Upgrading 1989 Porsche 930 RUF BTR Conversion

The only difference in the 934 and a half clone and the 993 GT2 Evo clone if I built them would be the bodywork. Mechanically they would be identical. I wouldn't be going for authenticity since my goal would not be vintage racing. I would build a turbo car able to run at the top levels of regional PBOC, PCA, SCCA, and NASA racing.
And no I won't track the RS, probably will pick it up in a trailer to bring it home.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. Still, sounds like a great plan!

Thanks Giannis! I hope to be able to post some positive news when the modification and tuning is all over and done with. The main thing I am looking for is improvements in drivability regarding the delivery of power. Instead of the "big kick in the pants" I hope to have a smoother delivery of power that comes on much earlier and lasts until redline. Also, those 17 year old parts had leaks in them so the new parts will provide more reliability. And some of the modifications that I had listed allow me to monitor the "tune" - condition of the car, and tune it easily myself if there is a need for it. Any increase in hp would be a nice bonus.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, by far the main benefit from this exercise is my own enjoyment of the process of getting to know my car. At this time I can't really think of anything more enjoyable I could be doing.

I just noticed your vacation notice Giannis: Have a great time and enjoy it to the fullest!

I picked up the car today. One thing remains to be done: the boost Controller.
Due to vacation days and other commitments, that needs to be left for another day, but still before I go to the dyno. I just wanted the car before the weekend so I can start breaking in the turbo. I need to focus on that thought: the turbo needs to be broken in, not just broken. I had a senior moment today when I left the shop and and forgot all about needing to break that turbo IN. Waiting for the lights to turn green on a left turn at highway 68 getting on the I-40 entrance, which is a rather long slope up, I was on the outside lane and on the inside lane there was this Dodge Hemi truck, don't know the exact model, but I am sure at least the US drivers on this forum know what I mean. These Dodge Hemi drivers are always racing and trying to intimidate on the road. So this Dodge Hemi truck on the inside lane starts very obviously a race to the Interstate on the entrance ramp, and I can tell it's because he saw this "old rinky-dink" Porsche on his right side that he thought he could humiliate real good. Well, my instincts just kicked in and I wasn't thinking: I just dusted this guy so good he won't be racing anyone for a while. In a few seconds he was about 150 feet behind me.

Anyhow, I do stupid things sometimes. But I am more than very pleased with the new feel the car has. A lot stronger, and the boost comes on a lot sooner, no doubt about it. How much sooner, I have not had a chance to check the numbers in a rational, controlled way yet. But I will write more about the car when I have had the dyno done. And BTW, I was happy to discover that the car still had a nice rumble even with the new Fabspeeds.

It has been interesting to flollow your project but could you post a large version of your avtar?

Congratulations on picking up your baby. I look forward to the dyno results. I've heard good things about the Fabspeeds. I have been looking at systems for the 996 GT3 as I make it more suitable for track days. Ordered a safety/roll bar (the ROW Porsche one the car should have come with) last week, and will be ordering seats and belts this week so I can use my Hans device.

Thanks Luwalira. Of course, here it is:



and even though not requested, here's a few more, pre-modification of course:

Thanks drronh!

I would imagine that you also enjoy the "journey to get there" as much as I do. It's great to hear about the plans and developments on your cars and I am looking forward to hearing more about them, and also of course seeing the pictures!:t-cheers:

Thanks for the pictures. You car looks very very good, but be careful so that you don't crash into something and damage it.

:t-cheers:

Thanks Luwalira:t-cheers: Yes, I will try and enjoy the car in good health

As someone who has sat in this car, it is a really nice car. I really like the sport seats inside it. I'm looking forward to getting a ride in it with your new turbo. :t-cheers:

Thanks bmwrules!:t-cheers:

Noticed this thread in the new spot, and as a Sticky! Thanks.

That reminded me that there were a couple of minor things that I did not post here due to the fact that I had already done the other thread in the My cars - Owner Galleries section with my dyno results.

Anyhow, while my car was at Speedwerks for the relocation of the O2 sensor, they pointed out that my rear shocks were pretty bad. So I got new yellow Bilstein Super Sports for the rear. The front shocks were OK so did not replace those. Here you will see the reason why I don't enter the photo contests:



Another odds and ends kind of thing that I put in (myself) was an EVO airbox and filter. I did this mostly to make the Warm Up regulator more accessible without having to remove the massive stock airbox:



I don't remember if I've shown the Dial of Death (RUF Boost Control) yet, but here it is installed:
(another bad pic)


Here's the Diverter Valve installed. It works great, no boost loss in between shifts...



And here's a little thing I did by myself: the pedals. I installed the fancy sporty RUF pedals just because I felt like it, for no good reason.

