Manual Rack Conversion: Does Anyone Sell a kit?
 

Is there a supplier that sells manual racks, or do people generally modify the PS rack to manual?

You can find manual racks on eBay and also here. I have one I haven't installed yet I got from a member of this group. Patience is needed, they don't come up for sale that often. There are also other parts needed to make a manual rack work with a formerly power assisted car. Mostly you'll need different tie rod ends and also a different steering column rod and U-joint (intermediate shaft). There are rumors of outfits that will sell you a complete kit, I have no experience with them and can't offer a link.

It's best to research all the parts you'll need for the conversion if you're dedicated to the feel of a manual rack as built by Porsche. I can say I am and I've been slowly assembling parts for about three years.

In the meantime, you may want to look at de-powering your power rack. There's a very good Rennlist thread on the subject here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...ring-rack.html

I've done it myself and I recommend it. Make sure you read the whole thing though; "here be dragons". You can easily kill yourself if you get it wrong. :)

There is debate on whether the "Super 7" were shipped with true manual racks or de-powered PS racks. I've personally never found an authoritative answer to that question.

Regards,

Many thanks! I'll read through that thread. As to kits, the only one I've come across is by a company called, "The Machine Shop." It seems to be just one person, and he also sells through Ebay. It looks like a pretty good kit centered around a reman'ed 924 rack. Does anyone out there have any experience with this kit?

My understanding is he will take your power rack and modify it to a de-powered rack, it's not a factory original manual rack. I'm familiar with his offer but I've never used his service so can't say anything about it one way or another.

Regards,

There are a number of buy & sell groups for the 944 and 924 community on Facebook.

In case you haven't seen it, or if anyone else might be interested, Tifo has a superb write up in the DIY section for swapping in a manual rack. https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...rack-swap.html

I ran a depowered rack for awhile and really didn't like it. Perhaps I am insensitive but I didn't notice any improvement to steering feel but found it a huge pain in the arms for slow speed maneuvering. I rebuilt and installed a powered rack and am happy again. Just my opinion.

Oh that's great - thanks! Very thorough. I didn't think about having easier access to the mounts during the swap, and my mounts do need replacing.

Does anyone know what the part number of a manual rack that will fit an '89 S2 would be? I see there are two manual racks, number 944.347.011.00 as suggested by the Tifo thread and 477.413.101, which I believe is for 924s. When I go hunting for them on German Ebay, the sellers say that I would need the 477, not the 944 as listed in the Tifo thread. It's a bit confusing, as I'd expect a 944 to need a 944 part with a 944.xxx part number.

A 924 manual rack will not fit a 944. It doesn't bolt to a 944 cross member. You need a 944 specific rack.

Since you have a late offset car you'll also need late offset manual tie rods which are NLA from Porsche. On my own car I used 95 VW Jetta inner tie rods (Moog EV378) and outer tie rods from a 1982 BMW 320I (Ultra-Power ES2158R). You can buy each one for less that $7 from Rock Auto.

You'll also need a manual intermediate shaft which which is about an inch longer than a power steering version. They are also NLA and most used ones, if not all, have slop in the ends. There are ways to build one or you can find ones that have been lengthened using a PS version. Either way, this will be the hardest part to find.

Yeah, I've been hoping someone will re manufacture the intermediate shafts as I'll need one when I start rebuilding my race car. If there isn't one, it will have to be a custom job :(

I covered what would be needed for a late offset car in the write-up:

I know my write-up was a bit wordy so I can understand why you stopped reading before you got to it. :)

Tifo,
Awesome write-up.
I am curious, besides the Intermediate shaft I thought the manual rack used a different tie rod connection or something else that was unique that made getting tierods to put one in a late model car difficult and not just buying parts off the shelf? Maybe that is what royalschwarz was commenting on?

I bought a pair of manual length tie rods straight from moog I think. Good price, new parts.

Here is the part number I bought. Moog EV-378. Fits my manual rack with late offset everything else. 45 bucks Canadian each from rockauto as of my search.