New to me and 15 year old son 1987 944 w/ 248k miles

[heliolps2]

Hello Porsche friends.

I just wanted to introduce myself and my son. My name is Helio and my son Adrian, was are now the proud owners of 1987 944 with 248k miles, We are the 4th owners now. The 944 is a southern California car, maintained by Porsche of San Diago from new by its first two owners, who were family members until 2017. From the recipes, it looks like they had it religiously serviced at the dealer, even if it was to replace a light bulb, Battery, etc... It had a repaint in 2010. NO rust of course.

It needs some work, I know myself around Porsche's. I currently own a 964 Turbo and owned 1986 944 Turbo thirty years ago.. I do all my own work and I'm teaching my son the same. He knows how to drive a stick.. a very rare thing these days.

The clutch was blown apart,.. NOT the disc, Something I have never seen before, I wish I took pictures, The pressure plate was in three parts. The housing, the surface plate, and the spring fingers game off the housing. The disc was fine, but the debris broke the set screws off the flywheel flush for the seed sensor.

[heliolps2]

My son's first clutch job had to be on a 944..Yikes. a tough job for sure. he helped me on my 965 last year when I replaced the clutch on it. But this time he did most of the work with my supervision

[heliolps2]

[heliolps2]

We had the flywheel machined and the set screws drilled out and I replaced them with new ones. I fresh Sachs clutch and new speed sensor. We modified the bell housing and cut off the sensor bracket deleting the testing sensor part of the bracket.

Fresh Battery and starter. the debris chewed up the starter nose. For the price, we decided to replace the CV axels. and clean the undercarriage. It cleaned up really well.

Everything was going great until the very last part. We updated the shifter linkage with a 944only shifter kit and replaced all the seals on the trans axle and shifter and bushings. My son torques the output shaft bolt in the center of the shaft and he breaks the bolt flush. Now, We tried drilling out the broken stud with no luck except I created more damage, Now I needed a replacement puck behind the spider gear. Time to take the trans apart. Luckily with a few phone calls, I was able to find a local person with the parts we needed and a complete 1989 944S trans for cheap just in case.

[heliolps2]

My 965

[heliolps2]

Here are some more pictures, We all like pictures.. Right

[heliolps2]

So far these are the things we replaced and have been replaced in the last year from records.

Prior to us
Top-end work done at 242K miles. The engine runs smooth as butter.
Complete AC system replaced. Blows ice cold.
Front and rear rotors and pads. I'm not happy with the pas the PO used. we are going to replace them.
Tune up, spark plugs and wires and cap, and rotor and air filter. and timing belts.
Motor Mounts.

Work done by us, since May 2022 at 248K miles
Replaced the Vaccum check valve on the booster.
Complete clutch.
Machined flywheel. including new sensor set screws gapped correctly. and modified bell housing and bracket.
New Starter.
New Battery
New Rear Main Seal.
New Fork bearings and rod.
New reference sensor.
New shifter and bushing and rubber boot.
Replaced the power seat switch with a used part.
Removed the old purple tint from the 80's.
Repaired the third brake light with epoxy glue
Replaced glove box light bulb
New Center console cover
Removed the Alpine CD changer.
944Only shift linkage, Love that thing. AMAZING!
Replaced all the seals on the trans axel.
Replace diff output shaft puck.
New CV Axels and grease
New Porsche oil filter
Fresh Mobile one 15/50
Fresh Mobile 75/90 gear oil.
Flushed the brake and clutch fluid.
Porsche Fuel filter and fuel tank strainer.
Replaced the front inner and outer bearings and seals.
Used set of 17-inch wheels 275/40 and 225/45. Looking for 17-inch 7 and 9 Fuchs style 215/255 next time.

We have driven about 500 miles now. I love this 944. It was loved before us and it will be loved again. My son gets his driver's permit in Feb 2023. He's looking forward to owning his own Porsche.

I'm sure I will be asking for suggestions and help for this 944 community in the near future. We are looking forward to hitting the million-mile club with this 944.

[heliolps2]

Things left to do next year.

Koni front and rear shocks and lowering springs

Repaint the hood and replace the foam under the hood
Replace the sunroof with a Saratoga glass roof. bronze color tint.
Paint correct the rest of the paint and Ceramic coat it.
17 Inch Fuch style wheels
Car Play 7ich monitor stereo.

