[Lemonlocators]

Hello,

This is my first post . My 4th Porsche and my first 968. I always loved these cars and now finally have one. I was wondering what it takes to change from power steering to manual steering on a 1993 968. Thank you,David.

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[flash]

a gym membership, personal trainer, and a lot of gatorade

seriously - first off welcome to the site

there is a manual rack out there, and a few guys have tried it out for the track, but it's a difficult thing to work with, especially on the street, and most people end up going back to power steering - unlike the 911, this car isn't so front light, and doesn't suffer from the over light sensation as much

coming from manual steering sports cars, i didn't like the lightweight feeling of the stock setup either - you can switch to the power pulley on the power steering and reduce the input of that pump - it helps quite a bit with the light feel - i installed the power pulley myself and am very happy with it - i picked up a couple of ponies as an added bonus

pete at rs barn sells them

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[Lemonlocators]

<!--quoteo(post=67285:date=Feb 17 2009, 09:15 PM:name=flash)-->QUOTE (flash @ Feb 17 2009, 09:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->a gym membership, personal trainer, and a lot of gatorade

seriously - first off welcome to the site

there is a manual rack out there, and a few guys have tried it out for the track, but it's a difficult thing to work with, especially on the street, and most people end up going back to power steering - unlike the 911, this car isn't so front light, and doesn't suffer from the over light sensation as much

coming from manual steering sports cars, i didn't like the lightweight feeling of the stock setup either - you can switch to the power pulley on the power steering and reduce the input of that pump - it helps quite a bit with the light feel - i installed the power pulley myself and am very happy with it - i picked up a couple of ponies as an added bonus

pete at rs barn sells them<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


I do not track this car, but may do some D/E days. I just wanted to loose weight, gain ~HP, and avoid the leaks for the future. would you know what part or what model will match up to the 968 for manual steering?

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[flash]

i believe that it is a 944 rack conversion that has been done - i don't know off the top of my head, but can probably figure that out, but i think jason or erik has done it - do a search here - you should find it - good chance to learn to use the search tool - always select "more search options"

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[ds968]

Rob ( rob76turbo member name ) changed his PS to manual, you may want to PM him and get more details..

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[biotechee]

I believe you want the manual rack and components from an '87 or later 944, but don't quote me on it. You can also contact Paragon- I think they sell a complete kit to do this, but I do not recall for sure.

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[flash]

given how involved a project this is, i would definitely get some impressions from those who have done it first, and carefully consider how the car will be driven - as i said, to my knowledge, those who have done this conversion, and drive it on the street, have all converted back to power steering

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[Lemonlocators]

Thank you all for your replies to this topic. I will keep looking and see what I find on this forum. IF anyone has more info please let me know.

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[94SilverCab]

<!--quoteo(post=67289:date=Feb 17 2009, 09:35 PM:name=Lemonlocators)-->QUOTE (Lemonlocators @ Feb 17 2009, 09:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I do not track this car, but may do some D/E days. I just wanted to loose weight, gain ~HP, and avoid the leaks for the future. would you know what part or what model will match up to the 968 for manual steering?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Just my opinion here, but switching to manual steering for a non track dedicated car would be very close to the bottom of my list. Flash, our known 968 dietician, hasn't even ventured into this realm (and he has considered sanding the paint off his car). May I suggest that you consider all of your options and come up with a list of weight saving/HP adds and see where you come out.

Once again, just me, but I spent $$$ on baselining the car, then handling mods, then performance mods (ok, I actually did the air box mod first). Along the way I added braking (drilled rotors, s/s liines and performance pads) and keeping maintenance totally up to snuff (things like alignment are critical for perfection).

I will be interested to follow your progress and hope you find what you need here.

Regards,

Jay

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[flash]

lol - i DID sand the paint off the car

weight savings going to manual is minimal - the pump and cooler aren't that heavy - maybe 6-7lbs - the racks are nearly identical in weight - the gear ratios are what bother me - too many turns lock to lock - that makes for a lot of arms over elbows

you do pick up a couple of horsepower, but some of that can be had with the power pulley

maybe somebody else has a rack that works better (an early Z maybe?) - then maybe you could actually decrease the lock to lock number and the weight at the same time

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[Cloud9...68]

This would probably be the project from Hades, but wouldn't it be cool if someone could figure out a way to adapt a modern electric power steering to these cars? From what I've read, the road feel on the newer units has really improved, and I remember Car & Driver doing a hydraulic-to-electric conversion on an Acura RSX a few years ago (though they said it was a very involved conversion). I'm sure this will happen right after an attractive, affordable fixed headlight conversion hits the market, but dreaming is free...

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[flash]

that stuff scares me - i've had standard boxes and racks fail, resulting in locating the dearest ditch with an uncanny haste - i'd hate to think what an electrical unit would do if say, i lost the ground or had something weird happen electrically (that never happens in a porsche you know)

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[Cloud9...68]

They're becoming very commonplace, though. I bet in a few years, you won't see hydraulic units in any new cars, especially with the manufacturers forced to squeeze out every fraction of a mile per gallon to meet ever-toughening gas mileage standards.

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[ds968]

I'm planning to remove the PS belt FOR ONLY ONE OR TWO DAYS ( max. ) just to get a sense of how the steering wheel might feel, and how the car responds in a manual mode, or I suppose as close to a manual set up as possible
anyway..

I realize running the car without the PS belt for too long will damage the PS rack, system, etc.. but I understand that happens only if you do that or a week or two..

Does anyone see any harm in just a couple of hours worth of driving though ?

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[flash]

you could blow the seals - call pete and see what his experience with that has been - he's probably dealt with more power steering leaks than anybody

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[bob blackwell]

Dan, I lost the power steering belt at a drivers education (DE) event last year and drove the car manual steer for the rest of the event and the three plus hours drive back home the next day and to the shop the day after that. No harm done to anything. The steering is very heavy at low speeds but not bad after you get rolling. Good luck, Bob Blackwell.

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