This was pretty interesting because it looks so easy. The gas pedal was easy. Just two screws, a couple of minutes, and it was done. But the clutch and the break pedal had three holes to be drilled in real hard steel. First I started drilling like one drills wood. Result: a couple of broken bits in no time.
Then I remembered a summerjob I had had some time between school and college probably about 34 years ago at my hometown's shipyard. I was operating a lathe and got to work with a drill as well making screws, bolts and stuff like that. And I remembered that drilling metal one has to drill real slow and keep the bit cooled. Well, using those techniques learnt long ago I managed to finish the job in a few hours.



And then one more time the end result of all this upgrading.

So, that takes care of phase I of the upgrades. The next lot will have to wait a bit but most likely the two major things that will be done are swopping my Getrag 5 speed to a RUF 6 speed, which is a modified G50 5 speed.

The second thing is still something I'm going back and forth with: converting from CIS to Motec EFI.
The reason I'm going back and forth with it is because it will be at least $8000 to do that. And the 6-speed above will be a lot more than that. So the next phase will be a real expensive one if I go ahead with it.
The alternative to the Motec EFI is installing a RPM Switch Solenoid solution to go with the adjustable warm up regulator I already have. The cost: about $150.
This is the reason for considering the RPM Switch/Solenoid solution: When the diaphragm inside the warm up regulator senses boost coming on, it immediately dumps a lot of fuel. This results in an overly rich condition somewhere between 3400 - 4200 RPMs. This means that some power is still there to be uncovered. In fact around 30 rwhp based on two examples that I have seen. Likewise rwtq will be increased by 20 or so, can't remember, could have been 40 lb-ft. But the point is that there is still some power there if the tuning is right. The RPM switch is a MSD RPM Activated switch that takes an RPM module (adjustable or fixed) that determines the RPM that triggers the on/off mode. The solenoid is then the valve that is hooked to the Warm Up regulator to basically turn the boost enrichment on when the specified RPM has been reached. Usually it is around 4000RPM. In my case 4200RPM.

But the temptation with the sophisticated Motec EFI is great.

WOw sounds like its going to be a big job. Good luck with that. I bet this thing is going to kick some ass once your done! I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

I had an oil change done to my car and once I got my car back the compression was gone and the car drove poorly. I do not want to PUBLICLY express my suspicions as to what happened so let's just take it from here.

The engine will be rebuilt by David Brown, a co-owner of SpeedWerks at Thomasville, NC. He has been building Porsche engines for the last 28 years so I feel comfortable about about this job. Only a top end rebuild would be necessary but while we are at it, I asked SpeedWerks to split the case as well. It's only an extra 10 hours or so to do that as well so might as well.

First, here's the piston rings which is the reason for this rebuild:



From the next picture we can see that the rods are stock turbo rods, so I have asked them to be changed to Carrillo rods. Also the stock crank will be upgraded to a 3.6 crank giving an extra 2mm of stroke increasing the displacement from 3.4 to 3.5. The length of the stroke will now be 76.4mm.
These changes together with the new bearings should ensure that the case will never have to be split again. It will probably be good for the rest of my life.



The white dots marked on my custom ground Group B cams show spots that are in need of some fixing. Instead of fixing them, I will have them be replaced by GT2 Evo cams instead. Not much cost difference between the two operations and I get to keep the old cams.



The intake will be ported to 41mm (manifold and cylinder head) and the plastic stock injector blocks in the next picture will be replaced by 41mm billet aluminum injector blocks that are 41mm on both sides. (I think the stock ones are somewhere around 32-36mm).



The heads were fine, a little carbon build up on the exhaust valve port that will be cleaned off. I'll just post one picture of a heads, they all look the same:



The cylinders and pistons (98mm) were fine so they'll just be cleaned too:



The valves were also fine, the springs will be replaced as part of standard maintenance in a procedure like this.

The end result should first and foremost be a rock solid engine again that will last a very long time especially since I will be having a lot stricter controls of who gets to sit on the drivers seat at any time, including oil changes etc.

In addition, the GT2 Evo cams, the 41mm porting, and the 3.6 crank will also give me an added bonus of increased power and performance.

As before, I will post again when there is progress on this effort.

Sad about the sudden failure and I hope David does a good work with rebuilding the engine.
:t-cheers:

That's a lot of good work being done there. I know you haven't felt comfortable using all that power the car has. I can't remember, was it somewhere between 450hp - 500hp? Now with this engine rebuild you should feel comfortable putting the hammer down. I hope you get a chance to take it to Virginia International Raceway and get some good laps put down.

When I get back from Myrtle Beach at the end of next week I'll give you a call and you can tell what you think happened when you got your oil change. I'll be interested to hear what you think happened.