My Abnormal 944 Build - An American Blitzkrieg

"Welcome, giant pansies!" (hopefully someone recognizes that movie quote...) 

I have been lurking here for a few months and feel like I am ready to out myself as a possible GRMer. Here is a shot of my roller 944 from about a year ago.

She started out as an 86 NA but I have made a couple of teensy weensy mods. Some of the more observant of you may notice that the wheels have an "SVT" logo on their hubs. And you may also notice a bunch of white sections both in the engine bay and behind the seating area. This is because other than the exterior skin of the 944 I have managed to replace just about all other aspects of it's former Teutonic-ness with technology from other continents.

A  couple of action shots from over the past few years and then I'll start taking you through the highlights thus far. (I should probably mention that it is REAL FUN to take a sawzall to a Porsche - at least I think it's fun!)

Transplanting the engine bay and front end from a 96 Ford Mustang:

Ditto the rear end:

And then a little harvesting from a 96 Camaro:

T5 Transmissionage:

Numerous engine stuffs:

And many, many other smaller side projects later...

I am nearing the point where I will attempt to convince it to make vroom vroom noises. So I thought I would start a build thread now because I could use some help from the hive people as I make some final design decisions. I look forward to interacting with you guys (& girls).

I should mention that I had a heckler on another forum who "suggested" that my project's sub-title should be:

"How to Build a Mustang the Hard Way" 

And I have to admit - he's right! 

Wow, GRM is suddenly becoming a popular place for 944 projects!

I can kind of understand a solid axle, but what's the reason for the SN95 front end? Aren't those struts just like the stock 944 stuff?

Well, that’s certainly a lot of work.

I wish you luck with your German Camero project.

My favorite feature of the 944 is the built-in margarita shelf. My margaritas are: 1/2 tumbler of ice, fill tequila up to midline of ice, splash of mango juice, top off with OJ. Gently stir with either your finger or a chopstick. (You don't want to bruise the ice cubes.) I drink a lot of these while working on the 944.

I'll show a few of the sub-projects that came along as consequences of my chassis grafting. Up first is the strut tower shortening project:

Forward tilt hood:

No sooner did the hood tilt forward - then I needed an over-travel stop!

Bye bye to donor Mustang:

Attempting to mate an IRS 8.8 diff into the stock 944 torsion bar suspension:

In the end I aborted because I felt the axles would need to run at too steep an angle.

Steering shaft:

Rear wiper delete plug - found one in the wrecking yard but had to modify it because... I do that a lot.

Clearing the way for the GM A/C compressor to live together with the Mustang K member:

GM leaf spring shackles converted to motor mounts:

Sparkydog said:

GM leaf spring shackles converted to motor mounts:

I'm gonna be honest... this is pretty genius

Thanks edizzle89! Give my regards to 88 and 90. The female halves of those shackles ended up on the K member but are heavily gusseted. I think they show up in some of the other pics.

Another big sub-project was fuel. I wanted as large a tank as I could fit but definitely did NOT want the OG 944 tank. (I'll share a big rant later about some of the design/execution failures of the 944.) So I ended up finding a very square-ish tank and proceeded to mod it into submission:

I'm almost disappointed there isn't a solid rear axle back there, a drag racer 944 would be such a fun sight to see!

Oh but there is! The photos of the IRS were plan A. I eventually went to plan B - which is a solid axle. There will be much more about that later because I need hive advice. But the car is mocked up with a Ford 7.5 and is waiting for an 8.8 - I just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

And as far as a 944 drag car goes - somebody's already on it!

Clutch/Brake sub-project:

I went with the Camaro pedals, brake booster/master and hydraulic clutch. Metal sheets that I had previously welded in and that were nice and flat became filled with holes and lumpy areas.

California CARB rules for engine swaps require that my donor motor also bring the EVAP sub-system with it. So another task was to convert the 944 over to a Camaro gas cap, EVAP cannister and the various valving/tubes that go with it. When the dust cleared and the last of the soap bubbles stopped revealing leaks, I at least had something that was more straight-forward than the OG 944 craziness.

This:

Into this:

The hoses and stray wires are just for mockup. That's the GM EVAP cannister in black on the right.

Great stuff!

This is true GRM madness! 

Insane build.  I love it.

No Doubt GRM, No Doubt A Very Talented Grm'er  No Doubt WELCOME

There is no end to the oddball car projects people will tackle

Your hack it together skill level is something I aspire to.

Please continue.

It might be interesting to know what thought process that let to this Chimera.

I can follow the logic of using the mustang front subframe if using a 302 or even a mod-motor. But why do a ford clip and then a  LS swap? Why not the Camaro clip with the LS engine? For that matter, the Porsche front clip would have taken the Ls, so again, why the Mustang clip?

And as I of all people have to confess, "Cause I am a glutton for punishment" is a valid answer to the above!

Ditto, I'm just a bit curious about whether this is a "I'm doing it because I just want to do something totally different to exhibit my car-building skill" or if you have a plan that will make the end result substantially better than a 944 with a standard LS swap in terms of handling or other performance.

Either way its an interesting and impressive project. I just want to know what the rationale behind it is :)

Sparkydog: