Pre 85.5 advice needed
03-07-2012, 12:26 PM
#1
5th Gear
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Pre 85.5 advice needed
Hello everyone, this is my first post and I am hoping to buy my first 944 soon, so please bare with me.
An old friend of my mothers has a pre 85.5 944 he wants to sell. He offered the car to me ten years ago for $2500 and said it needed a new clutch. Being a 23 year old non-mechanic, I passed on it. Two days ago I passes by there and he still had it, so I stopped in to ask if he would like to sell it. Well he says the timing belt had broke and he had to buy a new head for it but the mechanic who installed it wasn't sure if it was 180 degrees out or not so he has never tried to start it. Now the price is a whopping $300. Although this seems to be a great price, the car has obviously been sitting for a long time. My guess would be more than a year. The body looks to be in good shape, the interior has the wear and tear of most cars at this age but it looks to be complete. At the moment, all I know about the car is that it has the older style dash and the body doesnt have any dents.
I am thinking of buying the car as a project and was thinking of putting in an LS1 and upgrading the trans to a 968 unit, but I believe the trans mounting was changed at some point during the 944 production and I don't know if the 968 trans is a direct bolt-in for the earlier models.
I'm mainly asking if there is any reason to avoid the early 944's as a swap candidate? Are these cars bad about rusting out, is there any place in particular I should look for rust?
I am sure that I am going to buy the car, hell, as an absolute last resort, I might can sell some hard to find parts and get my money back for scrap iron.
Thanks in advance for any light you folks may shed.
An old friend of my mothers has a pre 85.5 944 he wants to sell. He offered the car to me ten years ago for $2500 and said it needed a new clutch. Being a 23 year old non-mechanic, I passed on it. Two days ago I passes by there and he still had it, so I stopped in to ask if he would like to sell it. Well he says the timing belt had broke and he had to buy a new head for it but the mechanic who installed it wasn't sure if it was 180 degrees out or not so he has never tried to start it. Now the price is a whopping $300. Although this seems to be a great price, the car has obviously been sitting for a long time. My guess would be more than a year. The body looks to be in good shape, the interior has the wear and tear of most cars at this age but it looks to be complete. At the moment, all I know about the car is that it has the older style dash and the body doesnt have any dents.
I am thinking of buying the car as a project and was thinking of putting in an LS1 and upgrading the trans to a 968 unit, but I believe the trans mounting was changed at some point during the 944 production and I don't know if the 968 trans is a direct bolt-in for the earlier models.
I'm mainly asking if there is any reason to avoid the early 944's as a swap candidate? Are these cars bad about rusting out, is there any place in particular I should look for rust?
I am sure that I am going to buy the car, hell, as an absolute last resort, I might can sell some hard to find parts and get my money back for scrap iron.
Thanks in advance for any light you folks may shed.
03-07-2012, 12:45 PM
#2
Rainman
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All 944 bodies were galvanized at the factory for rust-prevention. This means rust is pretty unlikely except in a few spots - the most common area would be the battery tray area. I have seen a little bit of rust under the fenders as well, but only on the surface.
The later style transmissions can be adapted to the early style mounts - I have a 944 turbo transmission with the cooler in my early NA. If the 968 trans has bolt bosses on the sides of the differential then you could probably make it work with an adapter plate.
If it has been sitting for a long time, chances are most of the rubber bits have dried up and should be replaced. Most suspension bushings, engine seals, etc. It probably wouldn't hurt to rebuild the engine, or as you are considering do the V8 swap. This would be a good time to go with 944 turbo style suspension since you have to re-do everything anyways - may as well get bigger brakes/nicer suspension package.
The later style transmissions can be adapted to the early style mounts - I have a 944 turbo transmission with the cooler in my early NA. If the 968 trans has bolt bosses on the sides of the differential then you could probably make it work with an adapter plate.
If it has been sitting for a long time, chances are most of the rubber bits have dried up and should be replaced. Most suspension bushings, engine seals, etc. It probably wouldn't hurt to rebuild the engine, or as you are considering do the V8 swap. This would be a good time to go with 944 turbo style suspension since you have to re-do everything anyways - may as well get bigger brakes/nicer suspension package.
03-07-2012, 01:13 PM
#3
5th Gear
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Excellent, so all the suspension parts are interchangable? Is there a good place to buy new parts or is the suspension something I will have to source used? Also can anti lock brakes be put on the older cars?
Thanks
Thanks
03-07-2012, 04:22 PM
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Also www.paragon-products.com For your maintenance & troubles shooting use www.clarks-garage.com (enter Garage Shop Manual) Have fun.
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03-08-2012, 07:49 PM
#9
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at $300 the car is a STEAL! why not see if you can fix the mechanic's mistakes, save a bunch of money and time on the engine swap and enjoy the car with the original engine!!
