Z71will

I hate my 1985 944. But I love it at the same time. It’s a huge piece of junk that I’ve had for months and still haven’t got to drive yet. It has so many problems and every time I think about fixing it I immediately get turned off from it because of how many problems it has and the fact that I know nothing about how to fix anything on it and even if I did I don’t even have time to do it. I can’t afford to put it in a shop again. Where do I start? The seats need mounting brackets so they’re sitting in there loose right now. The interior looks like trash. Wires and junk all in the driver side floor board. Door panels and center console ripped out to where they’re just set in there. The steering wheel center part is ripped out. It’s overall nasty looking. The windows have crappy purple bubbled tint on it and old glue that won’t come off. The exterior is clean but the paint is sun faded and looks horrible. The cooling fans don’t work at all. The power steering pump bracket is missing. The timing belt needs replaced and I’m pretty sure there’s a leak somewhere in there where a seal is. 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. 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. There’s a ton of slop in the gear shifter. It has cheap eBay Chinese seats. The air box just flops around because the bolts on it are missing/broke. I can hear the air working but I don’t feel it blow anything out the vents. The headlights are stuck in the up position and the headlight motor won’t stop putting them up (it’s been disconnected now). 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. I have no idea what other problems will accumulate once I actually drive the thing. 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.

Semitone

I guess your uncle that hates you left it to you. Good thing you didn't buy it. That would really suck.

Enjoy your car. It's a keeper.

Z71will

Noahs944

Sell it for super cheap or give it away if it doesn't sell. Its a parts car & it sounds like your in no position to bring it back to life. Some cars aren't worth fixing. Move on to something that satisfies you and doesn't suck the life outta you brother.

Z71will

nkgosselin

I don't want to be a jerk, but a lot of this stuff is free/simple.

Overall, love the process, not the thing.

Have you bled the brakes?
Tidying up wires is FREE.
Sell the cheap seats on craigslist, buy used 944 seats, even if needing reupholster, better than non original
Take the tint off. Yes it is time consuming, but a few razor blades, and some goof off will see you through. Put some music on and stop whining about it.
Find some bolts and fix the airbox.
Read clarks garage.
Buy some used power steering brackets on eBay for like $25.
Make a list and start crossing **** off.


Follow this SEAL's advice:

1 Start off by making your bed

The barracks at basic SEAL training is a nondescript building in Coronado, California. Rooms are spartan, with a simple steel bed on which there is a mattress, two sheets and a grey blanket. Every morning, we would have to make our beds. If the task wasn’t done properly, we would be sent on a 10-mile run. Making my bed taught me the importance of getting my day off to a good start. Years later, when we finally captured Saddam Hussein in Iraq, I was intrigued to notice that he had never made his bed. It’s that kind of laziness that can lead to the downfall of any dictator.

2 Find someone to help you paddle

During my SEAL training, we had to learn to paddle a boat in a crew of seven. Sometimes, one of the recruits was a bit tired so we didn’t go as fast as the other boats and the officers would make us all do 500 press-ups when we got back to the beach. This taught me the meaning of team work. And also to never get in a boat with someone I thought was a bit of a loser.

3 Measure a person by the size of their heart

Just because you are small, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. The guy with the biggest flippers is not always the man you want next to you in a crisis. During one mission behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, I got stuck inside a tight tunnel. Fortunately, I was with a man who was only 5ft tall. He was able to run for assistance. Saddam Hussein had big flippers.

4 Get over being a sugar cookie

In all of SEAL training, there was no worse punishment than being coated in wet sand like a sugar cookie and not being allowed to wash for three weeks. One morning, after I had successfully completed an exercise, the instructor told me to roll in the sand. “Do you know why you are a sugar cookie?” he asked me. I replied that I didn’t. “Because life is unfair,” he said. This taught me that life was unfair. Get over it. **** happens. So what if you lose a leg in a car accident? At least, you’ve got one good one left.

