Evan70

I'm back, after a 4 year hiatus I now own another 951. And not just any 9951, but an 88 951 S. I flew down this morning to look at it, and drove it home today. It's got all the options including sport seats and upgraded audio system (and of course LSD, ABS, M030 supsension which are standard on S). I'd list them all, but at this point I'm too tired/lazy to go out and get the codes off the car.

Yes, it does have some cosmetic flaws (the nose piece in particular can use some work), and a few repair needs: AC condenser needs replacing (car comes with new condenser), at least one motor mount is bad (vibration at idle), and a slight oil leak. Yes, it was in an accident (front) at about 4000 miles (now has 67,000) but it appears that mechanically there either weren't many repairs needed or they were done very well. The paint job wasn't the best (decent on body, but a good bit of overspray), but that doesn't really concern me since I'm going to use it as a daily driver and don't really want a "perfect" car that would get beat up from the daily grind. Finally, it does need all the maintenance done on it too: belts, waterpump, wires, plugs, etc.

Now on to the good parts:
I got it for only $6500!! (NADA average is $10,500) The guy said he'd had over 30 calls on the car, and several buyers who were willing to wire him the money without even seeing it in person first. Lucky me, I got my dibs in first, and he felt more comfortable deeling with someone relatively close (he's in Dallas, I'm in Tulsa).

The car runs and drives great. No vibrations, shimmy, pulling or any other issues while driving. Car feels reasonably tight and handles very well. Brakes are good (although their is an Antilock warning showing up). The motor runs well and pulls strong all the way to redline. The car does have a manual boost controller, which I think was set just a tad too high (got loss of power under full throttle once), so I've dialed it back just a little. The owner also had Autothority Stage II chips that he hadn't installed yet. Once I get all the maintenance done, I'll probably install those. I haven't had time to thoroughly examine it otherwise yet, so there may be a few extras lurking on the car (blowoff valve maybe to go with the boost controller?), but otherwise it looks fairly stock.

Anyway, here's a link to the pics:
http://www.LT1.net/951.htm

So tell me what you guys think? Good deal? Anything in particular that I should do while getting all the maintenance done? My tentative list is:
belts, waterpump, plugs, wires, change all fluids, all hoses, get oil leak fixed.
Then I'll add the chips, a Lindsey Boost Enahncer, add a new head unit (the stock Blaupunkt sucks on this thing, plus I need my Sirius satellite radio) and maybe upgrade the speakers, put in a short shifter (recommendations please), and do the H4 light upgrade. Am I missing anything?

rhesus

you suck.
i'm jealous

congrats! (ya bastid)
looks good

josephsc

Damn.... I thought I got a deal this summer on my 951S. That's a steal! Good find!

944Fest (aka Dan P)

You should have worn a ski mask when you picked it up!!

Silver Bean

Welcome to the club. I love my Turbo S and am sure you'll love yours too! Congrats and enjoy!

Evan70

Got the car back from Tom (Charlesworth, great mechanic here in Tulsa) today. He said the car checks out (engine code matches 944 Turbo S), so this is one of the 110 Guards Red Turbo S cars made in 88. I had him do:
motor mounts, belts, waterpump, radiator, AC condenser, reseal front of motor, cam cover gasket, PS bracket and pump, short shift kit, and all fluids.

He gave the car a thorough check while he had it, and said everything was good on it except the front bumper supports need to be pulled down maybe 1-2" with a frame machine to be in perfect alignment. Otherwise the car is in great shape. Also, he said the belts had been changed maybe 10-15K miles back, so the owner previous to the one I bought it from must have had them done. It doesn't really matter since he changed them anyway, but it's nice to know the previous previous owner was keeping up on the maintenance. Since the guy I bought it from drove it at most 4,000 miles this makes me feel a little better on the maintenance side. Anyway, the only things it really must have at this point are:
new tires (looking at Bridgestone S-03s)
upgraded headlights (H4 conversion, cost is just a little more than good OEM silverstarts)
test pipe (I know, it's not really a need, but it's a gotta have on a Turbo.)

CPTdooberhead

I'd pass on the testpipe. The stock cat does not become a restriction until very high levels of power. Also, it acts as a great muffler, and hey it's good for the environment.
Ahmet

CPTdooberhead

Ya, btw, that's Ahmet posting on Randy's computer.
Ahmet

krichbaum

Hi Evan, I see you made it over to this bb to brag about your new car! (I'm also on frrax) Good find!

Evan70

Yep, I've known about Rennlist for quite a while. It's actually where I found the 86 951 I had several years ago. Definitely a great resource for the Porsche community.

steve g

Congrats on the new car ! I had a similar experience a few years ago and nothing beats a killer deal. I've done a lot of important routine maintenance on mine since its just such a good stock car. You have no excuse but to really start sliding down that slippery slope ! Get that car onto the track !

Oilslick964

Hey Evan! Congrats on the new car! This may sound like a strange question, but did you run a carfax on that car? I only ask because a couple of years ago, I got all geared up to buy a low mile, guards red, '88 turbo S in Dallas and when I ran the carfax, it show a previous salvage title out of Kansas. No reason to think it is the same car, but like you said, there were only 110 of those and this one was salvaged due to a front end collision. I'm sure it's not the same car and even if it were, Tom Charlesworth knows his stuff and if he gave it a clean bill of health, then It's gotta be good. I thought I dodged a bullet back then. Looks like I may have missed a heckuva deal! Congrats again!

Evan70

Actually Paul, it is the same car. Carfax does show a salvage title issued in Kansas at approximately 4000 miles. I knew this when I went to look at the car and was very thorough on going over the car before buying it. If there had been any real frame damage still evident I wouldn't have bought it, but everything looked pretty good on it.

We'll probably never know for sure, but my guess is that the original owner didn't want a repaired "new" car, and the insurance company didn't feel like dealing with repairing it either (I've had them try to do that to me a couple of times before when a car was perfectly repairable). Anyway, everything is good on it except for a couple of things at this point:
1) as mentioned above, the bumper supports need to be pulled down about 1"
2) the center section in front of the hood needs to be replaced/adjusted (apparently came loose on previous owner and bent up, and he repaired himself).
3) the ends of the front fenders are torn up next to the center section (my guess is it somehow caught them when it pulled loose).
What I'll end up doing is getting the bumper supports corrected, and then I'll replace the center piece and fenders with fiberglass pieces. No reason not to save some weight while repairing it.

Paul, if you're ever over in Tulsa (or going to Hallett) let me know and we'll get together.

M758

Nice car.

I have another of those 110 Guards Red 88 Turbo S. Mine has sport seats in tan and tan carpet. Interesting combo with tan seats and black carpet.

Evan70

Yeah, I'm not really sure if the interior came that way or if someone has been playing with it. The carpet looks virtually brand new, so I'm kind of thinking it's been replaced. Of course, the car has less than 70K miles too, so it just might have been taken care of well. Anybody know if that interior color scheme was even an option from the factory (I'm thinking not, but I could be wrong).