New here - tranny questions

On its way to my house is an 87 951 with a blown engine, which is exactly what I was looking for as a basis for an LS3 swap. Pretty good deal, too.

I've been lurking here for the past few weeks and really appreciate all the great info. I'll do my best to share what's sure to be a slow process for me.

I happen to have access to an 87 944 NA with a few usable parts, most notably the trans which I plan to scavenge for the tall 5th gear. While I'm at it, is there anything else I should snag from the 87 NA car for my LS3 swap?

Thanks for any guidance!

Welcome to the land of 948s!
I think your 951 is going to have all of the goodies most of us with an S or NA needed to track down. There may be some general 944 parts on your NA that are in better shape than the 951, but for the LS swap, the 951 is a great start!

Ray is right. With a 951 you have many things going right for you already. With having another 944 that's just bonus.

Things to NOT throw away:
Battery tie down
Harness boot on firewall
Fittings on ac lines at firewall (if you have ac)
Switches on ac line to dryer (ray has a great write up on this as he does on everything for the story of his swap lol)
Evap things on ds strut tower post.
Fan thermostat switch in rad if changing rad
944 fans with shroud if not just reusing turbo rad

Other than that one you have Kent's goodies and Bob's beefy axles (another one of rays posts) you should have all you need.

Oh and don't waste time with sorting out a half baked old harness, check out Bob's link for a standalone with distribution block off of Amazon in my ls1 newb thread on ls1 conversions under my name.

Also get that fuel pump out on the 951 and operate it with 12 to flush any standing fuel out of it. Mine was seized after I had a ten year hiatus of starting the project and then resuming the years ago at pulling old engine out in 2020. If you don't you will just need a new one like I had to two weeks ago.

Highly recommend a deep read on my cold air intake write up in my thread and take Bob's advice on going in the nose panel unless you really want easy access like I did. Seen some beautiful pics of people relocating ignition coils there as well but I prefer to show it all off under the hood. Rivnuts and a drill does wonders for relocating and mounting stuff.

Thanks, guys. Looks like I got some weekend reading cut out for myself.

Just now realizing that the 5th gear from this 87 NA car might not be what I want. I'm reading that the taller 5th gear was only in the early NA 944s. So I think I'll pass on that trans unless there's some other reason to have it for parts that I'm not thinking of.

Elskeptico wrote:
Just now realizing that the 5th gear from this 87 NA car might not be what I want. I'm reading that the taller 5th gear was only in the early NA 944s. So I think I'll pass on that trans unless there's some other reason to have it for parts that I'm not thinking of.

Here is a link to 944 Transmission Information that is very useful:
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Clarks Garage is a great resource for learning about the workings of your factory Porsche.

Note that the 5th gear set you're looking for will likely come from a 1983.5-88 NA transmission with a QM, 8Q, 5S, or 7V code (Canada & USA cars) and will have a drive ratio of 0.7297.  (UPDATE: your '87 NA falls into this group).

As an option, the Audi 016 transmission uses a compatible 5th gear set with a drive ratio of 0.684. These gear sets seem to be in short supply because of LS swaps which of course is driving the price up.  Between the gear set, reinforcement plate, and machine work, you'll have every bit of $500 - $600 or more in a 5th gear swap.

From what I have read, this is worth the trouble when touring your car because of a lower cruising RPM (~425 RPM less at 65 MPH).  On the other hand, some folks that track their car say they have no use for additional top end speed.

Totally your choice!

Elskeptico wrote:Thanks, guys. Looks like I got some weekend reading cut out for myself.

Just now realizing that the 5th gear from this 87 NA car might not be what I want. I'm reading that the taller 5th gear was only in the early NA 944s. So I think I'll pass on that trans unless there's some other reason to have it for parts that I'm not thinking of.

the 87 n/a car should have the 0.729 5th gear that you want, providing that car isnt actually a 944 S. as far as i know, all n/a cars built for us/canada had the same long 5th gear regardless of year, again excluding s or s2.

Sharkey is right!  (I really need to stop posting so late at night)

So, if your transmission has the correct code, you already own the 5th gear set you seek.  Just keep in mind that your entire intact NA transmission (in good condition) may have a resale value higher than the cost of a lose gear set.

Also, I've heard the Turbo gear sets are getting popular with those who do autocross, so there is a resale opportunity there as well.

Food for thought!

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Thanks for the help! The car just arrived, and while it’s obviously a project, gotta say I’m happy with the condition overall.

yeah looks sharp, great buy