[acavallo17]

congrats and great story and similar story here, but my son's 87 was in a bit, let's say, not so great condition lol... he gets his license in sept. and we have been tooling around in it. few more summer project points on it to have it completely ready.

[16again2009]

Two great looking cars. I love to see father and son projects. Enjoy the adventure. I look forward to seeing more.

[OK-944]

My son was also 15 when he came by his first car - an '84 944 which needed a bit of attention...and which became the greatest father/son bonding project!

Ironically, after my son moved on to Saabs (and now, being techie, a BMW I-3) - it was myself who became thoroughly hooked on 944's - starting with an 85.5, and now an 87...which I've pretty much rebuilt (even though it was great to start with) - and which is now a very reliable daily driver. Love these cars!

At any rate - congrats...and all the best to you both!

[TibetanT]

Great job and the car looks super with the new wheels.

BTW...Koni shocks and struts are the best IMHO, have them on my 87 944S.
Good choice !

Enjoy the ride.

[Cappt]

That's a great car, I'd have cried seeing that bolt snap off. Nice save dad!
Got my son started in H.S on a 944, he's on his 3rd (actually 4th, one is a parts car). Now driving a 951, he's made a few grand on each one. We've done all the usual repairs that come along, there good investments if you can do the work.

[losee944]

Hello to everyone, I am Helio's son Adrian. I am looking forward to working on this car and with everybody on this forum!!

[heliolps2]

Originally Posted by Cappt

That's a great car, I'd have cried seeing that bolt snap off. Nice save dad!
Got my son started in H.S on a 944, he's on his 3rd (actually 4th, one is a parts car). Now driving a 951, he's made a few grand on each one. We've done all the usual repairs that come along, there good investments if you can do the work.

Trust me I cried, I had to explain what happened and difficult it was to find the part to fix it. Always be careful son. It was a good learning experience. That's what its all about, Right, learning and teaching.

[losee944]

Originally Posted by heliolps2

Trust me I cried, I had to explain what happened and difficult it was to find the part to fix it. Always be careful son. It was a good learning experience. That's what its all about, Right, learning and teaching.

Indeed, it was a lesson learnt the hard way

[heliolps2]

Originally Posted by losee944

Hello to everyone, I am Helio's son Adrian. I am looking forward to working on this car and with everybody on this forum!!

I'm so proud of my son, He now has his own user name on Pelican, Love it, His first post.

[heliolps2]

Some more progress on the 944, I had noticed groaning noise at speed, Kinda sounded like a knobby tire on a 4x4 truck rolling down the road. I wasn't sure if it was the diff, the tires, or a bearing.

The first thing we did was wheel put on the old wheels and tires and it made no difference, second was to change to Mobile one gear oil and make sure it was topped off to the current level. No difference. The third was to lift the rear of the car. and run it through the gears and hope to hear something. It's an open diff trans, the left side spun while the right side was stopped. The noise sounds to come from the left side, I then put a tire under the left causing the right side to spin and no noise, that was that. the left rear bearing was the issue. NO play no grinding noises when spun by hand. This time I had a shop replace the bearings, and they did it in three hours, Both sides

A lot more enjoyable ride now.

[Dano944]

Great story and pics. Recently I posted pics of a 1983 944 that I inherited from my late father-in-law. I like to read everyone’s 944 posts so I can learn about my car. Before I drove my 944 home, I had a great Porsche shop in San Luis Obispo service my car, but now that it’s home with me, it’s a bit of a struggle to find repair shops that want to repair anything but 911-based cars. My car is a weekend driver. With no “power everything “ features, including no power steering, it’s fun to drive, to say the least. I’m a Porsche nube-in-training.

[heliolps2]

Originally Posted by Dano944

Great story and pics. Recently I posted pics of a 1983 944 that I inherited from my late father-in-law. I like to read everyone’s 944 posts so I can learn about my car. Before I drove my 944 home, I had a great Porsche shop in San Luis Obispo service my car, but now that it’s home with me, it’s a bit of a struggle to find repair shops that want to repair anything but 911-based cars. My car is a weekend driver. With no “power everything “ features, including no power steering, it’s fun to drive, to say the least. I’m a Porsche nube-in-training.

Thank you, Its nice to see people like you here on Pelican. Its a great place for knowledge. Have fun!