Don Nguyen | My Porsche 911 V8 Build

[Don Nguyen]

Undecided. It'll be a 6.0l block or bigger. I'll let you guys know once I actually put the block I either have now in the car or another one that I may use instead.

Completely took the dash apart/out and removed some more of the sound deadening/padding. I am going to try and remove as much as I can before relaying new padding down.

Not sure what would work best, so I'll take any suggestions if anyone has any experience with this. I've read/heard that closed cell foam padding was a good option.





Pile of misc parts and wires that were removed.



One of the other reasons why I wanted to go through the whole car, which was to find any rust spots that would be developing such as what I found here around the rear quarter windows.



Not sure if this was like this from the factory, but it seems like someone's removed these before and used 3M double sided tape to put these trim pieces back on. With older cars, you never know where someone before you could gone/been through before. I will most likely be using the 993 window seal for the rear quarter windows, which will delete the need for that trim piece that was removed.



I originally thought that I wanted to run 993 door panels, so I bought a set with the hi-fi sound package in them. However, I may end up just reupholstering the original 964 door panels and using those. I kind of like the pattern that's on the 964 door panels. We will see. If I do run the 993 door panels, I won't be using the hi-fi speakers, so I can get the small door pockets back







Random shots of the engine bay and car as it sits now.





-Don

[whats77inaname]

Closed cell foam on the back of the door panels. Excellent products I can personally vouch for: http://www.raamaudio.com/categories/...Foam-Products/

They offer an adhesive-backed version and rolls in which you can spray the adhesive and trim the Ensolite.

[$hah$]

Wow man car is a beauty. Interesting build, can't wait to see the final product.

[Desert_Fox]

Originally Posted by Comet

You don't like Porsches or race cars.
A Porsche is a race car.
If you liked race cars and Porsches you'd leave their perfection untouched. You own an air cooled precision machine and you want to add a bulky V8 to it?
Do you realize what that will do to the handling?

You just like big straight muscle car power and want to be able to say you own a Porsche to the women you talk to.

As a Porsche driver, I am disgusted by your abomination.


a Porsche is a street legal race car by design (excluding the 991). It doesn't need race car styling cues, it is a race car. You can buy one and slap it on a track. Your V8 will make the handling completely out of whack.

Whatever you do, don't show up to any Porsche meets, you'll be laughed at.

Wow Comet, unless you know this guy and are just trolling him, you're a total ass. It's the guy's car, and while what he is doing is unorthodox, it makes him happy so who gives a shit? Go bitch about it on Planet 9, maybe some other Porsche snobs can give you a pat on the back...

[Who?]

Haha, some of these responses are hilarious.. He can put a Suzuki engine for all I care.
Looks like a blast, I wouldn't mind doing one of these projects myself one day..

[Comet]

I guess he might as well put an M-badge on it too.....

[PSUSMU]

Originally Posted by Comet

I guess he might as well put an M-badge on it too.....

Nah, man. Gotta throw a SS badge on to go with that LSx.

[TheHire99]

Why so much hate? It's not like he's putting Lambo doors or spinners on the damn thing. Different strokes for different folks Good luck with the build, dying to see how it turns out.

[Don Nguyen]

Here's a picture that I pulled off of my instagram, @don__nguyen with double underscores in between the name, for those that use it and if you want to follow me for miscellaneous updates. Sometimes I don't get around to posting all of my updates/pictures on the forums, since it's easier for to just upload directly to a source such as instagram.

Bought a used short block, so naturally I had to take it all apart to check and make sure everything was ok. I am going to go ahead and get the cylinders bored out slightly bigger, oversized forged pistons to match the new bore of the block/cylinder once it gets machine, get the crank cleaned up and get new bearings (con rod, cam, and mains).



-Don

Originally Posted by Comet

You don't like Porsches or race cars.
A Porsche is a race car.
If you liked race cars and Porsches you'd leave their perfection untouched. You own an air cooled precision machine and you want to add a bulky V8 to it?
Do you realize what that will do to the handling?

