MockngBrd

Hi everyone, am a total Porsche noob (have previously only dabbled with BMWs (E30,E34,E36)) and have recently just acquired this beauty! Actually no she's no beauty, she actually looks (and is) really really ratty, unloved and years away from her glory days. Have always wanted a 944, just didn't think the one i'd get is like this.

Hopefully not all is lost as the plan is to do bring the car back to life and have her running once again. Fingers crossed this won't break our bank and we can keep to our budget. After weeks of reading online, i really have alot to learn about these 944s and they do seem to have much less aftermarket support than BMWs.

The car (don't laugh but you are welcome to cry for us)...


That nose cone has to go!

MockngBrd

An interior reworking is also planned but is probably the last on the list of things "to do"





Does anyone know what that middle latch is for and if anything is broken off it?


Most of the seals look to still be in useable shape




A previous owner had strange interior tastes




BW / Kinesis wheels i reckon




Huge mess inside the engine bay


It does look like one of the car's previous owners spent some $$$ in here






But due to its current state, we will leave it as it is for now and not try damaging it by running it. Will much prefer to rebuild it back to stock but that might be even more expensive than keeping the current setup.


Dropped off at my friendly mechanic's workshop (already looks happier out of the yard)


The inspiration moodboard for this build? Sam Grant's and Nurburger's cars. We are thinking of going black but are still not 100% decided on the color. Definitely not yellow! The car will be built for street use, slightly lowered with a fast road setup. It's gonna be a long road back to life for this car. We've given ourselves a time-frame of about 1/2 a year from start to finish.



*Photoshopped to black*







Gonna pop by my mech's to take a more in-depth look at the car later.
Hope we have not bitten off more than we can chew. Fingers crossed we can keep it in budget. Otherwise it's gonna be trouble.

MockngBrd

In the meantime, anyone looking for a LeMans spoiler? Shipping from Singapore though.

333pg333

Someone has spent a few bucks at LR. I bet that paint would come up really well with some elbow grease. At least in the meantime. Doubt that's original going off the interior but I like Yellow 944's. Rare colour.

I bet you picked that up very cheaply...even in Singapore! Anyone that has bought the LR intake probably spent more dollars internally. The motor might be worth resurrecting. The wheels are a good start. Seems like there is a pretty decent car under all that neglect. Plenty of info in here about what to do. Especially re the motor as far as replacing some of the parts on it before firing it up again.

Get rid of the nose piece. Buff the hell out of the paint. Buy a used Black interior. Pull the motor out and clean it up. Both structurally and aesthetically. Check the shocks. The ride height looks set for Paris-Dakar. You'll have a really nice car imho. I even like the LeMans spoiler but a hoop one would be more subtle.

Good luck!

MockngBrd

Thanks! Not really cheap when compared with the prices overseas, but cheap for Singapore i guess.

Auto_Werks 3.6

I wonder what type of ECU it has... It doesn't have the distributor anymore, and it doesn't look like it has an AFM or MAF, ... maybe running off a MAP sensor and TPS only? Can you tell what turbo it has? Cant imagine that they would have done all those other things without messing with the turbo too.

Also, another vote for keeping it yellow if that was the original color. Don't know that I've ever seen a yellow one in person.

MockngBrd

hi all, urgent question, are parts for a LHD car easily interchangeable onto a RHD car? Cos it seems prices for these cars in the US are quite a bit better than those in the UK. Thinking of sourcing an entire donor car, might make getting parts alot less painful cos these cars are uber rare over here and parts are so hard to come by.

Quite right, the ECU is an aftermarket item, a "Microtech". I could not see deep enough to look at the turbo nor the exhaust as it was too dark. Could not even make out the suspension units. Are the front shocks dropped into sleeves?

CyCloNe!

Honestly that doesn't look bad at all... But I'm also partial to the nose panel even though ur not

MockngBrd

So i went to take a closer look at the car with my mechanic. Things aren't looking great.

Aesthetically, the front bumper looks like a cheap aftermarket fiberglass item, the rear glass hatch has delaminated (popped out), the sunroof also flaps about (not attached at the rear) and the engine wiring is a huge huge mess, we figured even getting another brand new loom might not work because of all the aftermarket work one of the previous owners has done. Almost everything under the bonnet is not original so it is going to be a huge challenge to bring this engine back to life.

