Engine upgrades for longlife & sporting use
 

I have 200k plus on a 89 944 2.7 NA and am planning a rebuild even though it runs just fine.

I have heard there is a weakness in the oiling system for 944s when driving on the track.

Any recommendations for improving the engine lower end for longer life & sporting use?

How about fitting a lightweight flywheel?

You can install a baffle in the oil pan. This prevents the oil from collecting at one side of the pan during hard cornering and causing problems with your rod bearings spinning. at high revs.

http://www.lindseyracing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=LR&Category_Co de=944OILPANBAFFEL

There is also another thing you can install while the engine is apart. Its called a scrapper or something like that. I dont know the exact details, search around on the Rennlist forums. There were a few discussions about there usefullness.

http://www.*****************.com/product_p/944-2.5l-crank-scraper.htm

I have baffles, actually trap doors, in my oil pan. #2 and #3 rod journals on the crank have been cross-drilled for better oil flow at sustained high rpms.

Centrifigal force works against the oil passage for #2 at high rpm. That's why so many 944 engines spin #2 bearing. Another passage on the opposite side solves this.

Your car is an '89, so you already have the later, upgraded oil pan.

I have a 87 na that is nearly ready to ax & de. Does the 87 have the same pan lay out as the 89 or is there some upgrades that I need there? I did not plan on pulling the crank to cross drill, but If I need to install baffels / scrapers I will pull the pan n get er done. Dan is there a good way to find ax scheduals for the NW?

Light weight flywheels? Light cars love em. A car like the 944 will respond well to a light flywheel. Accelerate & decell quicker, respond to heel toe easyer and if you are a little off with a down shift it will not upset the car quite as much. They do require a little more care leaveing a stop, paticularly up hill. Rember a wheel tire combo acts like a flywheel much of the time too, so light weight there is important on a light, low hp car like these.

Oil pans were changed mid-year 1987.

Look at the bottom of your pan. If it is entirely covered with cooling fins, it's early. If you have an approxemately 2-3" "blister" poking out the bottom, you've got the good one.

By the way, you will have to drop the front suspension to get the pan off. Thyen re-align everything once you put it back together.

NW autocrossing- Check out the PCA website, or go to the Bremerton Raceway's site. There are schedules and links to the different clubs that use the site.

Thanks I'll be checking those sites out and trying to keep an eye out for events on this side as well. I have the early pan. I can either go with the baffle or find a late pan and pickup.

Dantilla, thanks for that bit of info. I never knew why my 944 had that and my 924S didnt. Does that little blister in the pan mean it has the baffle or just a better pickup?

Just better pickup. The factory never installed baffles.

I little confused here, Does the late pan require a matching pickup? Or is the pickup the same? Thanks

Only downside with a light flywheel, other than cost, is the fact that the car won't idle as well or drive in traffic as well from a startup. If you're going to be driving in traffic, why make it necessary to rev more and burn more clutch to get started? My opinion anyway.

For track use, yes. For the street, I'd save my money.

P

Sorry to bringback an old post, folks.

Dantilla, I have on oil pan with what looks like a "blister" that is a round, un-ribbed section in approximately the center of the pan. However, it does not "poke out" beyond the bottom of the pan at all. It's at about the same level as the fins, but doesn'tgo below them. It's about 4 inches in diameter, from what I can tell. Is this what you're referring to?