New Garage Addition 1983 944

So earlier in the year, I was given a phone number to call and see what the person had for 924 bits and pieces. The person tells me that he also has a couple of 944's that he needs to sell. I ask for some pictures, and he sends them over. I really couldn't afford another Porsche at the time so I made a low offer and then forgot about it. All the 924 parts were going to be free, so if I got the 944 at the prices I could afford I wasn't going to cry about it. I also wasn't expecting my offer to be accepted. Guess What? The car had to go. Owner sold his house and the car needed to be gone last weekend.

Here is what I got (for a steal of a deal)

\IMG_20150321_104731\ by \mikescoupegt\, on Flickr" />

Going on the truck

IMG_20150321_110109 by mikescoupegt, on Flickr

And what can I say, I just had to smile.

IMG_20150321_111020 by mikescoupegt, on Flickr

Next step, replace the belts, distributor cap and rotor, and vacuum lines. Should be good to go from there.

Mike Kirby

In reply to Mike924:

Love that color

Billy_Bottle_Caps wrote: In reply to Mike924: Love that color

^This.

+3 on the color. And why do you people have to keep buying 944s when I don't even have my E30 done yet? Stop tempting me!

Day one on the resurrection is complete. It took a little longer than anticipated but we were able to replace the timing and cam drive belts, engine lift struts and turn the motor over. Unfortunately after sitting for 5 years the fuel pump is toast, so we have another one on order and we should be able to get that installed this week. Then we try to fire the 944 again. I have to thank my wife for helping out. Great to have a lady who is willing and able to get her hands dirty in this.

After looking at the belts, I could have chanced it but I wouldn't have felt good about driving the car on the track with them. There were no cracks and they both looked good, but I really can't afford a motor for the 944 right now.

Anyone know where to get 21-50/15 and 225/50-15 track tires at a good price. Dunlop doesn't make Direzza's in those sizes so I need to find a new road/track tire.

Cheers/

So this weekend will be the installation of the new fuel pump on the 944 and I just ordered a set of Toyo Proxes 4 to burn out and use until I am a better track driver. Looks like it is the best deal for a set of 225-50\15 tires when on a budget.

More to come probably Sunday after we get the fuel pump installed and tested.

gave up on the CGT?

Proxes 4? There is nothing in Extreme Performance Summer that fits? You could probably upsize a little if the stock size doesn't come in what you want.

Supercoupe said: Gave up on the CGT?

Unfortunately yes, I just didn't have the time and my wife at the time had other uses for my money. So my new wife loves watching me wrench and also likes to get involved as well. Its a win-win for me there.

Harvey: For the money the Toyo is the best choice for right now. When I have more $$ I will upgrade to a 16" wheel and then I will have more selection. But with the 15" wheels that this car came with the Toyo seems to be the best option without throwing the speedo too far out.

Great information sharing here.

So another few hours spent on the 944 today. Went out to the garage where the 944 is and put it up in the air. Removed the dirty, rusty old fuel pump and put the new one in. Now that was not the hard part. There were some little things that needed some persuading, suck as the clamp for the inbound fuel line, but that broke off after a medium sized pair of vice grips. From there the next big issue was getting the power line off the old pump. It was on there so well we had to cut the line and put a new connector on the wire. Then we primed and tested the pump. Survey SAYS ...... Nothing, nada, no go.

Time to start troubleshooting again. New fuel pump relay and nothing. Check all the connections. Still nothing. We then jumped the relay and no buzz at the pump. Next step, remove the fuel pump fuse and replace, while adding a bit of Dialectic grease to make sure we have a good connection. Still nothing. So we got out the volt meter and made sure that we had power everywhere we needed. For a little bit we thought there was no power through the fuse, but we got that going through. So we jumped the pump itself, got a buzz going, so that was good. Checked to make sure we still had spark. We did. Turn the key and .................. Nothing. We kept looking around. Finally the fuel pump was working consistently but it was getting hot. And no fuel to the engine. So after a good 4 hours we called it for the day. It looks like we have a clogged fuel line or possibly a clogged fuel filter. We soaked it all with some anti-rust/seize fluid and are letting it sink in and work its magic. Hopefully next week we will get the engine fired up and see how well this car goes and stops.

