Is early 924 engine crossmember aluminum?
#2
Former Vendor
Nope, it's steel, and a completely different design in terms of how it mounts to the chassis, as well as how the steering rack mounts to it. I've developed some brackets for mounting 924S/944 power steering racks to the early 2.0L cross member, so I'm pretty familiar with the geometry differences. I have one of each on the bench, so if you'd like some comparo photos, let me know.
In the meantime, if you're familiar with the 924S/944 alu cross member, this photo might help you visualize how the early piece is different relative to the rack mounting geometry:
In the meantime, if you're familiar with the 924S/944 alu cross member, this photo might help you visualize how the early piece is different relative to the rack mounting geometry:
#4
Former Vendor
You could probably flip them around and mount it...but I'm not sure what it would do for the front-to-back arrangement. As I recall, the mounting points on the alu cross member were a bit further out than the steel, so adding the bracket like this didn't really affect the geometry of the tie rods. I have a spare alu cross member, so I'll take a look and see if these might work and what it might do to the tie rod geometry. If the angle is increased too much, it could potentially introduce some bump steer (or, more bump steer than is already there )