THE BASTARD - 944 LS1

At the start of 2012 I decided my next car would be a 944. There was something about it’s muscular wedge shape, boxed guards and mix of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s design elements. The perfect weight balance, relatively low weight and ability to take a corner ticked the boxes too. After test driving a few turbos and very nearly pulling the trigger on one, I decided in favour of natural aspiration. The instant on/off throttle response and linear power delivery of the s2 won me over. Outright power and kick-in-the-pants acceleration lost out to smooth and predictable (boring?) so I started looking for an s2. By october 2012, after spending way too much time on Carsales I had finally found an s2 in black. As a bonus it had the RUF Speedline wheels I was looking for too. The car was in Victoria and after negotiating on the price decided it was worth bringing it up to Brisbane. Naively, I took the word of the owner and a local workshop to determine the condition of the car and had it trucked up. The initial plan? Drive it and enjoy it as a daily driver, fix up a few little things as needed..

This is not the first thing you want to see: The rust was contained to the front fenders and the rear battery tray but they would have to be replaced. The RUF wheels were in great condition structurally with only minor kerb rash but were losing their clear coat and looking tatty. They actually look pretty good in this photo.. worse in reality. Can’t say I was a fan of the droopy bumper either…

One of the previous owners had the car repainted. It was a poor job... crows feet, orange peel, bubbles, overspray… [im] http://s10.postimg.org/ogjdo85c9/IMG_9783.jpg Missed a spot... The trim was flapping in the breeze… The sunroof seal had seen better days Obviously it used to be silver

The interior could have been worse.. But it could have been better.. some of the interior panels were warped and peeling away. The obligatory cracked dash: At this stage my plans for the car had changed.. I decided to give it a fresh lease on life by having the rust repaired/removed, new seals and a repaint. New seals Originally I wanted the car to be black.. but after seeing Porsche black grey on the GT3 RS, I decided to go half way in between. The colour is Porsche black grey with half of the white content removed from the mix. You can see it here on the old fender next to black: By early 2013 the car was looking like this... and clearly some of my mates thought I was a dick head

it wasn't a bare metal respray, but the guys took their time with the prep Could turn it into an SS ute? I also had the wheels finished with gloss black centers and satin black lips. Still a bit dusty in these shots, but I was happy with the way the colour turned out. Not a very accurate representation under the fluorescent lights though..

The day I picked it up from the paint shop... Was really happy with the finish, no bubbles or orange peel. I drove the car for a few months before moving to Sydney and deciding to leave it in Brisbane..  at this point it was just a desktop wallpaper.. 2014 was a busy year so the car sat un-driven.. I realised it was never going to be my daily driver and with the non-factory paint was never going to be a truly OEM-spec car ever again. So I started hatching plans for the LS1 conversion and some other personal touches.

Fast forward to the end and am I guessing you spent three times what you paid for the car?

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haha, yeah about that.. and the car is still off the road

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still, the price is so low you kind of expect to be throwing a little cash at these cars. Probably been unloved for a while. Good to see you and Magnus are championing the 944!

She looked good in the 1st pic. Look forward to seeing the end result

Your'e stripping her and showing the LOVE, that means she's a Keeper ! Heart wil be an LS 1, there's the number plate LVESIC .

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very true, it's a lot of car for little money... the equation has to balance out eventually. Hope to see more of them being built /restored Looked good from a distance! She is... haha, I like it

watching with interest.. will be a ripper with the V8!

nice build! can't wait to see how she turns out!

Coming along nicely Chris...... It's been alot of work but certainly going to be worth it in the end.... Can't wait to join you on the road for a drive when yours and mine are both finished.... Certainly is a keeper and am enjoying the love and attention you are giving her.... Keep us updated mate...

Wow, no doubt you would have been gutted when you saw the issues, when car arrived. Glad you stuck it out and while I am not a fan of the LS conversion(i see the logic of it and) I still respect the work needed to do it right, The results though would  no doubt have me giggling like a school girl, as it will be a complete beast. Can't wait to see this project progress

This is awesome! Following with interest.

Great work and dedication to the cause. Was that a UK car? Rust is somewhat unusual. The end result will annoy a few ricers.

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Itching to get it on the road - a road trip is definitely in order at the end Yeah, it was so dissapointing... but hey, had the car been in better condition the build and LS1 may never have happened. Fair enough too the swap isn't to everyone's taste.. it will be a bit of fun The previous owner told me the car was from Singapore, but who knows how much truth there was to that. I was surprised to see the rust too... On this car the rust in the battery tray was from a leaking battery and the front fenders seem to trap a bit of water - I don't think it was garaged.

