theiceman

What you are basically doing is a feasability study. I would not even change the belt till you know it starts. I would remove all the belt covers and inspect it. If it looks at all tatered or frayed put a new one on. if it looks in good shape try to turn it over by hand and make sure the water pump isn't seized. If all is good find out from the owner why he parked it , turbo issues? clutch ., head gasket ? all possiblities. Do your gas and oil, recharge the battery. turn on the ignition and see if you have lights and camera. .. check all lights and electrical functions. Verify and fix all this. Check for rodents in exhaust , in engine baty etc. Personally I iwoul just see if it turns over and go from their. If it does and fires up yand idles ( which I think it will ) you can then decide to spend more money .. and yes the timing belt /water pump will be first. If the engine detonates then so be it , you never payed for it anyway and it failed yor feasability study.

teamking

Thanks for the responses.

I'll tow it with the rear sway bar; and turn the engine manually before trying anything else.

iceman: I think you understand exactly what I'm trying to do. I want to wade into this pool as slowly (inexpensively) as I can so that I can get out with minimal exposure. That said, I want to avoid doing anything stupid that ruins the whole project when it could be avoided.

As far as the history of the car: it was parked because the owner got a new car. He claims there were no issues with the car when he parked it. He even fired it up every week or two for a few years. In fact, he was doing that for both his 944's but, for some reason, the other one overheated and blew its head gasket, he said.

AndyK

You should post some pix of the car, so we can see what you are getting yourself into! Gold with red??

Good luck. Just because the car is free doesn't mean it wont cost you plenty to fix!

Techno Duck

You know what they say.. there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche. In this case a FREE one... better take out a 2nd morgage .

JEC_31

I was wondering about the other car. NA? Model year?

I wonder if the Other Car leaked out it's coolant into the gravel, so that your neighbor never noticed it. Then he fired it up and went in the house to make a sandwhich or something and oops - overheat.

One thing about these cars (Porsches in general) is that they don't like long-term cold storage - or even short-term in some cases. They like to be used, preferably on a daily basis. Many components seem to mysteriously fail after sitting still too long - and not just hoses and gaskets but electrical items as well. When I brought a 928 back from the dead, the more I ran it the more little things popped up. I fixed most of them, but felt bad selling it (had to) knowing that if someone didn't open and close the sunroof every day it would begin to stick again.

However - you have the luxury of tossing out the window any luxury items that puke. AC? Power seat controls? HA! The Track Car scoffs at such un-neccessities.

Anyway, take some pics - we love pics - and keep us posted on this quite interesting journey you're embarking on with this 951.

teamking

The other car, my neighbor claims, is the first 944 to be sold in this country by Porsche, which I believe makes it an 83. NA, of course. His current car is the first Mercedes SLK55 with the V8 to come off the boat. Same deal with his previous Mercedes convertible. This is what he does.

Anyway, your story of the coolant on the ground sounds almost exactly like the story he told. Guess he's not the only one!

JEC_31

It's just one likely theory. If the 951 is not salvageable, check out the Legendary First American 944.

First off the boat? That's nice. I work in the car industry, and from what I've seen I know to avoid like the plague any early-build cars from ANY carmaker, as they will have all of the unrealized engineering design flaws, materials flaws, not-yet-tuned components, and assembly mistakes built right in. Cruising the Cayman forum a while back, I gathered that the first brave souls to take the neat little croc racing are breaking things left and right - things that will probably be tuned in and redesigned over the next couple of years of production.

But it's still a collector's item.

theiceman

I know what you want to do because that is exactly what I did, so i understand your thinking. I think once you get it started you will have a much better idea .. but heed the timing belt/ water pump concerns. I have to be carfull what I say here but I ownwd a 944S for 8 years and found it just a big money pit, My car was not as bad a shape as yours by any means but I just found it expensive. I traded it straight up for a 78 911sc and haven't looked back. Good luck and let us know how it goes..

teamking

50,341 miles are on the odometer.

So, iceman, you are saying that I should inspect the timing belt, but not replace it, before attempting to start the car. A calculated risk. Do others agree or disagree?

Rock

A timing belt is made of rubber. That being said.

Would you use a 10 year old condom?

Theres your answer.

Bill Lucas

"A timing belt is made of rubber. That being said.

Would you use a 10 year old condom?

Theres your answer."



Not with your ----.

cjeckert

If it sat for almost a decade to start it on the belt it has now is tempting fate and might throw away a perfectly good engine if it were to fail, rubber simply put degrads with time and by know will be brittle and pretty much molded the the shap its currently in.

theiceman

The timing belt is actually a multi layer re-enforced composite .. but hey it's your money.. The changing of it is pretty straight forward , if you have the tensioning tool .... Don't get me wrong I KNOW first hand the timing belt is a weak link. I am just trying to keep things in perspective. How many cars do you know of have broken the belt after sitting for long periods vs how many cars have not .

Good luck

teamking

My saga ends: the deal fell through.

When we spoke last weekend, my neighbor had forgotten that he had already promised to give the cars to his son-in-law in New Mexico.

He did say he would talk to him about selling it to me. So maybe this can be revived. What would you be willing to pay for an 87 Turbo with 50,000 miles that hasn't moved in 10 years?

EDIT: 1/10/07 Deal revived.

Bill Lucas

I'd shop for one with more miles that has been moved and maintained in the past 10 years. Your neighbors car will take thousands to update. If you're going to spend that kind of money in the long run then buy one that's already been properly maintained.