You just like big straight muscle car power and want to be able to say you own a Porsche to the women you talk to.

As a Porsche driver, I am disgusted by your abomination.


a Porsche is a street legal race car by design (excluding the 991). It doesn't need race car styling cues, it is a race car. You can buy one and slap it on a track. Your V8 will make the handling completely out of whack.

Whatever you do, don't show up to any Porsche meets, you'll be laughed at.

Dude, a base 911 is not remotely close to a race car. If it doesn't say GT on it, it's not any wilder than an M3 or an AMG C class.

You're a laugh riot. The LS is lighter than the Porsche motor by around 100lbs, so the handling will improve, and if he takes that thing to a Porsche meet, he's probably going to get swarmed by people who are curious about his build. The kinds of people who go to meets aren't pretentious dickbags, they're enthusiasts who do a lot of their own work, particularly in the pre-993 crowd.

[abisson]

Originally Posted by triggrhaapi

Dude, a base 911 is not remotely close to a race car. If it doesn't say GT on it, it's not any wilder than an M3 or an AMG C class.

You're a laugh riot. The LS is lighter than the Porsche motor by around 100lbs, so the handling will improve, and if he takes that thing to a Porsche meet, he's probably going to get swarmed by people who are curious about his build. The kinds of people who go to meets aren't pretentious dickbags, they're enthusiasts who do a lot of their own work, particularly in the pre-993 crowd.

Oh boi, I am grabbing some popcorn.

[PSUSMU]

Originally Posted by triggrhaapi

Dude, a base 911 is not remotely close to a race car. If it doesn't say GT on it, it's not any wilder than an M3 or an AMG C class.

You're an idiot.

Originally Posted by PSUSMU

You're an idiot.

Oh by all means educate me. A base 911 is a luxury sports car and quite far indeed from being a race car. Even the Turbo 911s are a far cry from being a race car.

I know plenty of people who race 911 Cup cars and many of them will tell you that even the GT3 RS is still quite a bit off the pace of their race cars. Ignoring the lack of KERS or a fuel cell or any of the datalogging equipment, the suspension, engine and brakes are all quite far indeed from a race 911.

Race car. That's a good one. It's a very good car, no doubt, but a race car it is not.

[Comet]

Originally Posted by Team Plutonium

What's with the hate? It is not a build I would do (neither do I have the skills), but his ambition is pretty darn impressive.

I never took away from the ambition or skill. From that PoV it is awesome.
It is to me (and most porsche drivers) a mockery of the car. As if someone would put an AMG engine into an 3series and then badge it "A //M G". I'd love to see the shit storm that would brew around here. Hell, false badging any car here gets tons of hate, but gutting out the heart of a porsche for some american big block?

Originally Posted by triggrhaapi

Oh by all means educate me. A base 911 is a luxury sports car and quite far indeed from being a race car. Even the Turbo 911s are a far cry from being a race car.

I know plenty of people who race 911 Cup cars and many of them will tell you that even the GT3 RS is still quite a bit off the pace of their race cars. Ignoring the lack of KERS or a fuel cell or any of the datalogging equipment, the suspension, engine and brakes are all quite far indeed from a race 911.

Race car. That's a good one. It's a very good car, no doubt, but a race car it is not.

A 911 is a street legal race car. GT3 Cups are not street legal.

It is a track day car that you can use to drop off the kids and do the groceries with. I daily drove mine for 3 years.

A 911 is not a luxury sports car. It is a street legal race car. If you choose to option it out as a luxury car, that's your prerogative.

Sports chrono pack will give you datalogging. Suspension, engine and brakes are a far cry from race cars? LOL, you've never driven a Porsche have you? Let alone a GT3 RS.

[amanda hor$t]

there's an 800hp 997 gt2 on ebay for $155k. though really when you can get something almost as fast in a boxster and keep $135k in change it's a tough sell: for me that's 10 yrs worth of eating/drinking.

though i could also pick up a used 996 turbo for $35k (and keep $100k) just to get the purists off my ass. oh wait but then a 993 was the last of the "real" porsches.

