Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi there, I thought I'd share with you my 924 1.8t 20V project.

So I came across a 924 2.0l with a blown engine very cheap. Well when I say blown, the internals were completely worn out. There was so much end play in the crank shaft.. and so on. I looked at rebuilding the original engine, but parts are hard to come by. So I thought about alternatives. People have suggested small block v8's but I'm only 21, so insurance on this would be even more ludicrous than it is already. SO. I bought a 1.8t AEB off eBay for not much money at all.

I wanted to use as much of the original parts as possible, including mounts and the original bell housing.

To begin with I modified the bell housing to fit the engine, but the modifications meant that the original clutch couldn't be fitted. So I had an adapted plate made up. Which meant I could pick the angle that the engine could sit at. Unfortunately I didn't choose this too well and there is no space to fit the turbo where it is supposed to fit, of course I realised this after it was all together D:



I used the original flywheel and designed a plug to fit in the middle so that that I could use the audi bolt pattern. Simply fitted this and drilled the flywheel. I didn't want any of the dual mass rubbish on it.



Stupidly I sold the original Porsche starter motor trying to raise some money for other parts. I bought another one but the brushes were worn out so I decided just to use the AEB starter. The adapter plate that I had made was designed to hold a starter motor although not the AEB one. So I had to weld and modify it slightly. But it works perfectly. (Excuse the 'frankensump' I'll get to that part later')



Here it is fitted.


The engine mounts were quite simple to make.. although they don't look the best. I have only just learnt how to weld! I will probably have them made properly one day.



The next issue was the turbo location and down pipe. The turbo had to be moved from the engine and the down pipe had to be made at a very difficult route.







The intake manifold I had made by a specialist fabricator who is a friend of mine, so he didn't charge me much. It is a TT intake manifold that had been cut and shortened in order to clear the brake servo.



To be honest. It's not that great compared to other conversions, but I'm quite happy with what I've managed to achieve. For me it is a process of getting everything working properly and then slowly going through and correcting/tweaking everything that needs it.

you should re-do the mounts, those are not going to holt for long.

admire the fact your learning and doing it all yourself. but as said above, the engine mounts are under a lot of stress and those wont hold out for long. need to be a bit more manly than that and standard of welding needs to be higher. bit more practice required.

Noted! To be honest I didn't have much time and space to have an engine lying about. It needed to go in ASAP and thats what I came up with at the time. It will be the next thing on the list after the sump arrives back.

If its any help to you I have built several cars and heavy mods to others.
Just got a special through IVA (not easy).

For brackets always make em beefy and never let them flex as shaky metal no matter how thick will stress fracture, sometimes just a small gusset or rod will stop flex.

Just one more thing, avoid using stainless steel because that stress fractures with no help from flexing.

I reckon you are brave and I admire your spirit

Those 1.8 T motors have a good reputation.

+1 to above, I over engineered my engine mounts and added a engine torque damper (they make alot of torque even in standard trim)

You've acheived alot, I really like the fact you've managed to use the 924 bel housing and flywheel etc. It looks "right" sitting at that angle which also means you can use the standard AEB throttle body.

Make sure you have atleast 4 litres of sump capacity, I baffled mine and fitted a windage tray (more old golf parts) the old golf steel sumps fit the AEB which are much easier to mod etc

I'm pretty sure you can chip the standard AEB to 190 BHP with no other mods

A future issue is the standard clutch, gearbox and brakes might not like it if you tune it

Watching with interest, just make some nice strong engine mounts sooner rather than later

Just got the mk2 golf sump in the post today, it's getting picked up by a fabricator today so I should get it back tuesday/wednesday and I can start running it properly without oil going all over the drive. I've ordered an intercooler today and some boost pipes today too. So I'm well on my way. The intercooler has come from a Ford Mondeo diesel...

In regards to the throttle body. Unfortunately it catches the bonnet. I'm going to cut a power bulge into the bonnet and get a Carrerra GT scoop to hide it. The scoop will sit on the right rather than the left. But I'm not interested in trying to make it look like a GT anyway. So say what you like!

The engine mounts will be done after the sump.

In regards to tuning. I think a chip tune is all I'll do for the moment. The car is light enough and 190/200bhp is plenty for me, especially as I actually want to get insured on the car.

Just an update for those that are interested.

The car is now done pretty much, still waiting for the sump to be made unfortunately. He's had it over a month and seems to not want to give it back.

I have made a new down pipe, the one i put together was knocking on the torque tube and creating a horrendous rattling sound. I had an old RS4 stainless exhaust lying about in the garden, so I chopped it up and made a nicer down pipe. 2.5" should be fine. I'm not really interested in doing a 3" system.



All the boost pipes are in now and the intercooler, which is from a Mondeo. Had to make some minor adjustments to the front bumper to accommodate it, but it fits fine. Hopefully it should be big enough.





I got an old Baileys dump valve which is a bit too loud, but it sounds great regardless.

Bonnet scoop is now on too. So now I can actually close the bonnet. A lot of people don't like it.. but I don't care. It just needs to be blended and sprayed which I'll do myself in a month or so.



The rev counter now works with a tach driver that I made for about 70p. I bought some bread boards and a transistor, resistor and diode, used the coil from an old relay and soldered it up. Works a treat. It converts the 5 volt signal from the ECU to 12 volts required by the tach to work. The water temp gauge now works. All I did was shove the old sensor into a pipe. Next thing is the oil pressure. But I'm not worried as of yet.

I found out that when I bought the engine, they sent me the wrong turbo. It's a Ko3s which is excellent. Next thing is the sump and then get it on the dyno to be mapped properly

Great work, the original oil sender fits the 1.8t. Little 924's are huge fun wit
h abit of power very addictive

good on ya.. that'll be a fun car

great stuff!

The sump has been made and I fitted it on the weekend. Absolute nightmare.. Had to drop the cross member and spent the day covered in oil. Had to slightly modify the oil pick up again but it's all okay and fitted now. The sump now can carry about 6.5 litres of oil. But I have 5 in there at the moment.

Also finished the exhaust off. It now has a full 2.5" system throughout the car with the original Porsche 924 back box. It's still not that loud but it sounds nice. I'm very happy.

Having a problem with the gear linkage. The gears are sloppy and it is difficult to get it into first and second. I presume the bush is worn in the rear. But I'll have to get it off I believe.

The next thing is to respray the car. Can anyone give me any advice? I basically just want to roughly sand the existing paint down and spray it over all one colour. What grade sand paper should I use to take the paint down?

Today I set about tackling the shifter linkage problem. After much confusion, I realised that someone had already tried to fix it as the grub screw holding the rear linkage onto the shaft had been sheered off! So I stuck a jack underneath the gearbox removed the mounts and pulled the shaft out of the back of the car and drilled the snapped grub screw out. Am in the market for a upgraded shifter linkage. Can anyone recommend one? Are the 944 linkages the same? So if so.. Can I buy one from only944 or somewhere? Any advice would be brilliant. THanks!

JMG do a linkage not sure if
It will fit a 924 give Jon a ring

Contacted only944.com last night about a linkage after trawling the web for an hour. Unfortunately JMG Porsche is a little out of my budget. Only944 will sell me almost exactly what I'm looking for at a very reasonable price. Looks very promising- an adjustable rose jointed short shifter linkage. In the meantime I've decided to strip down the front suspension and see how badly the bushes had worn. Yes they were very badly worn. So tonight I've ordered a complete power flex poly utherane kit. Expensive but I think it will be well worth it. Will also strip the calipers down and remove the years of rust on them. Decided not to spray the car until next year. I want it mechanically perfect first.