Trekintosh

Note. I'm posting this post verbatim in a few locations, so if you see it on another Porsche forum, don't be alarmed.

Greetings! I've come here to make a thread about my $100 farm-find 944 N/A. It's a 1983 2-owner(before me) 86,xxx mile car with a good options package. Unfortunately, the previous owner let the car sit for about 8 years, as project cars tend to do, and it deteriorated quite a bit over that time, though it was under a car cover most of it, which is excellent. The big problem happened when central California got massive rains earlier this year, and the car sank up to its side skirts in the mud/dirt/clay/loam where it was parked. This dirt is some nasty stuff.

So after conversing with the now previous owner, Chuck, I rented a u-haul trailer and headed up to his farm with my dad. (Big thanks to both Chuck and my dad, without whom this project could never happen, as I am far too weak and frail myself.

When we arrived, we had found that Chuck had already gotten the front left third of the car dug out with his tractor and a shovel.



The car doesn't look too bad from this side! It's not too deep, right? Right?? Well......





....yeah. She's in deep. So my dad and I set to work with shovels and started digging the thing out. This clay/mud/dirt/loam/whatever (I'm just gonna call it clay from now on) is insidious. It sticks to everything, especially when wet. It had been raining earlier in the day, so you can imagine how that went. You start off with a shovel that weighs 5 pounds and you end up with a lumpen beast weighing 20 or 30 after five scoops of earth. You then have to take a break and scrape off the gunk with a hoe, trowel, shoe, stick, or anything you can, but you'll never get it all off. While we were working, our work site supervisor showed up.



This turkey is great. He hung out with us the entire time we were digging out the car, gobbling and generally being a joy. I touched his head once; it feels like corn on the cob.

After working for a good hour and a half or so, we got enough of the scum out from around the car to hook a tow strap around one of the A-arms of the front suspension. Believe me I know it's not a great place to hook the strap, but we weren't exactly flush with options. I kept digging around back to get enough gunk out to try and break suction, and we hooked the tow strap up to Chuck's big ol' Powerstroke 4x4.



He had to lock up all the wheels and give the thing almost full throttle to break the car free of suction. As soon as he did, though, it rolled pretty good. But just look at the mess it left behind.



I wish I could have gotten how deep the hole it was in better on camera, but I couldn't get it to show properly. We then used Chuck's truck to haul the car up onto our trailer. This was a very long and awkward process, but eventually we got it on and we got our Exploder hitched up.



About halfway back home (this was only about a 120 mile drive) and through an entirely too narrow and too windy for this car + trailer valley highway, we stopped for fuel and snacks and a pretty picture.



After another 60 or so miles at 50mph, at 9:30 PM and very cold degrees outside, I hosed down the car as best I could in the self serve car wash. Once again, I cannot stress enough how utterly sticky that clay was. I had to use the ultra high pressure washer and move very slowly across the vehicle to get it off, and it didn't help that the underside of the car was mostly inaccessible, so I couldn't get most of it. However, the car does clean up kinda well.



Finally at about 10:30 PM we got it off the trailer (in my home's entirely too small to maneuver parking lot) and into my extra parking space. Then we returned the u-haul trailer and I finally got to sleep around midnight. This was a very long day. Now the car is up on its jacks ready to be worked on. (My other land yacht pictured in background)



Here's a picture of the engine bay before I vacuumed it.



It's not in bad shape, honestly. Especially once I dropped the under-engine tray and its 30-40 pounds of clay.

As for work that I have done so far, here's a list:

• Changed Oil
• Drained and changed coolant.
• Drained ancient gas and put new gas and seafoam in.
• Patched wiring for oil pressure sender and o2 sensor.
• New Battery,
• Took out starter, cleared it of mud, and tested it, then cleaned and reinstalled it,
• New Oil Filter.
• New key.

Now the car cranks, but it doesn't start. I suspect it could be either fuel or spark, but I haven't tested either yet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The fuel consumption meter is showing fuel consumption, but as I understand it that just measures the injector duty cycle, not actual fuel flow, so I still don't know if gas is actually making it to the engine. It could very well be the fuel pump or filter. I have a new filter but pumps are ludicrously expensive. I'm going to be testing both today or tomorrow, but I'd appreciate any advice y'all can give.

That's all!

pfarah7

Congrats on the new toy. As many here will attest to, replacing the timing & balance belt, rollers and water pump should be one of the first items on your to-do list. These are interference type engines that depend on precise timing between the crank and cam shafts or the valves will kiss the pistons and no good will come out of that! There are many threads on this forum pertaining to this phenomenon so some research will greatly help you. Also, check the reference sensors, DME (computer)/fuel pump relay as well as inspect the condition of all other relays and fuses. Have patience, learn as much as you can about her and she'll come around. We've all been in your shoes...

