New Project 91 944 S2 Cab

[Marine Blue]

I had been looking for a fun car that would be worthwhile restoring and not too costly so I would be comfortable teaching the kids how to drive a manual transmission with it. Initially my focus was on a 10 year old Golf, a Miata or Mercedes 190 but I could never find exactly what I was looking for. About 3 weeks ago a 944 Cab caught my eye on one of the auction sites. It was the color (Azurite Blue) that really caught my eye but I was also surprised to see a 944 in convertible form as they’re not that common. One thing led to another and it landed in my garage .

I’ll start by saying I don’t make a habit of seeking out cars on auction sites for all the reasons we all know. I thought it would be of interest to others to see the good and bad aspects of buying a car site unseen through an auction site.

Let’s start with how the car arrived to me 3 weeks ago. The exterior picture in the garage is after a quick wash.






I’ll update shortly with some of my initial findings both good and bad soon.

[walfreyydo]

A very clean specimen!

[Marine Blue]

The D90 and phone dials are the quintessential 944 wheel just like the Fuchs are to the 911, so the first order of business was changing out the wheels along with a new set of tires.

[wwdwgs]

I see that you like navy color.

[Marine Blue]

Originally Posted by wwdwgs

I see that you like navy color.

Good observation . I love light metallic blues as well but for some reason the darker colors seem to fall into my lap.

[Marine Blue]

I’ve had the car for a few weeks now and have had time to assess everything and also address some of the initial issues.

First up was getting the car smogged and registered which has proven challenging. The car failed smog miserably with incredibly high NOX. I was convinced the catalytic was toast due to the high levels, it really wasn’t doing anything. I’ll come back to this topic below in the shop findings.

Before buying the car I knew that it would need a timing belt immediately as there were no records of it being done so I ordered up the belts and rollers and delivered them with the car to my local shop for installation. I also had them check things over and inspect the brakes as they weren’t as grabby as I would expect on a Porsche. I also asked them to take a peak at the catalytic to see its condition.

ISSUES DISCOVERED BY THE SHOP:
- The timing belt had been changed at some point in the past 10 years but the balance shaft roller was installed incorrectly and wasn’t doing anything. That explains why the engine vibrated. New belts and rollers are installed and the engine is significantly smoother.

- The front pads were glazed over and they heat cycled them which helped. I’ll likely change them out soon along with the front rotors since they still aren’t great.
- A previous shop or owner rigged a rubber hose hose connecting the brake reservoir to the clutch connection, I’m still a bit shocked at this one. Pictures are below. My shop installed the correct hose and fittings so at least it’s repaired correctly now.



- It looked like a child had installed the valve cover in the past using copious amounts of red RTV that was all over the place. It not only looked awful but it was leaking and allowing oil into the spark plug wells. Needless to say this turned into a bigger project as scraping the sealant off also removed paint on the cover so my shop blasted it and painted it. They also removed a bunch of sealant that oozed into the engine. The repainted cover and a new gasket were installed along with new plugs, I’ve included some before and after pics below.





- The catalytic was also inspected and they discovered that someone had cut it open, gutted it and welded a straight pipe into it! I can’t say I’m surprised considering how badly it failed smog. This also turned out to be a bit more challenging to address as Porsche and the OEM’s no longer make catalytics for these cars so I had to go with an aftermarket solution. I ended up getting a magnaflow california compliant catalytic which was installed by a local muffler shop. With bated breath, I took it back to get smogged and this time it passed with flying colors, Zero NOX!

I’ll post up some of the good findings by the shop in my next post.

[Marine Blue]

As noted in my previous post, not all the shop findings were bad. They found that the following parts had been replaced not too long ago which is a bonus
- New motor mounts installed
- New transmission mounts installed
- some of the suspension bushings had been replaced
- new rear shocks installed

I was pleased to hear that some of the other typical wear/tear items have been addressed.

I have started fixing other smaller issues, the first of which was the rear seatbelt trim which was cracked. These are an easy fix with a single large bolt that needs removing to replace them. Here’s a before and after.

[Jfrahm]

I have an S2 cat in my shed if you are looking for one.

[Marine Blue]

Originally Posted by Jfrahm

I have an S2 cat in my shed if you are looking for one.

Thanks for the offer! I didn’t think to post here that I needed one although I did search to see if anyone had one for sale before buying the Magnaflow. Since the Magnaflow is working well I’ll stick with it but I would definitely post yours up for sale, especially if it doesn’t have much miles on it as it will come in handy for someone.

[Marine Blue]

I had picked up a spare hood badge for my 964 Targa years ago but never used it so when the 944 arrived with what appeared to be a poor copy of the Porsche badge I decided to swap it out. The old badge came off easy enough but the correct back is proving to be a bit difficult to get that last small gap closed. Here’s a picture of the before, during and after.

