Go check it out at http://www.deserthybrids.com Click on the 914 to enter the site.

He has been on Ebay for a while, seems to be a pretty nice guy, but I have not purchased anything from him yet.

Cool shop and lots of cars in progress.

His prices are not any different than the other guys. Rod Simpson gets about 1640 for his kit, this guy is around 1750 for the same stuff.

Correct me if I'm wrong. RS's kit doesn't include the clutch pressure plate, clutch disk, etc. Add another $630 for the stage II clutch onto the $1640 kit. DH kit the Stage II is included in the base kit price.

Nope, you are correct, his kit is made to use your stock pressure plate and disk, all other parts are included.

I haven't bought anything from him (yet?), but found David to be gacious and very forthcomming. He too is an ME, so we got along. He definately does not put the sales job on you, and offers to work with you to configure things to suit your needs or budget. Buy what you want or need, and he'll freely advise you on everything else. I got good vibes.

Andy

Dang.... I'm in Tucson all the time for work. May have to stop by there next time I'm in town.

I purchased his Chassis Stiffening Kit about 3 months ago, no problems there. Also been following his conversions for some time, I think they are first class, excellant detail, such as the cowl vents are cut out and filled solid with the heater/ac conversions. Lot of little details.

How come none of the V8 guys have done a step by step -DETAILED- procedure on their conversion(s)? Describing all the parts used. Chevy, Porsche, Custom parts, etc...
and step by step how they each fit together.

instructions come with the kits....or in some cases purchased seperately....how "detailed", well, enough that your average mechanically compentent person can do the job.....

sure they might not be as detailed as a Haynes manual, but one shouldn't be attempting a conversion unless they have some experiance with working on cars for a while or have a helping hand...or that they really have the determination to get the job done, with or without instructions

Guys like me who got the kit from someone else or bought all the parts seperately, didnt get instructions, but he is right, if you know anything about cars, you could do it. Its not that hard. It just a matter of knowing what goes where.

I'm not concerned with the work, I'm sure I could do it with no instructions.

I'm more interested in the actual parts list. Which parts are Chevy? Which parts are Porsche? Which parts are custom? Do all the Porsche parts come from the 914?

I think Renegade's "basic" kit is apprx $2150, which is $400 more than Desert's kit, does anyone know if it includes anything that the DH kit does not? Renegade will probably be getting my radiator money at least. I also like the serpantine belt set up and I'm assuming only Renegade sells that optional set up.

Doug C

custom (or OTS, if you buy some of them from kit manufacture or Kennedy Engineering):
flywheel, throwout bearing, adapter plate (motor to transmission interface), harmonic balancer (smaller OD than standard and modified Chevy unit), spacer that goes behind the h/b, brackets for acces. drives, transmission mounts, engine mount

the radiator can be stock Chevy or OTS (off the shelf) or custom (depends on how much you want to spend and how you want it to look like)

you can stay with the 914 transmission or get one from a 911 (add a few extra grand to the conversion for the later)

waterpump is normally a kit manufactured item unless you go with an electric pump, that can be bought from a catalog (or you cut a huge hole in the firewall and run a stock unit)

for my VR6 conversion, there is only one source for the adapter plate and flywheel, so I am buying that from Kennedy, everything else will be custom (made by me) except the radiator....I'm 99% sure I'll be getting the Renegade unit

Does Kennedy sell a "Basic Kit" or do they just do adapter plates and clutch assemblies seperately? I'd buy the adapter from Kennedy but you get a price break when purchasing a "kit" which includes a bunch of mounting items, etc from the other guys.

Doug C

Doug,

Kennedy sells the adapter plate, flywheel, throwout bearing and of course the clutch and pressure plate. You can pick and choose what to buy from them.I only bought the adapter plate and flywheel since I already had the pressure plate and clutch disc.

not sure if you'd save any money or not getting the adapter parts from KEP and then purchasing the other items from one of the conversion shops.

Kennedy will help you if you have issues bolting the engine and the transmission together, after that, you are on your own when it comes to putting the engine combo into your car and doing everything else...KEP is not in the business of engine conversion, only making the adapters.

I believe Renegade makes thier own adapters now, I used to have a cast alum. Chevy adapter plate which had thier name cast into it.


One advantage to buying everything from the same place is if you run into problems and need some support.

I believe DH can get you the KEP clutch/adapter at a better price than if you went to KEP directly. That may be true for the other conversion outfits as well.