First Porsche, high miles 944, what could go wrong...

[traffman]

Thats a great angle , these cars are so handsome . My Uncles owned a 944 back in the mid eighties. Loved it , it wasn't the engine yours has , but the build fit and quality shone through right away.

Good luck , look's like your just doing the sort of job's i am with my new purchase.

[rufusgti]

I thought I'd update this thread as it's been a while and it's actually very I retesting to come back and read through. I can see the jobs I never got round to doing and the bits I'd forgotten I'd done.
Anyway recently I have been playing with the front ARB after a knocking developed and I found my outer drivers side ARB mount had snapped clean off. Closer inspection shows it had rusted through. Not good, so I stripped it down.



[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/c8ItC8Wo[/url]





So pretty nasty. Some refreshing has been needed.

I cleaned up the ARB and gave it a lick of paint.





Ordered some bits



And today I built the ARB back up and fitted it back to the car.









I am absolutely amazed at the improvement to the ride and feel of the car. I really wasn't expecting it, but it feels fantastic. It doesn't crash as much over rough ground and no longer chases the cambers of the road. Really pleased I did it.

Edited by rufusgti on Saturday 23 February 21:02

Edited by rufusgti on Saturday 23 February 21:03

[toastyhamster]

How's it running over the year? Good work on the ARB, looks great!

[rufusgti]

toastyhamster said:

How's it running over the year? Good work on the ARB, looks great!

Very good. I've enjoyed getting the car how I want it. Everything's working now, (except the clock). I've fixed tonnes of little bits. A list of the bits I've done myself.

Repaired de mister.
Repaired the fan.
Repaired/replaced the interior lights.
Repaired sunroof.
Repairs to overcome At least 5 leaks into the cabin from various places.
Replace stalks.
Fitted a new Bluetooth stereo.
Replaced a little cog for odometer repair.
Rebuilt and custom fitted the gear shifter.
Undersealed and waxed the cavities.
Sound deadened various areas.

Non of that was costly other than a few quid and a lot of my own time. More costly and less rewarding has been some work on the sills. The sills are ok now but it has needed finishing at each MOT since, quite frustrating and came down to a difference of opinion more than anything. Unfortunately it shows up as rusted sills on the Mot history but it's just one of those things. I also had the same guy repaint the roof to tidy up some scruffy bits. Looking much better now anyway.

Mechanically it's been in for new belts, gearbox oil, a pressure sender, a bit of fettling and various fluids. I also had new wishbones and castor bolts.

Overall it's been brilliant. I think I've done 5 or 6 thousand miles in it. It never misses a beat except the battery does go dead if I leave it sat in the garage for more than a month. But I see that as an excuse to get out in it.

There's a few jobs in the pipeline. The torque tube is noisey so I want the bearings replaced but I will wait until it's clutch time and do the lot together. I also want to now change the bushes at the rear of the car as the front is all good now. Mainly I just want to get out more this summer.

[Gallons Per Mile]

Good stuff. Sounds like you're turning it in to a really nice example. More pictures please!

[rufusgti]

Gallons Per Mile said:

Good stuff. Sounds like you're turning it in to a really nice example. More pictures please!

Thanks, ye it's definitely a lot better now than when I first picked it up. I haven't got any other work in progress pics unfortunately, but here's a few from over the past year from my Instagram.

[rufusgti]

Oh, and these turned up today.


I've been waiting for the right size spacers to show up. I want to fill the arches but not bring them out too far. I like the classic tucked stance but just not quite as tucked as standard. These are 18mm, I'll post some before and after pics tomorrow when I fit them to see what you all think.

[rufusgti]

Ok as promised I did some pics of the spacers.
Really pleased, they fit just how I like them and I think still look factory to the untrained eye.
Before





Spacers going on


And after


I'm really happy. Need to go check they don't rub anywhere but I wouldn't have thought so the arches are pretty cavernous.

Edited by rufusgti on Tuesday 26th February 18:12

[rufusgti]

Update:

Can't believe I've had this for nearly 3 years. Thought I would update as it's time to do a bit of work.
Nothing has gone wrong since last update but it's being used regularly now, if only for short trips but it keeps things working I guess.
Went for it's MOT yesterday which it failed.
1x Rubber boot on the CV joint and
1x rubber boot on the control arm.
So today I ran around collecting a few parts and have treated the car to a few bits I wanted to get done. I've got a new gasket for the filler neck and some sun visor clips that always seem broken on these. Bits like this are almost always cheaper from Porsche than anywhere else, always surprising.



I was hoping to drop the drive shaft this afternoon but it's too wet out for that.

The mileage is approaching 208,000, all seems well. The car will need new tyres next year and I still want to refurb the calipers and have them painted so maybe in the spring.
Here's a pic from a nice drive earlier in the year.

[MrVert]

Great car, such a lovely shape

Nice to see one being looked after

[Gallons Per Mile]

Very nice! Good to see it being used

[rufusgti]

Between the rain holding off and getting dark I managed to remove the drive shaft. Very pleased as I was really worried I'd snap a bolt or something that would hold me up.


