kiesan

Yah it was one of those stories. This '92 968 with 140k was on Seattle craigslist 3 weeks ago for a hot minute. I called, texted, left messages, emailed, etc. Nothing. Then the listing was gone.

But I kept calling anyway. No dice. I figured out the address the car was registered at and went there. No longer at that address. I internet sleuthed the registered owner's name to no avail. Finally he answered the phone on Monday the 25th.

"Honey, someone is calling about the Porsche" I heard him say. 2 hours later I was at his house where he lived with his parents, his wife, his newborn baby and his brother. The 968 was under a tarp.

Story goes he bought it 10 years ago from a car lot here in town. Drove it all of 600 miles in that time. The cooling fan had started acting up (as in not shutting off) so that worried him and basically he parked it years ago.

While I was there a friend if mine was texting me asking if the lic plate read "BADBOY1". Turns out it was the same car and my friend remembered test driving it 10 years ago at the same lot. There was an old reg in the owner's manual binder with that plate. Imagine a 19yo kid that couldn't get financing on a 10yo used Porsche. But I digress.

So I stepped back and looked at the whole enchilada. At first glance the car was an absolute mess and my inner p-car ninja was telling me to get the hell outta there. Door dings, nastified aftmkt rims that had not seen a wash mitt in 10 years, rusty rotors, 3 flat tires, 4 cracked tires, unknown mechanical condition, rear carpet all over the place, aftmkt stereo, no stock wheels, moldy, mildewy exterior, rear view mirror loose on the floor, 968 emblem nail polished red, engine lid emblem 1/2 way peeled off, etc., etc.

The other 1/2 of my brain, the one that can't resist a challenge, saw things in a different light. I had already run the carfax. The car had 2 owners with zero blemishes on record. The WA State title I had already checked for brands or other funny business, there was none. The body, while dirty as hell, had never seen any paintwork whatsoever. The interior was all there and pretty nice. There did not appear to be any fluid leaks. The engine bay was complete and clean. The virgin cigarette lighter clinched it.

The owner, god bless him, seemed to be an honest type. He said "yes sir" and "no sir" a lot. He said that other than the cooling fan always running the car ran fine the last time he drove it. I decided to take a chance.

I made a cash offer and informed him that if we had a deal I'd tow the car outta there that moment. He went silent and all white. I noticed he was clutching a baby monitor handset that was missing the battery cover but had scotch tape. The wife was standing behind him facing me and uttered the words in the title of this thread.

I counted out some dough and asked him if he had an air compressor. He did and we pumped up the tires. He apologized for not having the stock wheels as the car had these "cheezeball" (his choice of words) hoops already installed when he bought it.

He mentioned he had recently put in a new battery but had been afraid to hook up the terminals since he was unsure the proper sequence. Positive 1st or negative 1st, he said he didn't know. So I hooked them up. Sure enough, cooling fan "on". I pulled the relay. Fan "off".

What the hell, I thought. Why not turn the key? Throw caution to the wind. The seller, having gotten over the shock of us successfully connecting the battery, was at the ready with fire extinguisher in hand.

The engine started almost immediately and idled perfectly. No warning lights, no cel, good readings on all the gauges, etc. The lifter noise went away after 45 seconds of idling.

I cancelled the tow truck and decided to attempt driving the 3.5 miles to a friend's shop. On 2005 license tabs no less since I had forgotten my dealer plate.

Said my goodbyes to the nice family and off I went. The former owner wasn't looking too good but appeared to be coming to grips with things.

The drive was uneventful as the car did nothing strange and ran fine. Brakes, clutch, trans, it all felt great. There was beer at the shop. I have all the new parts to do a tb/wp/belts/tensioners/front seals/fluids/filters/etc., this weekend. I have almost new 18" Dunlop Direzza Star Spec tires for the Fikse FM-10 rims after I have them redone here locally. I will pull the bumpers and side body rockers and replace all the welting. After that the paintless dent removal guy will make a visit. Then the full whammy paint revival at a local shop.

Of course there will be surprises and many other things to sort out. Wish me luck

goatfarmerdave

Great story.Good looks good for what is probably the deal of the century.

16valver

It came with the Fikse's? Very nice! Best of luck.

drift a 944

Great story indeed. Those are the kind of buys I like to find. Nice purchase! And nice "cheeseball" wheels too

VirginiaF1

Lovely find!
Congrats..
What offer was accepted?
(Its safe to tell us now..)

V2Rocket

dude....score.

ernie9468

Welcome to the 968s world ,one of the best Porsche ever built,beside checking & replacing all belts & seals don't forget one of the most important maintenance which has to be done on a 3.0 ltr DOHC 16 V -the chain/tensioner/lower & upper pads.If no records of them being done & mileage is around 80/90 K miles I suggest strongly you take a look at them.Have fun.

kiesan

Its actually my 2nd 968 and 5th or 6th 944 "family" car. I'm a sick puppie.

Yah I think I'll just jump in and do all that cam chain business. Got a link?

ernie9468

You got a PM.

kiesan

Awesome thanks man!

CyCloNe!

nice fine, personally I like the wheels I wanted a set like that for my 951.

odurandina

congratulations.

szabon

That interior looks stunning!

catamount

The Fiske FM10s look superb, especially with the dark paint on the body.

The fuse panel cover is off in the picture of the engine. Is it missing or just off at that time?

911tracker85

great find. I have been seduced by a couple 944s recently. found a nice 87 944S blk/blk about a month ago that was not running. overall the ext looks good and should wash, buff, wax nicely. the interior is almost perfect except for a few cracks on the dash. and from discussion with owner did not sound like it was going to take a lot of work/money.

got it running last Sat, fuel pump/filter/strainer/hoses and had the injectors cleaned. my bro-in-law is buying as soon as we get new tires on it and some more maintenance/minor stuff fixed.

had also seen this 944 turbo project, and picked that up last Monday. this one will take a while as I need to complete the installation of another motor. plan is to make this my DE/track car and retire my 911 to top off pleasure driving.

my wife thinks I am crazy, but due to the influence of her frugality I treat my 'Porsche disease' with older ones that I can afford to pay cash and do all my own work ... so far.

if not for her influence, would have a GT3 and be in debt up to my eye *****.

good luck with your new project.