Somebody Built A Toyota V12 Powered Porsche 928 In A Shed

"DailyTurismo" (thedailyturismo)
04/24/2015 at 13:51 • Filed to: Daily Turismo, V12, Blog

Forget everything you know about engine swaps. Somewhere between the impractical world of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and mundane domestic !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! sits the ultimate combination of practicality, speed, and cylinders. The Dinsdale Brother’s 1GZ-FE V12 powered Porsche 928 is that sweet spot.

There are a few rules when it comes to engine swaps, chief among them is that the swap must in some way improve the vehicle. With the first generation US spec Porsche 928 there are plenty of engine swaps that will give acceleration improvements, but something like a carbureted small block Chevy is entirely too mundane. What you really need is the only V12 ever produced by Toyota shoved behind a 6-speed gearbox...that’ll get the old blood flowing. Today’s reader ride is this 1982 Porsche 928 with Toyota 1GZ-FE V12 and Corvette 6-speed manual transaxle built by Jeff Mauldin (aka Dinsdale Piranha) in a shed behind a church.

This thing is like the ultimate demonstration of Axis power dominance — the curved lines and purposeful shape from Wolfgang Möbius of Porsche, powered by the only V12 to ever come from the land of the rising sun. Technically, the Kawasaki Ha40 was a Japanese V12 aircraft engine used in World War II fighter planes, but it was based on a Daimler-Benz DB601 — so let’s just stop nit picking and call the 1GZ-FE the only Japanese V12 produced for a production automobile.

The 1GZ-FE was only produced for use in the second generation JDM Toyota Century limousine and as such was rated at 276 horsepower per Japanese OEM agreement on horsepower. In truth a stock 1GZ-FE puts out something like 310 horsepower and 355 ft-lbs of torque from its dual overhead cam and VVT-i setup.

Free from its !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and shoved into the Porsche 928 engine bay, this thing was painstakingly shoehorned into the 928 engine bay by Jeff with the help of some adapters from his friend Rob Mott who told us:

The engine management of MS3 pro is perfectly tuned now with the factory dual runner plenum in tact. An amazing feat in itself. I’m so impressed by the build that we are building another one for myself.

Together with tuning wizard Scott Thompson (of Elutions Design Bureau), the three make up an internet collaboration they call Piranha Brothers Garage. Although separated by thousands of miles in the physical world, they are inextricably linked together by this Japanese powered Panzer. As far as budget, Jeff assures us this is “ultimate low budget master piece” and his “wife has every single receipt.”

The Piranha Brothers include a few videos of the car during tuning that was done earlier this year, but no uploaded videos of it cruising down the street or drifting past an apex just yet. When asked is it for sale, Jeff replied “Everythings for sale.”

If you want to read more about the build of the world’s only Toyota V12 powered Porsche 928, head over to this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Big thanks to Jeff, Scott, and Rob for the details on this car.

Originally published as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Photo credits; Jeff Mauldin.

Got your own ride and want to share? Send us some pics. You can just free form your words, or follow this questionaire.

Year / Make / Model / Trim ?
How long have you owned it?
Why did you buy it?
What do you use it for (commute, fun, racing...etc)?
Is it stock or modified? If modified, please list some modifications.
What was the most memorable day in your car (proposed to wife, 3rd child born in back seat...etc)?
What was the most catastrophic failure of parts/components?
What makes you want to keep owning this car?
Will you ever sell it?

Send your submissions to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

DISCUSSION (43)

HammerheadFistpunch > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 14:03

I have a dream of transplanting that exact engine into my land cruiser.

it would fit

it would mate up to the stock bellhousing

v12 land cruiser.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 14:10

Some delays on the project occurred due to Dinsdale’s recurring trouble with a hedgehog named Spiny Norman, who is normally the size of a ‘96 Corolla brake caliper, but on days of particular difficulty in adapter-making could be as large as a Jaguar V12.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 14:19

\subscribed

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 14:46

I was thinking of that with a 100-series LX. An LX500.

HammerheadFistpunch > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
04/24/2015 at 14:50

Same bolt pattern for the bell housing. I guess this engine is known to Toyota insiders as “the hand built boat anchor”... don’t even care

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 14:53

Now it has me thinking about a 12Runner... I could make it fit...

StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8 > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 15:10

I aint even mad. Thats pretty awesome

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 15:11

Kinja'd!!!

Holy shit, that’s one of the cleanest installs I’ve ever seen. It looks like it came from the factory like that.

505 - morphine not found > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
04/24/2015 at 15:18

Dinsdale!

Robert Mott > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/24/2015 at 15:22

Dinsdale’s the only one I’ve seen over the years that has full 1-off build capabilities and keep it all looking like it came from factory. We built this combo because Porsche nor GM would.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Robert Mott
04/24/2015 at 15:24

And the world is better for it! Keep up the awesome!

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 15:30

Pretty amazing. I’d choose more tasteful wheels and be a little more subtle on the hood modifications, but otherwise it looks pretty slick.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 15:34

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/wrecked…

HammerheadFistpunch > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
04/24/2015 at 15:35

Dude, I’ve been on and off looking at front cuts for a while now. I wish I had the skill or money to pull it off, but as of now it shall remain a pipe dream.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 15:36

My pipe dream build is to turn two Honda CBX engines into a 2L V12 that revs stupid high.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 15:39

I think it may have been done....

Kinja'd!!!

http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/toyota…

HammerheadFistpunch > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
04/24/2015 at 15:49

DAYUM! I wish the links weren’t borked.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 15:54

Works for me

BJ > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 15:56

Kinja'd!!!

Neat build.

Not a fan of these wheels, something a little smaller with a bit more rubber would look better IMO.

Baeromez > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 15:56

So it’s like a Ferrari GT that actually works?

HammerheadFistpunch > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
04/24/2015 at 15:56

oh right...firewall. I will have to check it when I get home.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 16:05

Unless you meant the dropbox links, because they have all gone inactive and are owned by the NSA now

\doffs tin-foil hat

TheHondaBro > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
04/24/2015 at 16:05

Call it the LX12.

HammerheadFistpunch > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
04/24/2015 at 16:06

yeah, those ones. No dyno video, no additional pics. sad

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > HammerheadFistpunch
04/24/2015 at 16:11

I did some digging and found nothing as of yet. I may take dip in the deep web and see if I can find and archived variation of it from somewhere.

DailyTurismo > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/24/2015 at 16:12

Wheels are very specific to each person, and easily changed. Regarding the hood...it looks like it needed some clearance for the intake assy.

aneightballandtwohookers > DailyTurismo
04/24/2015 at 16:53

I wish the word shed came up in the title sooner because then I would say something like “you had me at shed” but for real that’s one bad ass mother hubbard.