I decided to buy an AIR lower front spoiler to compliment my already nice AIR 951 conversion cover. I called AIR to see if it would work, he said, "No". Ok, can I make it work? "Yes, but you will need to fill in the notch where the mounting point fits to the factory 951 bumper cover as this was desinged to replace the batwing and you need to be able to deal with fiberglass". I used to work in a sailboat yard fixing Lasers, Banshees and Sun Fish. No problem, plus I felt confident already having fitted the AIR 951 NA conversion bumper myself.

When I received the spoiler from AIR and tried fitting it, I had basically 2" (or less) of ground clearance below it. Hmmm, this won't work. First frozen horse road apple will take it right off, not to mention the frost heaves in the winter, or the 6"+ snow we usually leave on our 200' long gravel driveway before having it plowed in the winter. Nope, won't work at all. Damn, I'm going to have to rethink this one. I will make it work!!! The AIR lower front spoiler is by far the best looking, bar none. Just one little problem and drawback with it - too low - even mounted on a stock 951 with stock springs. Good for most roads. Not good for New England roads.

To further complicate matters, I run 225/50-15 S-03s, on Fuchs 15" rims (7 & 8s) making it already low to begin with. I've got stock springs up front and I've installed new Bilstein shocks in the rear and this raised the rear a very little because of the gas pressurized shocks. So, I lowered the rear 5mm on the plates to compensate and this and it dropped the rear a tad more than it was (dropped about 1/2"). Positive result of this is the rear is planted better in corners and I like the weight transfer too. Other plus was the front tilted up a little too. Yeah, more ground clearance for the AIR spoiler!

Ok, back to the custom install...

The AIR 951 NA conversion is totally flat on the bottom unlike the 951 factory cover which has a recessed notched mounting surface for the bat wing. The only way to get the spoiler higher up was to remove the mounting surface and part of the spoiler - ouch. $250 and I'm already carvin' it up with a jigsaw! So, I put the spoiler where it would have been if I had a factory 951 cover, clamped it down with some vise grips and then drew a pencil line on the front face of the spoiler lip where the 951 NA cover touched. I ended up cutting off the mounting lip, and pulling the spoiler up and then back onto the NA cover. Then, drilled holes through the bottom of both pieces together, using 10/24 blind nuts (squeezed onto) the bottom of the NA cover and 10/24 x 1 1/4" long stainless steel hex bolts with a 1/2" piece of rubber tubing fuel line in between to space the distance. I then sprayed it trim black to match the rest of the matte finish black I've got all over my Porsche. The end result was I lost the flush "line" where the back part of spoiler fits against the front wheel opening. However, more importantly, I am now able to actually have a functional front lower spoiler (and under cover bat wing tray) that provides plenty of ground clearance.

Thompson
1985 944.1
Club Sport targa

 

Looks great.

Nice write up!!

Michael

 

Nice shots...nice fab work.

 

That looks really good on turbo front bumpers! Very interesting write up and review of the AIR. Usually some splitters have worse fitment issues.

 

Hey, looks good Thompson. Glad to hear that you made it work. When you told me you were buying it I was wondering if you would enjoy all of the effort needed to make the two pieces that weren't designed to fit together work.

I don't know what you read, but that was more work required to fit than any GT Racing splitter or AIR splitter (on a 951 bumper).

 

Looks nice!

 

Thank J! YES! it was a ton-o-work! I'd do it again if needed though because the final result is nice. Imagine, I had to mark with a pencil and cut with a buzzin' jigsaw a nice PERFECT line to match the contour of the NA cover. Whew. I felt like Chip Foose freehand cutting the hole in the 'stang hood! I cheated and had to break out the flat file afterward though... I'll post up a photo of the fiberglass mount remains and my Carrera Cup filter tonight later.

 

Rennwagen did you buy your car with the 951 front end on it already? The paint looks really good on it too!

 

You need to find someone to take pictures, while you do this work!

 

Andy,

No. I bought a project, taken most of the last year to get to this stage. Most here would have parted it out. But alas, I saved another Porsche 944 from the yard. Originally, the 944 was Mahogany Brown, came with M404 sways, had a blown out gearbox case and was a little bent in the rears. Repaint to '92 968 Amethyst metallic. Local rallye shop painted it up right good >> http://www.nerallysport.com/auto_per...ion/color.html

Here are the parts I threw at it (or took off!):
AIR front cover
951 front bumper support and shocks (Tifo Club Sport tow hook club, oh yeah!)
944 S2 lights, corner markers
951 rear valance
951 side skirts (still need the front fenders)
'84 M220 LSD
Club Sport steering wheel
Dash cover
New Bilstein rear shocks
New radiator
New thermostat
New DME relay
New ignition switch
Bosch european H4's
Swepco 201 blue
ATE Super Blue
PBR pads
New Lloyd "targa" mats
Amsoil 15-40w HD synthetic engine oil
Electric targa roof delete and conversion to manual
Swapped tach to center position
New speedo cable

Fixed all the normal problems that go wrong, including spreading dielectric grease on every connector in the Porsche. I wouldn't drive any other car made, the early Porsche 944's are tops in my book.

Thompson
1985 944.1
Club Sport targa

 

Yeah, thanks! My Fuji FinePix S5000 was right there too waiting for my grubby little fibreglass dusty hands to get all over it. Honestly, it's hard to photograph when I'm in the artistic groove. I'll do a more detailed write up and post to the tech tips section. I still have the remains of what I cut off and can take photos of the hardware used and how it's mounted on. More detail, more photos, more, more, more! I've got more detailed larger photos on my site >>>
http://www.thompsonsmithdesign.com Just look under "biography/current cars".

Properly curved "targa" fender logotype vinyl is next on my list. I already drew the 937 Carrera GT, "Carrera" fender logotype up and had this in red vinyl on my old '87 Diamant Blau 944. Guess it's time for a "targa" now as these removable top 944's are known all around the world as.

Thompson
1985 944.1
Club Sport targa

 

You went graphics a go go on your website!

 

Thanks! Yaa, been a long time coming. I've been in the graphics business for the last 25+ years and really have only put up the tip of my iceberg up with portfolio samples. Loads more to come.

Thompson
1985 944.1
Club Sport targa

 

Jeremy,

What's that on your avitar?? I just noticed, you swapped to the GT front spoiler. Kewl. Looks nice. Kills bugs fast - right in half.

Thompson
1985 944.1
Club Sport targa

 

Hey Thompson,

Yep, I put the GT splitter on the car last weekend while I was working on the brake duct project. Just playing around trying to figure out what I like best. The GT unit does offer more ground clearance and is larger, but it doesn't look as "factory" as the AIR unit.