Hello! New member, lurking the last year or so.

I have a 1987 924S that only has one problem…its slow 3 speed auto gearbox. Interior and exterior are otherwise in pretty good condition. Almost every time I drive it around LA someone is excited to see it and talk about their years owning a 944 or similar.



I’ve been on the verge of purchasing a manual 944 many times in the last few months, to then sell the auto 924S, yet something has always never quite worked out. Then over the holiday break, I came across a father/son project to convert the same 87 924S to EV. I work at an EV company, and have a good deal of experience with HV battery pack design and vehicle systems, so the project really intrigued me. After chatting a bit with the folks working on that project, they sent me some 3D scans of the engine bay/rear hatch and I have been working on packaging a Nissan leaf 160kW motor/inverter and a custom 35kWh 400V battery pack.

This brings me to why I’m coming here…The front crossmember and rear transaxle mounting crossmember are tricky to work with in their factory state. It can be done, but custom fabbing these two structural elements would enable a much more integrated and optimized integration for the EV power train. I can likely get away with a 3 piece modified front cross member like Lindsey used to make, but those seemed to have dried up from what I can tell. Does anyone around here have any 3D models of the 944/924S front crossmember they could share? Bonus for rear crossmember, but that seems even less likely.

If no 3D models exist, with detailed enough drawings I could make my own. Mounting points on the frame are easy, but getting the geometry and location of the steering rack is what I want to keep as factory if possible.


Getting this leaf drivetrain and battery in the 924S would give about 225hp and ~120 miles of range which is enough for me to have some fun.

 

Oh, and to add to this - If/when I do the conversion, that would leave a 105k mile 2.5L NA engine and all the other ICE bits up for sale.

It’s currently running very well. I’ve had some issues with throttle hesitation since installing the Lindsey MAF kit that I’ve been chasing down (vac leaks etc), but its still a joy to drive even getting smoked by mini vans at the light. I’ve also got a F9 Tech sport DME and spare original DME that would be up for grabs as well…hopefully to sell.

 

Some more pics for fun