Trekintosh

I appreciate the tips. The owner has receipts and documentation of doing the timing belt less than 1000 miles before he stopped driving the car, so fortunately that is less of an immediate issue, though I will be doing it sooner than later. I just want to get the car running first.

MistaX

Less than 1000 miles ago 8 years ago.
I wouldn't have even attempted to start that car without at least checking the belt condition and tension.
Plan on replacing everything made out of rubber, all the sensors, vac lines, etc.
Also drop the exhaust and make sure it isn't blocked by all that crap it was buried in.

i944

Nice euro front bumper.
+1 on making sure the exhaust is clear since it was so deep.

slownrusty

Awesome save!
Looking forward to more updates.

MAGK944

Nice save! If your jeans got some of that mud on them I hear they may be worth a few $$$'s thanks to Nordstroms.

Trekintosh

That's a very good point. I'll definitely refrain from cranking the motor any more until I at least verify the belt's condition, though if I'm getting the timing cover off I might as well change it, it's not horrifically expensive. Ive already run a feeler up the exhaust as deep as past the muffler and it was completely clear past the tip. I'll drop it out later to check at the front though.

Wow, my jeans looked exactly like that. Unfortunately I washed them the other day, or I could have made back the price of the car.

I thought that was a myth and that dirt/etc made the car oxidize faster. Regardless, the car is in absolutely great shape, the only signs of rust were on a couple bolts here and there and in the starter gear.


Oh and I forgot to add something to the list of things I did. i changed the gear oil in the transmission. It shifts real smooth now.

951Dreams

I cringed when you mentioned it had sat 8 years and you were cranking it, but hadn't mentioned the belts!!!

I'd do that next, very next! If it ever does catch there's a chance you'll next be doing heads and valves!
3yr/30k, that's the best practice. Will they last longer? Yes, likely. But after 30 years of trial and error the community has found that to the be the magic numbers to keep you out of trouble!

Last year there was a guy who lost his belt on a 951 at 34k. He even had the new belt to put on, but was waiting on a good time to do it. I just wouldn't chance it!

I'd suggest the rollers too. Just because it's been sitting. If there was ANY water in the oil when you changed it, rod bearings might be a good idea. But that's a bit much maybe for a $100 car? Labor wise at least.

Did the tach bounce when you cracked it??? I'd start there.

Trekintosh

Yeah, I might have gotten way too ahead of myself trying to start it. I'm not going to crank it any more. I was just excited and the owner had said he had done the timing and balance belts very shortly before he stopped driving the car. I didn't fully realize just how long ago that actually was. I'm going to be changing the belts next.

The old oil was extremely clean, no water, debris, metal fragments, or coolant.

Wild Weasel

If it looked like that before it was on the stands, it might have stood a better chance against the mud.

Trekintosh

Maybe! I actually really like how it looks jacked up. If I lived in Australia or something I might make a Mad Max mobile out of the car.

As is, though, when I live surrounded by amazing mountain back roads, it's definitely going to be a back road blaster.

This is actually going to be my commuter car, and I'm gonna be giving my Crown Victoria to my boyfriend to drive to school. He's not a great driver so a big floppy automatic that costs nothing to maintain will be much more his style than a high strung manual. Plus, he doesn't even enjoy driving fast, so the 944 would be wasted on him :P

Luis de Prat

Congrats on the 944. Looks like a promising project!

Have you ever driven a 1983 before?

I had one as my first Porsche for many years, and they did not come with power steering. If you say you're "weak and frail" it's going to be a bit of a challenge to steer at slow speeds, maneuvering, etc.

I tried letting two girls drive it back in college and neither could handle the steering. Just worth noting, although your desire to drive it will probably overcome this minor obstacle.

Trekintosh

That's not actually something I had realized. I'd spent so much time underneath the car I didn't look too hard at the front of the engine. It's no big deal, while I was getting the car on and off the trailer I was steering it manually and it's not too bad. It'll just be an arm workout. And that was with the rack and underside all jammed up with clay. I'm sure it's much easier now. This is a really lightweight car compared to what I'm used to.

My RV, which weighs just a hair under 10,000 lbs, had its power steering belt break, and I was able to parallel park it. I did have to use a box wrench and a breaker bar, though.

This'll just help me get in shape. I mean, I am relatively weak and frail, but I don't shy away from a workout. Also I don't have to parallel park on my daily commute, so that helps some.

Doing some research on the forum here, I didn't realize people coveted manual steering so much. Is early power steering that bad? Even on my big sloppy barge, the hydraulic PS gives excellent road feedback and feels fantastic winding it through the mountains.

neunfünfeins

You done good. It's worth at least $200.