5 Don’t be afraid of the Circus

The Circus was a brutal session of callisthenics that broke many SEAL recruits because they were afraid of it. I wasn’t afraid of it so it didn’t break me. If you’re frightened, you lose. Saddam Hussein was afraid of the Circus.

6 Be prepared to jump

In SEAL training, we had to find the quickest way of getting down from a 60-metre tower. I consistently failed this test by using the zip wire. It was only when I was prepared to throw myself off head first that I passed. The multiple leg fractures I incurred were more than worth it. Sometimes you just have to show initiative.

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life … And Maybe the World by William H McRaven (Michael Joseph, £9.99) Photograph: Michael Joseph

7 Don’t back down from the sharks

One of the more hellish exercises we had to endure as SEALs was a 15-mile swim through waters infested with great white sharks. Although we lost several good recruits that night, the rest of us got to experience what it felt like to get lucky. Saddam Hussein never went for a swim with sharks.

8 Be your very best in the darkest moments

At night, it is often hard to see what you are doing. During these hours, it is important to be the very best you can be. Always remember that while you are alive you are not yet dead.

9 Start singing when you are up to your neck in mud

During SEAL training, we were often made to bury ourselves in mud for weeks at a time. Singing helped to keep our spirits up. So make sure you join a choir. Being in a choir gives you hope. Saddam Hussein was never in a choir.

10 Don’t ever ring the bell

At Coronado, there was a bell that SEAL recruits could ring to signify they wanted to give up and watch TV. I never rang that bell. Ringing a bell, even on a bicycle, is a sign of weakness. Saddam Hussein rang the bell three times a day.

Noahs944

Okay... well based on your original statement there are things at conflict here. And I suspect this won't end well. I have been down this road before with my own purchases, so when I see others in this spot I suggest they end the suffering sooner rather than later.

But since you are keeping the car and fixing it I presume, I wish you the very best of luck mate! Be prepared for a real automotive education
Please post your progress.

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Well, think about how happy you made the guy who sold it to you! You, sir are now a wiser man and won't make an impulse purchase like that ever again.
Sorry but it's going to take a lot of work to get a grand out of what you describe, even in parts. jump!

tempest411

None of the oroblems described are more than minor repair jobs. Get to work!

Voith

Drive it to a middle of roundabout, soak it in gasoline and set it ablaze.

MAGK944

screamin94Z

So you're upset because you don't know how to do something that you've never tried to learn? Come on dude, take a look in the mirror.

There are no bad cars, just bad owners.

tifosiman

You made a poor, uneducated/non-researched buying decision. BTDT got the T-shirt. I won't bag on your for that, but word of advice - making a mistake and not learning from it is worse than making the mistake in the first place. Pouring $$ and time down the rabbit hole is NOT learning from it. Based on your attitude and comments in this post its apparent that you know you made a mistake - get rid of it and move on. Best of luck to you!

michaelo

"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 let it sit there forever. Be creative and make a flower garden out of it.

Semitone

Instead of making fun of you, which I already did. I'll try to be a bit helpful.

First, Is it inside? Do you have a garage you can work in? If the answer is no, sell this thing for whatever you can get. You'll be fighting the elements and time without a proper workspace.

Second, assuming you have proper workspace, you need to figure how much money you have to throw around and prioritize. What you need to buy. Not seeing the car in person it would be hard for me to assess the project.

Third Have you worked on old cars before? Sounds like you already had it in the shop? If so, I guess it ran when it left? If it ran when it left then the problem to get it running again can't be so bad to be insurmountable. In my experience you want to fix things as they break. Don't let them accumulate. Once you have three of four concurrent problems it becomes much more forbidding to me. I can handle one fix at a time but three just throws me in a funk.

Oops, It seems like you brought it ot the shop once!! So does that mean that you don't plan on doing your own work? If that's the case you need deep pockets.

So back to one, if you aren't going to do the work yourself...sell it....money pit.

If you are going to do your own work, just get it back to running and then make a list of the cosmetic stuff and space it out. You are going to have to enjoy getting your hands dirty. If you don't get rid of it.