This is the end, beautiful friend - oil checked

[edh]

Thanks Sandy (and Andy) - I'm sure I'll find out what's wrong eventually but until then I'm not going to put too much effort into sourcing potential parts I'll never sell it broken though - it's worth too much in bits. Maybe I should set up a justgiving page so that MarkK can donate to the cause []

 

[andy watson]

Hi Ed, Sorry to read the old girl is giving you a headache again, she has served you well and given some good fun, hope what ever you decide is good for you. Maybe time for some Boxter fun? Good luck, catch up soon

 

[blease]

edh, can't believe you are passing up this chance to do the right thing.....LS2!!! Hoick that lump out and speak nicely to the guys at Monkfish. They have (or had) an unused LS fitting kit. Been itching to do it myself for years but (touching wood) my S2 unit has not given me that chance yet!!

 

[Indi9xx]

As much as I hate not following the purist line with always putting Porsche engines into Porsche cars, the idea of a LS1 powered 944, if only for the soundtrack, would be amazing.. I used to follow the progress of Renegade Hybrids and Kennedy engineering in developing the kits, and if you look past the soap opera of those two companies fighting, the actual cars did sound amazing.. However, back 10 years ago when the above was happening, they were doing it to a lot of 914's and 912's, which, back then were worth peanuts (£1500 on ebay was quite common for a MOT failure) which now are worth a fortune... Which, if have been chopped about for the conversion, are still worth peanuts.. So, it may be worth thinking about if the 944 is going to continue going up in value, which it will with every one which gets scrapped or chopped about. So, I would urge you to do it.. If you do, you get an awesome track car with a audio level which a Porsche engined 944 can never reach no matter what you do with an exhaust, you get masses of power, and normal weight distribution... and.. the value of all our 944's go up just a little bit in the process )

 

[edh]

I have to say an LS conversion doesn't exactly feature among my options - although my co-driver was mulling over this possibility on the way back from Spa. A friend of his is just finishing off an LS2 Escort which should be interesting..If I was spending the money on an LSx (which I wouldn't because I prefer sixes) I would start from a 250 turbo with a rot free shell - worth spending a few grand more on a project like that. The whole idea with this car was to have a cheap, road usable, trackday car, and to see if a 200K+ mile 944 can stand up to the treatment. If I break it, I'll get pretty much all the money back I've spent, so it's been cost effective. It has also been a lovely car to drive on the track. The only downside, to be expected I guess, is the number of components I have replaced either just before or just after failure...so maybe a 200k+ track car isn't all that sensible. It has cut short a few trackdays, so it's more than just a minor inconvenience. I'll check the oil next week & report back, and book myself a trackday in the Boxster (probably 17 Nov Silverstone national) to see how that measures up.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

As much as I hate not following the purist line with always putting Porsche engines into Porsche cars

If Porsche didn't always fit Porsche engines, why be purist about it? I'm always being told, by self-titled experts, that the front-engined Porsches have a VW engine.....[&:]

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: andy watson Hi Ed, Sorry to read the old girl is giving you a headache again, she has served you well and given some good fun, hope what ever you decide is good for you. Maybe time for some Boxter fun? Good luck, catch up soon

Thanks Andy - how's your search for a track car going?

 

[andy watson]

ORIGINAL: edh

ORIGINAL: andy watson Hi Ed, Sorry to read the old girl is giving you a headache again, she has served you well and given some good fun, hope what ever you decide is good for you. Maybe time for some Boxter fun? Good luck, catch up soon

Thanks Andy - how's your search for a track car going?

Not good I'm afraid - pesky wife wants to move (so do I) so track car is on back burner, worse still the M3 is up for sale as well [] Still maybe next year

 

[chrismanchr]

mine is currently a none runner due to what sounds like big end failure ,it went all of a sudden and knocked very loudly ,but while it was knocking I still had 5 bar oil pressure the engines not torn apart yet but I'm preparing myself for the worse ,and I'll be doing alot of cycling this winter ;-( anyone got a spare s2 engine ? lol

 

[924nutter]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

As much as I hate not following the purist line with always putting Porsche engines into Porsche cars

If Porsche didn't always fit Porsche engines, why be purist about it? I'm always being told, by self-titled experts, that the front-engined Porsches have a VW engine.....[&:]

