Wrayp

Hey there everyone just wanted to say hello and introduce myself as a new registered member here on Rennlist. I've found lots of valuable info here and have finally decided to join the community.


I was bit by the 944 P-car bug when my father made an impulse buy for a red 87 944 N/A at a local car show in 2011. Fortunately he found a fairly good example that had extensive service records and lots of $$$ spent on maintenance by the PO. In 2012 I arranged a deal to work for the family business in exchange for the car. Its been my DD ever since. I spent a couple years having a local independent mechanic work on the car when it needed some TLC. I had him Re-tension the belts, replace the cam tower gasket when it leaked, and replace a broken exhaust stud that made the car sound like a Harley....





87 N/A with Turbo Twist Wheels I received as a Bday gift. Back when the car was nice and clean....


After deciding that I was spending to much money for repairs (even using a low cost independent mechanic) I decided to do what any sensible person would do... Buy another Porsche! In the spring of 2014 I purchased my 1986 951 that was mostly stock but needed some TLC. The PO I purchased it put only 10K miles on it in 10 years of ownership!





Red... Lots of Red! My friends and family bug me for having two of the same exact car...


Since buying the 951 I have taken on maintenance on my own.
on the 87 N/A I have done the following:

• Numerous oil changes
• Replaced the leaking cam tower gasket (again)
• Replaced front sway bar bushings
• Brake pad change
• Brake fluid flush with DIY pressure bleeder

The 951 has gotten more of my attention:

• retensioned belts (had 200 mi on them when I purchased the car)
• LR venturi delete and all new silicone vacuum line
• Installed new Koni Yellow rear shocks
• Replaced both half shalfs
• Custom fabricated 3" stainless exhaust with 38mm Tail WG (pics below)
• Installed LR M-tune and LR MBC
• Other small things I can't think of at the moment

Out of time, but I will follow up with a couple pics of my custom exhaust later...

-Wray

plumbum

Welcome! Nice cars!

mazdaverx7

Welcome! The cars look great and it seems as though you have a couple nice examples!! Can't wait to see more pics!

Wrayp

As promised here are a few more pics:

First, my winter project that I completed this year: 3" Custom fabricated SS exhaust system for the 951. I used V-band clamps to easily swap out the CAT for a test pipe if desired. I purchased the Tail WG with V-Band flanges as well to make service easier in the future. I used the original flanges to make the system bolt up the factory down pipe and cross over pipe for the waste gate. The pictures are from my old cell phone and aren't the best...








Everything is 304SS with the exception of the factory flange and inlet to the WG


This was a slow but rewarding project that took me 3 months of crawling under the car and welding in freezing temperatures. Not fun at the time but worth the end result. Nice to be able to say I did it myself!


Thanks to the great information available on this forum and a few other sites I have been able to tackle a lot of projects that I was previously afraid to try. I bought the 951 with the intent of working on it myself and becoming more comfortable with my wrenching skills. So far the only thing I haven't been able to do myself was install new tires and have the car aligned. I'm still a little afraid of a clutch job (no indication I'll need to do this any time soon, keeping my fingers crossed)


Finally here is a pic of the 951 at a view point overlooking Portland. Nice little spot to go to on a sunny day.




There must be a few Rennlisters in the Portland area... I would love to meet up sometime. Never hurts to have a wrenching buddy

pdxfj

Nice 944's!

I haven't been up to Council Crest in quite a long time. I think the last time was with date.. encountered some locals who had blocked of the street with baseball bats under their chairs. They were very stern in saying "PARK CLOSED! GO AWAY!".

I'm over in the Bulingame area. Would be fun to meet up sometime and take a look at another 944.

bonus12

Wow, nice to hear your story. Really happy you went for a second one, and it's even better that it's a 951. It's really awesome you have taken on your own wrenching skills. I've been enjoying 3 years of wrenching/driving my 951 and, like you, no mechanic but I has touched her during this time except for installing tires and welding the exhaust.
Fantastic. The 944 community is very strong, but hold on tight guys and gals, they are being bought up and/or are becoming rarer (ie junkyards).

Wrayp

Sounds like an interesting Council Crest experience... I've never had a problem but then again until last week I hadn't been there in a few years.

I'm in Happy Valley, do you know any other 944 owners in the area? Perhaps we could get a weekend meetup arranged.


It's rewarding to do your own work (most of the time at-least). Everyone avoids the garage when I'm having difficulties, my vocabulary suddenly becomes, shall we say colorful...

It would be nice to see these cars go up in value. IMHO they are some of the best $/performance out there as long as you get a well taken care of example. I have been enjoying the bolt on go fast goodies on my 951, but have been keeping all the factory parts (with exception of the rusted out exhaust) just in case someone wishes to return the car to stock form. I'm soon going to run out of storage space at the rate I'm going

mytrplseven

Very nice. Nothing prettier than a Guards Red 944, unless you have two.