1983 Porsche 944 - Time for some restoration
Discussion
No danger of getting it sorted after the work that it's taken to get this far. What's left is nothing compared to that lot, just a leak, some suspension and a head rebuild and then a few other tweaks towards it reaching its potential.
It was already pretty fun to throw around but by the time I'm finished it should be a right giggle.
It was already pretty fun to throw around but by the time I'm finished it should be a right giggle.
So it looks like the rust problems on the 944S aren't over.
At some point this car has clearly had some repairs done to the sills in the past which I knew weren't great which is why I sent it off for some sill repairs a few years back.
It's just failed an MOT on you guessed it...rust!
So it turns out that there was a gaping hole in the underside of the car that I hadn't spotted whilst underneath it
So the garage figured it was a rusty floorpan, commong thing for an old car after all. Knowing that these things like rusting from the sills outwards I did a bit of digging and pulled the carpet up. I found a small patch and a hole at the front next to the throttle pedal which is by the ever problematic "jacking point", oh well that can be patched up.
Next I pulled the inspection plugs out of the inner sill to take a look inside...oh
The eagled eyed amongst you may notice that not only is the inner panel rusted away, but half of it has been cut away and never bloody replaced!
I stuck a finger up into the hole underneath and you can push a finger against the crusty inner panel and it just flexes.
So it looks like the repair of this is going to be one hell of a job basically rebuilding the entire inner sill.
My options are:
1. Speak to some garages who know how to fix these things properly (and not bodge the f
k out of it again)
2. Learn how to weld and fabricate a new inner sill and also get a price on a new inner sill if the replacement panel is still available.
3. Sell it as fked
4. Break it and sell all the good bits.
I only discovered this lot about 20 minutes ago so I'm still a bit pissed off
At some point this car has clearly had some repairs done to the sills in the past which I knew weren't great which is why I sent it off for some sill repairs a few years back.
It's just failed an MOT on you guessed it...rust!
So it turns out that there was a gaping hole in the underside of the car that I hadn't spotted whilst underneath it
So the garage figured it was a rusty floorpan, commong thing for an old car after all. Knowing that these things like rusting from the sills outwards I did a bit of digging and pulled the carpet up. I found a small patch and a hole at the front next to the throttle pedal which is by the ever problematic "jacking point", oh well that can be patched up.
Next I pulled the inspection plugs out of the inner sill to take a look inside...oh
The eagled eyed amongst you may notice that not only is the inner panel rusted away, but half of it has been cut away and never bloody replaced!
I stuck a finger up into the hole underneath and you can push a finger against the crusty inner panel and it just flexes.
So it looks like the repair of this is going to be one hell of a job basically rebuilding the entire inner sill.
My options are:
1. Speak to some garages who know how to fix these things properly (and not bodge the f
k out of it again)2. Learn how to weld and fabricate a new inner sill and also get a price on a new inner sill if the replacement panel is still available.
3. Sell it as f
ked4. Break it and sell all the good bits.
I only discovered this lot about 20 minutes ago so I'm still a bit pissed off
To be honest quotes don't really matter right now as I only have about £200 spare to spend on it and that's not going to cut it.
On the plus side the fuel tank for the blue car should be repaired soon so I can get that sorted and back in and work on that while I consider what to do with the white one.
I'm also toying with the idea of another cheap MR2 but again, welding skills would be massively useful there too!
On the plus side the fuel tank for the blue car should be repaired soon so I can get that sorted and back in and work on that while I consider what to do with the white one.
I'm also toying with the idea of another cheap MR2 but again, welding skills would be massively useful there too!
I've managed t get a bit more work done on the car at last. First up is give the battery some love with the new CTEK charger I picked up
It seems to be doing the trick, the battery has been left unloved for a while so hopefully it an get it back up to health.
Next thing to do is to sort out the fuel tank now that it's been welded up. I got a POR15 fuel tank sealing kit so that I can try and protect the thing and avoid issues in the future.
The tank is looking a bit rough but it's the inside I'm more concerned about
Yup, plenty of surface rust and crap floating around inside there
The bowl at the bottom is pretty much spotless, no doubt because it's always covered in fuel where the rest has been dry for a while. Because of the leak I couldn't leave much fuel in there.
Progress is sloooooow, so I've decided to touch up the outside a bit since I had time to kill. Looks a bit nicer now at least and should hold some rust at bay.
Had a slight issue where the sun disappeared for the day. It was doing a great job at helping the paint dry until then. I rigged up a substitute sun in the form of a heat gun resting on the gearbox, worked pretty well.
You can also see the new quickshifter I fitted to the gearbox today, no more sloppy shifting for me!
Last thing to do for the day was change the radio over to the one I took out of the 944S before sale, all the wiring just about fits behind there but it's a squeeze.
Aside from that lot I fitted a new shift mechanism to the gearbox, new input shaft seal and attempted to put some new output shaft seals on. Everything was going well apart from good old euro car parts sending the wrong part. Well it was the part they list, but it's actually a front hub seal for a 911. While attempting to fit the wrong part I did find that the gearbox mounts are shafted so I'll order some of those up along with the right seals.
