1983 Porsche 944 - Time for some restoration

1983 Porsche 944 - Time for some restoration

Author
Discussion

Conian

8,030 posts

202 months

Friday 25th April 2014
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grand prix white has really grown on me of late
bye bye little porsche!

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Monday 28th April 2014
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Bad things happen when the car isn't with me. Driveshaft down!

Benton

110 posts

139 months

Monday 28th April 2014
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Ouch!

Where is the white one going, not sold it surely? You'd only have one Porsche then - madness!

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Monday 28th April 2014
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It's currently visiting these guys http://retrorestorer.co.uk/ to have some new metal put in and apparently some new driveshafts.

And another picture of it looking pretty to keep you lot happy

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Friday 2nd May 2014
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Not much else to report other than the car has had some chunks of rusty metal and paint removed. An electrical drain was also discovered due to a poor repair in the past which is now been rectified.

Hopefully it'll be done soon and I can go and get it but for now here's a picture of it hovering a bit higher than when it was with me.


In other news the other 944 has passed its MOT on the second attempt due to needing the headlights fiddling with and some new rear tyres. It's still using oil like crazy and trying its best to choke me on the stuff.

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Monday 5th May 2014
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Drove down to Exeter to meet a friend for lunch today, ended up at a nice little pub next to Dartmoor for some barbecue and live jazz, not bad way to end a little jaunt in the 944. I was tipped off about some decent roads to use for the drive back and made full use of those so not a bad day out. I did however have to top up the oil yet again before I set off. I dread to think how little is left now.

As for the other car I've been sent these pictures by @Porsche944Resto and things are coming along bit by bit. Hopefully it should be rust free soon.

Another thing I did was to go through the history and reorganise it all, during this I discovered that the car had a fresh MOT put on it a month before I bought it back in 2010. No idea how it got through an MOT with the level of rust it had when I stuck my head under there.








Getting a little excited about getting this car back now, hopefully you find those pictures as interesting as I do.

Benton

110 posts

139 months

Tuesday 6th May 2014
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Thats going to be a great car when its had all the rust banished! White really suits these, IMHO.

whats the plan with the blue car, given its penchant for oil? Guess you'll have no issues sorting that yourself!

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Tuesday 6th May 2014
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Well I'm pretty sure it's valve stem issues. I don't have the tools to do that myself nor have I ever tackled it before. Normally I'd be up for giving it a bash but I just want it done now so when the white car is done I'll probably end up swapping over and getting the blue one painted up and the engine issues sorted.

Once that's done I need to get some coilovers on it, probably some bigger anti roll bars, and some proper seats. The driver's seat has currently collapsed a bit on the right side which means that my left leg ends up aching after about 30 minutes driving it.

Steve_W

1,496 posts

178 months

Tuesday 6th May 2014
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This is a cracking thread; always liked the 944 but have never owned one.

There's a guy down the road from me that has one sitting on his front garden (recently driven there from the side garden for some reason). Same wheels as your blue one, and what look like holes in the sill big enough to put your fist in!

It's a red one (C reg I think) - you could buy it and have a 944 equivalent of the Italian Job minis! smile

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Tuesday 6th May 2014
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No no no no no no no no no no no no no!

I need to cut down on cars not get more!

Xtriple129

1,153 posts

158 months

Tuesday 6th May 2014
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Far from people not being interested mate! I've just spent half a day (with a break to take the dogs out) reading this start to finish. Good on ya'.

Just off to browse the classifieds now for 944s. I had a 928 a few years ago and rather enjoyed that....

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Friday 9th May 2014
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Xtriple129 said:
Far from people not being interested mate! I've just spent half a day (with a break to take the dogs out) reading this start to finish. Good on ya'.

Just off to browse the classifieds now for 944s. I had a 928 a few years ago and rather enjoyed that....
Careful, you start off with one and before you know it another one appears! At one point I nearly got a third but came to my senses.

Some more progress pics


MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Tuesday 13th May 2014
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Some more pics










The order is a little mixed up but you get the idea.

Benton

110 posts

139 months

Wednesday 14th May 2014
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Stunner!

