1987 930 Turbo questions.

[Don LaVance]

Hi All,
Yes I have the bug. I bought a 1988 911 coupe last year and love it.
I now have my sights on a 1987 930 Turbo but I have some reservations and questions.
Owner states the car has had a G-50 transmission installed. How can I verify this other than looking for the hydraulic clutch setup? Is this a common switch.
How do I verify it is L/S as I have been told?
Last. Does the 1987 930 Turbo have the notorious Dilivar cylinder studs?
Any thing else I should be cautious of?
Thanks in advance,
Don

[twistoffat]

The G50 was first used in Turboīs in 1989. Prior to that they had the old four speed. If the owner had it installed retrospectively then It should be okay.
Donīt know why porsche didnīt put it in the turbo earlier ie 87

[quattrorunner]

G50 is a really valuably upgrade. Many love it none hate it but its very expensive.
Here is a thread talking about it now.
Just my thoughts on having a 5 speed

[Jim2]

Hi All,

Yes I have the bug. I bought a 1988 911 coupe last year and love it.

I now have my sights on a 1987 930 Turbo but I have some reservations and questions.

Owner states the car has had a G-50 transmission installed. How can I verify this other than looking for the hydraulic clutch setup? Is this a common switch.

How do I verify it is L/S as I have been told?

Last. Does the 1987 930 Turbo have the notorious Dilivar cylinder studs?

Any thing else I should be cautious of?

Thanks in advance,

Don

You ask how to tell if it's a G50 aside from the hydraulic pedal? Look at some google pictures of 915 or 930 gearboxes so you become familiar with the appearance of the cable which actuates the clutch then go and look under your 88 911 to compare the appearance of the G50 which is void of the cable and lever arm.

Place jack under one trailing arm and lift tire just off the ground, place trans in neutral. LSD will take effort to turn the tire due to clutch pack in the diff.

Another question to ask your seller about the "G50" is if it's a turbo box identified by G50/50 stamping on the bottom of the case or by counting 12 studs/nuts fastening the diff side cover on. A non-turbo G50xx box is not as valuable as the turbo unit which has a larger crown and pinion. The non- turbo box only has 11 studs/nuts holding the diff side cover on.

California Motorsports used to have pictures of each gearbox variation on their home page, you might have a look or search for images on google.

[Ronnie's.930]

Dilivar head studs - yep, both top and bottom.

To verify a LSD you can get the rear wheels in the air, spin one by hand, and if the other spins in the same direction, you have a LSD. Also, the option code for LSD is "220", and would be on the underhood build sticker (and a copy in the owners manual) - can't always trust that the stickers are the ones that came with the car, however . . .

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Ronnie's.930

Also, the option code for LSD is "220", and would be on the underhood build sticker (and a copy in the owners manual) - can't always trust that the stickers are the ones that came with the car, however . . .

The gearbox has been changed, so that sticker won't be relevant.

JR

[Nickshu]

A G50 update is no small task, so make sure it was done "right". Involves cutting, moving and welding in the rear torsion tubes to move them outwards to create space for the longer G50 box which changes the rear end torsion/swing plates to the later style.

I have toyed with the 930 idea as well, just be prepared for many more NLA parts, as well as most parts being about 2-3x higher in cost. As I go thru the parts catalog I am always surprised about how many parts were different on the 930, even little things. It's not just a standard 911 with a turbo engine and wider flares, many many parts are different and they are all much more costly. For example I think a fuel pump is close to $950 and there are two of them.

Regardless thats a sweet car! A PPI is always advised, money well spent.

[patina]

I don't know why it hasn't been stated but if the car has a hydraulic clutch and 5 forward gears you can bet it's a G50. Just my 2cents

[Ronnie's.930]

Originally Posted by javadog

The gearbox has been changed, so that sticker won't be relevant.

JR

Right - I forgot about that - ha!

[donagain1]

I know little about the turbos, and I'm a bit confused trying to interpret a couple of the reply posts... I get the thing about the hydraulic clutch, but are you guys saying that ANY 5-speed in that year is a G-50, and all the old 915's are 4-speeds, or is that just on turbos? My '85 is a 5-speed, so obviously one would have been available in '87, so why wouldn't a turbocharged 3.2 have been outfitted with one of those? Similarly, if the transition to the G-50 was made in the '87 model year, why weren't they applied to the turbos?

[javadog]

911's and turbo used different transmissions. Porsche elected to change from the 915 tranny to the G50 in the 911's in 1987 and from the 930 tranny to the G50 in the turbos in 1989. You'd have to ask them why...

The 911 and 930 used different versions of the G50 and there's more than one way to convert a 930 to a 5 speed.

JR

[Don LaVance]

Thanks to all!!
What a wealth of information. It motivates me to re-think my thoughts on adding the 1987 930 to my wish list for many of the reasons brought out above.
What about a 1989 930?
Any thoughts on that versus a 1987 930?
Thanks again.
Don

[javadog]

I would prefer a stock '89 over a modified '87. Of course, my first choice would be a 4-speed euro version, '80-on.

JR

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by donagain1

but are you guys saying that ANY 5-speed in that year is a G-50, and all the old 915's are 4-speeds, or is that just on turbos? My '85 is a 5-speed, so obviously one would have been available in '87, so why wouldn't a turbocharged 3.2 have been outfitted with one of those?

915's are all 5-speeds. Your '85 had a 915 from the factory. You can use a 915 with a 930 (they bolt straight up), but it gets increasingly marginal as power increases. And the smaller clutch is a limitation as well.

930 boxes are essentially similar to a 915 and earlier transmissions, except much, much stronger (bigger, heavier) and 4-speeds. With a bigger clutch.

The reason for the change was basically racing, and regulations which meant that, when Porsche switched to production-based classes, they had to homologate the parts used in the racers.

Apparently the factory determined that the 915, even with very significant modifications, simply couldn't be made reliable for a 24 hour race with a turbo RSR bolted to it, and hence the 930 box.

4 speeds isn't as big an issue for a race car, because it's WOT more often than a street car. Oh, and has double the power of the street car, too...

Similarly, if the transition to the G-50 was made in the '87 model year, why weren't they applied to the turbos?

The turbos had a surprising lack of factory development, considering the number of years that they were built for - still using a CIS 3.3 power plant in the 91-92 965's, for example.

Originally, the factory only planned to build 500 turbos for homologation purposes, similar deal as the RS. Apparently there was much concern at the time that they'd be unable to sell 500. Of course, they sold very well....

Even so, the factory just made minor modifications over time, mostly to rationalize across markets and meet tougher emissions. IIRC, 930's all had factory welded-on flares until 1986 or so. They'd already been in production more than 10 years by then.

It's as if the factory decided they'd drop the turbo as soon as it stopped selling, but just kept building them while they sold and didn't change the strategy until much later...

[mamut]

You can check the Vin#, it will tell you lots of things about the car, that is if you have where to correlate to,thou.

[megerian]

No surprise, given all of this discussion, that the '89 930 is one of the most sought after Porsches