transmission$$$$$ how screwed am I?

[ritter4242]

ok.. so I bought a 1983-84 944 off of a friend for $75. He wanted it gone, and for good reason. I had told him to 'be gentle' and 'its almost 30'. Did he listen? ha! So this has been my nightmare for the past week...




And I found out what was wrong.



aaaaaaaaannnnd......







and one of these um.. things... are missing...




I want to rebuild this thing, which would require me replacing these parts. However I would also like to improve the transmission. heck I have it open why not?? I'm not that into top speed, I mean 85 is the fastest I can go right?
I would love to improve the speed at which I get there!! any ideas? so the broken rod is the 3-4 gear and the heat discolored one is 1-2... looking to replace those. hopefully

[zedsn]

It would be easier just to buy a good used transaxle for your car instead of the work and expense of tearing yours apart and rebuilding it. You can get a good used open transaxle for around 250 plus shipping and they did make a limited slip for your car as well that will bolt right up too. You can have the transaxle shipped to you via UPS as it weights under 150 lbs boxed up.

[rhett]

^^ I agree, rebuilding the damaged transaxle will cost a small fortune (perhaps a big fortune!). It would be easier, quicker and cheaper to get a good low-mileage one shipped to you. Then, spend a bit of time replacing the output shaft seals, etc. some nice new gear oil and it's all sorted!

[ritter4242]

so, where would I get a transaxle? I really had my heart set on rebuilding this one... I mean this thing made me bleed...no one makes me bleed my own blood..would it be worth salvaging gears and bits? that way I can build a custom gear set and just swap shafts and diffs? And I'm guessing the LSD would be part of said transaxle? I would really like to do a custom gear set, more for the acceleration and less on the top speed. I did a couple, sorta successful, mods and they've done some magic (this by the way is not the transmission from my car, but a friends who I've bought, I'd swap transaxels if I did any major improvements/changes, since I hadn't done any work I kinda made it a 'instead of buying this I'm going to borrow it off of this' parts car)

[CHICKS]

I don't own a 42" monitor, could you resize your pictures please.

[rhett]

Originally Posted by ritter4242

so, where would I get a transaxle? I really had my heart set on rebuilding this one... I mean this thing made me bleed...no one makes me bleed my own blood..would it be worth salvaging gears and bits? that way I can build a custom gear set and just swap shafts and diffs? And I'm guessing the LSD would be part of said transaxle? I would really like to do a custom gear set, more for the acceleration and less on the top speed. I did a couple, sorta successful, mods and they've done some magic (this by the way is not the transmission from my car, but a friends who I've bought, I'd swap transaxels if I did any major improvements/changes, since I hadn't done any work I kinda made it a 'instead of buying this I'm going to borrow it off of this' parts car)

I guess transaxles are fairly easy to obtain over there, eBay, Rennlist, this forum, lots of Porsche specialist breaker yards. I have one from an S but it is here in the UK......postage might be a bit steep! I am sure several forum members will be along with recommendations, or trannies for sale, etc.

If you have your heart set on fixing/modifying this damaged one, be prepared for a hit on the wallet, but certainly go ahead if that is what you really want to do. As far as custom gear sets are concerned there are some very experienced forum members who do work on these boxes, if they get involved in this thread I would take notice of their advice as they have been there - done that!

[jcommin]

Options:

Find a used transmission as previously stated - Like any used piece, there are risks.
Buy one from George at 944Ecology or Ian at 944Online. Minimal risk - both have good reputations.
Rebuild it - Unless you have the tools and equipment, I would suggest you outsource it. LSD mods can be made to a non LSD tranny.

As far as improvong it's performance, I doubt that you can. The weakest link on the early trannys is the pinion shaft. They tend to shatter.


I guess I would ask - why would you put any money into a $75 car? How ruff is this?

[zedsn]

Plyhammer out of Ohio is always parting out 944 cars. My 83 had an LSD transaxle that someone installed along the way so maybe look for one of those instead of an open transaxle. Mine could have been from 87 so and it did not have the cooler on it.

[chills2]

Call Jamie at 944online.com $1,800 for a rebuilt.

[PorscheChef]

$1800- Holy Crap! That's crazy. I bought a LSD transmission for my 84 track car for $400. It wasn't "rebuilt" but it came from a running car. It still pulls strong after a season of racing. For non-lsd transmissions, I've never paid more that $200.

[jcommin]

Chef, That is about the right price for a rebuilt tranny. George at 944Ecology is about the same.


I had mine rebuilt by Cattellus Engineering in 2006 for $1860 plus shipping. I have a LSD tranny too.

If you want sticker shock-go to your Porsche dealer and ask them how much a new one costs.

I don't understand why anyone would put money in a $75 car. Start adding stuff up once you are in there -

[Tervuren]

When it comes to the NA tranny, the used prices mean that is a "smarter" route to go.

Frankly, if we only made "smart" choices, we wouldn't be building(erh...driving) 944's to start with...

If $$$ matters, get a used one from another car, just post in the parts section and you may even find something local. If you want to rebuild, some of those parts you may need to source from a Porsche dealer. The mark up of parts department may vary with dealer, not sure on that one.

I have a 951 LSD box with a few worn synchro's I'm considering re-bearing and re-sealing + the synchro's. Its $$$ for the parts and tools.

As far as improvements go, any coatings out there to prolong life/reduce friction?

[fiat22turbo]

You can have the gears micro-polished and cryo-treated. Otherwise, go with as new a model as you can to get all of the factory improvements (944 S2 would be a good choice).

Transaxle - General Information, Codes, and Gear Ratios

Stay away from the turbo transaxles as they will be geared completely wrong for your car and will suck the life out of it (unless you're planning on an engine swap or adding power to your engine)

The transaxles are Audi-based units and some parts cross over to the Audi 5000 units, so that might help in your parts search.

[Volhv]

Here's a comparison between the NA and Turbo gearing. NA is in red. This is just a consolidation of the two different charts Porsche provided in the manuals.

[Cajundaddy]

Yep, buy a good used trans with clean fluid for $500 or rebuild the one full of grenade frag and cross your fingers you didn't miss anything for $2000. Remember there are always 2 kinds of bleeding, the actual blood kind and the bleeding bank account kind. Some hurt worse than others.

[Gawernator]

Yup, good trans go for around $300-400 here

[petrolhead611]

The 924S transmission has a shorter top gear ratio than the 944, so that will improve your highway accelaration at the expense of fuel and noise, Top speed probably wont be affected because the engine will just be able to pull more revs .