you're a nice guy. i'm not nice enough to do what you're about to get into.

by the time it's over you'll probably be cursing at yourself a few dozen or hundred times.

 

I had a tough time getting through your post - I'm not sure why !!! But how true..

 

That's great advice on the timing belt - I hadn't even thought of that.

 

It sounds like you've got a plan, but I'd draw some lines in the sand before opening the hood.

You've probably been down the Pcar slippery slope before, but this thing will have more than average "while I'm in there" items. It could turn costly if you decide to do past a batt charge, air in tires, and fresh fuel. I think thats where I'd draw my line.

Yep, the TB could snap as soon as it cranks, or it could last another 20K miles. Its a gamble, but if you go in there, you probably should do the BS belt, and possibly WP and rollers, also. Pray the front seals aren't leaking or that will be another item that you can't pass by. If you decide to do the WP, hopefully the hoses will come off gracefully.

You mentioned it was a really nice example 18 years ago when you bought it, but its been through multiple owners since. Is it still really nice?

This isn't intended to be a downer, but odurandina's post above may be very prophetic in the next few weeks/months. That, and the whole "doomsday" thing Sat evening

 

Yeah, Saturday could make this all a moot point. How well do you think the A/C will work when driving through hot lava?

I realize this is a potential sinkhole, but I'm trying to help my sister-in-law first and foremost, and salvage a car with some family history second. I don't want to lose $ on the deal in order to get it on the road, for sure.

As it sits, it is probably worth lets say $1500. Tires , towing, battery, mech fees, and some misc stuff probably 3-4,000 total and the car is probably worth 7-8,000? it's a lot of risk and hassle in order to net an additional 1500 or 2,000 dollars. Throw a timing belt etc (let alone a clutch!) into the mix and there is no way to even break even.

It was and has always been a pretty good looking car - black/black, no accidents or rust. It should clean up nice.

So I guess the line in the sand will be towing, battery,flush fuel system and fix fuel line, get it started,then clean it up. At that point stop and evaluate the options.

 

It lives!! We put the fuel line on, new battery, some fresh gas and it started right up. It runs pretty good, everything works and it goes down the road well. Clutch and timing belt/ water pump were replaced at 88k miles back in 2003. I spent Saturday cleaning up the exterior; it looks pretty fair for this old of a car. I think I'll leave the interior to the pros.

I have two big concerns o far:

1) there is a huge rattle coming from the exhaust, my mechanic thinks it is a cracked down pipe or crossover pipe.

2) the timing belt has only 8,000 miles but it's 8 years old, do I change it? There wasn't any cracking as far as we could tell.

Any thoughts or other things I should look for?

 

change the T belt. Time is harder on them than mileage is. Maybe post up some info, pictures, and list of options here on rennlist and you may just send it to a happy home. It's nice knowing a car that been in the family is going to a loving home, all the while helping the Sis. I'm sorry for your loss and this may be a way of moving on with respect.
Would also like to see the 930...pics please.

 

Thanks for the kind words on my Brother. I'll get some photos up once the clean up is done.

 

So far, we have replaced the battery, a fuel line, one motor mount, 3 window switches, the guts of the passenger mirror and installed new tires. I ebayed up a good crossover pipe for $95.00 (2200 !!! from Porsche) which will go on after the holidays; hopefully that will take care of the weird noise from the exhaust. The car runs and drives quite nice after the new tires went on; I had forgotten how much fun these cars are to drive. Next after the crossover pipe is detailing the interior. My Bro had installed a Kenwood stereo at some point, with Polk Audio speakers, which sounds good. Probably the biggest surprise was that all the electrical bits work - lights, cruise control, etc. More to follow!

 

Thanks everybody for the advice and help on this car. Today it went to it's new buyer, and I feel pretty good about the mechanical soundness of the car. It ended up taking a lot more time than I thought, but it was worth it to know that the 944 lives on and didn't end up getting parted out. It turned out to be a pretty nice car - looked good and drove great. I forgot just how nice the 944's are to drive. And my Sister - in - Law is going to appreciate the $ at long last. Thanks for all the help! Dave

 

Great out come and fantastic you got it back on the road for someone else to enjoy and love.