Recently my WRX ran into a few problems, well the problem being my engine blew up so I had to get another cheap car while my WRX was getting fixed. I picked up a 1984 944 from one of my friends for a good deal I believe, 2 grand with 175,000 miles.

Well anyway the car is great, no problems yet and I went through all the records and there seems to have been no other problems to speak of either. Alright well I am rambling on now but the question I want to ask is, where can I find some cheep upgrades to make this thing a little quicker? As well where can I pick up a turbo 944 front bumper, like the styling alot better than the NA and was wondering if someone could point me in the direction to where I can find one. Thanks.

 

A turbo bumper will not directly bolt up to your car. The fenders are different. There is an aftermarket piece that looks like it. Somebody else may have better details for you, but Performance Products used to sell that piece.

As far as performance mods, I'll defer to the n/a guys.

Welcome to the board.

 

One thing do check ASAP is if the timing belt has been done recently, or else you might have a second car with a destroyed engine..

 

Yeah, thanks for the heads up on that. I'll go through the records when I get home to see if it has been changed.

 

Try www.fiberwerks.com for the cheaper way to do a 'turbo styled' front bumper. Performance products has a turbo bumper conversion kit for considerably more, as you must also purchase the turbo lighting.

Also, try www.frwilk.com for a chip upgrade. He is running a sale right now.

jp

 

Alpine.

As for mods. Anything worthwhile (powerwise) is going to cost you more than you paid for the car.

The bumper is possible, but also a bit on the exspensive side.

You got a great car at a great price. Eventually she will start demanding money. For now enjoy what ya got. That car is about turning, not *** on fire acceleration.

 

'84 with 175K miles it has been changed a few times, it is the last time that counts.

There is not really a lot you can do to increase the power significantly on your NA. Well, unless you go the supercharger route.

As noted the turbo front end will not fit correctly on your car so you need to go aftermarket. And those take some work to make them fit right. And then you need to buy the lighting which I think are about $700. This is not a cheap modification.

 

Once again Sid hit the nail on the head... I wouldn't do any "go fast" mods... instead i would focus on suspension stuff... Sway Bars are a must, maybe some springs up front, and drop the rear by the torsion bar... You can lower the car for about 500 bucks after your allignments... And less we not forget billstiens all the way around.... then you can focus on all your power stuff.... But then again, to make an N/A fast at all its gonna cost you mucho dinero....

 

Is it ok to lower the car by simply readjusting the rear torsion bars? I know that generally speaking, lowering a car while maintaining the stock spring rates isn't necessarily a good idea, but I'm sure there are exceptions to that rule.

I'd love to lower my 944, but I hear the cost/hassle of installing new torsion bars makes the project a little prohibative.

BB.

 

Get the waterpump/seal/roller thing attended to asap. I'm going to be dyno testing a MAF kit for the 944na that we've worked up. I'll have numbers tonight as to how much extra power is made. The butt dyno says it is stronger though.

BB- you can lower the rear by almost 1" without problems by adjusting the rear control arm, new torsion bars are not necessary since this is an adjustment from the factory.

 

Should have figured nothing was gonna be cheap with the 944, afterall it is a Porsche.....

 

But it's worth it.

 

From what I have heard, if you get new springs up front it is ok to lower the car from the rear with the stock torsion bar.... i could have gotten some bad info, but it was from a pretty reputable source...

 

Oh, really...

Is this an easy "do it yourself" kind of job, or will I have to remind my former P-mechanic roommate why he's paying so little in rent...?

BB.

 

It's DIY job but any extra hands couldn't hurt. Others on the list have done it. We did it on my brother's NA. The bolts are torqued really tight, I'd say it was harder than the dreaded crank pulley nut. The end result was well worth it.