Bet you're looking forward to getting it back. If I ever win the lottery a well sorted 944, along with a mahoosive garage to keep it in, is firmly on the list.

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Wednesday 14th May 2014
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Quite excited about having the car back yeah. Should be off to collect it on Saturday and then off to a PH event with it on Sunday.

I do have a slight set back however as in the next few weeks it's quite likely I'm going to be made redundant, the perfect time to get a sports car back on the road then! Anybody want their 944 fixed in exchange for money and petrol? wink

Benton

110 posts

139 months

Wednesday 14th May 2014
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Bad news, sorry to hear of the job woes. Hopefully you'll get a couple of quid to send you on your way/tide you over until something else comes up.

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Tuesday 27th May 2014
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So the car is pretty much finished. MOT today and then I get to pick it up at the weekend.

Here's the story of what has been done to it.

http://retrorestorer.co.uk/porsche-944s-repairs/

Benton

110 posts

139 months

Thursday 29th May 2014
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Brilliant - ready for another 25 years! Great write up there.

How did it fair on the MOT?

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Thursday 29th May 2014
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Nothing wrong from what I hear, the guy doing the work has been a bit busy lately so not heard from him that much.

Hoping to pick it up on Saturday morning and take it to Coventry Motofest http://coventrymotofest.com/ All depends on what time I can get up there really.

MadRob6

Original Poster:

3,594 posts

221 months

Saturday 7th June 2014
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About time I updated this.

First thing of note, I picked the car up from Oxfordshire last week and brought it back to Devon. It was running beautifully, had significantly more power than the other car and suspension felt spot on with it giving great feel and confidence in what was going on when you chucked it into a corner.

On top of that it looked pretty good too when the sun finally came out so I could get the roof panel out


Later on in the week a small running problem appeared. When driving at a steady 30mph in 4th or 40 in 5th the car would stutter when getting back on the throttle and then refuse to rev unless putting it in neutral and giving it a boot full or dropping a gear. Suspecting a fault with the AFM I dragged it back to the garage and started pulling bits off to find what might be causing it.

I tested the AFM and not a single fault with that so I put it back together and pulled the plugs instead, they were all the same colour and looking healthy so I put them back in and tried to fire up the engine. It half turned over and then just stopped and refused to crank after that so I assumed the battery was dead as I'd wandered off and left the door open for a while so the lights were all on and it hasn't had a good charge for a while. So I left it on charge for about 20 minutes and came back.

Still nothing, very odd now. Pulled the plugs again and tried to crank it without pressure...still nothing. Put it in gear and tried to push the car to turn the engine over, nothing. Tried the key again and it turned at last! Put the plugs back in and it fired up!

However there was a horrible rattly bang so it swiftly got turned off again as my heart sank. I gave up at this point and shoved it into a corner while I got my head clear enough to figure out what to do with it.

Bad noises come from here


So I abandoned it here


On the way home in my Dad's car that I nabbed as all my other cars are either SORN or off being fixed I remembered previously seeing a small nut down by one of the spark plugs that I couldn't retrieve at the time. I don't recall ever removing it and it isn't there now so I assume it fell into the cylinder and was the cause of the bang...bugger.

With it playing on my mind I decided to try and get to the bottom of the cause and start stripping the engine bay down. On pulling the spark plug from cylinder 2 I could see that the top of the piston was rather wet but no visible damage. I continued stripping things down and found no damage inside the head and no evidence of badly bent valves which is at least a little relieving.

Still looking pretty clean in there


A poor photo of the piston


And after some more engine stripping I was left with this


All I needed to do then was remove the camshafts and then the head. Of course nothing is ever easy with this car so the first bolt I came to rounded off, not much point going any further with it then!

I did however get another view into the cylinder from the inlet port and I could see a nice puddle of coolant, this matches up with the amount of coolant that came out of the inlet manifold when removed so it looks like the running issue was probably caused by coolant getting into the cylinder somehow and then when left it just filled up and hydro-locked the engine.

Next step is to send the thing off again and have the head pulled and hopefully the problem solved. If it isn't a problem with the head and gasket then I think I'm going to have to call it a day and sell up.

At least I have some spares