Gasngo

Just joined up and looking at a 84 model 944 kinda a fixer upper. From images and talking to owner of car it was driver pretty regular up till a couple of years ago. The owner says he cant get the cooling fans on after a water pump T stat job. A steering leak also. The best I can see from images overall the car looks pretty good for the age. It appears to have some spots in the rt front fender about center behind the wheel possible rust. I wrenched on import cars for quite a few years and have worked on a few of these in the past. I just thought I would see what others would look for like common rust areas which I under stand the battery box which might be the issue with the fender? I all ears !

T. Jamison

Check the fuel tank. Early 944's have metal fuel tanks and can rust. I just bought an '84 and that is one of my MANY issues at the moment.

Gasngo

Ya something to consider. I figured I would smell for age but to take a general look all around and down the fill spout best as possible would be a good idea.

pfarah7

Gasngo, Where are you located? Perhaps someone on this forum lives near you and would be willing to inspect the car with you and make recommendations...

Gasngo

Im a hour west of Austin but the car is about 45 minutes north of Austin. Im still working out connections with the owner. Wit Thanksgiving holiday stuff trying to look at it Sat. morning. Theres no doubt somebody that has lived around these cars for a while will see things I dont. One of the reasons Im asking here. Like I said I put some time into working on these cars from brakes to water pumps to timing belts and more. I just have not bee around one lately so just looking for pointers. It suppose to run but I would be concerned about overheat and worse head gasket issue. The owner is a car guy and seemed pretty straight forward about what needed to done and included those issue in his for sale post. You usually find all that out when you get the car home.

pfarah7

I'd love to help but am located in New England. Best of luck with the car and wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Tiger03447

Tthese cars are slathered underneath with Wurth seam sealer which varies in thickness. Overall, it's about 1/8"thick. When doing some chasiss repairs under my '83, we found the metal underneath to be prisitne, and good for welding. You'll have to pull the transaxle to get the gas tank out, which is soldered assembly. You can get a better idea as to what's going on inside by pulling the strainer...Don't try to powder coat the tank. the oven heat is too much for the solder. Clean up, maybe bead or soda blast the exterior, and repaint with an epoxy paint..Check for leaks with a bunch of plugs (corks are good as well as a bathtub stopper or two) and a mighty vac. If you find a split seam you can re-solder with acid core solder and a heat gun...BTDT. HTH some.

harveyf

Hey,
Having owned an 84 and an 85, they are analog cars. As long as you have some experience wrenching, there shouldn't be anything you can't handle. The best place for DIY info is Clarks-Garage. My website also has a lot of good info.
Not to be Debbie Downer but cars that have reached the bottom of the maintenance curve will probably be price limited to $9944 (a popular price point if you look at auction history on BAT), no matter how nice you make it. Even if you get the car for free, you may wind up investing that much in parts and materials. But if you enjoy the journey, go for it.

For your reference. I paid $1000 for this car, invested $11,000.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1984-porsche-944-20/

Gasngo

Good morning Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the help. I have some images but respecting the owners privacy and not posting anything up. Ill ask. Im with you on the sealer I remember seeing that under the cars when I serviced them. The pics represent a fairly clean car [again considering its age] and to my surprise the seats and Interior look decent. Exterior looks pretty good maybe a dent drivers side lower 1/4 behind the wheel and as mentioned appears to be a cancer/rust spot on the rt ft 1/4 small rt in the middle. Until I get closer to really see it I wont know. The owner drove the car for a couple of years but has not driven it for the last 2ish I believe he said. He mentioned replacing some seals in the motor in the past but most recent and Im not sure what recent means a year ago 6 months he replaced the water pump and t stat and could not get the fans to come for cooling and lost interest. He bought another car to work on. He mentioned air pocket in the cooling system and we all know they are finicky when it comes to that. If it runs and sounds ok and I can drive it on a trailer thats a big plus. As for price point again I agree wheres the limit. If Im near the original purchase price sold on BT then Im good. After that make it road worthy and tinker from there like suspension and brakes Etc.

As for me I guess if retired is correct term then Im a retired Mercedes Benz Mech. I have worked on 914s to 930s / 190 SLs to 500s and alot of stuff in between. Saabs to Volvos even Fiats. I have set up D Jet to KE. Mechanical fuel injection whether it was air cooled or in a 280 SE. I dont know everything but I have had a lot of experience in the import industry and the mechanical side Im happy with I JUST DONT WANT TO DO A LOT OF BODY WORK.!

harveyf

"I have worked on 914s to 930s / 190 SLs to 500s "
Wow, that is a cool resume. If only there was a way you could bottle that experience and sell it
I'm not a big fan of bodywork but that is where the "sweat equity" is. If the body is reasonably straight on the car you are looking at, you should be good to go. Keep us posted.

harveyf

BTW bootleg copies of the Porsche WSM for the 944 can be had for not much money, on CD as a pdf. If you are used to German WSMs, you will find them very useful.
Also BTW, Clark Fletcher, who developed Clarks-Garage, was a trainer in the nuclear power industry. This explains the over the top detail on his website. Unfortunately, he died in a scuba diving accident but folks are keeping his website alive. Anyone that uses it should consider a donation to help keep it going.

Gasngo

Thanks Harvey and I dig you Website. Ill spend more time there for sure. Did I say Jags also. I even had some of those books you reviewed and still might boxed up somewhere. I know I loaned a couple out and never got them back. I started as a teenager in 1980 at a MB dealer in Waco Tx and progressed from there. I also worked for a importer/repair grey market shop middle 80s which I saw some cool stuff. True euro car HP a shame to DOT the stuff should have just let them go. The owner said it would be ok to post up some pics so Ill be back shortly once I get them out of the phone to the PC.

Gasngo

I have heard of Clarks but never looked into. At a glance very useful and would be more than happy to donate. I took a minute to find a repair center using the site and one shop in Texas was TPWS in Austin. I know Matt the owner not very well his older brother worked with me at independent shop in San Antonio sadly lost him a few year ago. I doubt Matt at TPWS is still 60 bucks a hour anymore. Pics next.

Gasngo

harveyf

If you don't like bodywork, this one seems to be a good car for you. It still shows a good amount of shine in the pictures. Look closely at the paint on the top of the hood and the roof. Those areas would be the first to go if the paint is trying to fail.

My general rule of thumb is to not try and start the engine until you clean out the fuel system and replace the timing belt. You could rotate it with a wrench just to make sure it's not totally goobered up. You will of course examine the oil and the coolant for signs of distress. Good luck.