Baby steps but we are getting there.

More updates.

Had the day off due to working on Sunday this week. So I took the opportunity to go the Garage where the 944 is staying. We were able to pick up a new fuel line going from the Fuel pump to the filter as well as a new filter. So far all the work we have done and troubleshooting saw no gas getting to the engine, so we swapped in the new fuel filter and gas line. Well, even though it sounded easy, the fuel lines were not happy to be removed, neither was the fuel filter. They were rusted in place and refused to move, even sitting in de-ruster for 2 weeks. It took about an hour but we did eventually get the fuel filter our and replaced the line. When we got it all back together and turned the key we still had the same issue. No Go. This car is putting up a fight about getting running. Maybe due to the fact it has gone from car lot to car lot for most of its life.

So we took the new fuel line and filter off the car again. Put some air through the line from the engine back. Got a face full of gas but were able to clean the line.

Once done, we put it all back together, tried again and nothing. Hmmm. Puzzling. We disconnected the fuel pump put power directly to it, and again Nothing. Bad pump. Grrr. we put a more powerful pump on to test and see what would happen. We got some sputters and pops, so close but not enough battery juice left.

Now we wait for another fuel pump and then it should be running. If all goes well I will have 3 weeks to get tires and time on this car before we head to Watkins Glen for the PCA Zone 1 48 hours track event. Fingers crossed. But I am pretty sure we will make it.

Oh yeah, quick note on the tires. I am going to buy a set of Hankook Ventus R-S3's in a 225-45/45. Best price I could get. Just need to say Go ahead. Maybe I will go with a 205 on the front. A staggered setup. Thoughts?

Go with a square setup. Easy tire rotation and the car is so well balanced to begin with, 225's all the way around work really well. I wouldn't suggest 45's though, 50's work better for gearing and at the Glen you'll most likely run out of fourth and have to go into the tall 5th gear killing your acceleration. Car looks great, have fun!!

Thanks Johnny, I have been looking for a good tire in the 50 series since I bought the car. It has been a no go for the 225. If I use the 205's currently on the 924, which are a 50 series 15I will be loosing contact patch.

So I am not sure. The Hankooks are the best deal. the long 5th will be like running the 924 with its tall 4th gear. Maybe in the future there is a set of 16" wheels and tires for this car.

I think the spec944 guys use 205's and they seem to do just fine against the SpecE30's and SpecPiniata's.

Well maybe I will use the 205 Dunlops from the 924, and put the 195`s on that I got as an extra set with the purchase of the 944. Hmmmm. Choices and decisions.

I got a family photo of the two cars. Thought I would share.

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Looks good!

Well the summer has slowed down just enough for me to get back out and work on the 944 a bit. Spent 4 hours or so troubleshooting the no start issue I have had since I purchased the car.

Armed with information on the sensors and the amount of resistance the sensors (speed and reference) needed to work and make the car go. Before I checked those I decided I would clean all the connectors with some Electric Cleaner to make sure the contacts were good and nothing was bad at that section. I even did the DME connections as well just to make sure.

So armed with a fresh charge on the battery and clean contacts I tried to start the car again. It did the same thing. Powerful crank on the motor but just sputtering. We have an extra DME for the early 944's kicking around the garage so I took that and plugged it in, just to try and rule out the DME (I know it could be bad too, but I had to try). Same thing.

So we took the resistance tester and checked the resistance at the DME for the speed sensor and the reference sensor. Speed sensor came in within tolerance, but there was no reading from the reference sensor. We had a sensor from a 93 Carera that we used to test and make sure a reading would be seen without it being plugged in and it showed a reading of 0.933 so we knew something should have come up. So we dig into the engine and test the sensor at the other end. Still nothing, but we had the same 1.023 reading on the Speed sensor. Must be a bad sensor.

Dig out the tools, take out the bolt that is holding the sensor in, and I cannot budge the sensor. It is stuck in there tight. I tried everything but heat to get that SOB out but it is still stuck in the car. Now I have to see how to remove this locked in sensor so that I can replace it and try the car again.

