I am the new owner of one of those "needs tlc" 944's and I have a few questions.

the car: 85 n/a that runs strong but sports a badly faded earl scheib paint job. Took it to a porsche shop and found out it needs:

-Oil cooler seal (done by same shop. hurt the wallet!)
-Tie Rods
-Motor mounts
-has transaxle leak coming from plate on pass side and there is a stripped bolt in there that needs retapped or heli coiled.
-Pwr steering pump leaks BAD.
-needs fr struts and lots of bushings

the plan:
-The car runs well and shifts well, but the tie rods make me feel like it's unsafe to drive. So that is the first thing I plan on doing.
-I am considering a manual rack and do away with all the probs associated w/pwr steer sys.
-trans leak will wait until I get it registered.
-struts and motor mounts at the same time as soon as I come up w/some cash.

Questions:
-Are the tie rods the same for pwr rack and a manual rack?
-I didn't see a tie rod section at Clarks Garage, what are the tricks for doing tie rods?
-Does Auto zone sell an inexpensive manual rack as well as the pwr one?
-What are the best jacking points for the car? Best place to place jack stands?
-What shocks and struts to get?
-without jacking car, how can you tell if trans is LSD? I didn't see a code for that in the vin.
-can non lsd trans be converted to lsd?
I am trying to get the most out of what i spend, cuz I don't have a ton of $$ to spend on the car soooo:

***What is the best value to be found (cheapest price and quality part) for tie rods, motor mounts, manual rack, struts, shocks and bushings?
***Has anyone had the leak in the trans or the stripped bolt? If so, how was the fix?

Thanx, Randy

 

You can rebuild the rack yourself for the cost of the $75 seal kit. If you are decently mechanical and are not afraid to make your own tools then you can do it.

I buy most of my parts from paragon online. They have the best service and competitive prices on parts. I would rather pay a couple bucks more for a part from them knowing that they will get it to me on time and I can call them if there is a problem with the part.

There is a picture of the jacking points somewhere on this forum, you will have to search for it. Basically the center of the car under the doors is one. I also use the front crossmember to jack up my cars but some people do not like to do that. I have yet to break a crossmember. I also use the front frame rails but with a piece of wood so I dont bend the frame rail because it is a bit thin. Dont jack the car up by the front fender it will bend that.

I also jack the rear of the cars by using a piece of wood on the transmission but do not blame me if it breaks your transmission mount. I have yet to have a problem but I am sure it is not good for the mount at all. If you jack the car up by the front crossmember or transmission expect it to be a bit unstable if you are not on completely level ground. Jack the car up at your own risk.

 

If you have the rebuildable Sachs struts, I have a new in box set of KYB inserts, Yours for a reasonable offer...

 

The tie rod ends are female for a power rack. Male for the manual. The car has a jack point in the middle on either side (look for the diamond shaped dent things on the rocker pannel to find it). You can use the frame rails or the crossmember for stands up front. There's a square notch for stands in the back, near the edge of the rocker. Also, there are two cone shaped places up front for stands, but only use these if you are lifting one side of the car. They will bend the floor pan if you try to have the entire front supported with them.

 

another good parts source for basics is www.autohausaz.com They seem real reasonable on non-performance maint. parts.
If you need other "used" parts, contact me and I can get you a price. We have tons of stuff on hand for 944s.

 

Where are you located?

Mark

 

I have an '84 that was converted from open diff to LSD by a dealer. Receipts show it was over $1500 back in the '90's.

 

Thanx for the replies. I am in Tempe, AZ. I found the pic someone mentioned about the jack locations and am pretty sure I have a handle on that. What I am concerned about is the tie rods. I read somewhere (here, clark's or pelican) that you don't need the tie rod puller to remove the tie rods (heat & bfh), but will i need to use one to install the new tie rods? if not, how do i do it?

 

North Nashville, TN

 

Take the tie rod end nut off the spindle. Hit the side of the spindle where the tie rod goes through. Hit it hard. Hitting it makes the hole for the tie rod end temporarily deform popping out the tie rod end. It does not hurt the spindle. Learned it from a mechanic and it works every time. Installing them is as easy as slipping the new one through the hole and tightening the nut properly. Sometimes the shaft will spin so you may have to put pressure on the tie rod end to hold it up in the spindle while you tighten the nut.

 

Anyone ever done the inner tie rod ends? Can they be done independently of replacing the entire tie rod? Any chance they can just be tightened to compensate for wear? Is there a plastic wear piece in them?

 

The inner tie rod screws onto the ends of the rack. You can use a large wrench to break them loose. The threaded end is under the rack boot area on each side. They usually do not come loose from the rack unit so tightening them to take slop out of the steering is not possible as far as I know. They are separate pieces from the outer tie rod ends.

 

+10 on Jay's method for the tie rods, it works well on any 944 especially with a PB Blaster pre-soak. Last weekend I had to use the hammer and a floor jack to apply slight pressure under the tie rods ends on my F250, those suckers are stout and would not release with just a hammer like most cars. The pitman arm tool was a joke.

 

Yeah, i replaced a set two weeks ago. No adjustment, when they have slop they are done and need replacement.

It doesnt deform the spindle, it just vibrates or "pops" it loose. And if you hit it once or twice really hard and it doesnt pop loose then I use a ball joint/tie rod seperator but a pickle fork will work if your careful not to rib the boots. I dont have a whole lot of luck hitting spindles to pop the tie rod.

Mark

 

You need a bigger hammer!