Spun

Just picked up a real nice looking 85 944 non turbo for my father-in-law.

I already have a 928 issue (purchasing issue that is)... I have a couple.

Car was painted the original burgundy - did a real nice job. Water pump and timing belt replaced and all seems good.

Few minor issues I saw:
o Passanger mirror lost one direction
o alpine radio (stock?) needs a code - cannot get in
o hood and trunk shocks shot
o odometer does not work... looks like from car fax, it went out about 6 months ago
o AC not blowing cold (have it at the shop for that now - I'm in AZ )
o no horn (can I use a 928 steering wheel on a 944?)

So not that I am done with the minor whines, anything I should really look for.

It's an auto, non turbo so the power is not overwhelming, but that was intentional (he is 80, looks 60 and is in great health, but he did not want the power of a 928, was looking for 924 or 944).

Auto trans is tight. Motor runs strong and nothing I saw or heard concerned me. I work on my own 928s, so not new to water cooled Porsche.

I liked the condition, interior is real good (driver seat rub, but repairable), body looks great and always beenm cali or AZ car. I like the stock rims on it as well.



C03 USA California model up through 1990
018 sport steering wheel with elevated hub
425 rear wiper
454 Automatic speed control
456 sport shock absorbers *and stabilizers
650 sunroof
715 P/V Pilot production run
946 *leather/leatherette seats

Still need to nail down who is good in San Diego (La Mesa) CA to maintain it when I am not around.

Thoughts?

william_b_noble

nice looking car - seems to be missing the stone guards, speedo fix will be to replace the gear, horn is probably not a steering wheel problem, but it's easy enough to check, AC will just need a recharge, I've had fine luck with R-134

odonnell

I would advise you to do careful research on whether or not you replace the rear hatch struts - the increase in force on the thin frame has been known to exacerbate glass/frame delamination. Annoying...

laneskelton

Looks like a very clean 944. Congrats!

konakat

Beautiful! I didn't even realize you could get early cars with an auto, I've never seen one for sale. Not a bad options list, either. You may want to look into an AC conversion, a lot of people have trouble getting the stock system working reliably. Someone on the forum figured out how to use a different condenser and even does the mods for a small fee.

Spun

Thanks. One item, have not looked up yet, gas gauge jumps all over. On the 928 it means the tube sender in the tank is shot. How about on a 944?

Sterlingx2011

I spent about a month dealing with fuel issues with my 944? Are you getting any fumes or is the gas gauge bouncing around your only problem?

Also I know of a possible fix for the odometer but it requites pulling out the cluster to do. Probably what happened is they reset the tripometer and the little plastic counting gear slid out of position. Only takes about 3 seconds and some super glue to fix once you get the gauge out of the dash.

Spun

No fumes, just jumping gauge. The Odo I have done on an 88 S4. I got new gears and did a far better alignment with shimms.

Would a XXX,XXX speedo/odo from a 924 drop in? My dad has a fully rebuilt one he is willing to give me. Would be nice to have the 100K plus odo in her.

mel_t_vin

The odo from an '87/'88 924S should drop in with no physical/functional issues. Though, I believe the 944 gauge is green writing on black background and the 924 gauge is white writing on black background.

Not sure about physical/functional compatibility with the odo from an earlier '78-'82 924.