Now I've never done a CV boot before but I'm thinking these need cleaning out properly, looks like tar!






There's some very good YouTube videos on stripping these down, cleaning them up and assembling with new grease so I'm going to get this in the vice tomorrow and strip it all down.

Edited by rufusgti on Saturday 26th October 18:46

[rufusgti]

Had a good couple of hours on this, cleaned the joints up and fitted the new boots.








If anyone with a late 944 with the alloy control arms finds they have a split boot. It's not actually easily available as the ball joint is part of the arm which is a few hundred quid. If you're lucky and the ball joint hasn't filled with grit and salt you can do what I did and grab a lower ball joint for an old golf from euro car parts. The rubber can be removed and refitted to the 944 control arm. Worked very well and saved me a few quid. I cleaned as much of the grease out and replaced with fresh.






So if I can get the shaft back on tomorrow I can get it back for a retest. All being well it's not been a painful MOT for a change.

Edited by rufusgti on Sunday 27th October 19:34

Edited by rufusgti on Sunday 27th October 19:35

[LanceRS]

These have aged really well. Glad you’re still enjoying it.

[swampy442]

If you look on ebay for CV boots you can buy them separate for peanuts, I did the same for my Supra.

How does the car feel with that mileage under its wheels?

[rufusgti]

swampy442 said:

If you look on ebay for CV boots you can buy them separate for peanuts, I did the same for my Supra.

How does the car feel with that mileage under its wheels?

The boots were only a few quid from ECP, all in it's been a cheap MOT. Well, re test tomorrow so hoping it goes smoothly.

How does it feel? Better than expected. So better than my golf with exactly half the years and mileage. The bushes up front have all been replaced In my ownership. This made a massive difference for relatively small cost. The rear would now benefit, but being a massive job to drop the gearbox, rear beam etc it will have to wait until the clutch or propshaft needs work. I also had the alignment done which really improved the feel.
What really impresses me (touch wood) is the engine. It uses next to zero oil. I don't know what has been done to the internals but it's has an extensive history with receipts with specialists dating back to new. There's been work on the cam chain, it's had plenty of belt changes. But there's nothing in there for any internal engine work which seems unlikely for a Porsche engine with 200k. But who knows. I'm just very pleased mine runs smooth and pulls well. No worries there so far.
So yes, I think it feels good. But this relies on keeping bits fresh. It's a very simple chassis though. A simple car really.

[swampy442]

I meant ball joint boots haha.
That's good to hear, I fancy a 944, mainly because the 968's are now out of reach

[rufusgti]

swampy442 said:

I meant ball joint boots haha.
That's good to hear, I fancy a 944, mainly because the 968's are now out of reach

Yes you are correct, I've since seen the ball joint rubbers on their own. In fact I may order some now I know the size just for those mot fail moments when I could just hand it over and have the garage fix it.

I hankered after a 968 for so many years. I still think they are one of the nicest and rarest of all the 'modern classic' era Porsches. I remember really itching to get a silver sport coupe that was up locally for £6999. Those days are sadly gone. However the madness seems to have left the Porsche market and sensible money for sensible cars seems to be coming back. I would think it may be a good time to get into a 968 coming up so keep your eyes peeled. I have no experience with them to compare against the 944 sadly. I'd be interested to know how much more car it is.

Going wildly against the Porsche scene grain, I certainly wouldn't entertain the 968 club sport prices. When I first started my interest in the 968 the club sport was a bit of a cheap option. They fetched less than a well specced sport and were on the market for many months at a time. Although track days didn't have the intrest back then either so maybe that explains the pull. I'm very capable of stripping a bit of weight out of a car without paying a 10k premium though. People do pay the money though so it's fair enough.

[rufusgti]

Bit of an update, although not a lot has been going on with the car. I think it's about to click over 210k miles. No nasty surprises and it gets used a few times a week, actually seems much happier with regular use.
I managed to get a job done which I've been meaning to do for ages. The filler neck to body gasket was in very poor shape, split, filthy and probably leaking. I bought one ages ago but managed to fit it this afternoon. A bit of a pig of a job actually as you have to get the rubber over the outer body, the inner body, and the neck. They're all very different profiles. Plenty of hot soapy water and a few attempts at lining it up and it popped into place. Anyone having a go, start at the bottom and work your way to the top.
Part number is 931 201 281 05



I sprayed a bit of dinitrol rust protector around in the body to keep things in order.



Gasket fitted in place



All good.

I also have recently had a new stainless exhaust fitted as the one I had wasn't really fitting that well and have always been impressed with longlife exhausts local to me.


Currently refurbishing some spare bumper lights for the front also and am planning a torque tube replacement as mine is noisey.
I'll keep the thread updated as I go but I'm still very much enjoying this car.

[rufusgti]

Fresh MoT
Fresh set of tyres

I've done a few jobs over lockdown. Fitted a rebuilt steering rack and new HEL braided brake hoses. A few bits tidied up here and there and generally keeping it good. I had a new set of Avon zv7 tyres fitted yesterday and it's driving lovely. The old falkens were ten years old and had gone hard so these are a real improvement on the ride. Will see how they grip on a dry day soon.