Porsche 944 - Manual Steering Conversion / Rack Replacement Tutorial 

A very useful update to the kit, keep up the great work Martin! Thanks!

Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed. 👍🏼

You didn't say in the video, and the cost will probably change over time, what's a ball park on the conversion?

@@gregoryhousch3321 The manual kit with everything included was around $850. I was looking at rebuilt power racks for around $650 and had shelled out $300 for new lines, so it was comparable. I’ve seen folks report that the rebuilt power racks can develop leaks in just a couple years and the thought of replacing it a second time sounded annoying, so I made the switch.

@@NC944er looks like a good, straightforward, " down grade", that just makes good sense. I've been having troubles with my windshield wiper motor, are you aware of anyone who rebuilds them or sells reproductions?

@@gregoryhousch3321 Ugh, yeah… they are known to catch water and seize up over time. Mine is a tad slow, but still moving. I’m not aware of any rebuild services or aftermarket options. Most of the ones for sale are rebuilt OEM units, but the price tag is north of $650. The used 944 parts guys - Larts, Plyhammers, Just Joshin’ - seem to be all sold out right now. I would probably attempt a DIY cleaning/rebuild before paying those prices, it’s about a 4-5 hour process since the blower unit and entire wiper assembly have to come out, then opening the motor for cleaning. There are a number of videos out there on the process - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eWpZI4KUrUk.html Alternative… dump a gallon of Rain-X water repellent on the glass and call it day. 😂

@@NC944er thanks for the info.

Yes sir! I have no complaints about the setup and he was happy to answer questions when I called. The only modification I made on the rack was drilling a hole on the top center tab on the housing to attach the horn grounding wire, as the rack didn’t come with a clear way to attach it.

Yeah, even if you get it all working and leak-free, something will eventually fail again with enough time.

@@NC944er My biggest problem, aside from the leaks is that one of the mounts actually broke. So my power steering pump rattles back and forth. I ended up taking the belt off and driving it as is for the past year however I'm getting tired of it. Converting to a manual steering setup is going to be far more rewarding than tearing the front half of the engine apart to put a new mount on it.

Nice! Let me know how it works out.

@@NC944er I just got the rack in and it feels amazing! night and day difference, before the state of my steering had me questioning my purchase and if it was ever really a good handling car, I had a local shop quote me 6000 in parts and labor! Since I opted to reuse my tie rods the total cost came out to around only 650 and while the installation was a little daunting your video and great camera work helped massively. the hours were well worth it and I can see why people enjoy this car so much

@@MrUglyDinosaur That’s awesome man, I glad you got it installed! Mine was just a little stiff at first, but after a couple hundred miles, it has broken in nicely… and it’s been nice not having to check for fluid leaks down there anymore. 😂

Yeah man! Centering the rack and setting the front wheel alignment is a little tedious, but the new setup is a dream once it’s all dialed in. Mine was a just a bit stiff to turn for maybe 100 miles of driving, I guess because all the parts were brand new, but it’s broken in nicely now and turns really smoothly with no other issues. 👍🏼

Glad to hear it man, thank you! Manual steering is the way to go for long term reliability. 👍🏼

Thanks James, I appreciate the feedback! 👍🏼

Martin does a really great job and this rack is super high quality, just a lessons learned moment for me!

@@tedtakesitapart Yeah, that makes sense and I can see how that could happen. The intermediate shafts are notoriously different to remove, so there is quite a bit of hammering involved. 😂

Thanks John! I’ve definitely taken decades of aging off its life, and the car is looking really good. There are still some 944 unicorns out there with sub 5,000 miles on them. Pretty amazing how people never drove them and stored them so perfectly all this time. Mine isn’t close to those examples, but at least I don’t have to be afraid of putting miles on mine. 😂

@@NC944er I am the same as my rebuilt 16 Valve has done over 100k, and sings like a bird past 5k revs to the redline.

Thanks man! Check out the engine bay restoration video on my channel for more details, essentially every fitting has been removed, cleaned, and recoated, with all new zinc plated hardware used during reassembly - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--wqgrXRTsxA.html

Nice! Let me know what you think of it after you get it installed. The movement on mine was a little tight at first, I guess because the parts were brand new, where after turning the wheel halfway in either direction it would firm up. But after driving the car a couple hundred miles, it broke in nicely and is now a lot easier to turn.

@@NC944er Update on the installation of this rack. Just got it on the road, much more work than a n/a 944; but in the end what a difference! Absolutely great kit and the steering feel is excellent. Best part of all, no more leaks.