We are getting closer. Soon the 944 will live and then we will have to decide what car to drive when. Oh the humanity of it all. Damn 1st world problems.

Cheers, any suggestions on getting the sensor out while the motor is still in the car will be welcome.

Cool build! I have wanted to build a 924/944/968 for a long time. Dare I ask how cheap you got it for? It's crazy how little these cars sell for sometimes and yet I still haven't found one too cheap to pass up.

2K4Kcsq wrote: Cool build! I have wanted to build a 924/944/968 for a long time. Dare I ask how cheap you got it for? It's crazy how little these cars sell for sometimes and yet I still haven't found one too cheap to pass up.

The car cost me 600.00 plus all the extra bits in the trunk, and 100.00 for a set of 924 turbo wheels with tires. It was a great deal.

I used to be a part of the Quattro world forums when I had my Coupe GT. Your build and Dan's I am following with interest.

The RS3 will be good as a track tire. It will be grippy, but doesn't wear fast. Way better than a Proxes 4. The Dunlops aren't bad either in that category.

$600 for a 944 is pretty friggin good.

Mike924 wrote: Well the summer has slowed down just enough for me to get back out and work on the 944 a bit. Spent 4 hours or so troubleshooting the no start issue I have had since I purchased the car. Armed with information on the sensors and the amount of resistance the sensors (speed and reference) needed to work and make the car go. Before I checked those I decided I would clean all the connectors with some Electric Cleaner to make sure the contacts were good and nothing was bad at that section. I even did the DME connections as well just to make sure. So armed with a fresh charge on the battery and clean contacts I tried to start the car again. It did the same thing. Powerful crank on the motor but just sputtering. We have an extra DME for the early 944's kicking around the garage so I took that and plugged it in, just to try and rule out the DME (I know it could be bad too, but I had to try). Same thing. So we took the resistance tester and checked the resistance at the DME for the speed sensor and the reference sensor. Speed sensor came in within tolerance, but there was no reading from the reference sensor. We had a sensor from a 93 Carera that we used to test and make sure a reading would be seen without it being plugged in and it showed a reading of 0.933 so we knew something should have come up. So we dig into the engine and test the sensor at the other end. Still nothing, but we had the same 1.023 reading on the Speed sensor. Must be a bad sensor. Dig out the tools, take out the bolt that is holding the sensor in, and I cannot budge the sensor. It is stuck in there tight. I tried everything but heat to get that SOB out but it is still stuck in the car. Now I have to see how to remove this locked in sensor so that I can replace it and try the car again. We are getting closer. Soon the 944 will live and then we will have to decide what car to drive when. Oh the humanity of it all. Damn 1st world problems. Cheers, any suggestions on getting the sensor out while the motor is still in the car will be welcome.

Be very careful trying to get that out. It is all too common that they are tough to get out, but if you pry too hard and at the wrong angle you will break it off, and sometimes the only way to extract at that point is with the bellhousing taken off.

I would recommend some penetrating oil and kroil. Squirt a little where it might get stuck and give it a go. If you feel like you're trying to hard, squirt a little more, come back later. Whatever you do, do not pry at an angle, it needs to come up and out like the other sensor, and they are very prone to breaking and can be quite brittle.

Thank you Corse. If I use too much penetrating oil,can I cause issues with the sensor down the road? I really feel this is the last piece of the puzzle on getting the 944 on the road. Of course I will be doing pads and making sure the rotors and calipers are good. Then we bring it home and start shining it up and doing a good clean and polish.

Mike

Mike924 wrote: Thank you Corse. If I use too much penetrating oil,can I cause issues with the sensor down the road? I really feel this is the last piece of the puzzle on getting the 944 on the road. Of course I will be doing pads and making sure the rotors and calipers are good. Then we bring it home and start shining it up and doing a good clean and polish. Mike

They're just a hall pickup sensor, a little penetrating oil won't hurt it. No need to plaster it with it though, couple squirts, wait, try, squirt, wait, try, etc.