mazdaverx7

bringing my 944 back to life has been a challenge and it has been a positive learning experience. the 944 is a car i've always wanted to own and now that i own one, i'm proud of the car and very pleased to own it. the car was originally sold in TN and spent a lot of its life in AL. i am the 4th owner. it has 119k miles and has a 5spd. it really needs seats and a dash recovering..all of which is in the saving $ process.

coming out of storage, dirty and musty:



all washed up:











i have original window sticker with the epa paper and another strange option paper that brings the total higher than the window sticker states:







all tucked away for the night:





the interior when i brought it home:



as i was digging into the right rear growling noise on my 944, i was hoping that i had diagnosed the issue properly. the issue that i'm having is that i hear growling, feel vibration, and can hear a clunking noise in the right rear over bumps. i was thinking i had a faulty wheel bearing set in the right rear and decided to start there. as i tore the right side down, it seemed as though the outer bearing had given up the ghost. the inner bearing looked fine. i'm going to replace both tomorrow and install the new seals that came in today. then i'll do the left side just to be safe. this is what i found on the right rear:

foul rust/water contaminated grease:



can see the issue right away:





doesn't look like the inner bearing has even been out:



outer bearing removed from the hub:





as the car sits now, waiting for me to finish the job tomorrow:



when i did the left side, one of the brake pad retaining pins mushroomed and i had to cut the end off and i drove it out with a punch. i actually used a pin from an 88 RX-7 TII and ground it down and smoothed it by hand and redrilled the retaining hole so that it would fit the 944. i plan on using this only until my new pin comes in today ot tomorrow and its just for the brake bleeding process. i'll hang onto it as a spare in case i ever need one in an emergency. here are some pics:

944 pin on the left, temp pin on the right:



temp pin on the top:



i also did the front brakes, replaced the pads and rotors and repacked the wheel bearings with fresh grease.

mazdaverx7

i've done a bit of work to it lately to my early 85 944 and wanted to share some updated pics of my progress.













ordered a new Porsche key and had it cut for the 944:



replaced the hatch pins:





blasted and painted the rear wiper arm:



refinished all of the wheel centers and replaced all of the lug nuts:



removed the gauges to clean the connections and replace all of the bulbs:





still need a shift boot:

mazdaverx7

while i was at it, i went to PA and picked up a nice set of original Porsche scrip seats. the original seats were leather and were wasted beyond repair and required a complete restoration..this was about $1300.. i paid $250 for these seats and i think they look great! thanks again Todd!!!! i can't thank you enough!

FRporscheman

Nice work! I love script seats, that fabric never wears out, and actually breathes! I love that dash cover - where can I get one?

mazdaverx7

the dash cover actually came with the car and was installed when i bought it. i'm not sure what brand it is but whoever glued it down did a terrible job in some spots. the script seats are actually really comfortable and have a good amount of cushion!

Rock

Niceee! Bring it to 944 fest! It is only like an hour away!

mazdaverx7

if i can make it i definatly will come!

ZR8ED

The story of my life with cars. This is how a $5k Porsche turns into the proverbial $10k Porsche that all talk about to newbies who find a "cheap deal" and figure they will drive it on the cheap! $10k up front or $5k in repairs/maint/cleanup/detail/mod.

Car looks good, now while your at it, polish those wheel lips a bit for the next pics!!

Keep at it.

mazdaverx7

i don't mind putting the money and time into this car. i got a good deal on it but it needed a lot and still does. but i'm ok with that. it runs excellent, drives straight, clutch is good, it shifts well...so its got a great starting platform for a nice restoration.

the wheels are really pitted.. and the left front is bent on the inside lip pretty bad. i may try and find a replacement set of cookie cutter wheels.

Hollywood D

Some #000 steel wool may help clean up the wheels a little bit and at least get the rust out of the pits

Nice work

mazdaverx7

thanks! i may give that a try. i have some extremely fine steel wool.. i was thinking that i'm going to order a new shift boot from rennbay tomorrow. they seem to be really nice and the price is fair!

mazdaverx7

ordered a new rennbay shift boot on friday! really looking forward to installing that!!!

mazdaverx7

the new rennbay boot went on with little trouble and makes the interior look a ton nicer!! the car is here at work with me but when i get off in the morning i'll be sure to post some pics!

mazdaverx7

i installed my rennbay shift boot a couple weeks ago but i finally got around to taking pics of it tonight. the quality is excellent and install, while frustrating, was not terribly difficult. it really makes the interior look much nicer and it feels nice when i shift through the gears. also took a couple more pics while i was out there.

mazdaverx7

here are some of the additional pics that i took today:





options sticker in the hatch area:





new belts:



something doesn't look right here: