Hallsy's Heroes - 944 & S2K

[Hallsy01]

I bet you miss it FA!! Simon has it now, is that right?

You're right, a lot of the jobs are just standard nuts & bolts jobs - even the awkward ones are just that, time consuming or awkward for access.

Luckilly the Turbo has had a lot of mechanical attention in the last few years, but there are still a few areas I need to look at. Gearshift, as you mention, is one arear - it's fine, but it could be tighter. Brakes are another, they work fine, but squeal like mad - could be a sign of plate lift I guess. Possible I need to get the m030 front struts rebuilt as well, the PO's indy suggested that one was a little softer than the other, and possibly leaking. I am yet to get it up in the air and have a proper look, but after 600 miles of use, I can't really notice it. Although I've not had it out and pushed really hard yet, the journey home was in heavy traffic on a very hot day, so I was just happy to get home without any overheating issues! Then the weekend jaunt was a cruise down the motorways really.

Must get out and give it a good shakedown!!

[Hallsy01]

Been a little while - so time for a few little updates - nothing too exciting - I'll split my posts into three!!

So, for my red 944 S - after the Turbo purchase I really couldn't merit keeping two 944's, so I had to put this one up for sale.

Before I did this I had had a feeling that the engine mounts were past their best, so decided to replace both of them. Thankfully I had the use of a friends ramp at his garage, and even then it took me the best part of a full day, lol!! Access is pretty tight, and you can always guarantee when you can just about get to a bolt, with 1/16 of a turn on a spanner, it will be rusted solid!! Even then, once your old collapsed mounts are out wiggled out, the new, taller ones seem like they will never get into place!! Anyway - it was done, and the car felt a bit better off/on throttle for it.

With that, the car was given a good clean inside & out, polished, photgraphed and put up for sale. Oh, and given another oil service.

I had had some interest, but a few time wasters also. As the MOT was due mid December, I thought for peace of mind, I would get the car freshly MOT'd.

Sadly, the MOT inspector managed to prod a hole through the nearside outer sill - I was quite surpised as when I last had it up on a ramp, then underside looked pretty good, better than some other road going 944's anyway, but it's his job to prod & pick.

A few pictures:

Nearside -

NS1 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS2 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS3 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS4 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS5 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS6 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS7 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

NS8 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

Offside -

OS1 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

OS2 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

OS3 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

OS4 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

OS5 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

OS6 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

OS7 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

It's not too bad, the inside of the rear sill section looks solid when viewed through the B pillar vent - so I'd imagine it will just need some localised repairs rather than a complete sill - but of course, you can't tell until you start cutting away. Sadly I have no time to do the work at the moment, so asked a friend who runs a Porsche/VAG specialist to help me out - he gave me a reasonable quote to repair & paint, but to add insult to injury, I nackered my shoulder this weekend so have not been able to drive all week to get the car over to him!!

With that in mind, and the fact that after a week off I'm still struggling to lift my left arm, I have now amended my advert with a reduced price to account for the repair work. Looking on the gov site it says that even after a failed MOT, the existing MOT's expiry date is still valid, but if the car is unroadworthy, you could be prosecuted if the police pulled you up. Sounds contradictory!!

So for now, she is tucked up in the garage again. Had a couple of people interested at the new price, but no firm bites yet!

[Hallsy01]

As for my Turbo, that has been pretty reliable - I say pretty reliable........

the day I bought the car it was one of the hottest days of the year, and I had to drive through central London back to Suffolk. I stopped part way at a service station and when I went back to it, it wouldn't start!! After leaving it a while, it started up, so I just put it down to the heat and it never did it again.....

...until a few weeks ago, when out shopping with the other half - it did it again, and then again, and again - until it got harder and harder to start. The last time it played up, I noticed that the boost gauge was reading vacuum, then it shot to midway on the gauge - sure enough the car started. So I was pretty sure it was the DME relay, common fault on a 944.

Fast forward to the day after and we'd had an SOS call from my dad who had walked from town to ours as he had took my brothers 9-3 out (with a know battery fault) to get a new battery........without his phone!! No prizes for guessing why he had walked 30 minutes to mine!! He got some stick for that.

