so i bought a porsche.......
#26
turns out the oil filter was loose enough and it managed to blow the seal out, however it didnt leak a drop till that point. i was taking the engine out when i discovered it, managed to get it together enough to fire it to find out the old engine is still ok. just means i can sell it as a running engine.
#27
Senior Member
iTrader: (16)
turns out the oil filter was loose enough and it managed to blow the seal out, however it didnt leak a drop till that point. i was taking the engine out when i discovered it, managed to get it together enough to fire it to find out the old engine is still ok. just means i can sell it as a running engine.
Build thread?
#29
well i havent wasted any time getting it torn apart. old engines out, engine bay is all cleaned up and stripped of all the unneeded crap (which surprisingly isnt that much). i also pulled the ecotec out of its old home today and got it to the shop, ill get it washed and then its ready for the fun to begin.
ive been looking at some options forgetting the engine in and it looks like itll be more difficult than i first though. difficult, but not impossible. my first big hurdle is getting the engine bolted to the torque tube. i was planning to use the solstice bellhousing, however its a deep bellhousing, looks like its 1 1/2" too deep. there are several aftermarket bellhousings available for the ecotec, quicktimes makes one to mate the ecotec to a t56, it looks like thats going to be the right depth with an adapter plate to go from the t56 pattern to the porsche torque tube. i might also look into a custom bellhousing, i have the contacts through my shop or the guy who makes the bellhousings for quicktimes. next hurdle will be the oil pan, the sump is going to occupy the same area as the cradle. i know there are a couple aftermarket wet sump pans out there, however i may just modify the stock pan myself.
ive been looking at some options forgetting the engine in and it looks like itll be more difficult than i first though. difficult, but not impossible. my first big hurdle is getting the engine bolted to the torque tube. i was planning to use the solstice bellhousing, however its a deep bellhousing, looks like its 1 1/2" too deep. there are several aftermarket bellhousings available for the ecotec, quicktimes makes one to mate the ecotec to a t56, it looks like thats going to be the right depth with an adapter plate to go from the t56 pattern to the porsche torque tube. i might also look into a custom bellhousing, i have the contacts through my shop or the guy who makes the bellhousings for quicktimes. next hurdle will be the oil pan, the sump is going to occupy the same area as the cradle. i know there are a couple aftermarket wet sump pans out there, however i may just modify the stock pan myself.
#32
so i got it hanging in place tonight
ive got a lot of work ahead of me to get it mounted. the solstice mount brackets i ordered are not going to work, so ill have to fab those from scratch. im debating weather to cut the stock oil pan up or get a flange cut and start from scratch. if i use the stock pan ill have to cut the sump in half, then extend the rear of the sump to get the volume. the oil filter housing hits the firewall, although i think thats just going to take some hammer modding to clear. this motor has the egr manifold piece on the back of the head, im considering cutting it off as its just about touching the firewall. it also looks like im going to have to go with manual brakes, the booster is very close to the head and there looks to be no room for the intake manifold. i did count on making my own intake manifold anyways, it just looks like itll be a little more complex.
for some good news, i figured out a solution for the bellhousing. the quicktime ecotec to ls1 t56 bellhousing is the right depth to make a 1/2" thick adapter plate. so thats one issue sorted out.
ive got a lot of work ahead of me to get it mounted. the solstice mount brackets i ordered are not going to work, so ill have to fab those from scratch. im debating weather to cut the stock oil pan up or get a flange cut and start from scratch. if i use the stock pan ill have to cut the sump in half, then extend the rear of the sump to get the volume. the oil filter housing hits the firewall, although i think thats just going to take some hammer modding to clear. this motor has the egr manifold piece on the back of the head, im considering cutting it off as its just about touching the firewall. it also looks like im going to have to go with manual brakes, the booster is very close to the head and there looks to be no room for the intake manifold. i did count on making my own intake manifold anyways, it just looks like itll be a little more complex.
for some good news, i figured out a solution for the bellhousing. the quicktime ecotec to ls1 t56 bellhousing is the right depth to make a 1/2" thick adapter plate. so thats one issue sorted out.
#34
got the motor were it needs to be in the car. cut off part of the egr crossover, had to cut the power steering pump mounting location down, and had to do some grinding on the oil filter housing to get it to clear. now that i have it where it needs to be i can start looking at other things.
i decided to ditch the a/c. i wanted to keep it, however the steering rack seems to be taking every bit of room that the a/c compressor would occupy. im also having to go with manual brakes. its actually a fairly common thing to have to do with the v8 swaps, and with a proper master cylinder its not really an issue. at this point im thinking ill just forget power steering as well. pushing the car around the steering was pretty light with the old engine in, the front end should be 100lbs lighter with the ecotec, so i dont think itll be an issue.
as you can see in the one pic, the intake manifold is still going to be interesting. using the plastic one for mock up, i can see the saab turbo manifold isnt going to work very easy. one of the aftermarket style manifolds (ttr, hahn, etc) isnt going to clear things either. i need to research what it takes to put an lnf intake on an l61, having the throttle body on the bottom might just be the answer.