Strangely it managed to start but sounded like it's running on 2-3 cylinders. I'm kinda worried now. At least the pop up lights work. Maybe i'll list down the things that need work, looking at the car in its entirety is scary.



Does anyone know what the black plastic skirt under the painted rocker panels is called? Mine looks slightly warped.

Pitt944T

This looks like a really interesting car with some cool mods. It might take some time to muddle through everything but I wouldn't be too disheartened if you don't mind getting your hands dirty.

The bumper looked original from the photos if you mean the "nose panel" is fiberglass then yes... I think all commonly available aftermarket vented noses were. Personally I like them and they are not that cheap. I am sure in the USA at least a good used genuine steel nose panel is likely cheaper than a vented nose and if you want one they are easy to get used.

Hatch delamination is very common I have two hatches and both have done it. It can be repaired but personally I just took the hatch struts out, sealed up the gap, locked the hatch and take a different car when in go grocery shopping.

The sunroof might just be the clips or plates which can crack but are easy to change, again very common. It could also have just not been closed properly... worth referring to the owners manual and checking that 944 sunroofs are quirky

I agree the electrics might be a challenge and perhaps a new loom won't help given the mods but I am sure there is lots of fun figuring out the mods. If you work through the connections methodically making sure everything is good and secure you might get lucky. Google, rennlist etc will be your friends here as you pick through things.

If you do need a mechanic make sure it's someone who understands these cars and our passion for them.

In short I guess don't worry unless you need this car to use every day. It's got some interesting mods, it will likely be fun to untangle and figure out, it might well be fast with all that investment from the PO and the things your mechanic is pointing out are common and minor.

If you have time and interest I think it's an interesting project and if I happened across it locally to me I might well have bought it too. Good luck!

Pitt944T

I am not sure the trim under the rocker is #1 priority, lol, but check to see if it is the panel itself that's warped. They attach to a metal bracket that can get bent as they car I driven over ramps etc moving the plastic piece out of place

MockngBrd

Modest update, nothing much has happened the past few weeks/months due to the holidays... finally pulled the trigger on a loong list of parts (with more to go), so far spent close to USD$9000 (yes yes i know i can buy almost an entire car but shipping and taxes on even a parts car will be big $$$$$ if the car isn't chopped into half) on parts from Lart's, 944online, only944, PelicanParts, Vertexauto - ouch!!! Still have some items on Ebay and Paragon Products to go..... $$$$$$$$

some stuff from Lart's about to ship over.









Car still looking crummy under a thick layer of dust. My mech will be putting her on the hoist today and start tearing it apart.





One day she will be on the road again... hope it'll be worth the $$$... The aim is not to get a stock nor concours condition car but one that will hopefully be better than most of those around locally which are in not great shape but still asking big $$$.

944crazy

Looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you, but it should be a fun and worthwhile project. Like Patrick said, it looks to have had a fair amount of coin spent on it at some point, so you might find some goodies along the way.

black944 turbo

That looks like it might be an original yellow car, you may want to check the sticker in the hatch to see. I to would leave it yellow if that original.

Cyberpunky

My money is on it being factory yellow, and so agree with others that keeping it that way is probably the smart move. It's a ROW(rest of world) car not US, so may be a lot rarer car. It might pay to do some research on cars origins. RHD cars are also rarer too.

I would loose the header panel as I also think it detracts from the looks. US parts can be cheaper but I do research before buying anything and some stuff, when you factor in shipping costs can be more expensive. I often get parts through my local Porsche dealer(after doing research) and it can work out cheaper on some stuff. A lot of stuff is universal to both LHD and RHD cars. RHD specific parts usually start with 952 XXX XXX XXX designation as thats the factory code for RHD and is used only when a different part is needed.

I have got some parts from UK and europe, as you just won't find things like our centre console hinge in US as ours opens opposite way. Things I know are specific to RHD are accelerator cable, centre console lid and hinge, mats, anything dash related except guages, dead/rest pedal, battery related wiring(ours being in boot/trunk), door switch mounts, and probably more I cant recall or havent replaced yet.

Looks like a cool car with some good mods, so I'd take your time and find out exactly what you got
good luck and enjoy
Punky

PS it is worth forming a good relationship with your local Porsche dealer parts guys, as they can really be helpful with our cars and have all the info at their fingertips