Unpowered to powered steering

[dkahler]

Hello, I have an 83 944 that did not come with power steering from the factory. I am in the process of restoring it and was wondering if I can install a power steering rack and all the necessary items. Will a powered steering rack bolt on or would I have to modify the existing bracket.

Thanks in advance!

dkahler

[944 Ecology]

You might be able to do so if you have the following:

1) Important! If you have an early 83 944, it actually has a shorter crankshaft than the late ones. The power steering pulley fits over the end of the crankshaft to center it. If you don't have that, plan on a new crankshaft.

2) You will need to install a new lower balance shaft bearing carrier, one which has the extension to mount the power steering pump.

3) You will need a power steering pump, a power steering rack, and a shorter coupler between the rack and the steering column. You will also need a reservoir and all the hoses, high and low pressure. Porsche also installed a power steering cooling hose.

4) The power steering rack will bolt on to the crossmember, but uses different bushings to attach it.

[nightheart]

Just an FYI, most people are going the other way. Converting from power steering to manual. The price of new parts is rather high, I believe, and even good used parts are pushing 30 years old. Too each his own. I considered it for my 83, but it doesn't bother me now, except sometimes doing low speed turns. That being said, look at the parts catalog for the power steering vs. manual steering parts. There is just a whole lot more there and a lot more to go wrong.

[dkahler]

Guys, thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it. Maybe I will just start lifting weights.

[SloMo228]

If you are interested in converting, I just removed the entire PS system from my '87, except for the crank pulley and lower balance shaft carrier (since they're still on the car). They're used parts so you'd want to refresh them before installing but the system did work properly, albeit with a slow fluid leak like most 944s. I would reseal the rack and pump and have a hydraulic shop replace the rubber parts of the fluid lines.

PM me if you're interested.

[honerboys]

I actually did this to an 83 for my sister - everything above is true but once you have the parts it's not a really tough job - I had all the parts from a parts car so the cost was pretty much nothing - I had changed the crank for a spun bearing already so I did not have to do that specifically for this job - I thought I had replaced the crank with another 83 crank and yet I had no issues with it being too short - but maybe it was a later crank - anyway the steering worked great....until it was totaled about 4 months later

[Tony-K]

I put about 100K miles on an '83 before switching to a 1985.5 as my daily. The power steering is nice, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. The manual and power steering are both nicely weighted, and I'd be perfectly happy with either for different reasons.