IN1TROI

My friend and I were arguing about how much a 968 engine swap would cost in my early 85 944. I said there shouldn't be very much custom work that would need to be done because the mounts and the position and the bellhousing would mount up to the crossmember and torque tube without needing custom made parts, and he said it would cost $8k-$9k because i'd also need a new transaxle (which I agree with) but i say it would cost the amount of the engine and transaxle because they'll bolt right up. Who is right here?

Robert_Hooper

Do the fabrication yourself and its not that hard, i am putting a 968 setup into my 924, just change the cross member and gearbox mounts,

IN1TROI

would i need a crossmember from a 968 or do you need to custom fab a new one? and same goes with the rear, do you need to custom make a new one?

V2Rocket

Engine and wiring should be $4k or so. I would keep the 5 speed, you could use s2 clutch stuff.

Arominus

V2 has it right., You just need the S2 flywheel to keep the rest of your driveline. A stronger transaxle would be good (an S, s2, turbo or 68 trans) but not needed immediately. Just be nice launching it. The crossmember should be the same? and the rear would need no modification to take any of the the 5 speeds. The early mounts still bolt to the late transaxles.

You still need the engine, harness, dme and such to make it happen, but its very very doable. 9K is LS1 money.

FRporscheman

The NA 5-speed will work, but it won't last long unless you baby it.

The crossmembers are the same. All non-turbo 944 bellhousings are the same. 951 and 968 are different.

The 968 is a 16v, and all 16v 944s use a type of crank trigger which is different than the 8v 944s.

The 968 uses a unique flywheel, PP, clutch, fork, release bearing, clutch line, bellhousing, starter, and torque tube. It is possible to keep your 944 torque tube, bellhousing, starter, and hydraulic line - to do this you will need to emulate the setup in the 944S and 944S2, meaning you will need an S or S2 flywheel, PP, and release bearing. IIRC the clutch disc and fork are the same in the NA as the S and S2.

You can take the flywheel sensor from the 968 bellhousing and put it into the 944 bellhousing (using the 968 sensor bracket) and it will work.

The 968 exhaust has an extra hanger attached to the rear end of the torque tube.

There will be no room for the 968 airbox in the 944 engine bay. You will either need a 944S2 airbox and intake boot (S won't work!), or you can use a cone which probably won't pass the referree.

Note that early transmission mounts will bolt to all later transmissions, except for the 968 6-speed. Without cutting and welding, the 6-speed only fits late cars with the tranny crossmember. Regardless, I'd go with a 951 tranny.

How do I know all of this? I've done something similar..... I put a 944 torque tube in my 968, so I had to basically convert it like a 944 with a 968 engine.

So, you're looking at like $3-4k for a good 968 engine with computer, $7-800 for an S/S2 flywheel and new clutch kit, and maybe $500 for a 951 tranny. Somewhere around $5k, depending on what other work you decide to do while you're in there.

mopar bob

You also need the throttle cable and the oil cooler from the 968

FRporscheman

Good point. Thought I suppose you could bolt on the NA oil cooler, but that would be a major downgrade.

Also, some custom fuel lines would be needed to connect from the early NA fuel line routing to the 968 fuel rail. Or you could convert your car to late 944 fuel line routing and just use 968 fuel lines for the rail.

mopar bob

I used my S2 oil cooler and had custom lines made. That way is a lot more hassle
so when you get the motor get it complete. The oil cooler was toast on the car that I got my motor from. The car was in a ball, the picture of the car was very bad but the motor was good. My has been in the car for 3 or 4 years now. I had a bad S2 motor the added power over a S2 is very good, so it will make a 944 N/A feel like a real hot rod.

IN1TROI

ok awesome so lets go over the parts list here and make sure I have this correct:
968 engine with wiring
S2 flywheel
S2 airbox
951 transmission recommended

Did I get all that?

porcho heat

You'd still need to do some custom wiring, even with the engine wiring harness.

The 968 has the DME located in the floorboard on the passenger side whereas the early 944 has it under the dash on the drivers side.

s2 airbox probably also won't work (easily) if your header panel is welded. You'd have to drill out the welds to remove it and even then I'm not sure if the clearance in the early header panel is enough to run the intake in there. I chose to run a cone but I'm always thinking of a better way to get colder air into the engine.

You'll need some custom work on the fuel lines for them to work as well.

I'd say your buddy is pretty close with his 9k estimate, depending how much of the work you're capable of doing... Some little things add up quickly and "while you're in there's" also add up.

Don't forget belts, tensioners, chain tensioner, etc. should all be refreshed before undergoing a 968 heart transplant.

Usually just figure out what you'd like to spend and multiply it by 3 and you should be close.

In any case I doubt there's very many cars out there that feel as raw and balanced as an early 944 with a 968 engine

FRporscheman

Ah yes, the header area of the early car is different. Not only is the header panel spot welded rather than screwed on (the welds are easily drilled), but the radiator support is shaped differently on the later cars and gives more room for either an intercooler or the S2 airbox. I don't think it would work on an early car. Maybe you can buy some kind of CARB certified cone filter? K&N? Even though I hate K&N filters.

How attached are you to your car? It would be a lot easier if you started with an '85.5+ 944.

Porcho, what did you do for the tach? I don't know if the 944 tach needs the ref sensor or not, but the 968 only has one speed sensor.

car_slave

Just buy a 968 for around $10K and sell your current ride

Lemming

Search. There are many builds documented on this site. Mine is https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=23673