@@scorpionsrt8 The gift of having a Turbo… everything is harder. I’m glad you got it installed! Every time I get under the car for other work, I glance around and am immediately thankful for not having to check for power steering leaks, it’s a legit stress reliever. 🤣

Glad to hear yours are holding up well. My lines were good and the previous pump rebuild was holding strong, but the rack developed a leak on the passenger side. Finally got tired of throwing money at it. 😂

Half the credit goes to you man! This wasn’t on my radar until you posted it… and a power steering leak coincided nicely with it. 😂

@@NC944er dude leaks suck so bad… that and analog cars are more fun! But you get all the credit for making a great video. I lazily and impulsively make videos and upload them 😂

@@tims_4x4_garage LOL! They’re still useful to share knowledge and such… but, you now have my eyeing $400 steering wheel options, damn you! 🤣

@@NC944er I’d give you the 350 but you won’t be happy with it. If we get together sometime you can try my wheel.

@@tims_4x4_garage Looks like the 370 would add 7mm, which might make a small difference, but it’s also thicker which I think would improve the grip.

Yes! I actually plan to install the Momo Prototipo 370mm wheel at some point, I just don’t have $400 right now. 😂 That would put it at 7mm greater diameter than the factory wheel at 363mm. So I have a feeling there will be a small improvement there, but more so in the thickness of the grip on the wheel for leverage, as I find the factory wheel to be pretty thin. But yeah, if I’m able to pick one up, probably next year, I’ll definitely post a video on it. 👍🏼

Hey man, thank you! That’s a cool idea for a video. It looks like a real pain to do, right!? 😂 I do have my old rack just laying around, but no immediate plans to rebuild it just yet. The car tends to dictate what needs attention and when, so it may be something I could look at down the road.

@@NC944er fair enough. I may just tackle it and see how it goes. I have a very long list this winter. Im replacing every seal on the exterior of the car. Full engine rebuild (timing belt tensioner broke!). Rebuild all power steering compents, AC rebuild. Short shifter upgrade.......oh and full repaint! Should be fun

@@smoothwood10 Wow, yeah… tensioner failures are pretty catastrophic. You’ve got a good list there. I’ve put off my A/C restoration for a bit. Other things keep eating up my budget for it. 😂

@@NC944er ya no doubt. My budget is expanding rapidly. Every time I work on the car I find more broken bits I need to add to my list. My current shopping cart on 944online has 127 items in it. YIkes!! lol

@@smoothwood10 Oh wow! Good luck! Yeah during the first yeah on mine, for every item I would “fix,” I’d have to add two more things that needed fixing.

Hey, thank you! It’s hard to tell what’s happening based on that description, but simply removing and cleaning the calipers shouldn’t change the geometry to the point where they would then need additional spacers. In general, the floating frame caliper design has the tendency to apply a bit of pressure on the pads even after the brake pedal is released, but it shouldn’t be locking up the rotor. This can be improved with a full caliper rebuild, including proper sealing and lubrication. Here are some things to consider if you haven’t done so already: • Completely disassemble calipers to bare cores • Remove pistons and polish mating surfaces • Install new ATE seals and dust covers • Reassemble with pistons in correct position • Apply brake grease on the moving joints of the calipers.

Hey, thanks! In short, the manual steering conversion has been a vast improvement in all areas except for in ease of turning at low speeds. I found the side-to-side movement on the new setup to be a little tight at first, I’m guessing because all the parts were brand new, where after turning the wheel halfway in either direction it would firm up and the wheels wouldn’t quickly self-center after turning. But, after driving the car a couple hundred miles, it has broken in nicely and is now a lot easier to turn. The “on center” position is just a little vague, but that’s true for most manual steering systems. Not in a sense where there is lag or play in the wheel, the response is very sharp, just that it requires more micro-adjustments when cruising in the straights. Feedback from the road is really clear and the steering feel lightens up nicely when accelerating through turns. Overall, it’s ultra-smooth when you’re up and rolling and I haven’t detected any irregular shakes or vibrations, if anything I’d say it feels tighter than the power rack I had on the car.

@@NC944er this is just great….perfect description of what this setup is like. It’s real scary to jump into something like this without knowing someone that’s already done it. It sure sounds like it’s for me too. These old PS setups are just a nightmare and I don’t think the manual upgrade would devalue the car. Of course I will save all the OEM parts that I remove in case someone wants them in the future. Thank you I appreciate your videos!

Nice! A few things not shown here that I ended up doing… I checked the new rack centering probably three times to make sure the marks were accurate and then one final time after the rack and steering shaft were fully installed before centering the steering wheel. I also ground off a little bit of metal from the top plate on the new rack, the corner the tucks into the cavity on the cross member, just so that it had some more space to freely align itself there. And I obviously spent quite a bit more time triple checking the toe in alignment than was shown. The most difficult part was getting the old steering shaft to separate from the power rack, lots of penetrating spray and hammering needed there, and when the ball joint fork didn’t have enough width to keep pushing them apart, I wedged some other metal plates in between the fork and the base of the shaft so that they could be further wedged apart with more hammer blows. Good times! 😂

Indeed, probably a marginal gain there.. my guess would be 2-3bhp, but I haven’t Dyno tested it since removal.

Luckily, while the A/C Compressor and the Alternator share a ribbed belt, the Power Steering Pump has its own independent v-belt, so it’s really just a matter of deleting the pump and its belt, where just the aluminum mounting bracket remains afterwards.

