Head Conversion?

[944 addict]

I just went through this myself... I bought an early '85 that had only 22K miles on it. The good thing is little wear but the bad is seals etc go bad from non-use/lubrication. The head gasket went at about 32K (corrosion) and the symptoms included a whitish smoke out the tailpipe when I tromped on it. I took it to a local independant shop, they pulled plug #4 to check the compression just to see coolant blowing out... Try that and see if you have a coolant leak in the head... If you do fix it fast because it (lack of lubricant mixed with water) can score the pistons..

[neo the hacker]

i had a bit of cream on my oil filler cap, so i decided to do both my head gasket and my oil cooler gaskets, but it doesn't mean theirs a problem. a car produces 1 pint of water for every mile covered, a lot of it goes out the exhaust, but where does the rest go? short trips is a common cause.

[Cbass]

930guy is right, all the 944S cars, with the exception of the 951S of course, had 16 valve heads.

Oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil can be a sign of a cracked block, it can also be a sign of a cracked head, but 99 out of 100 times it is a sign of a blown head gasket, which your are already confirmed to have. I wouldn't sweat it, a head gasket isn't that big of a deal.

If you have other reasons to believe that your head is cracked, take it to a good machine shop, and have them check it out. They use a process called magnafluxing that will detect even the most minute cracks.

A ported head and some bolt ons will give you some noticeable gains, and the car will still be quite streetable. Getting a more aggressive cam grind at that stage will give you quite a nice boost in the higher rpm ranges, and you can still keep a good idle and have decent low end torque.

If you really want a 16 valve head, I would recommend getting an entire 944S2 or 968 engine, as they are larger in displacement, have higher compression, and will bolt right into your car.

[parataxic]

i was wandering if a 944 S2 head would fit on a reg 944..... 1987
and how much would as2 motor cost.. thank you

[930guy]

read the earlier post this topic is covered-The last S2 engine I saw on Rennlist went for $3500.00 w/ecu