biggest thing is i need to get some parts on order. gotta have a bellhousing and build the adapter before i can build engine mounts. once its bolted in i can start fabbing an oil pan, turbo manifold, and all the other fun goodies.
i decided to ditch the a/c. i wanted to keep it, however the steering rack seems to be taking every bit of room that the a/c compressor would occupy. im also having to go with manual brakes. its actually a fairly common thing to have to do with the v8 swaps, and with a proper master cylinder its not really an issue. at this point im thinking ill just forget power steering as well. pushing the car around the steering was pretty light with the old engine in, the front end should be 100lbs lighter with the ecotec, so i dont think itll be an issue.
as you can see in the one pic, the intake manifold is still going to be interesting. using the plastic one for mock up, i can see the saab turbo manifold isnt going to work very easy. one of the aftermarket style manifolds (ttr, hahn, etc) isnt going to clear things either. i need to research what it takes to put an lnf intake on an l61, having the throttle body on the bottom might just be the answer.
biggest thing is i need to get some parts on order. gotta have a bellhousing and build the adapter before i can build engine mounts. once its bolted in i can start fabbing an oil pan, turbo manifold, and all the other fun goodies.
#37
thanks.
havent gotten much picture worthy in the last couple days. little stuff, like moving all the wiring off the firewall, getting a firewall plate started for the brake master cylinder, stuff like that. ive got some parts drawn up that im going to cut on my friends cnc mill tomorrow. i was going to pull the steering rack apart and de-power it, however i cant decide what colors im going to powdercoat everything in the engine bay so thats not going to happen till i decide (figure the rack will be apart, may as well powder coat it).
waiting for parts sucks.
havent gotten much picture worthy in the last couple days. little stuff, like moving all the wiring off the firewall, getting a firewall plate started for the brake master cylinder, stuff like that. ive got some parts drawn up that im going to cut on my friends cnc mill tomorrow. i was going to pull the steering rack apart and de-power it, however i cant decide what colors im going to powdercoat everything in the engine bay so thats not going to happen till i decide (figure the rack will be apart, may as well powder coat it).
waiting for parts sucks.
#38
got some machining done this weekend. made a set of subframe spacers and a master cylinder reservoir mount
tonight i ordered up a solid trans mount. the transmission is hung from above in these cars, and as a result when the mount wears out it can swing side to side. im going to use the solid mount to help get the engine mounted (it will hold the trans exactly were it should be) then modify it to put some small bushings in later.
tonight i ordered up a solid trans mount. the transmission is hung from above in these cars, and as a result when the mount wears out it can swing side to side. im going to use the solid mount to help get the engine mounted (it will hold the trans exactly were it should be) then modify it to put some small bushings in later.
#41
a couple of parts showed up today. nothing thats really needed right now, or going to speed up progress, but a couple parts none the less.
the intake flange is from level zero motorsports. im not sure if im going to build my own manifold from scratch or use the flange as an adapter to run an lnf manifold. that will come later.
im sure a few people will be interested in the oil filter adapter. its from cbm (custom billet motors). its designed to thread in place of the factory oil filter cap and allows you to run a remote oil filter. this makes a remote filter a real easy thing on the ecotecs, no cutting the filter housing off and welding fittings to the block. ill be running an oil filter mount from performance world, and ive got a 9x11 oil cooler ill add for some extra insurance.
also got a few new colors of powder coating powder im going to try out. still havent decided on what color the big stuff will be done in, but ive got a few different greys for stuff i want to blend in a little.
the intake flange is from level zero motorsports. im not sure if im going to build my own manifold from scratch or use the flange as an adapter to run an lnf manifold. that will come later.
im sure a few people will be interested in the oil filter adapter. its from cbm (custom billet motors). its designed to thread in place of the factory oil filter cap and allows you to run a remote oil filter. this makes a remote filter a real easy thing on the ecotecs, no cutting the filter housing off and welding fittings to the block. ill be running an oil filter mount from performance world, and ive got a 9x11 oil cooler ill add for some extra insurance.
also got a few new colors of powder coating powder im going to try out. still havent decided on what color the big stuff will be done in, but ive got a few different greys for stuff i want to blend in a little.
#43
thanks for the props. as far as it goes, this build is actually pretty tame. i work for a shop that builds custom cars, everything from simple stereo installs to half million dollar + builds. here is our last build, we built it for the sema show. took 45 days from start to finish, with only myself and my boss working on it for the majority of the time.
its a 1964 international cab over farm truck, at least it was. we took the cab off, built a new chassis, c6 front and rear suspension, on airbags. its a twin turbo 5.3l making 1000hp, backed by a corvette t56 transaxle we have adapted for mid engine applications.
so yea, engine swap in the porsche, its not very high on the list of stuff thats built in our shop, but i also dont have the budget that most of our customers have.
its a 1964 international cab over farm truck, at least it was. we took the cab off, built a new chassis, c6 front and rear suspension, on airbags. its a twin turbo 5.3l making 1000hp, backed by a corvette t56 transaxle we have adapted for mid engine applications.
so yea, engine swap in the porsche, its not very high on the list of stuff thats built in our shop, but i also dont have the budget that most of our customers have.