Who did the paint? It looks great!

Paint was by CDR - they just recently closed down.. a shame, they were doing good work!

Is the LS conversion difficult, can you tell us what is involved?

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Short answer: It's not as straight forward as I'd hoped... Long answer: There are a couple of well known 944 LS conversion shops in the states that can supply parts: http://www.texasperformanceconcepts.com/ (this is the one I used, after hearing good reviews and customer feedback on the parts) and http://www.renegadehybrids.com/ There is also a wealth of information on the 944 hybrid forums. They even have a wiki which is essentially an online conversion manual: http://944hybrids.forumotion.com/ Doing a bit of reading on it, I was almost convinced to give it a go with the help of a family friend. The kits you can buy are much closer to 'bolt in' for a LHD car. After receiving the parts list from Texas Performance Concepts (TPC), I knew we'd be out of our depth - the exhaust manifolds definitely wouldn't fit a RHD and there were a few other uncertainties. If you're interested in the parts list TPC put together for me, I can email you a PDF. In the end I took the project to the guys at MR Tuning for their combined porsche / v8 supercar / time attack car experience http://www.mr-tuning.com.au/ Some of the complexities involved in the swap for a RHD car: - Custom made exhaust manifolds (clearances are very, very tight on a RHD car) - Conversion to hydro boost brakes which requires firewall modification and new lines. - Steering shaft extension - (I'll update the list as they come to mind)

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Singapore and Hong Kong are essentially "maritime environments". Regard as UK cars for all intents and purposes -  and probably only driven short distances into the bargain.

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Interesting point. As probably 50% of all Aussie p-car owners live near the beach should we fear Clovely Carreras and Bondi Boxters? I once lived in Dover Heights in Sydney. Great ocean views, but also fierce sea spay when the wind was up. A barbecue left outside on the deck could rust through in 12 months.

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Good advice, the effects of that maritime environement were plain to see

Dropping the car off to get it's heart ripped out.. The poorly painted, ugly looking engine bay... the unnecessary brackets will be cut off and then painted in satin black.. I also have some plans for the interior of the car. The warped panels and dusty carpet all got the flick. I'll be keeping the door cards and having the top of the dash recovered in leather.

The exhaust manifolds were designed for a chevy platform but were chosen for their compact size in the hope of reducing the amount of customisation needed. In the end the passenger side only need a bit of work but the drivers side was essentially a re-do. The first test fit! I opted for a twin 2.5" stainless, mandrel bent system with an X-pipe, twin-entry/ twin-exit muffler and cats. Fingers crossed it'll remain at street-able sound levels. Here's a closer look at the fitment of the hydro-boost break setup: The dual-pass radiator from TPC comes with appropriate fans and shielding for a good fit / cooling. Can't wait to have the flaky engine bay painted.. you can also see the TPC engine mounts in these shots Just tack welded at this point, but the guys did a good job getting these to fit

I am revising my earlier prediction. More like 5x original cost... Looking good though

Coming along well.  Are engine mounts solid/rubber free?

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haha..  hopefully not quite that much. It's the extra things being done while the car is off the road that's really blowing it out They have bushings, here's a closer look:

This is a great thread!

x2^^^

wow having a transaxle sure makes the exhaust merge look easy! maybe even fit a GT40 style crossover with some fiddling

^ would be nice to have some spaghetti like that under the hood

The carpet is long gone, along with the sound deadening and the felt-like material that was glued down in areas. I think the interior looks more attractive without all of the padding.. and a bit of weight saving too. The steering wheel is a Nardi Classic 360mm. It's actually quite thin and similar to the stock wheel. This was an aesthetic choice more than anything. This particular model also has a TUV stamp of approval which means it exceeds ADR's and (in Queensland at least) is a legal modification. This is what the wheel looks like with it's leather ring and horn button... It reminds me of a Blaupunkt volume knob.. I might have to try and track down one of those to replace the Sony unit So much leg room

The interior and engine bay are both ready to be painted now. Some good attention to detail in prepping the engine bay, looking forward to seeing it with a non-flaky coat of paint It still in pieces.. but at this stage all of the custom work to fit the engine as well as the recovered dash are ready to go back in. After the interior / engine bay are painted it'll be reassembly time A closer look at the black RUFs... and a peak at what's behind them. The KW v3 came highly recommended by a few people.. Anyone else running them here?