Got some more work to do on the gearbox re-sealing tomorrow and hopefully I can get it refitted by the end of the day.
It seems to be doing the trick, the battery has been left unloved for a while so hopefully it an get it back up to health.
Next thing to do is to sort out the fuel tank now that it's been welded up. I got a POR15 fuel tank sealing kit so that I can try and protect the thing and avoid issues in the future.
The tank is looking a bit rough but it's the inside I'm more concerned about
Yup, plenty of surface rust and crap floating around inside there
The bowl at the bottom is pretty much spotless, no doubt because it's always covered in fuel where the rest has been dry for a while. Because of the leak I couldn't leave much fuel in there.
Progress is sloooooow, so I've decided to touch up the outside a bit since I had time to kill. Looks a bit nicer now at least and should hold some rust at bay.
Had a slight issue where the sun disappeared for the day. It was doing a great job at helping the paint dry until then. I rigged up a substitute sun in the form of a heat gun resting on the gearbox, worked pretty well.
You can also see the new quickshifter I fitted to the gearbox today, no more sloppy shifting for me!
Last thing to do for the day was change the radio over to the one I took out of the 944S before sale, all the wiring just about fits behind there but it's a squeeze.
Aside from that lot I fitted a new shift mechanism to the gearbox, new input shaft seal and attempted to put some new output shaft seals on. Everything was going well apart from good old euro car parts sending the wrong part. Well it was the part they list, but it's actually a front hub seal for a 911. While attempting to fit the wrong part I did find that the gearbox mounts are shafted so I'll order some of those up along with the right seals.
Got some more work to do on the gearbox re-sealing tomorrow and hopefully I can get it refitted by the end of the day.
Looking at the quality of your work. I would learn how to weld. Honestly it's not hard to fabricate bits of metal and "glue" them on. You can grind down all the bird splatter welds when your finished. I would try and get help locally by jumping in on someone elses project and YouTube is always a great help.
Great project. Thanks for sharing.
Great project. Thanks for sharing.
I don't really have to worry about the welding for now as I've sold the rusty car. When I get a garage of my own however I'll be sure to pick it up as I can spend more time faffing about with it.
Latest update is when I was replacing the crank position sensor the bolt fell down the hole into the bellhousing. I suspect that that it has fallen down the back of the flywheel and is resting on a strengthening part of the engine casing.
So far I've tried the following to fish it out
Remove the starter and see if it's fallen down there
turn the engine over by hand and listen carefully for any movement
fish around with an old hacksaw blade
hit the bellhousing with a rubber mallet to try and dislodge it
flush water into the top of the bellhousing to try and move the thing
So far absolutely nothing aside from a wet floor. I'm pretty much spent for now as after fitting the new suspension, fuel pump, gearbox, and 4 new CV joints my muscles have decided they've had enough of shimmying under a car and working upside down.
Latest update is when I was replacing the crank position sensor the bolt fell down the hole into the bellhousing. I suspect that that it has fallen down the back of the flywheel and is resting on a strengthening part of the engine casing.
So far I've tried the following to fish it out
Remove the starter and see if it's fallen down there
turn the engine over by hand and listen carefully for any movement
fish around with an old hacksaw blade
hit the bellhousing with a rubber mallet to try and dislodge it
flush water into the top of the bellhousing to try and move the thing
So far absolutely nothing aside from a wet floor. I'm pretty much spent for now as after fitting the new suspension, fuel pump, gearbox, and 4 new CV joints my muscles have decided they've had enough of shimmying under a car and working upside down.
One of the more useful tools of the hamfisted mechanic (I have a few!):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MAGNETIC-TELESCOPIC-EXTEN...
Can get various sizes, worth a try?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MAGNETIC-TELESCOPIC-EXTEN...
Can get various sizes, worth a try?
I've had a look and pretty sure it fell behind the flywheel. I can't get anything down there so it's engine out time yay!
Going to get it up on a stand and sort some other issues. Found a broken vacuum hose which Porsche just quoted over £90 for a replacement part (for less than a foot of hose!). Going to just throw some generic hose that can handle oil vapour on instead.
Probably going to pull the head and finally solve the leaking valve stem seals once and for all.
Going to get it up on a stand and sort some other issues. Found a broken vacuum hose which Porsche just quoted over £90 for a replacement part (for less than a foot of hose!). Going to just throw some generic hose that can handle oil vapour on instead.
Probably going to pull the head and finally solve the leaking valve stem seals once and for all.
It's been a long time since I updated here. Long story short is that during 2020 my life got turned upside down and the one positive that came out of it was having a lot of time and a garage.To take my mind off the awful state of everything I completely tore down the 944 engine and gave it a rebuild having never attempted anything as in depth as this before. Turns out that the piston rings were completely short and rather than the gap being measured in the fractions of a mm, it was measure in well over 1mm. The bottom end bearings were on their last legs and the inside of the engine was badly coked up.
There's been a whole load of change in the last few years so if people are still interested let me know and I'll do some more updates.
There's been a whole load of change in the last few years so if people are still interested let me know and I'll do some more updates.
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