Turbo Calipers on early 944?

944s2guy · 10:18 AM

Will the 86 944 Turbo calipers bolt up to an early 83-85 944? If so, is it a direct bolt-on?

though I would ask before pulling it all apart just find out they won't.

TIA

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

I'm not 100% on this, but I believe the '86 951 calipers will fit, but if you want anything larger you'll have to change to post-'87 spindles in order to accommodate them. I haven't done it myself, so perhaps someone else can chime in on this. . .

kaffine krazed · 01-19-2005, 11:47 AM

You will need the spindles and struts from the 86 turbo as well since the calipers have diffrent mounting to the spindle and the spindle has a diffrent mounting to the strut. The problem with swaping the spindles is that the speedo is driven from the left front wheel on the 86 spindle the hole is not there for the speedo cable.

Britwrench · 01-19-2005, 02:58 PM

Not necessary unless you race the car, and even then it's arguable as you'd also need all the other set-up equipment.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Have to agree there. . . The stock n/a brakes are very, very good. Even in the turbo conversions performed by Callaway on the early 944s (I'm in the process of doing this to my 944) there was nothing done to bolster the brake strength; even Callaway didn't see the need for it and left the system alone.

fast924S · fast924S's Garage

or you could do this

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Looks nice! What's involved exactly with changing the spindles? I've never done it or even looked at it. And how the heck do the lugs on your setup work? It looks like you have. . . 10 of 'em? If five are to hold the spacer on, how does the wheel not hit them or the nuts or the piece of stud that sticks out?

Britwrench · 01-19-2005, 07:19 PM

Yes, that looks cool, but again seeing the oil accumulator in the fender I assume it's a race car. With those brakes you would also have to modify the suspension as normal shocks, struts and springs won't react to the heavier braking abilities.

tifosiman · tifosiman's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by kaffine krazed
You will need the spindles and struts from the 86 turbo as well since the calipers have diffrent mounting to the spindle and the spindle has a diffrent mounting to the strut. The problem with swaping the spindles is that the speedo is driven from the left front wheel on the 86 spindle the hole is not there for the speedo cable.

You will need the struts from the an 86 turbo or 87-89 N/A. The spindle bolt pattern is different than 83-86 N/A cars.

You can drill and tap the 86 951 spindles to utilize the speedo.

You will also need larger wheels to clear the 951 calipers. The cookie cutters that came with the 83-85 944 cars will not clear them. You will need early offset 951 phonedials, or 951 Fuchs.

This project is not that difficult to do. I have posted the exhaustive list of parts needed on here several times in the past, if you do a search it will come up.

kaffine krazed · 01-20-2005, 07:21 AM

Has anyone actually had the spindle drilled to accept the speedo cable?

tifosiman · tifosiman's Garage

I have not, but others on various discussion boards have.

fast924S · fast924S's Garage

The pic I posted is not of my P-car its a heavliy modded p-car that has been sold for parts

carsontc · 05:55 PM

with big reds you would need to change your wheels too

ernestedward · 01-20-2005, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kaffine krazed
Has anyone actually had the spindle drilled to accept the speedo cable?

I actually recently looked into this. I have an 83 with turbo brakes. The problem is that it's not a straight shot - the speedo would have to go through the bottom of the strut housing. The option I came up with was drilling at a 45 degree or so from the back or the bottom of the spindle, with a straight hole through the spindle, not through the strut. The holes would meet and hopefully the speedo cable would be able to make that bend. I took the spindle to a machine shop, they said they'd do it but they were worried about weakening the spindle. There's plenty of meat on there so I wasn't worried about that, but I ended up just going with an autometer gauge with an electronic pickup off the CV. End result: I'm not sure if it would have worked, but I tend to think so.

kaffine krazed · 01-20-2005, 09:56 PM

ernestedward: Do you have a pic of the mounting for the speed sensor? Thanks.

carsontc · 01-21-2005, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kaffine krazed
ernestedward: Do you have a pic of the mounting for the speed sensor? Thanks.

and a pix of the speedometer too please

ernestedward · 01-21-2005, 09:25 AM

I haven't installed it yet. Here's a link to the speedometer I'm using - I'm waiting on a rubber grommet type thing from mcmaster-carr cause the 3 3/8 inch is a bit too small, and the 5" is too big. http://hp.autometer.com/products/phantom/indash_tach_speedo/indash_tach_speedo.html

I'm using the 160 MPH electric speedo at 3 3/8 inch. PM me your email addresses and I'll email you pics when I do it, in the next few weeks.

I already installed white gauge faces on the rest of my gauges, that's why I chose that speedo. Autometer has a lot of choices though.