I think Pauly is running them and very happy with them. Could be wrong though

Man things are coming along superbly........ The effort and detail you are going to Chris is inspiring.!!!!!!!! Love your (and the teams) work.........

It's slowly getting there! There was a bit of a delay with things at the start of the year, but it's back on track now... Cheers! the 944 deserves the love I think

I picked these up off a Porsche club NSW member.. They used to live in a 911 backdated to a 72 RS look.. hence the embroidery. They don't make any sense in a 944 I know... but neither does an LS1. I figure it's in keeping with the bastardisation theme The backs have a few minor scratches but nothing I can't live with. I've since ditched these bolt together mounts and will be using a set of steel FIA approved Velo mounts. Being 6'2" we'll be bolting the seats down directly to the floor.. We tried fitting them with OMP rails but the head room was nil. I was really impressed with the condition of the covers, they appear to have been freshly done.. these are an old model of the Velo GP90s The pump up lumber support reminded me of my first pair of Nike air pumps, should make the car run faster

I'm one of those that aren't a fan of the '948' conversions BUT you're doing it the right way from all appearances. So by stripping out the insulation is your intention to make this into a bit of a Club Sport version? Any intentions of doing some trackdays with the PCNSW? ps the KW's are a really nice shock. They ride very well yet perform acceptably on the track.

Velo are a really good seat. I have one in my race car.

Ha! I love the fact you plan to leave the seats as they are.

I just found this topic, LOVE IT, I can't wait to see the finished product Chris. Excellent work but it gives me bad, bad ideas.......

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I respect that, it would have been hard to do this to a 944 in original condition. But yeah, really don't want to cut any corners. I'll be doing the occasional track day but nothing competitive... some driver training too. I move back to Brisbane at the end of the week but I'd consider a road trip for a NSW track day. The interior is for aesthetic reasons as well as the weight reduction. I'm having it coated with a polyurea-elastomer so the surface is rubber-like to the touch.. just a little less harsh then the bare metal. Club Sport is pretty accurate, just a slightly bastardised hot-rod version of that They're comfortable! A snug fit in the standard size though... a waste-line security measure. haha.. I have considered getting a strike-through embroided over the top ' carrera RS' Two bads make a good, right? I think so... Hoping to see some more progress soon, cheers!

I have the fat-arse model which is now too big for me, so if you want to swap shells I'm interested lol

I love it. It should be heaps of fun, and a real handful when it's done. Did you ever consider a Cayenne V8? I have heard that they can be had relatively cheaply now? I have no idea about their size or weight, etc, just wondered if it was ever an option? That said I do see the benefit of an LS1. Nice and cheap now, light weight and plenty of parts available.

^ Honestly, I never considered it as an option. The availability of conversion parts (that you can import from the USA), power to weight ratio of the LS1, widespread availability of parts in Australia as well as workshops familiar with tuning the engine made the LS1 really hard to go past. Then there's the size of the engine bay to compete with... the LS1 is a really tight squeeze and requires the brakes to be converted to hydroboost to free up some space... The LS1 is pretty compact! I'd guess the Porsche V8 would be larger / heavier.

Yeah, fair enough. Back in my *cough* drifting days there were guys putting LS1's in skylines as they were lighter and made more power than the RB engines.

What are the wheel sizes/offsets you will end up with ?

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True! It's still popular with the drifting / japanese crowd these days too The swap won't change where the wheels sit - the RUF wheels on the car are 17x8 +56.7 and 17x9 +44

There's been some good progress on the car this week. The engine bay has been tidied up nicely, unnecessary brackets removed, carefully prepped and painted in satin black. I was also really eager to see how the Polyurea interior coating would come out and I couldn't be happier. The guys did a great job... It provides a texture similar to carpet but with the look and feel of rubber. No dust traps and extremely hard wearing.

Just found this thread and it is great. I love what you're doing to this 944. Your car will be an absolute ball to drive when that LS1 is dropped in:) I really admire your dedication to this project. I'm on a facebook 911 group and some dude dropped a V8 in his 911 and posted a few pics of his conversion on the facebook group. His post got rather nasty as the 911 purists came out and gave him a public flogging for bastardising his 911 (which was destined for the scrap yard anyway) with a V8. Hope the 944 purists are nicer than the 911 purists

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I've never heard of a 944 purist We are a tolerant bunch.

