Looking to Give Myself a New Headache. 3Spd -> 5spd

[Uegwen]

I have to be honest, I have no love for automatics. I picked up my early 85 auto because a.) I love 944's and b.) for the price, I couldn't refuse a 944 with 30k miles on it. The thought that occurred to me, is my life hasn't been nearly hard enough for lately. Needless to say, I'm curious how much of a pain would it be to convert my 944 to a five speed.

For a time, I entertained the thought of putting a 4 speed tiptronic from a 968 in, but then I came to the rather cold realization of just how different the 968 tranny was from my automatic. The separate DME and all he goodness looked like a vast amount of work. Probably a little more than I could track down in a reasonable amount of time.

Has anyone had experience in converting an old 85 auto to a manual 5 speed? I've searched around for a while and couldn't find any stories about it. I would really appreciate any experiences or ideas of what I'm probably going to need.

Thanks Much

[924Sman]

Honestly..... sell the auto and buy a manual. Way too much work for the money at this stage, be easier to sell and pony up for the extra bucks if applicable for a manual.

Dal

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by Uegwen

Has anyone had experience in converting an old 85 auto to a manual 5 speed? I've searched around for a while and couldn't find any stories about it. I would really appreciate any experiences or ideas of what I'm probably going to need.

If you ever figure this out....I'd be interested in the answer. I too, have an automatic.

This question has been posted many times and it's always the same response - sell the car. I may be up for the challenge but I'd like a detailed checklist before I make that decision. My car has 23k miles on it and is about as mint as you can get - I'd sell and replace if I could find another one that was as good but that's easier said than done. Until then, I'd at least like to know what's involved besides going to the hardware store and buying a "for sale" sign.

Who knows, I might find a nice 911 in the meantime and toss the whole idea but I still want to know what needs to be replaced.

Vern

[fast924S]

Dont sell it, How much work could it be???? I bet its no harder then doing a engine rebuild, All the holes/studs/nuts should be there, all you need is the running gear. Find a crashed 944 or 924S, Take the pedals, and the drive tube from the bellhousing back to the tranny and the shift linkage/shifter and you have yourself a 5 spd. It really depends how much you like the car you have now, If your really attached to her then do what ever you want to it, If your not and dont want to play/work/mod her then sell it a buy what you want.

[S-G-Covin]

Originally Posted by 924Sman

Honestly..... sell the auto and buy a manual. Way too much work for the money at this stage, be easier to sell and pony up for the extra bucks if applicable for a manual.

Dal

QFT. I can't speak for Porsche, but I wanted to replace the 3-spd in my El Camino a few years ago and the price I came up with was worth more than buying another truck (upwards 6k if I remember right, but I wanted a good tranny).

[d.a.autry]

You'd need to replace everything in the driveline from the flywheel on back to the half-shafts. And then there's the pedals, actuating rods, return springs, hydraulics, shifter linkage, that foam thingy (that's a technical term) that surrounds the shifter and rod, etc. etc. etc.

I've never looked over an automatic and don't know what you'll find under your selector control, but I'm sure you'll be looking at things there too, i.e. is it the same oval hole with the lip for the inner shift lever boot??

Sounds like it could get pretty intense and then there's the question of what condition the torque tube, transmission and other components that you'll get would be in.

All in all you might end up spending enough money (what's your time worth?) to simply buy another complete and running manual 944 and simply have two cars, one auto and one manual!!

[Tidybuoy]

you also have to replace the throttle linkage at the manifold. The automatic has a different one that controls the kickdown for the transmission.

Vern

[nynor]

buy a turbo!

just kidding