Cons of '86 951 as swap candidate?

I'm probably the only one on here who started this swap without actually owning a 944/951. Since I don't actually have a car yet for my LS1, I've been looking for a suitable candidate. I've been leaning towards 951s for the stronger trans, biger brakes, and to some extent the appearance. I've found a '86 951 with 180k that's close to me which has 10k miles on the rebuilt motor (I plan to sell the motor of course). It's been resprayed in the past few years and has had all maintenace items addressed. It comes with coil overs in the front and new shocks in the rear too! It's not a kids car that has been beat up on basically. The seller has not had much action, I assume because of the high milage and I should be able to get this car for $5k, maybe less.

It's an '86 so it does not have ABS or air bags. Also, I was planning on running Boxter wheels which are late off-set and this '86 is obviously early off-set. I understand you can run spacers but I'm not sure how easy/safe it is to run spacers that big. If anyone is doing this please let me know how it works. Are there any other pros/cons that I am not thinking of when it comes to '86 vs later 951s?

Thanks

I am also in the process of dropping an LS1 in my 1986 951. I would not worry about the lack of ABS and the desire to use late offset wheels can be accomplished by changing out the front hubs, tierod ends, and control arms for 1987 or later, The 1986 hubs are a smaller diameter then 87+ so this is actually a smart item to replace anyway. I think that the 951 bigger brakes and transmission make it much more desirable as a swap candidate then a NA 944.

My car does not have ABS and the air bags are disabled. I have read several posts where the car ran over something in the road causing the airbags to deploy. These are first generation airbags and over 20yo, not sure I trust them not to blow up in my face. That is my excuse for not running airbags. When I recovered my dash the passenger side airbag wont fit back in, so I unplugged the box.

Thanks for the input. The front suspension swap sounds easy enough to accommodate the late offset wheels. What about the rear?

I'll be looking the car over tomorrow, if it looks good and we can strike a deal I might just have a car finally! Fingers crossed.

Thanks again for the help.

The rear hubs can also be changed out with later offset ones. If changing just the hub you will need new wheel bearings as the old ones will come apart when the old hubs are pressed out. I just bought the entire control arms with the hubs included off ebay. I will warn you that going with the later offset hubs will force you to buy new brake rotors front and rear. The existing calipers will bolt right up to the new spindles. Do not buy Turbo S or MO30 spindles unless you are willing to buy new front calipers,

I forgot to mention that if you are buyng late model spindles and rear control arms make sure the new ones came off a 944 Turbo as the spacing for the caliper mounting bolts are different between a Turbo and an N/A. I can dig up the correct part numbers if you need them.

If you had to choose, the best donor would be an '88 Turbo S or an '89 Turbo car, or an '89+ 944 S2 with the M030 option. Reason is they come with coilover suspension and larger brakes from the factory. The turbo S's also come with a tougher tranny with a cooler on it.

ABS is a nice thing to have, I disabled/removed the airbags in my car since it's a track car and I didn't want them going off.

I like having a late offset car, makes it easier to buy wheels and suspension parts...

Hey Doc, I agree a Turbo S, '89 Turbo or any of the M030 cars would be nice but they're rarer then hens teeth and folks want a bunch of money for them. '86 951s are pretty common = lower cost from what I have seen. I see your point about ABS it's nice to have on the track. Geoff's point about swapping to late offset suspension seems to even the pro/con balance a bit. At this point I'll take a long hard look at the '86 and factor the cost of suspension swap into the mix. If only someone had a nice '87 or newer 951 with a blown motor to sell me.....

Thanks guys.

If you look for just a bit I'm sure you can find a '87+ 951 with a blown motor for cheap. I wish I'd done that, but I bought my '89 with the intent that it was a sorted, well running car. Only to discover it was a smouldering pile of $hit.

Oh well, now I have a V8!

I actually have a Guards Red 86 that I am trying to sell right now. I also have all of the late offset suspension parts to do the swap, and a ABS setup from an 89 turbo S... Also have the GM 2 piece bell-housing. I am buying an already completed car, so it has to go... Motor is already out of the car and engine bay is spotless. I am in Illinois. Also has a GT Racing fiberglass front bumper and the splitter. $5,000.00

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