924Board.org

[ic932]

hi goodluck with the conversion. the crossmember is certainli the kei. i have a 951 shell that i'm in the process of using as a base for a 931 track car so i'm going through the reverse process to what u are contemplating. i have alreadi cut the 931 motor mounts out readi to have welded into the 951 shell..veri simple and straight forward process, then i'm readi to assemble.

the difference in engine suspension is simple, the 924 has engine mounts located on the chassis rails just in front of the bulkhead (firewall) which is probabli the strongest part of the car. the 924S and 944 engines mount on to the crossmember which is cast aluminium, rigid and strong. it is also mounted to the chassis rails but in a much more sturdi wai then the 924.

i've read of people using the 924 crossmember to mount a 944 engine bi simpli strengthening it...but its the lack of strength in the mounting points where the cross member bolts to the chassis that i would be worried about!

the 924 crossmember (and the wai it is mounted to the chassis) is designed to deal with the forces from the wishbones(control arms) and the steering rack onli. bi adding a 944 engine to this would require serious strengthening....

i think u are undertaking a veri worthwhile project and i am not one of those guis that would simpli advise u to get a 924S bodishell, but mi advise would be to look into the possibiliti of cutting out the neccessari 944 crossmember mounting points and having them welded into ur 924. until u find out that this is achieavable i personnali would forget about it.

once u have the 944 crossmember in place then of course its a simple case of switching the wiring harness and brakelines and the rest is a routine bolt on affair...

good luck. if u need ani pics of the 951 crossmember mounting points i'll gladli post them...

[arx]

[ic932]

the reason i decided to cut 931 engine mounts and weld them into the 951 shell was for simplicity,as the mounts sit flush along the rails and tight against the bulkhead. its very simple and its guaranteed to be aligned accurately.

i hav'nt come across any issues regarding the wishbone mounts,all wishbones are interchangeable between 924,931,944,951(theres offset differences and sway bar mounting differences and a little bit of cutting/re-enforcing needs to be done to make the alloy wishbones fit to the 931 steel cross-member.) in fact early 944 used the same steel wishbones as the later 924,931 and 924S. so there is no problem with wishbones.

[ic932]

arx is right about the steering rack, u would need a 944 manual steering rack...easy enough to get hold of those, i just bough on on ebay for £20.

[arx]

[JakeFrame]

_________________
1976 924 Automatic- Body Only
1977 924 4 spd Red~For Sale~
1977 924 4 spd Yellow~For Sale~
1977 924 4 spd
1992 Mercedes 300e 4MATIC

[Oysteinrb]

Ok so im not THAT into different porsche models yet, but the stuff you are saying seems to make sense somehow...

to sum up, my 924 (which is the car i am swapping the 944 engine into) is a 1976 model. the 944 car is a 1982 model. i also have another spare 944 engine.

so have i understood correctly if i think it is something like this?
-make shells ( ) out of both cars (my plan anyway).
-cut off the CROSSMEMBER MOUNTS on my 924
-cut off the CROSSMEMBER MOUNTS on my 944
-weld the 944 CROSSMEMBER MOUNTS in place where the 924 crossmember mounts were "a moment ago"
-everything else is bolt on

correct so far?

what is this talk about the crossmember materials/width, and wishbones? and do i have to do anything with the steering thing?

remember, both cars are COMPLETE (apart from the grille on the 944 as you can clearly see on the pics)


thank you for giving me all this info! i will be sure to take pictures all the way throught the swap! if anyone has any pictures of mounts, crossmembers, or other swap-essential stuff, please post... this could turn into the a-b-c 924-944 swap tread..

thanks again.

Oeystein

[arx]

[Oysteinrb]

so the remedy is to just weld the 944 mounts on to my 924 crossmember..?

[Adie]

No, the 944 engine mounts bolt to the crossmember, get a 944 x-member and bolt that in, the the mounts then bolt to the x-member. I cut my 924 mounts off to make room for the headers and I have had no issues.
_________________
924 zero cylinder race car,

[CBass]

[Oysteinrb]

[Oysteinrb]

here are some pictures of my progress so far. i have only had time to work one day on the 944, but i feel i was fairly effective. a friend also helped out.

here are some suspension/x-member pics firstly:




so i guess those big bolts on the pics are the x-member mounts we are discussing.. right? (first pic is from in front of the pass. side wheel, and the second is from behind the driv. side wheel)

can anyone of you identify those wishbones and what type they are..? sorry about the bad view angles.






a few pics of the motormounts and the steering thing.








just a few pics there of the progress so far. the next thing on the list is to get the carpet and dashboard out. then comes the engine.
lastly i guess i`ll go tor the driveline and suspension.





lastly, a pic of the parts removed so far. on the right is my spare 944 engine..

[ic932]

looks like you have made some good progress so far. those wishbones are standard 944 (82-85.5) steel items. they are also used on late 82- 924's. you have probably noticed they have different swaybar mounting points to the early 924's.

if you decide to cut and weld the 944 crossmember mounting points to your 924 then it would be worth including the swaybar mounts when you do the cutting. this will allow you to use a 951 swaybar in the future.

have you had a chance to compare your 924 crossmember and swaybar mounting points with the 944 ones yet?

[Oysteinrb]

i have not had the chance to look much on anything on the 924, but i will try to take some pics when i continue my "944 gutting mission" this sunday.

for those of you who have already done it, was welding the 944 x-member mounts on to the 924 hard to do?

thanks.

i will give you an update on my progress ASAP..