BMX2FOUR7

I am looking at buying my first 944 from a buddy at work. It is a 1984, black, 5sp, with black mesh type wheels. Cosmetically the outside is very nice my buddy works in the body shop and had done a full repaint before he put the car away. The interior is pretty dirty and full of 'junk' so i couldn't get a real good look at it. The bad part is that he parked it in his garage 5 years ago when he bought a new car and a new truck and let it sit. He never started it or drove it again. He is a pretty trustworthy guy and he said it drove fine when he had it out but he lost interest when he bought his new vehicles.

Is 500 a good price for the car? If I do get it out I'm thinking its going to be wise to drop the tank empty and clean it, new fuel pump, new fuel filter, new spark plugs, new cap and rotor, try to do cleaning of fuel lines and injectors(or carbs? was the 84 944 injected?) and then go from there.

Just looking for some advice seeing as i'm new to the 944.

KY944S

You need more details. Timing belt, water pump, etc. Where is the car located? maybe one of these guys around here could take a look and tell you what it needs.
Pix wouldn't hurt.

KY944S

CHANGE THE BELTS FIRST!!! Timing belt is a must....

Keithr726

You get what you pay for

moorepower

$500 is "probably" a good deal if you do your own wrenching to get it running again. Definitely do all the things you listed, but more importantly, replace the timing belts, rollers, and water pump immediately. These are kind of the Achilles heel of these cars, and if they break, you basically destroy the cylinder head. If it's been sitting for 5 years, I wouldn't even try to start it without this service.

Oh, and all 944's are fuel injected. No carbs.

Good luck.

sbyrne

Things like brakes and oil seals tend to go when they sit for a while, as well. As above, if you can fix stuff yourself, might be an OK deal, but if you start paying someone else, it adds up FAST. You might want to find someone familiar with these cars to take a look at it.

82-T/A

You MUST be able to work on the car yourself, and do nearly all the repairs yourself, otherwise don't bother. It becomes very addicting though. If you're anything like me, you can't stand for one piece of the interior to look nice, and not have the rest look the same. I bought a similar condition car. A 1984 NA/944. I bought it for $1,200 bucks, non-running. It ended up being nothing more than a starter, but it idled great. The interior however was absolutely horrible. The previous owner sprayed the ENTIRE interior with black spray paint... including the carpet. It just looked absolutely disgusting. All the buttons and switches were painted over, he accidentally painted the gauges, and then tried to clean the plastic faces with brillo pads (that's smart...). The seats were aftermarket, and were attached with drywall screws in the floor boards.

I'm about 80% finished with the interior, but it's really starting to come along. But, I'll have almost $1,400 dollars into the car, in parts, when I'm done... and that doesn't even include the timing belt service (which I might have a dealership do just so I can get the work warranteed).

When you add up everything you WILL spend on the car, consider what it would cost you if you just spent that up front on a much nicer car?

I see very decent condition Porsche 944s go for around $2,000 bucks on eBay all the time.

Jay Gratton

If nothing else it would make a nice parts car to make a few $$$$ on. But hopefully it won't be a problem to fix it either.

GodSpeed

post where you are located, maybe someone here can look at it for you.

Dynamite 76

If you decide to pass please give me a shout if in my vicinity.

Legoland951

A 944 with good paint and body for $500 is a no brainer as far as I am concerned. But again there is really nothing that can break on a 944 I have not fixed before.

Mighty Shilling

and... dropping the gas tank ain't easy...
but like others have said, timing belts, rollers, seals, etc. etc. usual stuff for a car that's sat for a while...

Legoland951

Out of all the 944s I have seen, I've yet encounter one where I needed to remove the tank from rust. Most of the time, the car starts with new gas and the lifters tick for about 15 minutes or less unless the fuel pump is dead.

FRporscheman

If you can turn a wrench, and don't mind spending some time sorting it out, you should buy it. Like Legoland said, $500 for a nice looking 944 is a no-brainer for the mechanic.