incomplete

Edit: i had to fix my picasa album, and all of the pics ended up having their URLs changed. the last two posts have pics in them, but the photojournal can be found here.

hey everyone! i've been a porsche owner now since mid-november, and busy lurking, reading, fixing and paying out for repairs on my gorgeous 1986 944 turbo:



more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/incomplete/ThePorsche944TurboProject

i purchased it from a (non-car-guy) friend for a steal, and it's in generally good shape. the engine has had a recent rebuild, and it's pretty heavily modified (unknown chip, unknown aftermarket KKK variable wastegate turbo, bigger turbo in modified stock housing, intake, some billet thing on the wastegate vacuum line, big red brakes, 16" bbs wheels, borla headers + cat-back).

my goal is to turn this car in to a nearly dedicated track toy. to that end, i've been getting wear items replaced (coolant hoses, pumps, etc) as well as going through the engine bay and "discovering" lots of sketchy old repairs and taking care of them.

what's sketchy? well, the last time the radiator was replaced according to the repairs records i got, someone didn't use a grommet/bolt to hold up the driver's side of the radiator. they instead screwed INTO the radiator with a sheet metal screw and tightened it until it stopped leaking. no joke. or, the custom monster sound system in the trunk blocking access to the passenger side rear light cluster (now accessible due to some clever dremeling).

i've been doing my homework, too. clarks-garage.com is my new favorite website and has helped immensely w/performing leak-down tests and other basic repairs.

since the goal is to have a reliable track car, i'm going through the rest of the engine bay bit by bit. the vacuum and fuel system are suspect, as it sometimes doesn't want to start cold. that's next on my list. i have the lindsey-racing.com silicone vacuum hose and venturi delete kits, as well as the silicone intercooler hose fittings. while doing that, i will clean and check the injectors, fuel pump and check valve. the rear wheel bearing also need some love.

then it's time for new rotors, pads, tires and an alignment. once that's all done, i'll feel comfortable enough to take it to my first track session for a break-in session.

it runs like a beaut though (most of the time). it's fast, and even with worn tires, handles like there's no tomorrow! my first go-fast goodie was a new momo, which is about 10000% better than the old, worn out stock wheel:



i've had some bad luck w/shops in the SF bay area: A Bauer Porsche in oakland missed a few obvious things (leading to a breakdown and tow) with the pre-purchase inspection, and i've been extremely underwhelmed by high performance house in redwood city. for any future repairs, i think i will be trying out hyer performance, which seems to be well recommended.

(a bauer owned up to their mistakes, refunded me a bunch of $$ and offered to trade work for my trouble. very professional!)

i'm sure you'll be hearing back from me w/build reports, track days call-outs and random questions.

shane

dillon410021

Sounds like you have some fun ahead of you. When I am in the darkest moments ( throwing lots of money into my car), I can always look ahead at what a blast this 944 or 951 will be to drive once its done.

Good Luck Shane!!

Josh B

Welcome and thanks for the pics. Looks like a neat install of the manual boost controller **** there on the trim by the steering wheel! You should post more pics showing the engine bay and the mods there too.

I could be wrong but you probably don't have big red brakes as they don't fit under 16" wheels unless you do some grinding on them. You could pull a wheel and take a pic of one up close and we could tell you for sure. Most likely they are stock brakes that have been painted.

With all the unkowns in the car tuning I wouldn't drive it one more mile till I had a wideband on it like a zeitronix or innovate. The car could be running dangerously lean and that would be a ticking time bomb for your motor. You should check and see if you have stock injectors and the stock FPR.

Josh B

Just clicked on the link for more pics... Seems strange that you have a boost enhancer and a boost controller **** - shouldn't need both. Also - looks like you might already have a wideband in that pillar gauge mount setup.

If you are really shooting for a track toy I remove all that aftermarket stereo equipment and the alarm system.

incomplete

the wideband, sadly, isn't "working", and according to my turbo-geek friend, it's the crappy gauge that only shows you lean or rich.

as for the boost enhancer and control ****, that's pretty typical for this car: the owners before the one i purchased it from were prepping it for SCCA racing, then the previous owner to me didn't really know what he was doing. i don't know how recently it was added, but i'll definitely be removing one of those two things.

i'm guessing the enhancer, as it's easier.

regarding the injectors, i am unsure right now (car is home, i'm not), but i'm pretty sure they're stock. i am planning on pulling them off this week, cleaning them and i'll report back regarding their status.

as for the brakes, i'll get the car up and take a closer look and post some pics. if they're NOT big reds, well, i may have words w/the previous owner.

the car is going to be a garage/driveway queen for the next couple of months as i get **** sorted out, so no worries about driving it. it passed CA smog when i bought it, which seemed odd, but now makes me think it's indeed running lean.

and, to add insult to injury, when i put the silicon intercooler fittings on, i magically did something that is now not letting it start reliably. sometimes it fires right up, sometimes cranks and cranks and kills the battery. i checked the vacuum hoses, and found one that i had popped off accidentally. i put it back on (it was a fuel vacuum), and it started right up. the next day, no dice. so, no worries about much driving.

i am hoping to work out a deal w/A Bauer Porsche that did the (bad) inspection and get some work trade from them. i'll have them do the vacuum fittings/ventura delete. should i have them check out the fuel pump/delivery system while they've got the headers off?

also, what plugs would people recommend?

anything else to suggest for general overhaul at this point? here's what's already been done:

all new coolant hoses
water pump
belts
radiator
fuel filter
distributor cap/rotor

thanks for the speedy reply and information!

shane

fbgh2o

A few things that I ended up doing to mine as preventative maintenance

fuel lines if they are original
check the CVs for wear
Verify all suspension bushings (if you are tracking the car)
check power steeing pump and rack for leaks.

