Starting working on the AC. Pinhole leak in the condensor, might as well recondition the radiator as well. New condenser on order. This should give me a tight system ready for charging once replaced. Already did the o rings and the drier. While I rarely use AC if it's on the car, it must work. My OCD won't have it any other way

 

Is radiator getting boiled and repainted? From all your superlative work, I can imagine that would be the case.

 

Thank you! Yes, hot tanked and painted. While I have logged about 1000 miles on it, I really am ready to drive it without the focus of "shaking it down" my list is getting smaller each day.

 

Surprisingly, the radiator was badly clogged. I say surprisingly because the cars temps were always dead on, never ran hot. The radiator shop said it was beyond repair, they offered a re-core for an absolutely insane price.

I have a brand new 944 Radiator on the shelf and will convert over. The pic below shows the original 924 Turbo fans (top left), a set of 83 944 fans (bottom right) and finally a set of 85 fans with the 5 blade fan. Going to go with the five blade fans of course. Should be better than new.

I had a small leak from the front of the oil pan so I am also doing the oil pan gaskets as well, not a fun job at all.

 

New condenser is a work of art. Bigger than original but seems to fit very well. System is all back together with all new o rings and I will pull a vacuum tonight.

Oil pan is also done, It looks like it was done previously. I am a little puzzled as to why it leaked from the front. No sign of issues. I also checked the breather in the rear of the block. It was clean and clear. Crankcase pressure does not seem to be an issue.

Keep in mind that I have very limited service history on this car as it was donated by the original owners family. I have one receipt for a turbo rebuild back in 96 and it was last registered back in 1998. It is obvious that someone cared for the car as I found signs of maintenance and service and a refreshing total lack of "hack" repairs.

 

Guy,
Love all your work on the 931. When you switch the fans, will you be putting the 5 blade fans into the original shroud?

 

I'm interested in more information on this. Next on my list is to address the AC. How can I get one?

 

Thanks!! I am using the 951 shroud as the motors are different sizes. The larger motor on the 944 and 951 spins faster and the shroud is a lower profile which helps accommodate the 944 style radiator which is slightly thicker than the original 924 unit. Mounting holes are the same on both fan units.

This was from "Cooler Classics" in CA. I considered retrofitting a 944 condensor and hoses etc but this was a simpler solution. Set me back about 300 dollars shipped. Fit was perfect.

 

It's all back together and running well. Oil pan gasket, new radiator, upgraded fans etc.

Wasn't the easiest conversion. Most people I have do the coolant tank at the same time. I wanted to retain some originality and didn't want the engine decals covered by the 944 tank. I did use the soft molded hose from the 944 to replace the hard line running beneath the airbox. A 928 overflow hose was also used to allow the sharp bend needed to clear the air cleaner hosting.

Here's another problem. Many of the conversions I have seen in the past had the radiator mounted directly center. This won't work if you are retaining air conditioning as there is not enough clearance for the hard ac fitting on the condenser. The radiator is slightly off center which necessitated these offset brackets.



Everything else was pretty straightforward. Fans were plug and play. Radiator hoses are slightly small for the new radiator but do fit with some careful persuasion.

 

Get a new expansion tank cap, I had one fail on me, the little rubber valve inside them. I was able to get it at the Local auto parts store

 

Nice work Guy! On the expansion tank, have you thought about putting it in a container with hydrogen peroxide and using UV lamps to reverse the aging process on the plastic?

 

Thanks! I ordered a new one which arrived Saturday. Shame it's blue.

 

Thanks!! I have not heard of this before. Interesting......

It's running a tad hot, so I am going to repeat the bleed procedure again and see what that brings.

 

What is running a "tad hot?" Depending on the fan switch you have in your rad, the fans wont come on till almost 3/4 up the gauge

 

My wording was probably not the best. IR temp at the stat housing is 160ish and the fans seem to be operating fine. They come on when the gauge touches the red and take it down to halfway on the gauge which is slightly higher than I would prefer.

BUT comparing to prior to the swap, the gauge is reading higher. Prior to swap, I never got over the third line.