Well, later that day I was doing the oil service on my red 944 and couldn't get the filter off by hand, so went to borrow my dad's three prong filter tool. I didn't walk, I didn't take my phone....no, I took my iffy 944 Turbo! Needless to say I got stranded as well, lol! Luckilly my dad was passing and pulled over to give me a lift to his. Bridging the DME relay contacts proved it was at fault, and I got the car back home. So a new DME relay was ordered from ECP for around £30, new Porsche part number and half the price that OPC were asking!!

Other than that, I gave the Turbo an oil service also. Oil pressure is good, but it does use a little oil, so I decided to ditch the Mobil S 10w40 and try something thicker. Have gone with Total Quartz Racing 10w50 - so far oil pressure seems a little better, but too early to say whether consumption is reduced.

Other annoyances include a noise from the transmission with the clutch out at idle, I assumed it was clutch release bearing (clutch was replaced not long ago, but can't assume bearing was), but I guess it could well be the TT bearings, so will have to have a better listen from underneath. Only really does it at idle.

Then I seem to have a rattle at idle from the rear of the car, clutch in or out - no matter. It seems to be getting a little worse, and from having a good listen in the back of the car, I think it is the exhaust blowing a bit - yet sounds more like a rattle inside the car!! Something else to look at when I can !!

[Hallsy01]

And for the S2000 I have a really boring update, but it may of interest to other S2k owners.

In Feb I bought some new mats from a trader on S2ki, I must admit, when they came through the post I was a little disappointed in what my £80 had bought me. The carpet was very thin, and the back looked very cheap, but they were a good fit. Thing is, a set of OE mats for a 944 are similar price, but the quality is night and day different.

Anyway, my other half was moaning that within a few months they were getting ruined and they were, so decided I needed to fit the orginal mat anchors.

In fairness, they did move around far too much without:

20140831_163325 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

So I had spoken to my local Honda dealer about getting some mat anchors, but they do seem next to useless, often not returning calls and being left with the phone ringing.

Whilst cleaning some crap out of the boot one day, what did I spy?? Some OE floor anchors!! A little bent up, but I managed to straighten them.

Much better:

20140831_170746 by Hallsy01, on Flickr

And they have stayed in place ever since!! I will say though, in hindsight I would pay the extra for proper OE ones, as they seem much better quality, even if they are double the price.

After that, I turned my attention to a minor corrosion issue.

When we bought the S2000 last year, it had a small scab on the offside arch and I had read that the arch lip protectors can cause some rust, not to mention the fact I had seen far worse - so I wasn't too worried at the time, but it was now time to take a better look.

For anyone unfamiliar, Honda use a protective strip on the rear arches:

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

These are great, providing the arches are kept clean, and the strips are removed occasionally, to be cleaned & greased. If you don't, they will likely corrode.

This is the offside:

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

and underneath the protective strip it looked a bit worse:

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

So for now it has been rust treated, and when I get the time and can keep it in the dry for a little while, it will be better dealth with and painted.

Weird thing is, I looked at the nearside arch and it was pristine!

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

Now, as I had had a clean around under the arches, I noticed that the seam sealer was different from side to side. The offside, that had the rust, has clearly had some extra non OE sealer added, as it's a bit messy:

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

Yet on the clean, nearside, the seam sealer stops short of the lip:

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

S2000 rear arches by Hallsy01, on Flickr

So, it got me wondering - is either side correct? If so, why did Honda only seam seal part of the inner arch?? With the relatively clean inner and outer arch lip on the nearside, it got me wondering whether the arch skin had been replaced, and not fully seam sealed afterwards.

I'm guessing with the offside, the extra seam sealer is where someone previously has tried to clean up a bit of corrosion - so look forward to seeing what's underneath that, lol!!

So does anyone know what the factory seam sealer was like on these? Is the nearside arch as it left the factory??

