go with it to make it easier to fit the turbo and to make it easier to tune it.

So what would you fine folks pay for such finery? Its certainly been a labor of love and there are areas that need help, but I'm too close to it to think about its value to another person. I guess I could clean it up, take some new pics and post it on fleabay to see what comes of it.

I think the problem with this car is that it's only going to fetch any sort of money that you're going to feel good about from someone else who is as coocoo for cocoa puffs about these cars as you are.

I think it's an awesome car that quite honestly, i wouldn't even boost. I'd figure out a cheap way to get a beautiful sounding 150-170whp n/a motor in there and run the hell out of it.

Swank Force One wrote: I think the problem with this car is that it's only going to fetch any sort of money that you're going to feel good about from someone else who is as coocoo for cocoa puffs about these cars as you are. I think it's an awesome car that quite honestly, i wouldn't even boost. I'd figure out a cheap way to get a beautiful sounding 150-170whp n/a motor in there and run the hell out of it.

Yeah, I agree. Sad but true. I think the bodywork would be better served on a 944 or 924S chassis with an LSJuan swap and then dorifto'd into infamy ;) I should have just stripped the car when I drug it home and saved the good parts for a better basis (like a rough 944, 951 or 924S)

The stock 2.0 can get to 150hp with enough compression ratio and more head work, but it sounds like any other VW 4-cylinder. Of course due to the odd clutch spline size used on the NA's, you're not going to adapt another motor easily without using an Audi or some type of hybrid clutch. Like I said at lunch a while back, I'd just put a Turbo-Dodge DOHC turbo in it and have some fun if I could.

I'd probably go Audi 5 cylinder flavor, but yeah...

It'd also be tempting with the bodywork to stuff an F2T in it and a ton of tire.

Swank Force One wrote: I'd probably go Audi 5 cylinder flavor, but yeah... It'd also be tempting with the bodywork to stuff an F2T in it and a ton of tire.

Yeah, I'd love to do that, but I've also got several T-D engines laying around and a RWD bellhousing for one, so it wouldn't be too much work outside of the usual engine swap stuff (which means a ton of little E36 M3 that will eat up all of your time and patience.)

I've also day dreamed about building a Locost with a shortened 924/944 drivetrain, since making cars faster can be accomplished by making more power or reducing weight. So a 100-150hp motor in an Locost or Exo-style car would be pretty fun and of course more power is possible.

I should just get the 951 back on the road and see how I feel about working on the "White Whale" when it comes to it. Worst case, I part it and keep the parts I want for the 951/future project and sell the extras to offset the costs of racing/track days for next year.

Two words: "WOOOOOOOOGH...PSSSSHHHH." Repeat.

poopshovel wrote: Two words: "WOOOOOOOOGH...PSSSSHHHH." Repeat.

Heh, the 951 does that already and at 16psi it's pretty fun :)

Here's a thought: I could Chump/Lemons the car.

turboswede wrote: Here's a thought: I could Chump/Lemons the car.

Are you going to get more enjoyment for your money after you sink a few thousand into safety equipment and prepping it for the track and running a couple events?

Or with the money you'd get by just selling it as is.

Well, I'd be able to race with my Dad and other family members in a car we control and might be easier to sell if it was prepped for racing.

The value of the finished car will be lower than the cost of prepping it for racing.

If you're worried about trying to sell it, you can save time and hassle by trying to offer someone a couple hundred dollars to haul it away. If you want to race it, then let that be your justification. There IS no monetary justification for racing until you get to the point where you have a handler changing your hat for you while you do post-race interviews.

nicksta43 wrote: At least he is allowed to have a car

You, sir, are a terrible negotiator.

Or perhaps there is another part of this story with which I am not familiar, and you are a truly awesome negotiator!

What were you thinking??? You'd better have gotten something REALLY good in return!

lol wouldn't the trans in that explode with shards all over the track if you turbo'd it?

Nope. It's been done upwards of 300hp. However, the clutch starts to slip at 200hp or so.

The key isn't to do drag starts and to treat it with kid gloves.