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Don Nguyen | My Porsche 911 V8 Build

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  • Don Nguyen | My Porsche 911 V8 Build

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

    I bought my 964 when I was 20 years old. Probably not the best financial decision at the time, but I did it anyways. I knew nothing about Porsches, but after one test drive, I knew that this 964 had to be mine. Since then, there have been several times that I have come close to selling my 964. Whether the reason was due to lack of resources or not enough time to build and restore my 964 into the car that I had hoped and imagined it would be. However, luckily, I never went through with selling my 964, as it would have probably been my single biggest automotive decision that I would have regretted making. It's now or never.

    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.

    No fancy tools, no fancy garage, no team of engineers. One man, one car, and countless hours spent doing research. I will be doing as much of the fabrication myself as possible, from building the engine mounts to redoing all of the leather work on the interior.

    I can go into details and tell you all of my plans and ideas for the car, but what fun would that be if I told you everything upfront and didn't leave a little bit of mystery to it. As I was always taught, show, not tell. You'll just have to tune in and watch as the progress goes along.

    I am not trying to build the best car in the world, but to build my perfect car, which to me makes it the best car in the world.

    Smiley face,
    Don Nguyen

  • #2
    This is how the car looked like when I first bought it. These pictures were actually taken from the original ad that were used by the previous owner. Funny thing is, I actually did not remember saving these pictures, but I randomly happen to stumble across them the other day when looking for something else.





    It took me only one week of searching to find my 964 and it took me only one more week after that before I put in an order for a set of coilovers for my car. I figured why wait to buy them, when I could buy them now and enjoy it right away.







    This is ultimately what the car last looked like before I decided to put it up on jack stands and start the reconstruction process. Keep in mind, all of these pictures that I have posted thus far, including this one, are from over a span of several several years.



    As of yesterday, this is how the car looked like. I actually had started taking the car apart before I decided that I would take pictures and document my build. I was never really one to start or have any detailed build threads for any of my other project cars, but I felt like this is one that I would share the process and progress as it goes along with you guys.







    -Don

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    • #4
      Also in for Vee-8.

      It' is a very nice 964 you have to start with.

      Comment


      • #5
        this should be awesome! been thinking of a 996 LSX, just because they are coming down in price and plentiful with motor issues.

        Comment


        • #6
          In for an amazing build! Beautiful 964 by the way.

          May I ask why you are opting for an LS series V8 instead of building up the stock flat 6 or doing a wrx/sti EJ swap?

          𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔪𝔢
          @𝔳𝔦𝔳𝔢_𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔯_𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔦

          Comment


          • #7
            Because you can make good power out of simple mods?



            Love you Don, cant wait to see you again <3
            Originally posted by anth
            Lucky they didn't come into your house and disrespect your whole family.

            Comment


            • #8
              Very cool! Can't wait to see the progress!

              www.fluidmotorunion.com
              www.stanceworks.com



              Originally posted by Oxer
              I'm pretty sure I will molest any exhaust systems you leave lying around

              Comment


              • #9
                I'm excited.
                @slowprogress

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                • #10
                  Awesome porsche! You gotta RAUH-Welt that car bro.
                  '94 Nissan Altima GXE
                  '00 Ford Mustang GT | Domestic-Bunny

                  I make music and gaming videos in Cali. @ktfright

                  youtube.com/ktfright | ktf.bandpage.com

                  Comment


                  • #11
                    Thanks for all of the comments. I will definitely try to keep the progress steady, as I'd like to have this project finish within a reasonable time frame.

                    Originally posted by rice4life View Post
                    In for an amazing build! Beautiful 964 by the way.

                    May I ask why you are opting for an LS series V8 instead of building up the stock flat 6 or doing a wrx/sti EJ swap?
                    Cost. Honestly, I am at the point of my engine build that I think do I even want that much power. A factory 3.6 flat 6 Porsche engine caps at around 300rwhp (realistically speaking, of course it's more if you have unlimited funds), while the LS based engine starts at that power rating out of the box.

                    Don't get me wrong, I love the 3.6 flat 6 that is in the Porsche. Very unique sound and the engineering in it is awesome. I just simply do not have the money to build it to the same power levels as an LS based engine. Also, other flat engines were never a consideration as a swap option either. I am a big fan of the LS engines (have one in my M3 as well).

                    Originally posted by Oxer View Post
                    Because you can make good power out of simple mods?



                    Love you Don, cant wait to see you again <3
                    Definitely man. I want this thing done sooner than later, so hopefully/maybe I'll have it done before the next time you come out here again.

                    Originally posted by ktfright View Post
                    Awesome porsche! You gotta RAUH-Welt that car bro.
                    I am sure the styling may be similar, it will be a completely different car from what RWB builds. I have a the same GT2 style rear spoiler as is used on most RWB cars. I will also have Work Meisters that were on my E36 M3 widebody that will be going on this car.

                    -Don

                    Comment


                    • #12
                      Nice, well good luck on the car, its gonna look sick nonetheless!
                      '94 Nissan Altima GXE
                      '00 Ford Mustang GT | Domestic-Bunny

                      I make music and gaming videos in Cali. @ktfright

                      youtube.com/ktfright | ktf.bandpage.com

                      Comment


                      • #13
                        subscribed
                        My 1978 Porsche 924 build thread is quite boring.
                        * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                        STRLW // Photography focused on vehicles

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                        • #14
                          Because race car...

                          Really though I like where this is going... How bad was the interior? The early pics make it look pretty good.


                          "Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience"

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                          • #15
                            It wasn't the worst, but it wasn't anywhere close to perfect. It was always something that bothered me slightly, so this is my chance to redo everything. Plus, I am also going with a full black interior around this time.


                            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

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