Help with my first Porsche - 87' Turbo

[ActionTrack]

Hello all, glad to be here and to be part of such a great community. I recently picked up a 1987 944 turbo from my dad's friend. I have taken it out a few times and am very excited to ride around in this thing during the summer/fall and might even take it to a track one day.

After researching the vehicle, I have gained some confusion, and am looking for any tips, ideas, or thoughts. The chassis is an 87' turbo and the vin/brakes/etc. all back this up. The engine on the other hand is stamped as an 89' S2 block.

I am looking for any advice on the build, ideas of what is put in the engine bay, and any information in general. I will be replacing the water pump and timing belt this upcoming week and want to know more about the car in general.

[Tom]

Welcome to Carpokes! How did you find us? Re you car, all turbos came from the factory as 2.5 liter motors. A popular upgrade is to build a 3 liter motor for more power, using the block from an S2 or 968, etc. The big 3.0 Turbo emblem on the intake suggests that's what you have. One way you confirm is to look at the front right corner of the cylinder head -- a few inches below and left of the 3.0. The 2.5 blocks use 2 M8 bolts in that corner, whereas the bigger blocks use 1 M8 bolt. Post some pics if unsure. Also post more pics of the car -- might be able to tell who built that motor, as the 3 liter turbo crowd is kind of a small town on the Internet.

That motor has a lot of modifications either way, which can be a blessing or a curse, but without question the first thing you should do is change the fuel lines on the left side of the motor and the little jumper on the fuel rail. Yours look original, and original hoses like that are very prone towards springing a leak, dripping gas on the headers, and catching the car on fire. Lots of other things worth doing too (timing belt if not fresh, that air filter, cracked wiring, etc.) but the fuel lines can total a car faster then all the rest combined.

[ActionTrack]

Welcome to Carpokes! How did you find us? Re you car, all turbos came from the factory as 2.5 liter motors. A popular upgrade is to build a 3 liter motor for more power, using the block from an S2 or 968, etc. The big 3.0 Turbo emblem on the intake suggests that's what you have. One way you confirm is to look at the front right corner of the cylinder head -- a few inches below and left of the 3.0. The 2.5 blocks use 2 M8 bolts in that corner, whereas the bigger blocks use 1 M8 bolt. Post some pics if unsure. Also post more pics of the car -- might be able to tell who built that motor, as the 3 liter turbo crowd is kind of a small town on the Internet.

That motor has a lot of modifications either way, which can be a blessing or a curse, but without question the first thing you should do is change the fuel lines on the left side of the motor and the little jumper on the fuel rail. Yours look original, and original hoses like that are very prone towards springing a leak, dripping gas on the headers, and catching the car on fire. Lots of other things worth doing too (timing belt if not fresh, that air filter, cracked wiring, etc.) but the fuel lines can total a car faster then all the rest combined.

Thank you so much for the info. I found this page from a referral on a Facebook 944 page. I will take a look again today for the bolts in the corner to confirm. I will post a few more photos of the car as I get them too (I am in the process of polishing and cleaning up the paint rn). I was told, I am not 100% confident, that this was built by Chris Cervelli. He was said to have built a sister car with this one but that one had crashed on track a few years ago. I will definitely take a look at those fuel lines as well and replace some of the wirings since there is some cracking.

I also have a question that anyone might be able to answer with the little info I do have: When replacing the water pump I am guessing I should use the pump for the block so in this case a pump for an 89' S2. Or should I find other details to determine the correct item to get (This also applies to the timing belt for me)

[Tom]

That engine bay looks like it could be by Chris Cervelli based on the age. He was building 3 liter turbo's before hacks like me ever dared. There are two basic kinds of 944 blocks. The 2.5 liter motors all had blocks with free-standing 100mm bores. The so-called 3 liter blocks had 104mm bores and the cylinders are joined together. There were also two basic crank sizes. The 78.9mm crank, and the 88mm crank. All 2.5 liter motors had 100mm bores and 78.9mm strokes. All 3.0 motors had 104mm bores and 88mm cranks. Porsche also made an oddball 2.7 liter motor in 1989, using a 104mm bore block and the shorter 78.9mm crank. The head on that 2.7mm motor was an 8 valve head (unlike the 16 valve heads found on the 3.0 liter engines) but with the correct bolt pattern to fit on the 104mm bore blocks. Because that is a one-year only part that is perfect for making 3 liter turbos like yours, it's a rare and expensive head to find these days. Some people also modified the water passage in the front right corner to make a normal 8 valve head bolt up to a 104mm block.

But back to your question. The water pumps for the 100mm bore blocks were slightly different than the water pumps for the 104mm blocks. So you'd want to confirm which block you have before installing a pump. The best way to do that without taking things apart if to look at that front water passage. The engine stamp 'should' be accurate too --but easier to fake.

[Thom]

That's a 2.7 head there, so the engine is most likely a 3.0L.
104mm blocks need a water pump with the 78mm impeller
100mm blocks need a water pump with the 68mm impeller

Don't pay too much attention to the possible "2.5" label on the body of the pump as many Laso pumps with the 78mm impeller came with this rather than the "2.7" label on pumps fitted from new. The very latest pumps don't even have this label I believe, at least mine doesn't.

[Darwin]

Judging by how straight the water neck is here, I’m guessing it is a 2.7 head.

AC7D3411-E7EA-4ADE-90DF-BA8419050C29.jpeg (976.25 KiB) Viewed 665 times

This is what my car looks like (S2 block with 2.7 head)

E7D77975-0B3B-4908-BE22-F0D30C427FEE.jpeg (680.04 KiB) Viewed 665 times