Flywheel Damper Plate

[firlandsfarm]

Hi everybody ... first Porsche, first post! I have just acquired a 1984 944 auto needing a replacement damper plate (or is it flex plate or maybe flexiplate ... who knows!). Can anybody help me track one down maybe a little cheaper than the dealer price of £800+?

Alternatively, has anyone done the manual clutch conversion? (Manual flywheel, pressure plate and friction plate - spring centered). I like the sound of this, no more damper plate disintegrations but does it work? ... a USA forum mentioned it can cause a whine in the transmission.

Any input/advice gratefully received.

David

 

[TTM]

Welcome David.
The auto to manual conversion seems to represent a fair amount of work as the transmisson tube and the gearbox are different. Not even sure it's possible to use the auto gearbox with a manual clutch, unless you heard otherwise?

 

[firlandsfarm]

thanks for your input TTM ... I'm not converting the car from auto to manual all you do is substitute a clutch from a manual car and a manual flywheel instead of the automatic flywheel and damper plate ... everything else stays the same. The clutch takes the place of the damper plate and the shock springs in the clutch provide the damping. The clutch is never disengaged and as such it lasts longer than the car!

There is plenty about it on the USA Porsche websites ... I was just wondering if anybody in the UK had done the conversion. CLICK HERE to have a look at what one forum says, the subject of substituting a 'dormant' manual clutch for the damper plate starts in the 2nd last post at the bottom of the first page. If it fits as they say it does then it makes sense!



David

 

[Stu Alderson]

I replaced mine last year on one of the cars ... not cheap ... but effective ...I would recoomend Bert from http://partsforporsche.co.uk/osc/guide-tube-p-1653.html?osCsid=e9a52076da1aed61466b297e3dc0468e he was both the cheapst and best I coould find... OPC prices are considerably more ...

I, personally, cannot see how a coversion from auto to manual will work, I may be wrong but the systems are totally differsnt. The other thing to consider is the gear ratios. significantly less on a Auto .. than a manual ..... at the end of the day though its your calll

Good luck and regards

Stuart

 

[firlandsfarm]

Thanks for the link Stuart but unfortunately Bert's price for the damper plate is as high as everybody else's ... £820 ... ouch!

Note in my post above to TTM ... it is not a conversion of an automatic car to manual (although the American's do this as well!) ... it's using a permanently engaged clutch in place of the damper plate.


David

 

[Neil Haughey]

I looked at all the options on my 968 and in the end EMC found me a puka looking 968 drive damper from a low mileage (<30K []) car broken for parts.

 

[firlandsfarm]

Thanks Neil I've emailed EMC to see if they can help. I'm happy to stay original and use a known low mileage, low age damper plate if I can find one.

If anybody knows of a suitable used or pattern part damper plate please let me know ... it will save my car from possible breaking or crushing! :-(


David

 

[944 man]

Used cush drives are always knackered on dismantled 944s... In fact, its a common reason for dismantling them. You can use a clutch instead, but I have heard that its not a fantastic solution... Hopefully his bump will keep your topic on page #1, until someone who has tried sees it.


Simon

 

[Northern924]

I was lucky back end of 2009 by finding 2nd hand damper in exellent condition....

This is how different a good and bad one look!

 

[Northern924]

Ask around first, I was lucky with that one, came out of an '86 car but has obviously not long been replaced, and for £150 for the damper AND the auto box I was lucky.

I have heard of people using the flywheel conversion, but from what I've read gear changes can be somewhat jerky if you don't get it spot on.

Have a look over on the 924 forums as well, the 924S has exactly the same engine/gearbox as the 44

 

[firlandsfarm]

Paul, yes they can be jerky if you use the spring centred clutch. Somewhat ironically I'm told by Ian (ianseuroparts.com, 944online.com and 986online.com) who claims to have done "hundreds" of manual clutch conversions to replace the damper plate, that you need the rubber centered clutch plate to retain the smoothness. Remember because it's not disengaging and engaging the workload is a lot less and it copes with the job well.

I thought I had tracked down a discounted new damper but it seems I was mislead by relying on a website that quotes Porsche part numbers but on this occassion got it wrong (well let's say their part number assignment for the model doesn't agree with the official Porsche parts catalogue!). One thing I have been thinking of is possibly making my own by adapting my old damper into a form of 'cush drive' like in the final drive for motorcycles (if you are not sure what this is just put it into Google ... most motorcycles use a cush drive to dampen the drive to the rear wheel). It works my squashing the rubber rather than the twisting action of the damper plate which has a tearing effect. I'm sure the theory would work fine ... it's the balancing at 6,000 rpm that worries me!

My repair priorities at the moment are ... 1. source a reasonably priced damper plate, if that fails then ... 2. source a rubber centered manual clutch to use in place of the damper plate but the rubber clutch plates seem to be getting rare because everyone wants spring plate clutches so, if that fails ... 3. investigate making my own cush drive! I'll keep you posted.

David

 

[Northern924]

Hope to hear progress whichever route you take, took me 9 months to find one and I was really lucky to find the one I did