Yeah, the factory power steering is pretty nice, I like it as well, it’s not overly assisted and still offers a pretty good road feel. Long-term reliability was the primary driving force for me making the switch to manual. When I was researching and shopping for steering racks, I was seeing a lot of examples where other owners said their rebuilt racks developed new leaks within 1-2 years after replacement and the idea of dropping $800 on a rack only to have to do the work all over again shortly thereafter just didn’t sound fun. 😂 I definitely now have peace of mind in knowing I can use the car as much as I’d like and not having to worry about chasing down future leaks. I’ll also share that when I first installed the manual steering setup that all the joints and gearing were VERY tight to start out, I guess because of all the brand new parts, but it was to the point where after I would turn, the wheels would not attempt to center themselves back naturally, I would have to physically turn the wheel all the way back to straighten it out. After a few hundred miles on the car though, it feels like it’s well broken in and the wheels are now self-centering without assistance after turns. Because of its manual nature, you’ll also notice more that the steering is heavier under braking and lighter under acceleration, which makes it kind of fun and rewarding to hit the optimal speed when entering a corner so you can accelerate all the way through it for a light, crisp feel. Once the car is up to speed, it feels great and is easy to maneuver. The only minor annoyance comes when entering and exiting parking spots and at really low speeds I sometimes have to use two hands to turn the wheel, but that hasn’t caused any regret in switching, it’s just something to account for as I’m still getting used to it and the wheel occasionally becomes unexpectedly hard to turn. I’m currently eyeing the 370mm Momo Prototipo, as the diameter is 7mm larger than the factory steering wheel and I’m thinking that would provide just a little more leverage for those low-speed turns. For some reason, the manual steering has created an illusion that the grip on the OEM wheel is now “thinner” than it was with power steering, like there’s just not enough to grab onto for leverage, again mainly at low speeds, so I think the thicker grip on the Momo wheel would also tie the package together nicely.

@@NC944er So, if I am reading between the lines correctly, you LOVE the idea of never seeing a puddle of power steering fluid under your car. But, you miss your power steering. The 944 power steering is really nice. I also wonder how wear and tear will be on other steering components over time because you are really humping on the steering wheel to get the tires moving at low speed/parking. There definitely is a trade off. And it makes you wonder WHY Porsche only offered the manual steering for the first year? Perhaps they discovered a problem with manual steering and chose to avoid it?

@@guyfaux5010 HA! Yeah, mainly just when parking sometimes I’m like, “DANG!,” but all other times I don’t miss the power or think about it much. I know the earlier 944s were about 300 pounds lighter than the later cars, so that may have factored into Porsche’s move to all power, and probably the fact that it was more of a luxury brand and people would expect some extra features to be included.

@@NC944er Perhaps. I had an early '83 944 and it had power steering. So, Porsche did not keep that manual steering option open very long. Anyway, I wish I could drive your car to see how I like the steering compared to the power.

@@guyfaux5010 If you’re ever passing through central NC, feel free…

@@LetmeWHIPdaWHIP Yeah, the ‘83 manual rack will fit on later cars, but if your car is LHD you’ll need the intermediate steering shaft as well (unless the seller is including one), part number: 944-347-027-01. 944Online and Pelican Parts have aftermarket ones available for $150.

@@NC944er thanks!

Hey, sure! The yellow wire from the oil level sensor meets up with the wiring for the oil pressure sender and they join at some grey wire loom below the front of the oil cooler. From there, it passes in front of and over the water pump, and then up under the intake manifold toward the fire wall and then over to the fuse panel.

@@NC944er you are a class act. Thx so much for the video.

Yep, he makes them for the 944, 951, and 968… with some differences between the early and late cars, so you’d have to provide your model year at the time of purchase.

@@NC944er thanks again

Yes, he makes them for the 944, 951, and 968… with some differences between the early and late cars, so you’d have to provide your model year at the time of purchase.

There are some trade offs… and the power steering is a bit nicer for casual daily driving.

@@NC944er lol yeah my power steering has never worked due to an excessively leaky rack, so I'm used to strong arming it. This kit doesn't seem too bad though, with only a 10mm difference for 3 1/2 turns. Just gotta save up since my car needs so many other things

@@liamflynn6929 Haha! Too true… just when I have a 6-month maintenance plan laid out, the car “tells me” it wants different things fixed first. 😂

Glad you posted this! I have been putting off my manual rack install but I may just have to get after it while it’s too darn hot out to really enjoy driving the car anyways. Nice work as always!

@@aarondennis4561 😂 It was VERY hot… I tried to work on it a couple hours in the early morning over a few days.

All is well, so far no issues! Right off the fresh install, the joints and gearing were pretty stiff, I assume because it was all brand new parts. After driving a couple hundred miles though, it broke in nicely and the movement became more fluid. Overall, it’s a quality setup, no complaints.