Did we screw up a 944?

We just happened to have a complete running engine from an '85 Porsche 944 laying around the garage collecting dust. Through the miracle of Craigslist, I found a rust free '89 with a blown motor, Add extra motor to solid body ...presto nice looking solid decent running car! The question here is: We didn't realize when we bought the '89 that it came with a 2.7 L motor and the '85 was 2.5L. We had to use the '89 intake, computer, fuel system and accessories to make it work. What have we done to the value and performance of this car? Our intention is to sell it not to keep it.

Well, in california it would be technically illegal to register and drive on the street with an older engine. Other than that I dont know.

In Ohio that won't be a problem. Although it is also technically illegal here too. Newer is fine. There is no way for them to catch the swap and onlt "sniffer" testing for emissions.

I would say that as long as you let the buyer know what you did, it shouldn't be too big of a problem. how would California know what engines are in what cars?

There is a noticable difference in performance between the two motors. The 2.7 is basically the 3 liter with a different crank, and is improved somewhat over the 2.5. The torque curve seems a little better and it really seems quicker just about everywhere. With that in mind, you probably did hurt the value over a good running '89 with the correct engine, but...as just a body with a blown motor, it was almost worthless as it was.

What you ended up with is at least a running car, and is probably for sure worth more than what it was, but you'll have a hard time selling it to some of the Porsche crowd. Others probably don't care.

My current, good running and overall nice shape '89 is currently for sale at $3,500, so yours should be in the at least $2,500 to $3,000 range should it be good overall condition other than the motor. At least in this part of the country.

If the car is near mint other than the motor swap, you might pull more money, it all depends on the buyer and what they want.

2.7 has about a 15 hp advantage over the 2.5 and better flow, on the other hand, the 2.5 is a more common power plant and cheaper to maintain (but not by much.) for a "normal" person this swap wouldn't be a big a deal, as long as they know up front. Performance drivers probably wont be to keen on it , but there are plenty of people out there who will by it just for the Porsche name so they can show off in front of their friends... after they decide not to do the $1400 front end service next year, buy it back cheap and enjoy it... :)

Thanks for the feed back. The car has some paint issues, but it is very straight . Paint is shiny Guards Red so it looks great from 10 feet but needs a repaint to be perfect. We still need to do a post mortem on the 89 engine to see if it is fixable. What we know about it is that it had a fuel issue that caused it to dump fuel into the cylinders. The shop towed the car around the lot with another vehicle. I am assuming that they were trying to get the gas out of the engine, but they didn't pull the spark plugs and they must have broken at least one rod. When they then tried to start the engine it blew a piston through the oil pan, OOPS!

Does the 89 intake improve the flow on the 2,5L?

sounds like a perfect $2500 first car for a high-schooler.

Cali does a visual inspection for the smog test, and even though in reality they may not notice, even a rebuilt engine using a block with a date code from one model year before that of the car its in means that the engine will not meet the emissions standards for the vehicle its in.

I can't believe that there would be enough difference in emissions for them to notice in this case. The only thing that is from the older engine is the block. All of the sensors and computer is from the 89.

When I e-checked my 5.0 Miata here in Ohio, It had to beat the emissions of the 1.6L 4 cylinder and it passed with 90% to spare!

The difference in emissions doesnt even matter to them. All they care is that its a vilation of federal law becasue its an older engine in a newer car. Yes its totally stupid, the only reason I mentioned it is becasue if you sold it to someone in a state that cared about that, they might be annoyed with you if they didnt know, although I doubt it will ever be a problem.

Your first question was, "did we screw it up?"

My sales pitch would be that you improved it. Sure, the purist may notice the change but most buyer will not. Personally, I would not bring it up but if questioned answer with something like, "since the motor needed to be changed I went with the newest one I could find and that newest one has 15 more hp!"

jrw1621 wrote: Your first question was, "did we screw it up?" My sales pitch would be that you improved it. Sure, the purist may notice the change but most buyer will not. Personally, I would not bring it up but if questioned answer with something like, "since the motor needed to be changed I went with the newest one I could find and that newest one has 15 more hp!"

They put the weaker motor in the newer car.

Well, I guess they screwed it up.

jrw1621 wrote: Well, I guess they screwed it up.

I disagree. Took two turds and made a car.

You made a running car out of what were two large unusable assemblies of metal. I call it success.

Someone will like it.

I would be concerned that ti will run rich and fail the sniffer.

I would consider getting a 2.5 DME, injectors and possibly the AFM from the same year that the car is. At least cross check the part numbers and see if there is a difference Other than that.

There are several places that I can steer you if you want. PM me if you want. I know some one that is always parting out 944s and is very reasonable with the $$$. I bet you could make a deal. The 2.5 8v Na stuff is plentiful and cheep.

Just think of as doing a body swap on an '85 engine.

Type Q wrote: You made a running car out of what were two large unusable assemblies of metal. I call it success. Someone will like it.

It is a classic case of being "green" - recycling at its finest.

Wouldn't happen to have a 87-88 944S engine sitting around by any chance?

We do have the '89 engine that will need a new home, but we haven't opened it up yet to see how much damage has been done.

I am also a little concerned about how rich it might run, but I am hoping that the O2 sensors and computer can adjust enough to compensate. We have the computer and components of the '85 if we need to use them, but it seems to be running very well as is. I just don't have a base line seat dyno feel to know if it is slower than the '89 should be,

Varkwso wrote: It is a classic case of being "green" - recycling at its finest.

Techincally it's it even better. The prefered order of things is reduce, reuse and then recycle. Recycling would been taking selling it all for scrap to be formed into new metal into new cars. This is reuse. A working car without all the enegry needed manufacture a new one.

Sofa King wrote: We do have the '89 engine that will need a new home, but we haven't opened it up yet to see how much damage has been done.

Sounds like you had a good time and enjoyed the results. Good for you.

I am very interested in the 89 engine if you want to let it go. I would like to build one for my 924s.

If somone is interested I have an extra 87 16v motor that was running when pulled.

admc58 wrote: .... Sounds like you had a good time and enjoyed the results. Good for you. I am very interested in the 89 engine if you want to let it go. I would like to build one for my 924s. If somone is interested I have an extra 87 16v motor that was running when pulled.

I am interested in the 87 16V.....where is it?

admc58 wrote: If somone is interested I have an extra 87 16v motor that was running when pulled.

i'm interested. a friend has an '87 16v with zero oil pressure.