2001 Porsche 996 LS1 Conversion Thread by 1dirtyZ

12 minute(s) of a 536 minute read

i installed the intake manifold for the last time ( i hope ) and connected the fuel lines , all i have to do now is to plug one of the fuel rail ends. also extended a few wires on the harness and connected the injectors and what sensors i could.

also started tackeling integrating the ls1 harness into the car:

i broke it down to several tasks to make it easier for me ( given how much i like wiring ) and started chipping away at it :

i started with figuring out where to connect the all time positive and switched positive for the LS1 harness , after thinking about it for a while i decided the best palce to connect the wires was at the all time feed going to the MFI-DI relay ( basically the ignition relay for the car) . porsche set it up so that the all time + goes through a relay that is triggered when the switch is turned on , thus giving you a switched + .

so with that out of the way i looked at the starter signal , after messing around with the wires trying to bypass the starter signal relay , i found out that some of the wires were damaged in the fire . so i had to cut and bypass the whole relay altogether and now i have a working starter signal 

moving on , i turned my ( limited ) attention to the fuel pump signal . the ls1 harness i have was already setup with a pump relay , so i ran the + wire from the relay al the way to the stock porsche relay under the dash, where i disconnected the relay and just pluged the + wire into the terminal going to the pump 

next on the list was the fans , now luckily the porsche also uses a pcm ground trigger so all i had to do was find the wires going out from the porsche pcm and just cut them and connected them tot he ls1 harness , and now i have the fans set up for two speeds : fan 1 on the LS1 pcm turns on both porsche fans on the low setting , while the second fan on the LS1 pcm activates the HI setting on both porsche fans . scratch one more item off the list 

technically i can now start the car , but it still has some ways to go .

so now the car interior is all wired and done , all i have to do is go over the fuses and replace any blown or missing fuses ( don't ask how i found that out ) and install the pcm back in - which i took out to have a sd tune written on to it . 

so next up is install the center console , and the rest of the panels and the carpeting when it arrives .

i guess i'm done with any work on the inside ( other than putting everything back in ), which means i can focus on the outside again, which means next up is :

- finish the engine compartment mini harness 

- coils and plugs/wires

- push the car to the lift so i can install the balancer

- FLUIDS!!!! (engine/trans oil, coolant, brake fluid, clutch fluid) and bleed 

and its late and i can't think straight , but for some strange reason i found working on the wiring quite satisfying 

so wish me luck

12.24.10

well just tease you more here's a pic of the interior after i installed the driver seat and center console

all i have to do in the interior now is install the rear panel and carpet ( when it gets here)

as well as the steering wheel andstalk ( turn signal/ hi low beam , etc)

so now i can go back to working on the outside of the car. 

like i mentioned , i have to install the harmonic balancer and finish the mini harness , and button up the fuel and coolant system ( i decided to bypass the heater hoses - for now- untill i get the ones i ordered ages ago ) so i can get to start the engine . 

i also have to get a battery for the car that fits, along with all the needed fluids . 

the plan is to first fill all the fluids and check for leaks , then pressurize the fuel system ans see if that leaks. after that its starter test time and see if she fires up

12.27.10

not much progress to report , i wasted all of last night pushing the thing back on the lift and trying to install the balancer . long story short: balancer needs to come off (again) cause i did not put the AC pulley on ( don't ask) . i lent out my impact gun so i could not get the bolt to come out and i found out that the passenger side Ebrake does not work 

had to loosen the front timing chain cover cause i noticed the seal was not sitting right , which meant the alt and water pump had to come off . 

coils, wires, and plugs are on , as well as all the sensors are connected . all i need to do now is finish the mini engine harness ( and the balancer )

i'll be picking up some transmission oil today as well as some other vital fluids 

start up should be soon

12.28.10

well i was hoping to atleast fire her up tonight, but i guess it will have to wait for a bit : i guess the fuel pump is seized up 

and to make things worse , i managed to crack one of the hoses 

so now i have to remove the pump and bucket and replace the crappy accordion hose with propper fuel injection hose. i just have to figure out how to remove it from the tank.

the pump looks like it could be easily swapped out with a bosch 044 pump or maybe the new aeromotive 340 pump .

here's what i have to deal with :

http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/a...p/100_2630.jpg

another thing i also noticed is that the pump signal only comes on for a couple of seconds AFTER i let go of the ignition switch. so i have to look into that too .

