xupkid2

Hey guys

I did a search on this but didnt come up with anything. Wondering what the difference is between an '86 944 Turbo and an '89 944 Turbo. I am talking in terms of the main chassis and body. I know the 89 comes with rolled fenders but is there any other differences? I wrecked in my 89 turbo and am considereing a chassis swap to an 86 since I have an extra parts car but trying to understand any issues I may come into. The offsets and such arent an issue cause Ill transfer all my entire drivetrain, suspension, etc.. over from the '89.

Thanks in advance
Brian

Matt Sheppard

Virtually all 944 bodies will line up the same way. 951S's had some extra seam welding on the chassis and a set of triangular supports forward of the front wheel-wells for added stiffness.

gt37vgt

can you elaborate please Matt or show a pic??
do you mean the triangle brace from the strut down to the rail??
anything forward of the wheel arch would only help stiffness in a crash.
I'm interested to as i am about to prep a 924/44fg thing for my 3.0

fastmover

When Porsche went from the 944 type1 to the type 2 in 85 1/2, it was a change of the floorboard to accomodate the turbo. This was for the entire 944 line after 85 1/2. Then they also flush mounted the windshield and updated the dash. From 86 to the end of the turbo there was no difference in the tub, the turbo s had some additional welding and braces as noted by Matt Sheppard.


Semper fi

black944 turbo

Agreed with everyone else an '86chassis should be just about as good as an '89 or '88 S chasis. I don't think you would loose much rigiditly. You would definetly want to swap over your Turbo S suspension stuff though.

Bri Bro

Look here:https://rennlist.com/forums/5261597-post20.html

xupkid2

Excellent. Thanks much guys. I can see the triangular support difference. Not sure where the seam welds are. My biggest concern was that I could get my current wheels to fit as the back end flar didnt quite look as wide but I suppose it is. Now its decision time in terms of what to do.

CurtP

There was some changes between the '86 and '87, mostly for the airbag stuff. No mounting studs on the '86 for the collision sensors, airbag controller and there was an extra hole through the firewall for wires to the radiator fan ballast resistors. There was also a change on stud positions for the plastic cover under the fuse/relay panel. On my '87 there is a bracket under the hood directly under the intake snorkel with three rubber bumpers on it. I have no idea what it's for, but it wasn't on the '86. I know there was some other differences, but that's all that come immediately to mind.

APKhaos

The '86 tub does not have accomodation for ABS, which is stock on the '89 tub. This includes brake lines/ABS pump bracket/fender opening for ABS/ABS harness etc.
I recently moved my '89 into an '88 tub and had to deal with this little issue. You'll need to transfer all the brake lines and ABS harness [its a separate harness] and cut off the ABS pump bracket to move it onto the new tub. There are some minor issues adapting the ABS with the '85 main harness too. The instrument cluster does not have the ABS warning, so you need to trick the ABS harness into thinking that circuit is still there. That easy once you know you need to do it.

CurtP

Tony - if you're changing tubs over, wouldn't it be best just to transfer the entire wiring harness too?

APKhaos

I didn't. The engine and ABS harnesses were all I moved over. Changing over the chassis harness seemed like a lot of extra work, but since everything was a lot more work that expected it may still be the smarter thing to do. This is especially true for the OP who would be way better off with his '89 harness than with an older '85 harness that may be in worse shape.

xupkid2

After weighing all my options I've decided to repair my car. The time needed to do the swapover is just too much and when I look at costs, fixing my car vs a new chassis is about the same. Thanks so much for the input as it really helped me realize what was the best option.

Thanks
Brian