Dan Martinic

A peek over at the Quotes thread sums it up: it'll only take $10,000 to make it a $5,000 car

If you were in love, I'd say go for it! Look how much the ladies cost us and we keep them.

But.. this sounds like a one-night stand. Start parting it out

Z71will

yorkee

The seats need mounting brackets so they’re sitting in there loose right now.
- is it the after market seat? If so, find a way to secure it. Otherwise, think about going back to original seat.
cost: $20 from hardware store to couple hundred getting original seat.

The interior looks like trash.
- clean it. you can use wet cloth, dish soap, car wash... cost: $0 (unless you dont have dish soap at home)

Wires and junk all in the driver side floor board.
- remove junk. tidy up wire if its all working. There might be a reason wire are out. po may trying to figure out some issue. (cost: $0)

Door panels and center console ripped out to where they’re just set in there.
- put it back. nothing more than just couple of screws. Worst case scenario, leave them out. you can still drive the car. (cost: less than $10 from hardware store)

The steering wheel center part is ripped out.
- pop it back in. its hold by 3 springs. (There is a period of time where I need to rip it out to use my horn while driving.) cost: $0


It’s overall nasty looking.
- you are buying a almost 30 yrs old car for $2500. It is part of car restoration.

The windows have crappy purple bubbled tint on it and old glue that won’t come off.
- get a razor blade to remove the tint. cost :$1-3 from dollar store / walmart
- get a bottle of wd40 and some albow greese to get the old glue out. cost: $5

The exterior is clean but the paint is sun faded and looks horrible.
- dont worry about it now. wax it will get it look good couple of days. you can put a new clear coat on it later on. cost :$10 for car wax

The cooling fans don’t work at all.
- http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/cool-01.htm $10 - 100 depends if its just a switch / relay or motor

The power steering pump bracket is missing.
- https://www.ebay.com/p/Porsche-94410...7831053&chn=ps
or
- https://www.ebsracing.com/product/ad...yABEgK1FfD_BwE

cost: $30 - $60

The timing belt needs replaced
- https://www.paragon-products.com/944...44-e-br-ep.htm
you may find it cheaper. cost $200

and I’m pretty sure there’s a leak somewhere in there where a seal is.
- which seal? http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/lube-08.htm
- any special tool can be loan from prepboys advance auto parts auto zone oreilly

depends on whcih seal. usually cost around $10 a pop

The brakes barely work, like I have to press them as hard as I can and even then they barely stop while only moving 2 mph.
- bleed the brake. $10 a big bottle of brake fluid, get a 8mm wrench and go to home depot to buy a hose for maybe $2, get a buddy to help you pump the brake
cost : less than $20


The brand new battery is already dead and something is draining it or something because even when I jump the car off as soon as I remove the jumper cables the car dies immediately.
- get a multi-meter from harbor flight (sometimes they give out for free with purchase) and start tracing down where its draining the battery. You might be lucky that you just need to clean the terminal (cost $0)

cost: maybe $10 for a multi-meter

There’s a ton of slop in the gear shifter. I
- https://www.only944.com/partscatalog/only/shifter/ . Or google "944 shifter fix" If you are cheap, you can get away with couple dollars worth of bolt and washer.

cost: from $10 - 70

it has cheap eBay Chinese seats.
- if its usable, use it. otherwise shell out some money for the original seat. you can buy a crappy beat up seat then spend $300-400 for a nice set of seat cover.
cost: from $0 - 500


The air box just flops around because the bolts on it are missing/broke.
- put some bolt back on. cost: maybe $20 from hardware store / fastanal

I can hear the air working but I don’t feel it blow anything out the vents.
- read this then determine what is broken. http://www.clarks-garage.com/pdf-manual/hvac-02.pdf



The headlights are stuck in the up position and the headlight motor won’t stop putting them up (it’s been disconnected now).
- http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/elect-21.htm most likely step 5
cost $0

The keys I got for it aren’t original and they’re just some cheap keys that you gotta jiggle a ton to do anything with them.
- call the dealership with the vin your prove of ownership. they can make one for you.
cost $30 or so, depends on dealership

I have no idea what other problems will accumulate once I actually drive the thing.
- you are buying a 30 years old car. problems will continue pop up even if you by a clean pristine 944. If you don't want to deal with car problem, get something newer, or get something with a reputation of reliable, like a Corolla.
cost: time

I can’t sell it because I already put $2500 total into it and I know I can’t sell it for near that much in its current condition so I have to keep it. I have no idea what to do and it’s just been sitting at my house for forever because I can’t stand it. I wish I never bought it and want it gone but nobody wants this piece of junk and I have no motivation to fix it due to how many problems it has so it’s just gonna sit there forever.
- So may poster above already speak out. But seriously, you paid $2500 to buy a 30 years old Porsche. Of course there will be labor and time and money put in it. Indeed, if you buy a $2500 car, any car, chances are, it's very likely require some work. You should feel lucky that a 944 is less likely have to deal with rust.



