500

Did manage to get the motor in as planned. Everything worked as expected with the exception of one item.

Right near the end, after putting the struts and control arms back on, I went to attach the front brake calipers for the first time, and they did not fit. It turns out the "944 Turbo front spindles" i purchased off eBay years ago (and carefully restored) are in fact just late-offset spindles for an N/A. I suppose I should have measured them when I received them at the time (I had already found a home for the car's original spindles, so they were not available to compare to). So I have to find a set of real turbo/S2 spindles and re-do that.

As far the as actual work went, first was installing the rear main seal, pilot bearing and flywheel after taking the engine off the stand:




Here is the motor positioned under the car:




The clutch fork, pressure plate and disc were installed in the bell housing ahead, so it was "just" a matter of raising the engine and mating it to the bell housing:




It actually worked pretty easy, and it did not take long to get the four main bolts connected. After that, it was the motor mounts and crossmember, and then the pressure plate was connected to the flywheel, using the starter motor hole for access. Prior to installation, I numbered all the holes (1-9) in a crisscross pattern on the starter ring, so I could keep track of the tightening sequences. My son rotated the engine what seemed like a million times as we gradually got the pressure plate torqued to spec.

After that it was the steering rack and front suspension. Last thing was to mount the front calipers, at which point the issue with the spindles was discovered, which was a let down. Oh, did throw the front bumper on too.







The engine is in there, but nothing has been hooked up yet.

I actually feel pretty flat for some reason.

I need to spend a bit of time on the Subaru to finish it up, so I likely won't do too much on the 944 for a couple of weeks.

MrQuiet

Really nice and detailed work! Inspirational to follow your process.

The spindle issue was a proper bummer But very understandable how it may happen, as those spindles are very simmilar.

500

It is true that the N/A versus Turbo/S2 spindles look a lot alike, but it still was typically dumb of me to not verify!

I had actually spent quite a bit of effort prepping and powder coating them!



Ah well, even though N/A ones are worth a lot less, maybe someone will be looking for a nice set.

It will all get sorted.

As I mentioned, the Subaru needs a bit of attention to get finished, and I will switch to that for a couple of weeks. I had been waiting on updated strut bottoms for the front coilovers which arrived last week, so I will get that done and then switch back to the 944.

I am starting to feel generally better about things... I guess all the planning and organization and then the very long day to do it all took more mental energy then I realized, and in that state, the issue with the spindles felt bigger than it really is.