924 stroker kits and head upgrades

[michel]

anyone ever modded a 924 - stroker kits big valve high compression etc

anyone ever dealt with EURORACE in the states? 

[XLR8]

Over on 924board.org there is a lot of info about what doesn't work on a NA 924 (most things) and what does (a few very expensive things). It seems chasing big power is usually achieved via forced induction (apparently the bottom end is bulletproof), or buying a 924 or 944 turbo.

Keep us informed of what you find out. At best, most 924s could do with a rebuild now, and more grunt is certainly welcome.

 

[michel]

As you say plenty of talk on 924 board. Though was hopeful a local had been mucking about.

might speak to Mr Buchanan, though am worried about the strength of invective and or equal measure ridicule and scorn, I will be subjected to once a 4 is added to the first two digits  

[Buchanan Automotive]

Hi Michel , personally I think ( for decades) that the original 924 is an extremely good looking car & this can be put to the test by seeing what external colours ( any ) car can take well , so for example a same era 911 or 911 Turbo looks good in certain colours & conversely look dreadful in others , same goes for the 928 series it looks good in some colours but looks dreadful in other colours , but the 924 ( like the 944 ) looks good in just about any colour , that is the mark of an extremely good car shape / design & no one thinks about that , the shape is timeless , Porsche Germany has a 924 that is Signal Green in colour & is often used in the Porsche Classic Parts advertising & it looks fantastic 
 

And the 924 Turbo in a nice colour scheme looks fantastic & a ( rare ) 924 Carrera GTS , that still to this day looks sensational & then to top that the 1981  Hugo Boss 924 GTP Le Mans car , I would love to make a replica of that 

Years/ decades ago we had a customer Ron Curry who purchased a new 1980 931 ( 924 Turbo ) from the Porsche dealership I was working at in Sydney & he kept that car long after the lease expired because ( as I agreed with him ) it was a real lille stunner to look at , it was silver metallic from the waist up & dark blue metallic down low ( two tone ) & the interior was black with the Stuart Tartan cloth inserts on the seats & door trims , and with the green instrument dials it had a real expensive / exotic look about it 

Now the 924 in NA ( normally aspirated ) the 2.0L engine is actually a very nice little 2.0L engine , however being NA its never cheap to extract extra power , hence why Porsche thought it was worth the while to spend the money & make the 2.5L all alloy engine , either in the 2.5 NA as used in the 924S and 944  or in the later 944 models the very nice ( loves to be rev'ed ) 944S with its 2.5L twin cam 16V engine 
The standard Euro version 924 ( Non USA ) was I think 9.3:1 compression ratio , now the way I would increase output ( now that we have decent 98 octane premium unleaded petrol these days )  is to get made custom pistons made ( after inspecting the bores & seeing what to machine them to ) at around 11.5 : 1 compression ratio , decent set of custom headers / extractors & custom exhaust system & like we have done on some modified 3.0L 911 Sc's we get the K - Jet fuel list head modified to dial in the air fuel ratio at all rev rangers & probably a custom cam / in fact defiantly get a cam made to suite & of course a decent set of new con rods ( Wossner or Carrillo ) for reliability at high RPM , naturally this will cost a bundle , but that what it takes to get something out of a NA engine , I would be almost inclined to install a 944S ( 2.5 16V ) engine , but you will need a loner car , because you will need the engine & harnesses & computers , bell housing , flywheel , clutch , T Tube & while you are at it the transmission , but then you will need bigger front brakes because the one thing the 924 NA always had a issue with is the tiny front brakes , strongly the rear drum brakes on the NA 924 are actually quite OK , its the fronts that are the BIG issue along with the 4 stud wheel pattern , so that means you would need to graft the front & rear suspension & brakes out of the 944S and wheels , which is a shame because I like the look of the original 924 NA wheels , but there is another issue , the standard front brakes on the 944S were also CRAP , single piston sliding caliper , just like the 924 , but just a bit bigger , even the standard ( read small ) 4 piston Brembo front brake callipers & small discs used on the early 951 & as used on the 944S2 & 968 ( Non M030 ) were also CRAP , it wasn't until Porsche fitted the 951( 1988 Turbo S & 1989 Turbo S ) with the different ( Turbo S ) front axles & the BIG 4 piston Brembo front brake callipers  from the 1986 928S that Porsche finally fixed the front brakes , these M030 Big front brakes were also an EXPENSIVE option on the 944S2 & 968 .

I have a 968( last of the 944's) my self , a 1993 968  (6 speed) manual Non M030 ( standard little 4 piston callipers on the front )& it stops OK ish but NOT well at all as compared to the same car with the optional larger front brakes & yes I am going to update them because they are really quite SHIT if you have to stomp on them going down a hill at even 50 Kmh 

As you can see it took Porsche a long time to sort the brakes out & naturally the more performance you get the more you need stronger & stronger front brakes

Note }  We have done quite a few engine compression increases on the 3.0L 944S2 engines & we are doing one right now at work , we are taking standard 944S2 engine to the original 10.9:1 to 12.0:1 with custom 2nd oversize pistons & con rods we have had made by Wossner of Germany , this engine is getting some very nice custom ( read expensive ) custom made cams & and an entire Motec engine management system when complete , this engine is going to haul arse 

But my favorite Porsche engine , for simplicity & potential extra performance & ( lack of internal moving parts per output ) & the massive amount of power & drivability we regularly get out of them is the 944 turbo ( 951 ) in 2.5L we get ( depending on the stage we choose ) from 300HP to 450 HP  & in regards to the 3.0L twin cam 16V E85 engines Sean Buchanan makes , they are generally between 570HP to 600 HP with 1.3 Bar boost on E85 & the 3.0L engine produces more torque / drivability over the 2.5L at all revs and it makes the 951 virtually a supercar in performance 

Regards

Bruce Buchanan
Buchanan Automotive

[michel]

Hi Bruce great answer and consistent with our previous conversation