Well this must be the first time I am posting here without asking you folks questions on an early 944 with the problems Ive had since I acquired the car. I guess I should finally introduce myself...

I got my car in August 2005 as a belated graduated present from my brother. Before him it had 2 owners according to carfax.com (although prior to 1993 this cannot be verified). He picked it up from a used car lot that was closing which was run by a good friend of his in 1998. At the tender age of 18, I was the lucky one to drive it home. He then took it to a Porsche shop to get things working properly (mostly electrical and clutch/timing belts/water pump). He drove the car 5,000 miles, only mods being a hot air intake, lightweight throttle cam, and rear KYB shocks. He took it to a few auto-x sessions in NNJR region and stickered the car. Some time later he got sick of it, just drove it occasionally, let his wife take it out, his bro-in-law take it out etc... Finally, things got busy for him and the car sat for 1yr. Back when I was 13, he told me that if I finished college in 4 years, he would give me "a 944". I was hoping it would be a 85.5 or later, but after driving his, wouldnt mind it. A year ago, we looked at a gold '88 951. The car had minor body damage, some surface rust and an unknown owner history. The car ran but smoked somewhat. Back then, he offered me the '84 or would contribute to buying the 951. I thought about it long and hard and wanted the 951 but couldnt come up with the rest of the cash. At the time I was so infatuated with the 951, I didnt even give the 84 a thought. Again the car sat 6mo. Finally, August 2005, he came to me and said he wanted to free his driveway of space and offer me the 84 944 again. I decided to take it and make it a project car.



When I came to look at it, the car had water in the rear footwells, the carpet throughtout was wet, the leather had detioraed and deformed, mold everywhere and the car wouldn't start.





I towed it home and began to work on it. First thing was I removed all decals / stickers. I cleaned out the interior as best I could and first priority was to get the engine running. I ended up replacing the DME relay and the DME unit and got the car to start. Turned out a year of moisture and condensation got a little water to build up in the engine harness and DME. After cleaning that all out, replacing every fuse, I installed my new to me DME.

Then I began work on the interior. With the rear carpet soaked, I decided, I best take it out, replace the soaked sound dampening, shampoo and steam clean carpet, and while this is all going on, replace the door and sunroof seals. About 2 weeks later, time for reassembly...



Also I mentioned when I got the car, the seats looked like this...



I searched high and low for a replacement set and got a pair out of a newer 944 for a great deal. So I replaced the hardware and re-installed them with a friend, then vacuumed out the interior.







So with a clean interior, i went to work on all the issues to get the car roadworthy again. One by one, I replaced many relays (turn signal, cooling fan, fan blower, DME). With the turn signals, I had to end up replacing the switch itself. eBay was a big help in many of my parts searches.

So I insured the car and began driving it a few short trips. When I went to drive it to a friend's lift to flush coolant, i noticed the car would stall out on me. Regardless of accelerating, idling or coasting, the car would just shut off. I also noticed the battery light would be somewhat dim when the motor was on. I went ahead and flushed the coolant and replaced the alternator, but the problem was still there. With a cold December, i decided i'd leave the car at the shop with my friend's dad to replace my speed and reference sensors. 2 months later and a ton of money, I got my car back.

So here we are, yesterday morning. ON a whim, maybe an impulse move, I decided to drive her to my friend's body shop to respray the car and fix some exterior rust. The idea was, i'd just get an estimate and then be on my way, and start saving. Well the estimate came out to be very reasonable for me and I left the car with him and gave him the green light: $2200 to respray the car completely with clear coat and factory paint, replace or clean up all exterior trim, emblems, stickers, stoneguard, replace a rusted through front passenger fender and repair a previously mis-repaired qtr panel that is now bubling with rust and has cracked. I will be visiting the car later this week to help source out exterior trim pieces and do-dads. This will probably be the last major expense for the 944 for most if its life, at least till after im married in a year or so. Then i'm thinking a full engine rebuild. As of right now, I'm keeping it as stock as possible. I must say, that new issue of excellence gave me some motivation, maybe a little more justification to throw some $$ into the car as by a promise, i'm not allowed to sell it. With the market value (albeit somewhat optimistic) goin up on early 944s, I can justify the work im doing. I've always wanted a 944 and here I am with one. Taking it to the gym and walking back to it, with all the new modern cars parked around her, she stands out, looking very vintage. Even spotting them on the street, in my case, very rarely, the car is still pleasing to look at, and what better else to improve its image other than a freshening.

I hope you enjoyed my little story and will be offering pics of the progress in bodywork to this thread if anyone's interested. I am very psyched and can't wait to see what the guys at the shop will come up with!!!

 

thats awsome! ive had a few of those projects myself and the completed project is always worth the money. Keep those pics coming!

 

hey man dont forget to seal up ur battery tray so ur car doesnt fill with water again. had this happen to mine and i just fixed it up with some POR-15. nice project tho and good luck!

 

It looks like the project is coming along nicely!

 

looks really nice, good luck on the project. Oh by the way since your car is gettign painted why not as a 924 turbo vented nose panel, they look really good on those cars. Someone on here has for for sale right now

Brandon

 

wow what a wonderful idea check it out http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Turbo...spagenameZWDVW

 

I'll be looking forward to seeing pics of the completed car!

 

Looks like you have a VERY nice specimen there, your hard work really shows! I do have 1 quick question though...

In summary, does this mean replacing the speed/ref sensors cured your "random shut-off" problem? I have the same problem and I was thinking the sensors may be to blame, even though they were replaced ~2.5 years ago. My DME fuel pump relay is new.

 

Sean,

Yes, apparently my reference sensor bracket was broken and that sensor also was making contact with the flywheel, hence the car stalling out. With new sensors and bracket, the problem was solved....The whole time I had it, it seemed like an electrical issue, hence why I changed the alternator to a new one. Hope that helps. Does your car start up right after? How old is your alternator?

 

Good Luck and have fun.

 

Looking good. 44andmoreparts.com has a lot of the pieces and can get you some new as well. Paragon has your full selection, Pelican, Zims...there are plenty of good sources for parts out there.

 

some updates

Well Wednesday I went to the bodyshop to get a list of all the plastic trim pieces, gaskets, seals I will be replacing. I decided to take some pics of the car.









I already ordered my replacement fender and trim pieces the last few days since I took these. Ill have more progess pics next week.

 

Looks like a nice car. Good Luck with it.

 

Looks good. Wish I had remembered to shampoo the carpets while I had my seats out...

 

Joel, taking the seats out is pretty simple. All you need is an allen key socket (forget the size). The only hard this is wrestling them out if your a small guy like me. Dont be like me and use the allen key trying to get them out, it will take you forever. Just buy the freaken socket which cuts down to take it out by like an hour!