i did think of replacing the whole factory setup with something different , maybe drop in an intank 044 pump and simplify the whole mess in the tank by having one pump and hose in one of the bladders and having a small transfer tube between the bladders to equalize the fuel level . but thats just thinking to far ahead 

i did finish installing the balancer, so now i have to get a belt and finish the powersteering pump plumbing and i can call the accessory drive done .

and like i mentioned earlier , i got some interior stuff in and i installed them i just had to stop cause i didn't have the correct size screws to hold the stalk assembly in place . i did however get the window in , and it actually works ! i just have to figure out how to adjust it so it goes down all the way like the other one .

i'm kinda bummed out cause i didn't start it and now it'll take a while before i do ,,,, but things happen for a reason i guess 

so , no checking for fuel system leaks next time , but i will try to :

- get a new battery in

- get the pump out

- finish the steering column and wheel

- then finish the door panel/ a pillar / defrost vents 

- engine compartment harness.

12.30.10

i managed to get some stuff done last night , 

i bought a nice big battery and dropped it in to replace the old dying not holding a charge one i was using , i also got cracking on the harness deal , got most of the plug done , just need to run the wires to the sensors.

also got working on the fuel pump deal , i managed to take it out as per marky's instructions , but upon touching it plastic hoses started snapping left and right 

here is how it looks after i took it out :

and after fanaggeling with it a bit i got the pump itself out :

its a bit bigger than the walbro 255 and smaller than a 044 pump , but i think an aeromotive 340 should fit finei guess, i just have to do my research. off course i did take a look at fitting a bosch 044 pump in there , and it can be done with minor trimming of the bucket , here's how it looks: ( pump looks much bigger in the pic than it i really is )

so i started trying to fix this mess , first order of bussiness was replace all the crumbling accordion plastic hose with proper fuel injection rubber hose , and while i was doing that i noticed that at the bottom of the suction tubes porsche installed what seems to be a prefilter , only problem is that that thing is tiny ! i'm thinking this would be a restriction when pushing the fuel system later . so i decided to remove them , here is what i'm talking about :

and after a few cuts and a hose clamps i got this :

all i have to do now is get a new pump and connect it to the hoses i made and call it a day ,,,, that and replace the deteriorating sending unit / tank gasket .

also figured out the fuel pump priming thing ( after spending close to 30 minutes searching for the 3 test lights i have in the garage - i swear the mice here are fooling with me ) , as it turnes out i tapped into the wrong relay for the ignition on source , so after figuring that out i had to run a wire to under the dash to the fuse center and now it primes with everytime i cycle the ignition and stays on during starting .

01.04.11

i decided to make sure the pump is working so i dropped it in and hooked it up ,filled the tank with 10 gallons (i still have to put the sending unit gasket when it gets here) the good news is that it works the bad news is that the rails leaked , so i had to fix them ,,,, which meant new rail brackets and a new 90 deg -8 hose end on the back of the intake . sooooo ,,,, after getting my shirt soaked with fresh gas and having the garage turn into a giant fire hazzard , and at exactly 12:49 am 5th of jan 2011 it came to life 

i still have to verify i'm getting oil pressure , and still have to install the powersteering pump as well as other stuff , it still has a way to go before i can drive it , and even longer before it can be called done . 

one thing it is for sure ; not quite

well now that i am sorta fully awake and the effects of the fumes wore off , i can reflect on last nights events 

first off, when i came to add transmission fluid i found out that the transmission already had it! they shipped it full of oil , i'm sure that the shipping company would have reaaaallly approved of that 

and since the only method i have for reading the oil pressure is through the stock porsche guage, i have to finish the mini harness as soon as possible in order to verify oil pressure.

I also just remebered that i didn't plug any of the ports on the intake manifold just behind the TB , which explains the high idle and surging i guess.

as for the cooling system , i'm still waiting on filling it up untill i get the porsche coolant sensor ( should be here any day) and figure out where to mount it . and i just bought som aluminum tubing which i'm planning on using as hard line under the car for the heater hoses as well as for the new routing of the A/C lines.

so next up :

-bolt in the power steering pump and the new hard line i made 

-get a serpentine belt 

-finish wiring the mini harness ( i swear this thing has curse on me , its just a few wires i have to connect but i always seem to find a way not to do it )

-fix the ABS wire that is cut on the driver side rear corner so i can get one more warning light to turn off ( i got a list for those too )

right now i just want to start it again and rev it just to feel good