New 944 Arrival
Discussion
So in the search for a more entertaining 'historic' rally car, an earlyish ('84) 944 has joined the stable. A few of these being used now I see on the road and endurance circuit which is what we'll use it for. Before anyone says 'should have bought an S2', we need a pre December '85 car.
The first 100 miles were great fun, it's obviously broken down now but it's electrical and I know where to look, there seem to be some regular culprits.
It'll get used as a daily driver to start with so we can get used to it and see what falls off. First impressions are of a top car, great handling and at 30 years old, a pretty impressive place to be for the money.
More news to follow but insider pearls of wisdom for one of these first generation cars always welcome.
The first 100 miles were great fun, it's obviously broken down now but it's electrical and I know where to look, there seem to be some regular culprits.
It'll get used as a daily driver to start with so we can get used to it and see what falls off. First impressions are of a top car, great handling and at 30 years old, a pretty impressive place to be for the money.
More news to follow but insider pearls of wisdom for one of these first generation cars always welcome.
LFB531 said:
So in the search for a more entertaining 'historic' rally car, an earlyish ('84) 944 has joined the stable. A few of these being used now I see on the road and endurance circuit which is what we'll use it for. Before anyone says 'should have bought an S2', we need a pre December '85 car.
The first 100 miles were great fun, it's obviously broken down now but it's electrical and I know where to look, there seem to be some regular culprits.
It'll get used as a daily driver to start with so we can get used to it and see what falls off. First impressions are of a top car, great handling and at 30 years old, a pretty impressive place to be for the money.
More news to follow but insider pearls of wisdom for one of these first generation cars always welcome.
Any pics? The first 100 miles were great fun, it's obviously broken down now but it's electrical and I know where to look, there seem to be some regular culprits.
It'll get used as a daily driver to start with so we can get used to it and see what falls off. First impressions are of a top car, great handling and at 30 years old, a pretty impressive place to be for the money.
More news to follow but insider pearls of wisdom for one of these first generation cars always welcome.
GC8 said:
The first job must be new plug leads, distributor cap and rotor arm (Bosch ideally, not Beru) and a new DME relay.
After you've done that you can start trying to get to the bottom of the problem, if it remains.
Porsche only sell the rotor arm as one very expensive item (£65?) whereas I think it can be split into two parts and source the part with the electrical contacts for a lot less using the part number on it.After you've done that you can start trying to get to the bottom of the problem, if it remains.
Just a bit of old-school detective work needed I think, certainly not worried as it was running really well so mechanically all is fine. There does appear to be a bit of diy history around the fuse/relay box, pretty sure Mr Porsche never supplied chocolate block connectors or dangling relays!
En route home photo;
There's no spark from the coil (a known good one tried) so pretty sure the fault lies further back but not really got stuck in yet, an Easter adventure perhaps! New fuel relay arriving today.
En route home photo;
There's no spark from the coil (a known good one tried) so pretty sure the fault lies further back but not really got stuck in yet, an Easter adventure perhaps! New fuel relay arriving today.
Edited by LFB531 on Tuesday 31st March 10:04
Looks familiar!
A few tips for you from someone who has been through all this:
1) Just buy Bilstein B6 dampers. Don't be seduced by lower prices for the Konis, Boge, Sachs stuff. I killed an entire set of Konis on one rally in mine. Buy once and buy right.
2) Make sure you keep the 15'' wheels. You need to run (a minimum of) 65 profile tyres and there is a good selection in 15'', not so much in others. Plus buy a spare set or two, you go through wheels relatively quickly. I've got 11 at the last count for the one car.
3) Use a Brantz International 2 tripmeter which uses the Brantz speedo sensor. You'll need to buy a new speedo cable and send it away to have the sensor grafted on. You can't use the gearbox sensor.
4) Keep the ride height standard and invest in some skid plating, especially the sump and the starter motor (under body below the drivers seat)
5) Make sure all your exhaust hangers are tucked up the 'wrong' way - you'll have a habit of snapping them off on bumpy ground.
6) If you are going to change the glass for Lexan then try ACW Motorsport Plastics in Bristol. I used them and the product was very well priced and cut perfectly - they just went straight in with no drama.
7) Consider relocating the fresh air inlet from the nearside front wing if you'll be doing any fording. The stock system gives you a maximum wading depth of about 9 inches, nowhere near enough.
8) You can be flexible (ish) with the Blue Book regs for internals. I stripped mine back to metal including all glue and sound deadening. Then replaced the lower rear seat squab (weighs about 1.5kg) and velcroed lightweight mats into the front footwells and the scrutineers have all been fine with this.
9) Polybush the entire car with Powerflex Purple. It'll make a massive difference and be essentially maintenance free. Not cheap but really tightens up the front end.
