Sportomatic conversion..? Options

[mb911]

So my dad is at a cross roads. He has had 356s,912s, 914s, 924turbos, mgs etc over the years.. He sold his 356sc about 5 years ago because he couldn't drive manual anymore and bought a boxster with a trip tronic in it.. He is now going stir crazy and is looking for a project and I ran across a 914 a friend has for a great deal and it's fairly solid.. He says he has a sporto trans for it and the actuator for it but nothing else to convert it.. The project will take my dad many years it could be a 10 year project for him.. Are there enough sporto parts out there to make the conversion happen?

Disclaimer my dad can't drive manual anymore for health reasonsso don't answer back don't do it. Budget will be low so 4k worth of parts probably makes it harder to happen for him.. I think for him it's about the dream of when he was younger.

[Dave_Darling]

The torque converter may actually help the four-speed work on a smallish engine. It does act as a torque multiplier, after all.

If you run the Sporto on a Six, then you can take advantage of all of the engineering that has been done by Porsche on the subject. Pick up a copy of the PET (official Porsche parts catalog) which should have drawings of the Sporto parts. Also dig up info on the 911 Sportos.

If you're running the Sporto on a -4, you'll have to figure out a way to pump the transmission fluid around, as well as fitting a tank for it and so on. The common dry-sump type pumps could work, but they usually foul the fan shroud so you need to do an upright conversion or find some other way of dealing with it.

Your best bet would be to find a wrecked 911 Sporto to raid for parts, but that may not be possible. And would probably bust your budget.

You might look into the early Audi FWD auto transmission; one of those has been done and seems to have worked reasonably.

--DD