Thurston944

The time has come to part with my 87 944 NA due to an electrical short.

I bought the car just after college and have had it about 8 years here in Indianapolis, where it's been maintained by Bob Farmer.

I took the car in to Bob late in the summer because the climate control blower was not working. When Bob started looking into it, he found that a short had caused a wire to melt along with several others attached to it in a bundle coming out of the fuse box. As he tried to pull the wires apart and trace the short, the car began to have many additional issues and he was unable to trace the short. At this time, he let me know he's probably going to have to put more time into the car than what the car is worth.

I just wanted to post the basics to see what you all think is the best way to sell it or if anyone is interested in parting it out or trying to fix it.

The good:
-Car runs great.
-I have the leather door panel and lower dash option. This was described by a friend as the "all leather option"? It's black leather on cream carpet.
-Interior is in excellent condition beyond the typical cracked dash.
-I believe the car is mechanically solid. Bob Farmer will vouch for that.
-The car has turbo sway bars installed. I still have the originals as well.
-I have a set of 15" phone dials with snow tires and 16" phone dials with Potenza RE750 tires.
-Shocks replaced a few years ago.

The Bad:
-The cooling fan is not running consistently, and the gages go out intermittently, so the car is not really drivable long distance until the fan is rewired.
-one of the RE750's is blown (went flat and damaged sidewall)
-Exterior Zermatt Silver paint is not in great condition. Lots of paint chips, clear coat peeling, and a few dings. Undercoat is silver though, so it looks ok from 10' away.
-The seats are also in excellent condition, but I plan to switch them with a set of sport seats recovered in vinyl from the 82 911 SC that I decided to replace this one with.

Mileage: 144,000 (from memory)

Send me any questions.
Thanks,
Dustin

75ohm

You ever thought about replacing the wiring harness?

troy928

So Bob Farmer was asked to fix a small electrical problem, then made it worse, then was to inconsiderate to fix the problem? Sounds like typical Farmer...doesn't like watercooled Porsche's or anyone without deep pockets!

Thurston944

True, Bob's not a fan of the watercooled cars, but I think the 928 and 87 944S are his least favorites.

Sure, on one hand the car ended up in worse condition after I took it in, which admittedly looks bad. However I still consider myself lucky to have Bob around. I don't think there's anyone around that can match his experience/knowledge of these cars or match his rates.

In any case, a whole bundle of wires fused together. The fact that they were all fused together kept everything working. He spent a lot of time trying to isolate the shorted wire until he got to the point that he realized he was causing more problems by pulling the wires apart and still wasn't sure what was shorted. At that point he told me he could stop now and not charge me while the car was still drivable or he was going to end up putting more time into it than it was worth. Considering these cars seem to be worth more in parts than they are running, it seemed like the most reasonable thing to do was to stop there.

Any opinions on what my car is worth whole or in parts?

troy928

Hi Dustin,
One, you could sell the car as is....there is a guy in Covington KY, and one in Cincy I beleive that specializes in parting out 944's

Two, you could fix it yourself with the help of a few fellow rennlisters here In Indy. We have an informal watercooler club that meets twice a month at different locations on the north side. Some extremely knowledgeable fellows that wrench their own cars. Having both a 928s4 and 944 they've been a world of help for me!
PM me if you like more info...

Cheers, Troy

SamGrant951

what do you want for it?

Josh B

I think that shop is in the know. The proprietor explained to me that is was ok he used Bar's Leaks to keep the coolant system plugged up on a 951 I bought up there. Needless to say I flushed that asap.

Indy Rev

+1 on the Indy Water cooler Group. There's a wealth of knowledge there and we'll do anything for beer.

Po924S

If your parting I'd love me some factory leather door panels...

Thurston944

Really sorry guys... I've had a busy winter and just haven't touched the car yet. Also, I didn't realize there were additional responses after Troy's. I would like to be in the loop on future Indy meetings. I was a little more involved several years ago and went to what I think ended up being the last 944 fest.

I keep thinking of a lot of different ways I could go. In any case, I plan to sell it in a drive-able condition. If someone really wants the leather door and lower dash panels, I guess you can make me an offer. The seats are in really good condition and I ended up putting them in my 911 because the 911 had been recovered in vinyl, which is just kind of sticky. It turns out the 911 seats don't fit in the 944 well though. Ultimately, it seems to me that parts of my interior deserve a better home and the rest could probably make a good parts or track car. Ideally, I'd like to find someone

Sam, I'd probably take $2k for everything, including extra set of wheels & tires. -minus seats. Probably a little more to give up my 944 seats. I haven't kept up on values lately, so call me out if I'm out of the ballpark.

Also forgot to mention that I have a nice set of black mats in the car, including one for the rear deck.

Arominus

I would just look for a new harness, it may not be fun to install, but you'd get to keep your car.