924Board.org

[fha772]

Hi all, I'm planning on swapping all the running gear from my damaged 1986 924S into my 1980 2.0 924.

My plan is to swap suspension, brakes, gearbox, torque tube, anti-roll bars, etc...
Basically everything except the engine.

I need as must advice as possible, any help with pitfalls, etc.. would be great.

[ideola]

You might not like the gearing in that box for the NA 924. Doesn't your 1980 2.0 already have an audi gearbox? If so, I would leave that gearbox in, but swap everything else. Should be direct swap.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[fha772]

Hello, to be honest i'm hoping to do it in stages, with the last stage being a gearbox swap. Because hopfully by this time i will have an upgrade engine lined up (hopefully a 2.8/2.7T Audi V6, 190-250+BHP). So i will need the "S" gearbox and torque tube to handle the power(i have been told this is the stronger set-up, is this correct?).

Can anyone reccommend the best order to do this work in?

[ideola]

Suspension-brakes-rollbar should be done as a single upgrade. Provided you have everything off of the donor car, and the recipient comes apart easily (i.e. no rusted or broken bolts during removal), this job should be doable in a day, or weekend at worst.

Leave yourself another day for the trans swap. You should not need to replace the torque tube. An NA is an NA is an NA, and as far as I know they all have the same diameter driveshaft, hence the same torque tube. As for the gearbox, there isn't really any advantage to going with the 924S/944 NA gearbox, it's really just the same box as what you have, just with slightly different gearing to accommodate the slightly higher output of the 2.5L motor vs. the 2.0 that you have.

If you are going to do an engine swap such as you describe, what you really should be looking at is a swap to a turbo-based driveline, ideally a 951 gearbox, with LSD if you can get it. You will need to swap in the box, the torque tube, and the clutch+pressure plate setup, although there will also be some engineering involved to get the front end of the driveline to mate to your transplanted engine.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[fha772]

Hi, My plan is, if possible, to use the Audi pattern bellhousing off of the N/A torque tube and mate it to the "S"/Turbo torque tube, i was under the impression this would be a near straight swap. If this is not the case then i'm not worried about doing some machining/welding.

[ideola]

As I stated, the 924S torque tube & bell housing are identical to what you already have. AFAIK, the 924S torque tube is NOT the same as a 931 or 951 torque tube. The former is 19mm, the latter is 25mm. The bell housings of all Audi-based torque tubes are identical, it's the driveshaft that is different. Like I said, a quick measurement should confirm.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[fha772]

Thanks for the advice, i best start looking for a 944 turbo for some bits then.

So will the N/A bellhousing fit the 944 turbo torque tube in your opinion?

I think i will swap in the suspension for now. Then once i get the parts together, mock-up the engine, torque tube, and gearbox in the garage, before installing into the car.

[ideola]

As far as I know, yes, it should be bolt on.

Sounds like a good plan Good luck and let us know how it goes!
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[Martijnus]

isn't the 924s engine physically the same as the early 944 engine?

If so, getting a 44 engine in a 24 would be plug&play regarding engine mounts, bolting up to the bellhousing etc etc?

I'd be worrying about the electrics which have to be swapped too...

worst case you have to swap the complete wiring loom
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"Rule: Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun." (C. Bell)

924 "50-jahre", 1981.
MSII/extra, LPG, ITB's, 5lug.
To be turbo'ed in a while.
Killed her at the Nurburgring, Porscheless at the moment

[ideola]

Yes, 944 and 924S 2.5L are identical. But he's talking about dropping into a 2.0L chassis. The engine mounting arrangement is completely different and would require significant fabrication to make work.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[fha772]

I'm looking into the future with the engine swap, for now i'm just upgrading the suspension, brakes, wheels, etc...
The 2.5 engine is the same as early 944's, that's the reason i'm not swapping the engine, i've sold it to a friend with a 944(he offered me what i paid for the whole car!!). I have a 1999 Audi A6 2.8 Quattro Avant, after owning this car for over a year, i'm in love with it's engine and think this would be an ideal swap for a 924. It's fairly high revving, and manages to get the big A6, fully loaded, to a comfortable cruising speed of around 120+MPH easily whenever i head over to Germany. I think with this engine in i will get the best of both worlds, plenty of low end grunt combined with a revvy engine to give good 0-60 times. Plus it has a starting point of 190BHP which is already more than a turbo, or 250BHP if i go for the 2.7 turbo version, in standard form. This can be improved on fairly easily when using an after market stand-alone ECU(should get around 220+BHP N/A, 300+BHP turbo).

But to begin with i'm happy with the suspension/brake swap, to improve it for now.

[Martijnus]

[ideola]

The engine mounts ARE completely different. But the gear box, torque tube and bell housing are directly swappable. The issue I was pointing out in the first post is that the stock manual gearbox from the 87-88 924S and early 944, while essentially similar audi-based units, have different gearing than the late 924 2.0L audi-based gearbox.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[Slam]

Hang on - what about the transmission input shaft sizes? They're different between the 924 and 924S/944. I'd think that'd become an issue, wouldn't it?
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'84 944 - kid blew motor
'83 944 - resting comfortably. For 12 years
'87 944 - sideswiped by trucker
'80 924 - gone
'78 924 - gone
'77 924 - rusting comfortably

[ideola]

924 NA = 21mm
931 = 25mm
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made