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Here's a purist:)

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Thanks for the positivity! If all goes to plan, it'll be on the road by the end of this month.. can't wait to drive it It's a funny thing isn't it... hobby politics... purists, bastards, outlaws... pacman

Hey Chris, Can't wait to hear how you go when its on the road. Please keep the pictures coming as i really look forward to seeing the finished product. Good work mate and look forward to catching up in the not to distant future. You have done a fantastic job......

It's getting closer now.. and thanks Dean, planning a NSW road trip soon after it's done - so a chance to catch up then. In other news, I've just ordered a 2-Piece Joe Toth Splitter (as pictured). Cost for the 2 piece splitter + flat under tray to replace the batwing was CAD$350, shipping was a killer at CAD$225. If anyone else likes the look of this splitter and would like to order one we can split the shipping costs. It would cost the same to ship up to 3 or 4 of these according to Joe... Perhaps not to everyones taste, but I think it looks great. It's track tested and the DZUS quarter turn fasteners mean you can unbolt the splitter section in a matter of seconds for a bad road, speed bump or trailer. A fitting addition to the bastard I think...

Nice splitter. The only 'proviso' or addition I would make on it is that the bottom is open or hollow. I had one which was filled in with some balsa and f/glass to stiffen it up.

For sure, a great looking design from Joe.. and good point, I'll look into reinforcing it when it arrives

can't wait to see pics of your bad boy when on the road:)

Stopped by the workshop today.... A closer look at the wiring loom Some laser cutting of the seat brackets was required... The wiring is coming along now. Rather cosey in its new home... A closer view of the hydro-boost brake setup: The LS1 looks pretty compact from this perspective The easier side of the exhaust manifold The steering shaft goes in between the primaries of the exhaust manifold on the drivers side - a very tight fit. I can't leave the exhaust like this... can I? (rear mufflers are ready to go on)

You'll get away with that exhaust at least once.  I did in my younger days with a v8 Monaro.

Apart from the steering shaft, looks easier to work on than my 952...

coming along nicely Chris. looks like its not too far off being drivable now

Harvs, I don't know if I could do that to my elderly neighbours haha... Rob - it's one benefit of having something a little bit agricultural in there The guys have done a fair bit of work on it recently.. Fingers crossed its not too far away

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If you're going to have a noisy party, always invite the neighbours... and ask them to hold the video camera for you.

So, where are we at Chris? Waiting to see more and hear how it's all going.

Hey Dean, no news on the car since the last post unfortunately... This arrived in the mail though... it's a well made piece of fiberglass, designed to completely replace the batwing

Mate, that is a fantastic looking bit of kit. I wish I could find something like that, I suppose thats the advantage of having the 'turbo' fr end. I have a few things planned fot the 'NA' so will wait and see how I go. Just started back at work after four weeks off following my back surgery so funds are tight but it did give me alot of time to plan and research some options. Can't wait to see yours all together hopefully soon. Bet you can't wait. Talk soon.

Cheers Dean... and maybe I shouldn't be showing this... but Joe does make them for the NA front end too.

Ok, now you have done it! Can you please PM me contact details for Jo as i feel i need to contact him... Thanks for the picks as well, sold me......

Mate, awesome read.... the 944 has been a favourite of mine I have a few other project cars (corona wagon, r31, hilux surf, ke70 corolla) to finish off then ill find a 944 question: is the wiring loom the standard loom from the engine or an aftermarket loom that was purchased through a specialist? and do you have any more details about the hydroboost brakes.. ive never come across a setup like that

Cheers... there's something about the shape of the 944 that sold me. definitely an under utilised platform ke70 corolla and r31.. awesome... that's quite a few cars to get through! Are you thinking turbo or NA for the 944? You can use the standard engine loom from the LS1 spliced together with the OEM Porsche 944 wiring loom to get things working. In my case, the LS1 I purchased didn't come with a harness, so I purchased an aftermarket one from the states. There are a few different places selling them over there as you could imagine. With the hydro-boost brakes, pressure comes from power steering fluid via the power steering pump. The unit being used in my car is from a Ford Mustang, a few 4x4's and the BMW 6 series also came from the factory with a similar setup. It's really just to save space in the engine bay for the new motor. A power steering cooler may be needed at some point if I'm spending more time at the track... but apparently it should be fine without for street use. I don't know much more about it than that..

There's been a quite a bit of progress made on the car... Ignition coils relocated for clerance and the radiator is all plumbed in. Most of the wiring is complete, hydro-boost brakes are also plumbed in. It was great to see the dash back in the car. The leather skin is from Classic 9 Leather Shop. A closer look at the stitching - the guys have also worked out the wiring and various sensors needed to get the stock gauge cluster fully functioning. Some wiring to tidy up on the dash side of the car, but the seats should be ready to go back in soon enough. Excuse the damage to the lower spoiler... but I had to share this

Awesome Chris, You must be dying to drive this thing

That noise is going to turn some heads.