Once my 944 S has been sold, that will give us room to fit a winter/dump run/daily driver estate on the drive, so my other half will be able to use that and I will take the time to clean up and protect both rear arches. I'm hoping I can touch in the little scab that is not covered by the strip, and wet flat/polish, rather than repainting the complete quarter, but we will see.

Need to get this bloody shoulder sorted first!!

[Hallsy01]

Fat Albert said:

People say to buy a spare DME relay as soon as you buy a 944, I did that, put the new one in and kept the old one as a spare...

Shame about the Sill on the red one - "...they all go like that sir..."

Indeed, I was spoilt by my S which had never let me down (and had had the DME relay replaced at some point!) - although, when I first got the Turbo I went on a long journey for a camping weekend, so I took the DME from my S just in case!! Still, an easy & cheap fix either way.

As for the sills, yes it is shame, but as you say, all 944's are prone to it. I'm of the opinion that it is early enough to not to be too bad (I have certainly seen a lot worse) as the inside of the rear sills look good from the B pillar, and I have had an endoscope further along the sill when I first got it and it looked OK. I have not looked since mind.

My Turbo has had both sides repaired previously (twice!), but there is an awful lot of seam sealer around the rear inner sills, so I will be having a good look at that in the new year. The Turbo will undergo a light restoration anyway as it has seen some paint, needs a couple of bits tidying and has also had the floor pan bent at the front where it has been jacked incorrectly previously. A job (or two) for the new year!

[Hallsy01]

Thanks Rowey - yours is a gorgeous S2, looks very tidy!

The stance is probably just about right on my Turbo, not low enough to cause any issues with kerbs or speed humps, but looks a little better for it and corners very flat. A previous owner made the adjustments, so not sure how much it has been lowered by.

There will be some more updates soon, the Turbo needs a few things fixing for the winter, namely the heater controls and the rear demister & wiper!! Shoulder has improved a lot over the last couple of days, so hopefully I wll be able to get on again soon.

As for the centre caps, other than trying PCGB or Tipec, I would still keep your eyes peeled on eBay - sometimes they sell for sensible cash.

My Turbo has small coloured crests with my S having the larger black & white crest - on a 944 I prefer the black & white ones as they look a little more retro (and have worn better), but both look good in their own right!

[Hallsy01]

Blimey, been a while - I must have got bored with my own thread, lol!!

It's a bit of a mess really, need to split it up as it covers three cars now!!

Anyway, not much to report, should take a few more pics really to liven things up a bit!!

The S2000 is still as reliable as ever (*touching wood*), there are a few rattles cropping up now which need attention, drivers window rattles so need to look into this, and it has also developed an annoying rattle from the exhaust, more than likely a heat shield.

Treated the old girl to new gearbox & diff fluids the other day, not sure when it was last done, and I had been meaning to do it since I bought the car Now, the gearbox on our S2000 I suspect will need some attention at some point, since we have had the car it has always been notchy going into second from cold, and in the winter, getting into fourth or any higher gear is very tight. Once in, or if the engine/ambient is warm, it is fine.
The new fluids have made the second gear notch a bit better, but no real change to the fourth gear issue, although in the summer it is now much of an issue anyway. It may be placebo, but the car does feel better for it in general, the take up of drive just feels a bit smoother. I used Honda MTF3 (iirc) for the gearbox and Motul PA90 for the diff.

She is sounding a little tappy now (92k) so next job is to check the valve clearances. I'm off work next week, so hopefully I can find some time to check them then. I'll grab some pics for interstingness!!

Rusty arch is on the list also, a friend of mine has kindly offered to paint the rear quarter for me (we help each other out as and when we can), but to cut down on time and to satisfy my ocd, I will do the corrosion prep. Hopefully it won't be too far gone yet.

Still very happy with the car, heading towards modern classic status no doubt, and rightly so imo. I still think my Eunos was the most fun I've had in a communicative sense, I still don't feel 100% confident that I know is going on beneath me in the S2000, but I do trust that it has ultimately more grip, better diff, etc - and for a four pot a great soundtrack with great looks to boot. She'll be a keeper for a while yet