914 with Lexus V8 swap| Grassroots Motorsports forum |

slefain SuperDork
8/4/11 9:09 a.m.

I met a guy last night with the coolest swap I've heard of in a 914, a LS400 V8. His reasoning: the car bodies get trashed while the drivetrain almost never gets stressed, so they are dirt cheap to buy.

I got these details from another board:

Over the last five years, I have built a 1972 Porsche 914 with a 1991 Lexus LS 400 engine. The car is not "finished", but is completely driveable and I drive it to work regularly!

I also used a Kennedy engineering adapter and clutch but made my own motor mounts and shift linkage.

The shift linkage is the really hard part, but the SC 400 engine will be BETTER than the LS 400 engine.

I took everything I could off of the engine to make it as short as possible. I wanted to cut the car as little as I possibly could. I took off all the idler pulleys, the distributors, and even shortened the harmonic ballancer .900 inches which required grinding some material off of the block so it wouldnt interfere.

Instead of using the Lexus alternator (an expensive piece), I got a GM Camaro alternator from a local parts store for ~$45 and built my own bracket to hold it in line with the shortened Lexus harmonic ballancer.

The belt is a very short belt that only goes around the harmonic ballancer and the alternator. The alternator acts as the tensioner. The Camaro alternator fits the same type of belt as the Lexus.

If I was picking another alternator, I would use one that goes on a 1993 Eagle Vision (Chrysler product). It is a very nice compact Nippondenso model with simple mounting and the correct pulley.

My car weighs 1900 lbs and has almost 300 horsepower in current trim. I am using an electromotive Tec II fuel injection system, but I hope to convert to Megasquirt with Ford EDIS ignition soon.

The car is SO much fun to drive. It is everything I wanted it to be. It is very light because I took the window glass out, all the dashboard, and everything that wasnt absolutely needed. I wanted to build a hot rod, not a luxury vehicle.

Please note that the Lexus engine DOES NOT FIT in the engine bay of a Porsche 914. I had to change both the engine, transmission mounts, firewall, and many other things to get it to work. That really took some time with a cutter and welder.

Oh yes, I welded stainless steel tube to the stock Lexus exhaust manifolds, and then welded Magnaflow stainless mufflers to those. It sounds AWESOME.

The engine with aftermarket fuel injection, and completely free flow exhaust is just amazing. Everyone says that they LOVE the sound of it.

You can send me questions if you want at sterling.skinner@me.gatech.edu. I live in Atlanta, Georgia. Hopefully I can send some pictures soon. --Sterling Skinner

I am kicking myself for not getting pics of the car last night, but I thought someone here might like the engine swap idea. He's using a Megasquirt setup with the stock Porsche transaxle. He also knows a fair bit about Boxster swaps as well. I told him he was required to sign up on the GRM board.

pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
8/4/11 9:14 a.m.

ransom GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
8/4/11 10:07 a.m.

I agree. If he doesn't turn up here soon, track him down and staple him to a laptop 'til he does.

That's the drivetrain I most want to use in my (ever-changing) dream-tube-chassis-VW-fastback... I'm very curious about where the front of the engine winds up relative to the rear axle.

dculberson HalfDork
8/4/11 10:31 a.m.

Love it!! I saw some pics of a 914 with a 1uzfe swap (that's the ls400 v8) a while back, and it looked like the engine had been shoehorned into the bay. At least one of the pulleys was visible through a cut in the firewall, so I'm sure it wasn't done yet. I wonder if it was the same car?

The 1uzfe is an amazing engine, I hope to do a swap with one some day. For now I've got the car it was made for. Eventually it will go in something lighter and more fun.

Dr. Hess SuperDork
8/4/11 11:03 a.m.

I have a LS400 as well, a 99 with the variable cam timing. An amazing motor. I "read somewhere" that Toyota spent $100 million to develop it. I don't doubt it.

His solution to the length issue is interesting. The AC pulley sticks out the most on that motor, but even at that, it's still about the same overall length as a SBC. He was obviously trying to shave every half inch off. NEED PICS.

DuctTape&Bondo Reader
8/4/11 1:24 p.m.

I have a 1993 LS400.

IIRC Pre 95 they are non interference. The earlier ECU's have an issue with using failure prone capacitors. That said, in my experience, finding 90-92 ECUs is vastly easier than 93-94 in my local yards. That's assuming you're going to be using the stock ECU.

Engines are dirt cheap and widely available. There's adapter kits to fit manual transmissions to them. Not cheap though. Superchargers are out there too. The Aussies love to put them into everything it seems. I'd like to put one into my RA29 but we'll see. I have smog nazis to deal with.