Western_PA 944

Hello all! First off I'm a Porsche 'newbie' here and just scored a 1983 944 that was part of an estate sale. The owner had multiple sclerosis and passed away some time ago and the executor of his estate sold it to me. The car was garage kept its entire life and has been parked in the garage and hasn't been run for at least the past 8 years. She has 75k on the odometer which I believe is accurate and the body is perfect with the exception of a few tiny scratches on the paint and there is absolutely no rust on her anywhere!

Here's where I'm a little concerned and would appreciate any good input/advice on how to proceed. The license plate on the car has a sticker that expired in 1997, but I was told that the car has not been used for around 8 years, but if they were wrong and it has been sitting since 1997 when the registration expired I'm worried that even just trying to crank the motor might cause damage... so I'm putting it out there to all of you that know wayyyyyyyy more than I do about Porsches. I really don't think it's been sitting since 97 though... there are some really nice Pirellis on there with almost 100% tread and no dry rot at all, so I'll let those out there more knowledgeable than myself let me know how I should proceed with this. I work on all of my vehicles myself but have never worked on anything that has sat unused for anywhere near as long as this 944 has, so I'd like to say THANK YOU in advance to whoever may be able to help guide me with this sweet car!

951and944S

Looks pretty dry in there where the car was.

Regardless, 8-20 years is a long time...., early cars had the steel fuel tank (one of the hardly mentioned upgrades of the later model cars) so there is a chance that you have rust, scaling, etc.

Right rear of the car, you will find the +12v and Grnd that will make the pump run.

Before draining the fuel (a must), run jumpers back there to test run the pump while the fuel pressure test port is removed from the fuel rail and an appropriate catch hose and reservoir is attached..

If the pump does run, inspect the fuel recovered for rust/debris.

If it doesn't run, add a new one to you list of parts to order.

Either result, after testing pump, drain all fuel.

Air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, cap, rotor, timing belt, balance belt, water pump, thermostat, coolant, oil/filter. Personally, once ready to test run, I'd run some cheap high detergent oil for several 20 minute run times then change it again with good oil and another new filter.

I wouldn't even crank engine in it's current condition.

T

Western_PA 944

Hi, and thanks for the response. Yes, the garage where it currently sits is quite dry, and I should be towing it here tomorrow. There's no battery in the car and I'm assuming it was removed when it was put into storage. There is absolutely no corrosion or anything at all on the battery cable terminals... totally clean, so it looks like care was taken when the car was put away... even had a fitted cover on it, so I'll check and see if possibly the fuel was drained out as well.

Western_PA 944

I also think this is a European model. The speedometer is in km per hour, I think top was 260km/h