Josh B

Imho spark plugs don't make a big difference with these cars I just run whatever Paragon or Pelican offer as OEM for a 944 turbo.

I would replace the speed and reference sensors if they are older. Also I would ditch that big cone intake and go back to the stock intake setup. You are just sucking hot air into the engine with how it is currently setup.

Another maintenance item to check especially for the track would be a-arm ball joints and steering tie rod ends. Need to drain and replace tranny fluid too.

I seriously doubt your intermittent no start issue has to do with vaccum leaks.

incomplete

k, sounds good to me. i'm an old honda guy, and my prelude really got a boost w/some fancy ngk plugs. nice to see that at least one thing on this car is fine w/generic.

speed/ref sensors: ok, i'll check the service records and see if they'been done. the car has 25k+ worth of service records going back to 2000, thankfully.

intake: already noted, but for now that can wait.

a-arms were done around 100k (car has about 136k currently). the car is lowered, and i'm aware of the stress issues.

i'll check on, and if needed, change the tranny fluid.

yeah, i'm a little concerned. i'm going to run through some diagnostics (thanks, clark's garage!) and start diving in slowly this week.

thanks for the pointers! i'll let everyone know how it goes.

shane (who's thankful his other car is japanese, and not a toyota)

incomplete

i think this is it. the tach doesn't move an inch when i crank the motor. i'll test the resistances tomorrow probably, and see if i can't scrounge up a 'scope as well. i'd rather know for sure if i need to drop over $300 on a couple of sensors.

shane

incomplete

i'm planning on doing the fuel lines and checking the bushings soon. i had both rear axles replaced about a month ago, and while two shops have said that the power steering crap is working, i will double check myself.

well, i'm about to head over to the car and pull the fuel rail. i'll take a pic of the injectors, so we can see if they're stock units. i'm planning on cleaning and rebuilding them, following this guide from pelican parts:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ctor_clean.htm

Josh B

There is a BMW sensor that will work for a lot cheaper - if you search for Porsche 944 reference sensor on ebay you'll find it. Just has a little bit longer pig tail.

incomplete

ok, so i pulled off the fuel rail today and tested the reference and speed sensors. here's what we're looking at:

rail:


injectors (they look stock, very dirty... i have all the parts for cleaning/rebuild):



the fuel pressure regulator isn't stock, and is made by "pro motion". i can't find anything about this type of regulator on the interwebs, so if anyone has any info please let me know. age also unknown, but probably at most 10 years:


here's the dampener. looks real old:


regarding the sensors, i think they're both bad. they were in spec for one set of pins each, but the other combo just registered '0'. thankfully, i'll be pulling a ton of **** out of the way, so replacing them won't be too painful.

comments/thoughts/questions:

* wow. i am glad i'm going to be replacing the vacuum hoses! they're in dire straits..

* i also need to look in to fixing up or replacing some wiring harnesses (cracking sheaths). if the wires look ok underneath, what's the best thing to wrap them in that's heat resistant? heatshrink?

* there's some oil, hard to tell where it's coming from. no better time than the present to degrease the engine so i can see what, if anything is leaking.

* the negative lead from the battery is cracked and bare wire is showing through in places. gonna need to replace (or re-cover) that.

* i don't feel like dropping a ton of cash on fancy injectors, so i am thinking a simple rebuild/cleaning should suffice.

* once i get the intake manifold off, what other little bits (sensors, vacuum stuff, etc) should i think of replacing?

* i can't wait to get all of the red hoses on... it's going to look great!

more pics of the process and car here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/incomple...4TurboProject#

thanks again for the help... can't wait to actually drive the damn car again!

shane

Josh B

Hey Shane - that is an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. The prevaling opinion out there is that it is better to go with a fixed FPR like the stock 2.5 bar or a 3 bar. I can't recall the exact reason but it has something to do with how the adjustable ones fail. Also - since it doesn't look like the car has a fuel pressure gauge whoever was adjusting that was probably just feeling around in the dark.

You can clean and rebuild your injectors yourself but for eventual track use and especially on a modded car I would send them away to one of the companies that also bench tests them for flow. That way you don't end up with one gready/lean injector and get a burnt valve.

Best thing to do with the injector harness is to buy the replacement bits from Lindsey. Barring that I would wrap it in some sort of heat resistant tape.

I noticed that your exhaust headers don't have heat shields on them - they must have been cut off at some time. Wouldn't be a bad idea to wrap those to keep them from continuing to cook your injector harness.

With the intake off you should probably look into deleting the cycling valve if that wasn't already in the plan. Would probably be good to figure out what sort of wastegate is on the car - tial or Lindsey Clubgate or whatever.

Those fuel lines look a little suspect - you should replace them with some of the braided steel ones or something new. Expecially as they are crossing over that unshielded exhaust.

If you are really serious about the track use I would pull the head and replace the headgasket if that hasn't even been done. I've seen some 25 yr old headgaskets and they aren't pretty

BTW - the dampner really isn't all that important - some folks run without one. The jumper line to the dampner is very important though and a source of plenty of engine fires. I would inspect it carefully for cracks.

Darwantae951

I'm really curious about this statement:

"unknown aftermarket KKK variable wastegate turbo"

Are you running a factory wastegate or aftermarket? That IMO would determine which boost control device to remove.

incomplete

think for a minute, of a box of crackerjacks and the secret surprise held therein. you have to go through a lot of crackerjack before you figure out what you got...

...and this car is like a box of crackerjack.

i have no clue what wastegate i'm running on the car. the previous owner wasn't a car guy and the "aftermarket KKK variable wastegate turbo" phrase comes directly from his ad.

i'll be pulling off the intake manifold this week, and working on the vacuum and wiring. i figure it'll be easy to see what i've got once i get a lot of **** out of the way.

shane