That's a gorgeous car mate. Very cool project.

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cheers Timm, that was your 944 with the Work Meisters yeah?

i love this thread. good work chris. be sure to let me know if you ever bring this car to syd.

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Yeah man, that's the one. Not sure if this is too forward, but I would love to see your car when it's done. An ls v8 conversion has been a dirty fantasy of mine since even before I got my own 944, so I would love to see one in the flesh. One day it'll come to the point where I'll have to decide between a v8 swap or building a big turbo 3L 16V, and I haven't gotten the chance to experience either yet.

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For sure, I'm hoping to drive it down for a visit early next year Not at all man, happy to show you the car and go for a drive once it's all done. Pretty keen to have a closer look at yours and the fitment of those Work Meisters too. How long have you had the car for now? Being right hand drive makes the V8 swap a bit complicated, I was hoping there wouldn't be as much custom fabrication involved... I've never been in a balls-out 3L 16V turbo either.. but that would be an interesting comparison

Awesome! I have a mate who swapped an ls1 into his skyline. It's very cool, but set up for the drag strip, it would be nice to see what that engine can do in a chassis as nimble as ours. Yeah man, happy to show off my fitment haha. It took some effort to make sure I got the look I wanted and still be able to make full use of all the extra grip I could get with the big tires, so I'm fairly proud of how it turned out. I've had the car since April now, so going on 6 months. Yeah I saw you had to mess around with the right  side exhaust manifold to clear the steering shaft. With all the modifications, is the texas performance kit still a good starting point for a conversion?

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So many LS swaps happening at the moment.. definitely makes sense for a drag focused car. Funnily enough with the air-con removed the car may actually be marginally lighter than when it had the 3.0 4cyl engine (which weighed 200kg). There was only a 15kg difference between it and the LS1... so the car should still feel nimble. I estimated about 100kg of weight saving with the bucket seats (~20kg saved) and removal of interior (~60kg including sound deadening) and air-con (~15kg saved).  Thinking a kerb-weight around 1250kg sounds about right. Nice! I was curious about the widths and offsets you were running, was it a custom order? They looked perfectly flush with the fenders and if you still managed to fit some wide rubber to them.. spot on. Yeah the whole exhaust was time consuming for the guys, clearances were pretty tight. With the way the dollar is at the moment, it may be better to go for a mostly custom install with just a few parts from TPC. Shipping was a killer too with the import duties. It's certainly not a bolt in solution for a RHD car.

Wow, that's a nice weight saving there, she's gonna feel very good! I like what you've done with the interior rubbery paint. Race car weight savings, but presentable enough for a clean streeter. Mine sits at about 1330 with everything in it. I take the spare wheel, rear carpet and top of the back seat out for track days and that saves about 50kg. Id love to get down to your weight though, but I can't bring myself to pull out my lovely maroon carpet. I will be looking to get a set of nice lightweight race seats though. I am running 18 x9.5 with 265 street semi's all round. Offset is 24 up front, and -1 out back. For the street I run 2 deg camber all round, and bump it up to 3 deg up front for track days. With 2 deg camber, the fronts are perfectly flush, and the rears poke maybe 5 mm. Barely noticeable. I had to grind out the lip on the rear guards so that the tires wouldn't hit the guards under heavy cornering. The right hand side still touches a tiny bit on track days, but once I get m030 sway bars in there it won't be a problem. The fronts guards are factory rolled on the turbo, so I didn't have to do anything there. But the tires do rub a tiny bit on the inside fender liner on full lock, no biggie for me though as that only happens during parking maneuvers. They were custom ordered and took 3 months to get here from Japan. Here's a pic of the fitment. http://i.imgur.com/EuLVzv4.jpg Yeah I bet shipping was pretty exxy. I almost bought a set of sway bars from the states and it was going to be $250 on shipping alone!

