Help bring this 944 turbo that hasn't run in 20+ years back to life

[mscromer]

I just aquired a 86 944 turbo that hasn't ran in 20+ years. The car had an engine fire and damaged the engine harness. The fire must have been put out immediately due to the fact there is no blistering on the hood and doesn't seem to be any other damage. I got a harness off of eBay so hopefully that won't be an issue. My main question for y'all is how should I go about getting this car up and running. The guy I got it from has had it 10 years and he poured marvels mystery oil in the cylinders so hopefully that has helped. Since the intake system is off right now I was planning on removing the engine cleaning up the engine bay and putting on a new clutch and of course new timing belt and rollers and all new hoses and fluids clean the injectors and get the turbo rebuilt. My plan was turn the engine over by hand first to make sure the pistons aren't stuck. A question I have is there a way to prime the engine with oil so it doesn't start dry when that time comes. Any other suggestions on what to do to get this car on the road again would be greatly appreciated. The pic is the condition of the engine now.

[OK-944]

Do remove the upper belt cover prior to attempting to turn the engine by hand...to see that the belts are installed and intact - then turn the engine slowly to minimize any damage should the timing be off enough to cause pistons and valves to collide. Also consider removing the spark plugs before turning to eliminate engine back pressure which can make it more difficult to feel what's happening - but if you do remove the plugs...first blow out the plug wells thoroughly with compressed air to get rid of any grit (you don't want grit to fall into your cylinders!).

Also...are those golf balls resting in the intake openings? If so (and before you turn the engine) you might want to carefully remove them one by one and peer down these openings with a strong light - and maybe dip a clean "Q-Tip" dipped in oil down each and wipe it around...bring it back up and feel the nature of any grit which might have adhered. Anything resembling sand would make me want to get further into the engine prior to turning it over - on the oft-chance that some of this grit might have migrated through any valve openings and onto cylinder walls at some point during the past twenty years of engine inactivity. Were the intake openings thoroughly taped over, on the other hand, I'd be less concerned...but golf balls?

You might also want to unscrew the first two or three cam bolt covers (round covers atop the cam housing) - and shine a light through the rearmost one of these as you peer through the others to get a look at a camshaft lobe to see that its smooth. Again, evidence of grit stuck to the cam lobes would indicate that the engine would be best left unturned...at least until a possible camshaft housing removal to get a closer look.

At any rate - good luck...and have fun!

[mscromer]

Thanks for the tips. I didn't even think to make sure the belts are intact before turning the engine. I will remove the plugs to make it easier to turn over plus I want to borescope before turning the engine. And yes those are golf balls lol. Im picking up the car this Saturday so once I get into it ill post what I find. Thanks

[TibetanT]

Hello and Welcome:

My advise, buy a set of Factory Manuals for the 944. Everything you will need to know is in those books.
Also, the Haynes book on the 944 has a lot of very good pictures for your project..."yes" it will be a project.

Clarks-garage.com has very good step-by-step instructions for troubleshooting and fixing issues.

If you don't mind me saying this, "you are a brave soul" to undertake such a project.

All the best, and "Good Luck" to you for caring so much.

[mscromer]

Thanks for the advice. Ive owned a couple of 944's in the past so I'm very familiar with working on them. I have the factory manuals in PDF form, would like to get a hard copy but people want just way to much for them. I have used clarks garage on my last two I owned. I've been out of owning a 944 for about 20 years now so I'm glad to see clarks garage is still up I'm glad you mentioned it cause I forgot about it. Ive been looking for a project car for about a year now so I was excited to be able to get another 944 and I always wanted the turbo. This is going to be a fun project

[Fast Freddy 944]

My 2 Pfennings, just pull the whole drive train out. All of it. Tear into the wiring and start replacing all of the harness with a fresh one. Before doing any work, id degrease the hole kit and caboodle, carful covering of the sensitive parts hit it with the degreaser, scrubby brush and a light mist of water. Then proceed on replacing worn parts. Degrease first then do the fun stuff after words..