HI
I need some help with a 88 Porsche 944S. I bought this car back in October 2010 from a co worker. It has a crack head where the timing chain tersioner hooks to the head. The old owner got rid of the ternsioner. It is a 16 valve. Here is my idea on this car. It has the 2.5L block. I thought about buying a signal over head cam cylinder head and put it on my car. I read somewhere it could be done. I know I would have to change the DME and the wiring harness. The car sat in a garage for over 10 years. I do all my own mechanic work. What do you guys think or can it be done?

Thank You

 

You also need the air flow meter and the intake as well. The correct throttle body and throttle cable. You'll have to redo the wiring harness as you mentioned. Different size pulleys on the timing belt too I believe. And a different timing belt. Headers will be different - (two bolt vs three bolt flange). The angle that the secondaries dump at on the 8V headers is often not the same as how the 16V headers sit - so some custom exhaust work is in for you too.

All that - and you'll have a car that is over-geared (the 944S had an already too high R&P).

 

Can you post pics of the damage? I have some spare S parts, so I might be able to help you out. You will be losing 40hp by switching to the 8V head plus you will have to go through the trouble of the conversion. Where are you located?

 

Hi Porsche Power

I sent you a private message hope you got it.

 

V8 conversion or rebuild the 16V head

 

way too much work to swap in an 8v head. if you insist, get a parts car and take everything, but that's a giant leap backward.

 

Your car is a typical example of a timing chain tensioner failure on a 16V. Unfortunately, it looks like you need a whole upper end assembly including the head, cams, tensioner, cam cover, etc. Once you buy all the parts, gaskets, and the front end stuff that will need updating you are looking at least $1500 to $2000 if you do the work yourself. That is if you find a good used head that doesn't need a valve job. I don't have everything you will need, I would suggest you post a WTB on here and see if someone has a compete 16V assembly they want to sell.

 

I'd love to see you keep it a true S with a new 16V head, but that's me.
Sitting for 10 years might cause other problems that you might want to factor in. Any idea about the clutch?
Hate to be a downer, but you might be looking at 10 grand to get that car to be worth $5K. Check that out and be sure you are up for it. Part of the charm of 944's.

 

gtroth is right - Your best bet would be to put in a donor 8v engine with computer from a junkyard car. If you're real lucky and hunt hard you can find complete 8v running motors for less than $650. Then tack on the cost of whatever other maintenance you'll need to get it running. Must include would be a brake flush and possibly caliper rebuilds - and new tires. You can't skimp on tires on a Porsche - so that'll be another $500-$600.

 

Can you post pics of the car so we can see what condition the rest of it is in?

 

Hi Guys

I had did alot off checking about the 8 valve cylinder head. I can convert my 16 valve to a 8 valve head. But here is my question Is the pistons the same or will mine work? I got everything I need to do the conversion. Here is a plus about a month ago I came across a complete 8 valve motor from a 944 for $200.00. I went ahead and bought the motor. I went after the motor last weekend. It is very clean. The guy said it was a running motor when he bought the car. I even thought about swapping the whole motor out. What is your thought about this? Plus I was told the Bell housing may be different from the 944N/A to the 944S. I with this 8 valve engine it came with the exhaust manifolds. I got the computer, wiring, and the other stuff to do the swap.

Thank You
Walter

 

I don't know, of those choices I'd probably swap the whole motor.
But I'd keep it 16V somehow (+30hp). Can the cracked head be welded?

 

Having owned an 8v car and now the S, the power up top is well worth it, i've seen them go for $400... If your trying to do just a head swap, the S pistons are different than the 8v cars. There is also a difference in the timing belt setup (5 rollers instead of 4).

But if you must swap it sounds like you've got most of what you need. you'll need the complete 8v exhaust, porsche rotated the flanges on the 16v car so the 8v header won't just bolt up.

There a *LOT* of small things that are different between the 8v cars and the 16v "S"

 

Pistons will not work.

 

A 928 cam chain tensioner might work if you can get the head repaired. They are different L/R but one should be the same. Also the 944S2 3.0 long block is easier to find than an S head and it should work OK with the S intake, DME, etc. That'd be a $2k deal at least but you'd have more power. Not all the S2 power but probably all the low end, which is nice.

Otherwise a complete 8v drop-out would be needed with harness and whatnot and that sounds tiresome. The 8v has a different flywheel, S/R sensors, knock detection, AFM, DME, FPR, etc.
Buying all that stuff to go backwards in terms of performance?

You could probably find a beat up running 944S or S2 parts car if you wait a bit.

-Joel.