[S_M]

Originally Posted by triggrhaapi

Oh by all means educate me. A base 911 is a luxury sports car and quite far indeed from being a race car. Even the Turbo 911s are a far cry from being a race car.

I know plenty of people who race 911 Cup cars and many of them will tell you that even the GT3 RS is still quite a bit off the pace of their race cars. Ignoring the lack of KERS or a fuel cell or any of the datalogging equipment, the suspension, engine and brakes are all quite far indeed from a race 911.

Race car. That's a good one. It's a very good car, no doubt, but a race car it is not.

A stock cup car has no fuel cell or KERS... and the brakes have street car part numbers...

[Joekerr]

Originally Posted by Don Nguyen

"I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself" - Ferdinand Porsche

I like Porsches, I like American V8s, and I like race cars. What am I alluding to?
Well, to simply put it, I will be taking my Porsche 964 and putting a Chevy LS based engine into it with the overall end results of a streetable race car. Because what fun, really, is a car that can't be driven whenever you wanted to.

However, to me speed is only one part of the equation. The car's going to take on styling cues of a race car from the exterior, but have a relatively tolerable and factory-esque interior, aside from a few various interior race bits here and there. I like to think of it as a wolf in wolf's clothing. Sounds wrong in every way? Sounds perfect to me. Speed, handling, styling, and comfort. The best part about building a car how you want it is that there is no bad part.

Why? I will only answer this question once. Because.

Because...race car.



(I think I see the storm clouds brewing already on the basis of those three simple words above as I finish this post)
I'm subscribed - I think its interesting what he's doing and am looking forward to the final product. I don't know if its truly a Porsche anymore, but its an interesting hybrid and I'm very curious. Kudos to you.

Originally Posted by Comet

A 911 is a street legal race car. GT3 Cups are not street legal.

It is a track day car that you can use to drop off the kids and do the groceries with. I daily drove mine for 3 years.

A 911 is not a luxury sports car. It is a street legal race car. If you choose to option it out as a luxury car, that's your prerogative.

Sports chrono pack will give you datalogging. Suspension, engine and brakes are a far cry from race cars? LOL, you've never driven a Porsche have you? Let alone a GT3 RS.

A GT3 Cup Car is a race car. So are the R Hybrid and the RSR.

Suspension engine and brakes on any non-GT 911 are definitely a far cry from their race equivalents.

I haven't driven a GT3. It's a great car, I really love them. A GT3 is not a base 911. It's definitely much closer to the whole race car thing than a C2S or a C4.

Even the GT3 RS 4.0 would get it's ass handed to it by a Cup Car or RSR on a track, so what chance does a base C2 have? Not a race car.

[ragingclue]

Wow dude, nice project. Half mast here for sure. Full mast reading all the QQ from the purists and badge whores....

Best of luck with your project.

[Mr Tonka]

Geezzz people get bent out of shape about a car.... It's a car, it's a race car, it's the mother of all cars, who cares?? It's not what the OP wants. If it's not your cup of tea, move on. It's not like the OP is going to stop mid project and put everything back together based on your internet tantrum.

I have the option of driving a 911 GTS4, an E92 M3 or a Jeep wrangler everyday. 19 times out of 20 i drive the M3. Hell, i drove the jeep all this week, am i an idiot for doing so? Because i dislike the drive of the 911 so much i'm going to be getting out of it very soon. I'd probably like it better if it were a V8.

OP, i have a friend who did this build and he LOVES the car now. It's always ready to drive, it's much more reliable and it sounds badass! Good luck and keep posting picture updates!

[amanda hor$t]

i once borrowed an id from steve nguyen... i'm just sayin' lol

[mike the snake]

This will be a nice car once finished. As stated, the V8 is actually lighter than the Porsche 6 cylinder engine..

Depending on the gearbox, it might need upgrading to handle the extra torque.

The G-50 boxes are nice, the 930 4 speeds are very good for V8 swaps as the gearing is more correct and they can handle big power.

Good luck.