Really, nothing crazy from the list you mentioned. Take the list above, priority it and work it down one by one. (I will replace the timing belt first, then trace out the battery/elec issue next.)

If there is new problem come up, add it to the list and re-priority it.

Wisconsin Joe

Well, first off:

That $2500 is gone. You won't get it back. Period.
If you want to keep the car and get it on the road, plan on spending at least that again. Probably more.
Sorry, but that's the reality of getting a 'cheap' Porsche (or any other exotic).

The general rule is to spend as much as you can on the purchase and get the best possible car. It's always more expensive to buy a 'cheap fixer upper'. Especially if you don't do your own work.

From where I sit, you have 3 basic choices:

1 - Keep it and fix it.
2 - Part it out.
3 - Sell it.

1 - It will take a lot of time and money to get this one going. Prioritize the tasks. I'd go: Brakes, charging system, TB, wiring, 'other engine stuff', interior. None of this is rocket science. There are writeups on how to do it. I would throw an easy job between the harder ones for some 'sense of accomplishment' as you move forward. For example, there are tricks to removing the tint and glue. Search online and you will find them. Put a little time into it on a regular basis and progress will happen. But it will take time, patience, persistence and money.

2 - Parting it out will get you the most money. Dismantle it and sell the individual parts. However, it's a lot of work. Taking it apart, listing and selling the parts, packing and shipping them. Storing what doesn't sell right away (or ever).

3 - From your description, this is either a 'parts car' or salvage. I don't see anyone paying much for it as it sits. If you can get someone to offer $1k for it, take it and be really happy. Write off the rest as an expensive lesson in impulse purchases.

jhowell371

Take what $$ you can get and chalk up it as relatively cheap lesson, remember when you find yourself in hole the first thing to do is stop digging it deeper. You should be so lucky as to have this the most expensive mistake you ever make Save your money and buy a car someone else has poured money into. Cold way to look at it but that's the way it is with cars, airplanes, boats or any expensive toy. YMMV

tempest411

If not I were you, but you were I, you'd work multiple jobs and wrench in the rain in the middle of the night to fix it. Except the other night...I draw the line at a swarm of mosquitos. I must have been bitten 20 times!

mikehayes

I like Yorkee's take on this. I sympathize with you for being down about what feels like an insurmountable goal, but the thing is, you don't need to singlehandedly raise this thing from the dead in one day. You have a running cool car, you're a hell of a lot closer to driving than a lot of people I know. Fix that brakes (see yorkee's post for good advice), make an adapter bracket for the driver seat out of some hardware store angle iron, and boom, you can drive the car. Do you need a nice interior to enjoy driving a car? Hell no. These cars are world renowned for being enjoyable, good handling cars. Get it to a state where you can safely drive it, one small step at a time, and then go enjoy the results for a while before you start tackling the less critical stuff.

pfarah7

Question to the original poster: Where do you live? Perhaps someone from the Porsche Community can lend a hand, thereby giving you some incentive. Trust me, there are many of us that can become overwhelmed when several issues come at us from all sides. My humble advice is to write down (I use MS Excel) every problem that comes to mind, along with a rough estimate of time/material costs. Once completed, focus on performing the easiest and quickest job to gain some feeling of early-on success. After completing a couple small projects, you'll notice that perhaps there is a light at the end of that restoration tunnel. Good luck and remember, this is a hobby so try enjoy the journey.

Z71will

marc abrams

Good idea. Sometimes you got to

Patrick3000

OP - I have a similar 44.

Start with one project finish that and then move on to the next.

Dont be afraid to ask for help!

Dan Martinic

I'm willing to bet many 924/944/951 owners wrench under less than ideal conditions. Personally, I practice my chops under a plastic tarp garage often in February with temps around -20 to -30 Celsius. Last winter, doing the clutch, I went out and bought a propane heater. And four bottles of brandy.

944Time

>I think I’m just gonna cut my losses and sell it. The body, engine, and transmission are in great shape. It just has a ton of other little problems if anyone is interested. Let me know

Sounds like a wise decision, although I'd guess you could get more for it by parting it out.
Derelict 944's don't sell for very much.

We can all learn two things from this thread:

1) Look before you leap.
2) Under no circumstances join the SEALs!

tempest411

The OP is giving up too easily. I'd recommend he never get married and/or have kids. That can be like his 944 x 100. All are worth it in the end though.

NS_Carguy

so do you have some pics so we can see what you are really dealing with ?
how many miles on the car ect .

one thing that might help motivate you is start a build thread on here , post your project and post the updates . you will get lots of ppl following it and giving you relevant advice on the issues you encounter as you encounter them .

one other question . why a 944 ? have you always liked Porsche or was it a pure impulse thing . if someone cam along with a early c4 corvette with similar issues in similar condition would you swap them cars and be happy to work on the corvette ? or an old C7 jeep . that might be an option . if you really dont love the 944, think about looking for someone to swap projects with . it doesn't cost anything to post it on craigs list or kigigi . the important thing is to get you to a point where you are motivated to work on your project , weather that is the 944 or something else .