10) Spend a day cleaning up all the earths, replacing all the old fuses whether they're working or not and general cack like that.
11) Keep the standard brake calipers, buy rebuild kits and decent discs/pads and there is more than enough stopping power. Mine is on racing blue fluid too which helps.
12) Belts, rollers & tensioners. No excuses, get them done now and start your own schedule. Any problem here and you lunch the engine.
Then get out there and give it murder
They're very fast little cars if set up and driven properly. On LeJog I got the 2nd fastest time of 72 cars up the Rest & Be Thankful hillclimb in mine beating all of the 911s, Escorts etc.
A few tips for you from someone who has been through all this:
1) Just buy Bilstein B6 dampers. Don't be seduced by lower prices for the Konis, Boge, Sachs stuff. I killed an entire set of Konis on one rally in mine. Buy once and buy right.
2) Make sure you keep the 15'' wheels. You need to run (a minimum of) 65 profile tyres and there is a good selection in 15'', not so much in others. Plus buy a spare set or two, you go through wheels relatively quickly. I've got 11 at the last count for the one car.
3) Use a Brantz International 2 tripmeter which uses the Brantz speedo sensor. You'll need to buy a new speedo cable and send it away to have the sensor grafted on. You can't use the gearbox sensor.
4) Keep the ride height standard and invest in some skid plating, especially the sump and the starter motor (under body below the drivers seat)
5) Make sure all your exhaust hangers are tucked up the 'wrong' way - you'll have a habit of snapping them off on bumpy ground.
6) If you are going to change the glass for Lexan then try ACW Motorsport Plastics in Bristol. I used them and the product was very well priced and cut perfectly - they just went straight in with no drama.
7) Consider relocating the fresh air inlet from the nearside front wing if you'll be doing any fording. The stock system gives you a maximum wading depth of about 9 inches, nowhere near enough.
8) You can be flexible (ish) with the Blue Book regs for internals. I stripped mine back to metal including all glue and sound deadening. Then replaced the lower rear seat squab (weighs about 1.5kg) and velcroed lightweight mats into the front footwells and the scrutineers have all been fine with this.
9) Polybush the entire car with Powerflex Purple. It'll make a massive difference and be essentially maintenance free. Not cheap but really tightens up the front end.
10) Spend a day cleaning up all the earths, replacing all the old fuses whether they're working or not and general cack like that.
11) Keep the standard brake calipers, buy rebuild kits and decent discs/pads and there is more than enough stopping power. Mine is on racing blue fluid too which helps.
12) Belts, rollers & tensioners. No excuses, get them done now and start your own schedule. Any problem here and you lunch the engine.
Then get out there and give it murder
They're very fast little cars if set up and driven properly. On LeJog I got the 2nd fastest time of 72 cars up the Rest & Be Thankful hillclimb in mine beating all of the 911s, Escorts etc. Thanks Ben, some top advice there, thanks very much.
I've done LeJog six times as has my co-pilot but after a break of a few years we're itching to have another go. Just fancied trying it in something a bit more modern. It's got less power than the Volvo we used to use but it sure looks and handles better
We'll try and do a few events in it as the year progresses and see how it goes. I mainly do night rallies and endurance, he tends to do the FIA regularity stuff in Europe.
On a side note, I was pondering the trip meter issue and in my my mind had settled on a wheel sensor as the Porker speedo cable looked a bit formidable. We use a Romertime now.
Duncan
I've done LeJog six times as has my co-pilot but after a break of a few years we're itching to have another go. Just fancied trying it in something a bit more modern. It's got less power than the Volvo we used to use but it sure looks and handles better
We'll try and do a few events in it as the year progresses and see how it goes. I mainly do night rallies and endurance, he tends to do the FIA regularity stuff in Europe.
On a side note, I was pondering the trip meter issue and in my my mind had settled on a wheel sensor as the Porker speedo cable looked a bit formidable. We use a Romertime now.
Duncan
Well it seems we have a duff ECU. After a day checking everything possible, it went off to be tested and that was the result. It wasn't the original, it was an immaculate 'still sealed' unit from Frazerpart and I'm mildly sceptical but a known working one from an identical car being popped in on Saturday so that'll prove it one way or another.
Fingers crossed, it'd be good to get it out on the road.
Fingers crossed, it'd be good to get it out on the road.
If you're after any additional/spare wheels I've put a set up on the bay - bare metal early offset Cookie Cutters (exactly what you already have) with a set of good Vredestein Sportrac tyres. A quick search will find them.
Happy to do a deal on them of you're after any.
If not, you know, whatevs; )
Happy to do a deal on them of you're after any.
If not, you know, whatevs; )
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