PAS to manual steering conversion

[JM1962]

Has anyone done this conversion. I have a manual rack in the garage, part number 945 347 015 00 which I am told came from a 1984 944. Since I have an early 85 it should fit. The only thing I'm not sure about is the coupling shaft, the PET shows this to have the same part number (945 347 027 00) for a RHD car for both PAS and manual racks. The only info I've been able to find is on US forums where the conversion has been done on LHD cars and the steering shaft is different and has a different part number and needs to be changed.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[random hero]

I converted a 944 to power from manual and i didnt need to change the coupling shaft so i presume it will work the other way. The only other thing i had to change apart from the pump bracket was the main engine cross member as the power rack would'nt fit as it was too big but you should be ok the other way round.

 

[John Sims]

Fen did the powered steering delete conversion but I'm not sure it was ultimately worth the weight it saved.

IIRC it turned the car into a complete nightmare if you had to manoeuvre at anything approaching slow speeds.

There are other things you can do to make the car less drivable while you are about it - like fitting a Specs uprated clutch, EBC red stuff pads and an opaque rear screen. []

 

[random hero]

I'll second that as it was either convert mine to power steering or get rid of it as it was a nightmare at slow speeds,probably not so bad on a track based car though !!

 

[tref]

I converted an '85 car from manual to power steering, and wouldn't bother again. I currently drive an S2 with power steering disconnected (the adjuster arm has broken) and it is a little more work at parking speeds, otherwise fine.

The crossmembers are indeed different - Power Steering will not fit on a manual crossmember, but not sure about the other way round.The steering shaft was the same.

Hope this helps,

Tref.

 

[JM1962]

ORIGINAL: tref

I converted an '85 car from manual to power steering, and wouldn't bother again. I currently drive an S2 with power steering disconnected (the adjuster arm has broken) and it is a little more work at parking speeds, otherwise fine.

The crossmembers are indeed different - Power Steering will not fit on a manual crossmember, but not sure about the other way round.The steering shaft was the same.

Hope this helps,

Tref.

Thankyou Tref, it does help, but I am a little confused by the crossmember. In the PET for the early cars it only gives one part number for the crossmember, 945 341 103 04, which should mean one crossmember fits all. However you and random hero have experience that they are different.

I have driven a manual steering car about a year ago and the amount of effort involved didn't seem to bad, certainly a lot less than with the PAS pump disconnected, which I tried when I was trying to eliminate a whining noise. Tref, do you run yours with the rack drained ?

 

[tref]

No, just the belt off at the moment. I wouldn't want to drain the rack for fear of wear/seals drying out etc. - it is only disconnected until I make, or find a replacement tensioning bar...