Tell them this Paul. As a great defender of the faith of Project EA425 it is true that the engine is VAG but the closest thing the VAG group had was the engine which eventually found it's way into the contemporary Audi 100 of the time, the range that also included the Audi 100 5S and 5e. Porsche considered and dismissed the 136 bhp 2144 cc engine because of the difficut installation of a five cykinder engine in the more or less finalised body shell shape of the 924. The 5 cylinder is incredibly long. In retrospect this might have been a better route to follow giving first models of the 924 136, but alas the engine was considered too long and probaly added to the cost of a 924 which Porsche, with a turn over of something like 80,000 Dm in the mid seventies were anxious to avoid and infact the 924 sales saved Porsche from bankruptcy in the seventies in the same way the boxster did in the 90's. I don't think the engine when in the Audi ever had fuel injection but it was an easy modification, which required the drilling and tapping of the spot faces already present on the Audi head to accept the fuel injector holders. The crank case breather was turned through 90 degress because the hot water pipes on the 924 bifurcate just above the breather stub pipe and the 924 feeds back into the air filter box under the pipes but the Audi pipe went vertical into the air cleaner. If you compare the cam specs for the 1600 cc fuel injected golf engine to the carburettored engine you will see big differecnes in the inlet open point, something like 1 degree btdc on the F/I and 16 degrees btdc on the carburettor engine, yet no such difference exists between the cm specs of the fuel injected 1984 engine and the carburettor engine ( I have both workshop manuals) which leads me to believe that Porsche didn't even, or couldn't even go to the expense of redisigning the cam profiles to optimise engine output. In low compression form the engine found its way into the LT 28 Volkwagen van, and it was also used in the AMC gremlin in the US, but of course nothing sounds as derogatory as saying you weedy sports car has a van engine. Let us not forget the the Dialblo was made by a tractor maker.

 

[Indi9xx]

The 924 is actually an interesting story especially some of the details which can be inaccurate in the 924 books out there. Not many people realise that the engine was designed by Porsche engineers, that the 924 and the what people expect to have been the VW version also in development were very different cars with even a completely different wheel base and shape, unlike the 914, that the head which found its way onto the 924 non turbo was the head intended for the VW version (The herron head), which also had detuned (intentional bad designed) intake ports, and the head that found its way onto the 924 turbo was intended on being the 924 non turbo head, as used in some later motorsport versions of non turbo engine. I am not 100% sure, but I remember when I was looking into all this in the 80's, which included talking to the designer who worked on some parts of the 924, and always lead design on the 928 (A scottish chap who now designs road sweepers and ice polishers! lol) the 924 engine type was not used in a VW or Audi until after the 924 had been released.. So, even though the 924 engine was made in a VW plant, much like the car.. And 944's! it is better to say the 924 engine was also used in VW's and AMC cars, rather than saying the 924 had a VW/Audi engine... Which I think is something which not only defamed the 924 back then and now, but also has a legacy which has often impacted the 944 and its value within the Porsche family. What bugs me is when air cooled 911 owners turn their nose up at the 924 by saying "Oh thats one of those audi parts bin cars", when they have just stepped out of something which has its design and bloodline with more in common than VW/Audi group than it does to a new concept like the 924... Or maybe I just have a soft spot for the underdog. Then again... I love all the Porsche models... I also love the idea of a LS1 in a 944.. But at the same time could not bring myself to do it myself, even though a 944 would sound awesome with a muscle car engine.

 

[JagdHamster]

A 5-pot (such as the Audi RS2 engine, also tuned by Porsche) in a 944.....yummy, that would be nice! The sound of a 5 is my all-time favourite and they can really punch hard. Russ

 

[George Elliott]

My reasoning goes like this; with wear limits on most white metal bearings being something like 4 thou or point 1 of a millimeter, I simply cant see an engine being designed with so little deck height clearance such that a perfectly serviceable engine simply on its wear limit would be at risk of piston clash but I have an open mind, and I am prepared to be enlightened

John, I think a spun bearing can increase the stroke by 2,3 maybe 4mm as the shells partially overlap in some cases, therefore they could touch. I would fix the car edh, but not by squandering a fortune on it. George

 

[edh]

OK - an quick update I drained the oil and filtered it, and found nothing. Nothing on the sump plug either. I didn't cut open the filter as I wanted to stick the oil back in so the car can still be moved. I guess that's good news. I could see the oil pickup through the drain hole, and using a wooden dowel, could move it slightly, making it knock against the sump. I thing that means it is broken. I am thinking my next move should be to try and find some (cheap) tappets to stick in the top end and see if I can cure the noise. There are quite a few that feel soft. If that works I can then fix the pickup and check the rod bearings.

 

[944 man]

I believe that you can do all of the big ends Ed, but one of the mains cant be done in-situ. Im also led to believe that mains dont usually wear, although this is nothing more than interesting hearsay and Id sooner replace everything.

 

[edh]

That's a very kind offer simon - when are you coming round?[] I wasn't thinking about the mains as well tbh. I'm still hoping I can do this with the minimum of cost and effort.

 

[944 man]

I have a lot of tools, but theyre all still clean and shiny! [] I suspect that the additional cost of the bearing shells wouldnt add a deal to the overall cost and neither would the labour as youre (nearly) doing it all anyway. Will Rob be doing this for you?

 

[edh]

I'm not planning on paying anyone although I may draft in some help from my more experienced friends if I get stuck. No rush though, I have all winter if necessary

 

[944 man]

Alasdair has done it from underneath, so he will be able to advise you, if that will help.

 

[scam75]

Yup he done mines in situ. About £40 quid I think for the shells. He also done my piston rings and commissioned a full head refresh and turbo rebuild as well as replacing every gasket and nut n bolt in sight, manifolds the lot. What a guy and how sweet my engine now runs!! Stuart