Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi, I'm a new member. I have a 1986 944S in very nice condition, which I have owned for about 3.5 years. I use it very little (a couple of thousand miles per year) and keep it garaged, serviced, etc. When I first bought the car in 2005 (for about £4500), I had all the belts etc changed with a full service by Camtune, Godalming at a cost of about £700. The car has covered just over 100k and strictly speaking, the belts will soon need changing again (based on time not mileage) as well as the water pump as a preventative measure. Recently I gained a quote to do the belts and the pump by an independent garage in Dorset at £1200 (can't remember if this included vat).

Before I ask my question, please consider the following:

1. Slight underpowered performance of the 16v 2.5 944S (compared to the S2 or Turbo)
2. High maintenance costs (if the clutch needs replacing or the water pump goes etc - compared to many other cars)
3. Periodical belt change costs
4. I have to pay a garage to do the work as I don't have the skills to do it myself. I always use decent independent garages.
5. I like cars to look standard and original but also like them to have functional and performance modifications

My question is:

What are the alternatives to paying a big bunch of cash for these service items, when ultimately, it's a false economy as sadly these cars have a very low value these days. I have only seen one example of this on youtube, but would it not be cost effective and really fun to sling a V8 in there and/or some kind of electronic water pump modification? Any thoughts? Any other engines that fit / work well? Has anyone done this? Any idea of total cost to do something like this? I love the shape/look of the car, but would much prefer it to have V8 beef and auto trans! I appreciate that this is not very pure-ist, but think about it......wouldn't it be great!

Many thanks

LBJ.

You don't want to waste your time with a Buick (Rover) gutless V8 so you need to go US. Ford or Chevy are the options and while there is limited knowledge in the UK you should check Renegade Hybrids out in the States as they do Chevy retrofits and kits of installation parts.

I looked into it fairly seriously and was going to go hybrid LS1 engine built by a guy in Nottinghamshire somewhere that a member here put me on to, with the expectation of a lot of custom fabrication to accommodate the RHD differences to LHD ones. A cheaper option is an earlier LT engine as I understand that that is symmetrical so the kit RH produce for that engine should theoretically fit a RHD car as it does LHD. You're bang on with electric water pump (I was going to use an in-pipe one) and provided you're happy without a/c and power steering it's pretty clean in front of the engine (my car has had both removed long ago).

I wanted to go this route as it's very expensive to get 400+BHP out of a 944 Turbo (I tried) and I had no engine (it went bang) and I found my car a little underpowered. It might still happen, but I doubt it.

I'm not sure in your situation that it's the right route to go for you as you haven't indicated it's for track use or anything specialised like that.

You're right they need doing, but £1,200 for belts and a water pump is outrageous. I'm pretty sure there is a more realistic independent in Bournemouth and failing that I could put you in touch with one in Honiton. I'd have thought around £500 is more like it for that work. It didn't include anything relating to the cams as well did it?

Fen

Fen is right, belts and pump should cost no more than £500 all in.

Very rough ballpark figure to drop in a brand new Chevy V8 - not less that £10k

I wouldn't consider this as a good idea to avoid belt changes.

£1200 for belts and pump is outrageous! Halve this figure and you should be good to go

£10k would be using a crate motor or a used one which you'd have to buy unseen from the US. It was going to be close to £10k for a properly built LS1 hybrid on its own when I was looking...

£1200 seems well over the top, Porsche in Exeter just quoted me £875 and that was for the belt change, a full 40000 mile service and included a loan car

Andy Moss in Honiton would be much cheaper again - and he'd do you a Mk3 Golf GTI loaner as well if you need it.

Just buy a 928

You'll pick up a good S2 for around £3k
Also they are nearly all auto

Wash your mouth out! The RV8 gives reasonable power for very little outlay, 220BHP is not going to cost a lot & it'll have a damn sight more torque due to the 3.5 litres, runnng costs will be peanuts. Mine was one of the cheapest engine rebuilds I've done for a long time, parts are cheap.
I do agree that going further is going to cost big bucks but I don't think that's what the poster was looking for. If you're looking for much bigger horsepower then yes the LSx range of V8s would be worth going to.

On another point he talks of "An independent in Bournemouth" could that be Jon Mitchell? I know the water pump for the 2.5 S is biggish money compared to the others.

Thanks all for your comments so far.

Answers:

It's for road use (no track days etc) - just want more 'beef' (but doesn't have to be the maximum BHP possible option) hence my interest in the old Rover 3.5 V8 option.
£10k would be more than I would like to spend. I guess I was thinking of something like £3000-4000 for the total conversion.
Renegade Hybrids seem to do a great job in the USA. See Youtube for examples.
The ind garage in Dorset was next to Christchurch raioway station and quoted about £1200 for belts and pump but only about £500 for the belts. Something to do with the 16v engine, position of pump etc etc.
Switching the engine is not so much to avoid the belt / pump changes but seems to be a win win from an overall long term servicing perspective and performance. The TDI engine idea mentioned also sounds interesting as I have always liked those engines and the fuel economy is awesome!
I would love to have a/c as this is the first car I have had in years without it and it's horrible in summer, sweating into the bucket seats! Not much air flow through the vents etc.
The elec water pump seems like a no brainer mod.
The suggestion to buy a 928 isn't a bad one, but having found a really nice example of a 944S (immac interior, looked after generally etc) I would love to sort this one out. I'm not sure, but to find a comperable condition 928, I would probably be looking at more like £6000 to be honest (last time I looked) plus what would I get for my 944S??

Any garages out there want to 'quote me happy' to V8 up my 944?!

LBJ

Check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNrr7CpoA4M

someone did this already. there was an article on pistonheads: http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=105&i=7895

should be a porsche v8 or not at all for me i think.

The problem is the 928 lump is massive & means a huge amount of reworking of the shell to get it in.
Not sure about the Cayenne lump that'd be interesting

Apparently the Audi UR quattro lump fits quite easily with a 924 bellhousing.
200 horses out of the box and easily modified.

Why would you go to all that effort and cost to only get around the 200bhp mark especially when there are already models in the range that will do that and more (S2 and Turbo)

I would double check that price from Jon Mitchell. £500 is rightish for the belts, especially if they need rollers at the same time, but £700 extra for the water pump is very confusing