So, awhile ago i came upon a post about using $1000 dollars to upgrade the 944's suspension quite substantially. I (for whatever reason) cannot seem to find this post again... I have saved around a G to put towards this project (YAY Finally get to treat my baby right!) and would like to repeat the question haha. What exactly can $1000 do to revamp a tired, yet clean 944? Im interested in shocks, sway bars, and the usual stuff. Nothing too crazy or high maintenance please. Thank you!

 

Turbo sways are cheap, m030/968 aren't. Koni strut/shocks are cheap, even with springs. All new bushings.
Use the leftover $ for a DE

 

definitely going to get some konis, how much beefier are the turbo's sways than the na's? also i was thinking about doing a fr wilk chip too given the fact that my car's an early dme. but due to the need to send in the unit to the company for the adaptor board, or splice a bmw board (trying to avoid that), im wondering if it will be worth the $300....

 

For an early 944 the FR Wilke chip will smooth out the inherent rough spots in the rev range. It won't do much more than that.

Suspension-wise, it depends on what you want to do with the car. For street only, replace the bushings, struts and rear shocks. For track, the sky is the limit. I converted my 83 944 to full coil-over (deleted the torsion bars) for the track. Since retiring from DE I converted it back to stock. I have a complete rear torsion assembly (torsion bars deleted), 18mm rear sway bar, coil-over kits for the rear, and front and rear springs for sale, if interested.

 

That would be nice. I'm definitely just a street cruiser. But some fast corners never hurt anyone. Just fast stops haha. The rear sway bar is interesting. PM'd

 

I was just in SLO this summer on a Cali wine tour. Nice place! You do have some nice roads there so a fresh suspension would be nice. I'd not waste time on a chip with that car, unless you get a cheap used one for $20. Turbo sways would provide a nice improvement (968 M030 sways are better but more $) and some nice used koni's , new bushings. Upgraded castor blocks really made a difference on my 968, turn in was razor sharp. Good tires make a difference too to save the change to put towards tires when you need them.

 

Yeah SLO has some absolutely marvelous roads to go cruisin on. I've been looking all over the place for some used konis for the early 944s but everywhere I go online they end up being completely beat down or too expensive/new though. The bushings are a good idea, but I probably want to do those when I replace the shocks. Only full koni kit on ebay at the moment is around $700, new. Definitely trying to get a little more bang outta the buck i got, even if it's not much more. Guess I'll keep lurking around on ebay motors for a while longer and maybe I'll get lucky soon.

 

Yhea, try not to let the money burn a hole in your pocket. LOL. The right deal will show up eventually.

 

Indeed and it did! Just got a pair of 968 M030's for $120 shipped on ebay due to the guy crashing his 951. Stoked! And significantly richer than i thought i would be after that paeticular purchase haha. The bushings are even in good condition.

 

I spend $800 on various small restoration items to fix dents, seats, clock, AC and a full detail. It was money well spent. Not every car needs performance mods. 944 is one of the slowest and oldest sports cars I have owned. To me, it's a classic and keeping it in best condition is more important than going faster.

 

Looky here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=27835

Cheers,
Mike

 

I love things like this! But boy that's a tight squeeze at the end! I'm lacking an arbor press or vice at the moment too haha....