Sean

Greetings all...

I just bought a 1986 NA 944 and am really enjoying it. Exterior looks great, but the interior needs work. Specifically, I need to repair/replace the dash, steering wheel, and seat centers due to sun exposure.

Any advice on the best way to replace the dash? The OEM piece is over $6000!

Any steering wheels that are preferred?

I would appreciate any pointers with regard to 944 interior restoration. Thanks...

Matt O.

If I had to do it over again I would just fork the money over for a MOMO Fighter steering wheel. I had mine releathered (AGLA) and after it was all said and done, it looks great but the cost was pretty hefty.

-Matt

Dan87951

Sean,
Try ebay I saw serveral beautiful dashboards for our car in ebay not to long ago. I believe they were going for around $300 bux and they had the air bag in them. Try performance products for the seats. I believe they sell a recover kit that isen't to badly priced. Hope this helps!

Sean

thanks...

So Momo Fighter is the best? Is it better than the 930S steering wheel? I believe that the 930S, available from AJUSA, was featured in Excellence mag in September (FWIW).

I will prowl eBay for dashes. There is a black one on there now with airbags, but I need a Saddle Brown without airbags. I will check with Performance about the availability of an aftermarket dash.

thanks....oh yeah, my car is here:
http://www.pbase.com/wgsean/1986_porsche_944

Type_LT

Sean,

Watch how much you pay for seats, the sport seats for my 86 951 are almost 3000,00 a piece. I'd look on ebay and on the rennlist forums for people with seats for sale otherwise they are a bit pricey. You might want to look into some aftermarket seats as well (with some 5 point harnesses? ). I know the floor carpet isn't expensive. Are you just replacing carpet seats and dash? or going crazy with door panels, roof, rear hatch carpet, etc... ?

Sean

I'm not going to go totally crazy with it and replace the door panels and all of that stuff. Nor am I necessarily going to replace the carpet.

The main interior issues are:
1. dash - cracks are pretty bad
2. seats - cushions are fine, but really faded
3. steering wheel - dated and cracked
4. center console - cassette hinge broken, console cracked

I intend to just get the seats recovered (around $400), get an aftermarket steering wheel ($350), and fix the hinge ($25).

As for the dash, that's a big question mark.

I am willing to spend some $$$ to do it right, but this will not be a concours car. I'm not blowing 6 grand on a new dash! lol

All input is appreciated. I want to fix some of this stuff soon. I just got the car and am eager to start restoring.

Robby

Sean,

Original Fit Interior has carpet sets for really cheap- they have a set for the whole car including the hatch piece for less than $250. The thick Euro stuff is higher...

As for the steeing wheel, I'm ordering a Momo Competition and have seen it advertised for as little as $165 or so awhile back. It seems to be much higher now that I'm ready to buy but Vertex had it advertised online for $179 the other night. I'm not sure what the Fighter looks like, but I really like the Competition. You can do a search and find pics of all of them online. As for seats, I am planning to buy Momo Street Racers when I get the $ (about $1200/pr). They are reclinable and weigh 25lbs each, which should remove about 50lbs total, since I have the 8-way elec adj Turbo S seats. If I were going w/factory seats, I would want the 12-way elec adj & heated Sport seats- about $3000/pr used. I lifted some up in St. Louis a year ago (they were Garrity Repta's) and they weren't as heavy as most people say (maybe 45lbs), and he said the motors were all intact. I think the Sports might be lighter than some of the others, as some people claim to have weighed the 4-way elec adj's at ~60lbs(?). If you're not concerned w/having reclinable seats, then you can save some $$$ and even more weight by getting some racing bucket's. There are many brands that are fairly comfortable, but I'm not sure for how long- I've only sat in them for short periods of time...

Garrity HAD a black dash for sale- I believe it was $300 and in good condition. He may still have it and/or any # of other used Porsche parts (he was selling the 12-way's I mentioned)- you can check his site:
http://members.primary.net/~garrity928/Performance.htm

Mike 89 NA

If your seats are in good shape but just faded check out Colorplus.com. I used their products to dye some blue parts black, the match is perfect, and to renew my leather inserts on my seats. Super easy to use, not expensive. Normal disclaimers, just a very satisfied customer. Now I'm just experimenting with dying my faded carpet. Any suggestions out there?

Mike

Tabor

I hear that Just Dashes can repair you dash to look NEW for ~$600. It is suposed to take around 6 weeks.

Sean

Has anyone tried dash covers? They are available for about $100. I was skeptical about how they would look, but a former 944 owner just told me that they look great. He says that if you get the right one (ie. the high quality cover), it will look like it came from the factory.

I will call just dashes and see what they say.

With regard to the seats, I'm told a local upholstery shop can recover them for about $500. It costs a little more, but when they are done, it will look stock. I think they even use the original material, or something very close to it.

Luke

I have always like the momo JET wheel. THey run around 294$ i think.



It's just soooooo smooth..........!

Tabor

My fried has a 924 with a dash cover. It looks pretty good, but if you examine it you can tell it is a cover.

Bob S. 1984 Silver

I have installed two of the dash covers. Yes, under close examination you can tell, but it has fooled some folks. If you purchase one, get the better grade, not the $49.95 one and follow the instructions precisely. Dry cutting and fitting pays off in spades since each car is slightly different re: tolerances between the assembled dash and windshield and vents. I figure it beats the price of a new dash which can equal or beat the cost of the car. As for seats, I have also reupholstered two 944s using the pre-sewn total covers available from a number of sources for a couple of hundred apiece. The old upholstry is removed completely. Again, taking one's time and practicing care results in some fine looking seats. The price I listed is for vinyl; leather is obviously much more!!

As for carpets: unless one is looking for concurs, I have found that indoor/outdoor carpeting with the close weave(Berber) has a glued back which if dampened can be made to conform to the floor rather nicely. I used a very dark grey with a black interior and it looked rather good, enough to take a trophy in a local car show a few years back.

Spray upholstery glue makes the job easy.

Good luck!!

Bob S. (always trying to find the economical way out)

joemun

Robby or anyone else...

Where is "Original Fit Interior"? Do they have a web site? Are they really that cheap for carpet sets?

I tried World Upholstery & Trim http://www.worlduph.com for my '83 and this is what I was quoted...
>CARPET SET 1976-on Coupe with "mini" spare
>tire; Cut and bound #924 7718
>for 1983 944 Porsche
---Domestic cut pile $396
---Import carpet $694

joe
________________
'83 944

Robby

I don't believe they have a website, and it's been a long time since I've talked w/them, but they usually run ads in both Excellence and Panorama. The # I've always used (I assume it's still valid) is:
209 852 9084

I had originally called them about the hatch deck carpeting, and they quoted me right at $50 for the piece. If I remember correctly, the guy said that he would include all of the little snap pieces, but I don't believe they would come installed(?). They also have the thicker German carpet types for lot's more $, but I personally could live w/the thinner stuff. I've seen several articles over the years on restoration projects and so forth, where carpet was replaced by OFI's carpet, and everything I've read about the fit, quality, and price has been really good. One article in particular was about a 914 I believe, and they used some carpet from a different place, and it didn't fit well at all. They ended up ordering from OFI and reported that it worked much better, fit perfectly, and was also cheaper. I haven't ordered from them yet, but plan to do so in the near future...

Good luck,
Robby