With a set of bucket seats you'll be down another 20kg... would be reallly close to the 1250kg mark. We ended up bolting the seats to the floor with no sliders to save head room - it was a bit too cramped with sliders + brackets - worth keeping in mind if you're over 6' Ah, that would explain the amount of dish on the wheels, your car has the earlier suspension. With those widths the later model car would need at least a +50 offset or so. Cheers for the photo... that fitment is pushing it to the limit.. damn haha

Ah, good to know. I think I'll do exactly that as I'm pretty tall too, and I'm thinking of going with a rear seat delete and half cage next year anyway, so fixed back seats bolted to the floor would be perfect. You got any pics of the seats in the car? Yeah, the low offset is probably the only good thing about the earlier cars haha. I think adding 29mm should get you the offsets needed for the same widths and fitment on a late car. I think my fronts are just about the biggest wheel+tires you can fit under stock guards and still be usable without resorting to some sort of stance bullshit. In the rear I think you can fit up to an 11inch with a 295, but I wanted to have  a square setup and retain the ability to power oversteer. With your power and torque you might need 295's up the back though :-)

No pictures of the seats mounted in the car yet. Hopefully see that soon after the wiring is tidied up. I've been looking into the offsets and came acrross this guide: http://www.wheeldynamics.net/appguide.html Seems a little conservative based on what you're running on the car. A wider rear tyre wouldn't hurt.. 295 would be very fat...  I was considering getting 275's for the rear next - hard to find wider tyres than that in 17". Hopefully traction isn't too bad on the 255 rears on the car at the moment. Though I have been warned that the lower gearing of the S2 transmission doesn't help the situation.. we shall see

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^^^^this dude certainly knows his LS's and knows how to build a nasty engine. love the twin turbos hanging of the side.

an interesting watch, thanks Tit

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Ah cool, the red highlights should really make the seats pop. Those widths are a little conservative, but I think they may be catering for stock suspension. I have coilovers with 2.25 ID springs in mine, and I still have room towards the inside to fit a 10 inch wheel up front if I wanted to. But that would scrape more on the fender liner on full lock, so I think 9.5 is about as wide as you'd want to go on a street car. Bear in mind that I'm also running 2 deg of camber. Without it, the wheels poke a good 1 to 2cm as you can see in this first test fit running 0 deg camber all round: http://i.imgur.com/kHWmLtH.jpg 255's should still provide a fair bit of traction, especially if you have good tires and an lsd. But 275's would be a worthwhile investment. Just be wary that changing your front to back tire ratio's will mess with the cars handling balance, but it can easily be fixed with a set of adjustable sway bars.

The red has definitely grown on me - I do have some other fabric for the cushions though.. Thanks for the photo, they actually poke out less than I was expecting without the camber dialed in. -2 degrees isn't too bad really... I'll probably end up closer to -1. No LSD in my car unfortunately, one day perhaps.. and good point on the tyre widths too

The seats are finally in, along with the horn button and leather surround. The red cushions don't look too bad... though I did have other plans... Edit: updated photos below

good looking engine bay...looks like that LS is factory fitted:)

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It really does, very happy with the guys attention to detail in the engine bay. I thought I'd stop by the workshop today with my camera to get some higher quality photos of where the car is up to now... Mechanically it's essentially complete - we're up to the trouble shooting and test driving phase. It's just the ride height at the rear needs to come down (torsion bars re-indexed), mod plating, some interior trims, manual sunroof latches, bonnet strut, manual boot release cable. And that's about it really... The exhaust has been coated in high-temp satin black A closer look at the tips, they had to be angled in together to clear the lower rear spoiler. The back of the car.. I think the exhaust is subtle enough in black, but you can definitely tell it wasn't a factory option. There's no air-conditioning, but there is a heater.. Another perspective of the engine bay And from directly above The right bonnet strut needs to be put back on, hence the jack handle. Rear ride height needs to come down a bit too... But really exciting to see it off the hoist. And a few more shots of the interior...

Chris, you have done an amazing job on this car and you should be very proud. I absolutely love what you have done with this car. I can't wait to see it in person when you do your road trip to Sydney. Talking of which, when can we expect to see you in Sydney?

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Cheers! - it's definitely rewarding seeing what I had in my head at the start of the project coming to life. I'm planning a trip to Sydney in early December, and if the car is ready (and any bugs are worked out) I'd love to drive down. The only other hurdle is my knee... I dislocated it a little while back and am still trying to build muscle strength around the joint. The clutch felt very heavy to operate when I sat in it today.. fingers crossed..

I'll drive it down for you!!

Best colour. What's it called?

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It's Porsche black grey with half the white content

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or join us for:

Looks really tough. Like it should have a V8 or something. ?

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Is it not the best feeling in the world?

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What? A new exhaust or getting your license back? ?

Had the car on a dyno today... just checking over the tune and all seems good.. just shy of 260kw

Chris Looks like your car need a run, say to Lennox Head for the weekend.