[stitch]

Did you change out the timing chain guides? If not, that is a 10 year replacement item. I recommend to every new 16 valve 944 owner to remove the cams and have the chain itself replaced as well, I have seen a chain fail when the guides and tensioner were perfectly fine.

Some RTV (Reinzseal is the best) is required on the 'bump' below the timing chain mechanism, since that area of the gasket gets BLASTED with oil constantly. M1 15w50 is the best S2 oil too, FYI.

Are the motor mounts yellow zinc plated? If they are, then they are genuine Porsches. If they are not, get them replaced with genuines. All of the aftermarket 944 mounts are absolute junk. My 91 S2 coupe had it's original engine mounts (which are the same design you buy new today) and those original mounts dated 1990 were bad, but still worked better than the new aftermarket junk.

And also read up about converting the top to manual operation. It has two motors, and there is no circuit to detect if one quit working, so it will snap the pot metal convertible top frame like butter, and good luck getting a new top frame.

Anyway, welcome to S2 life. The best of the 944.

[walfreyydo]

I think the above post by stitch is referencing the "cam chain tensioner pads". These should be inspected and replaced as those will wear and break, causing non-repairable damage to the cylinder head. It will basically cause the tensioner to be ripped from its mounts after the pads break. A $200 part which can save you from having to replace a $2000 head (not to mention labor to install)

Another thing I see in your photos is that you still appear to be running OEM fuel lines. These should also be replaced as many 944's have been destroyed by engine fires. Because the lines run directly over the exhaust manifold, after the years these cars have on them the lines get dry and brittle due to the heat, eventually causing a fuel leak. There are also lines on the fuel rail running to and from the dampener which also need to be replaced. You can either get new OEM lines ($$$) or go with AN adapted lines, as many of us have, sold by many different suppliers (cheaper yet still effective).

Highly recommend doing both as soon as possible. Im actually surprised your shop did not bring this up as these are both very well known failure points...

Photos of new fuel lines (I have since added high temp titanium sheathing to the ones running over the exhaust)


And here is a photo of what happens with a chain tensioner pad failure:

[Marine Blue]

Thanks for the additional items to check, I am adding them to the list!

The car has 56k miles on it so not high but as noted age will also deteriorate these parts and the last thing I want is an engine fire!

I have a host of other items to correct also including an obnoxious headunit with screen that I touch every time I shift gears causing music to pause or skip. A previous owner also installed round speakers in the doors instead of the correct 4x6 so that needs to be corrected as well.

[stitch]

Originally Posted by walfreyydo

I think the above post by stitch is referencing the "cam chain tensioner pads".

Yes, they're technically speaking called guides, not pads. I find that by calling them by the proper and more commonly understood name people understand the importance a lot better.

Originally Posted by walfreyydo

A $200 part which can save you from having to replace a $2000 head (not to mention labor to install)

They're way more now, unfortunately, try $300-400. I have been trying to find a cheaper source for them, from Germany, but not from Porsche directly.

Originally Posted by walfreyydo

You can either get new OEM lines ($$$) or go with AN adapted lines, as many of us have, sold by many different suppliers (cheaper yet still effective).

Better solution now, you can cut the ends off your old lines and reveal barb fittings underneath, order some 100% ethanol proof Cohline 2240 in 7mm ID from Bel-Metric with proper smooth injection clamps and you can replace them for much cheaper.
I am going to be getting rid of my AN lines, I do not like them because possible leak points are doubled, and with raw rubber it's easier to observe for deterioration..

[Marine Blue]

Originally Posted by stitch

Better solution now, you can cut the ends off your old lines and reveal barb fittings underneath, order some 100% ethanol proof Cohline 2240 in 7mm ID from Bel-Metric with proper smooth injection clamps and you can replace them for much cheaper.
I am going to be getting rid of my AN lines, I do not like them because possible leak points are doubled, and with raw rubber it's easier to observe for deterioration..

Do you have a link to the fuel lines that should be replaced?


I’m continuing down my path of slow restoration of the 944. This weekend I removed the front bumper turn signal lights to clean them up. I’ve always had the opinion that some of the poor lighting we see out of older cars has partially to do with dirty hazed over plastics and a little cleaning and polishing can go a long way to improving lighting and making the car look new again. I’ll work on the fog lights over Christmas Holiday.

[Marine Blue]

More pictures…..


Tools used to polish the lenses:

[azbanks]

Originally Posted by stitch

Yes, they're technically speaking called guides, not pads. I find that by calling them by the proper and more commonly understood name people understand the importance a lot better.

If we are getting technical, they are called timing chain tensioner rails. I find that by calling them by the proper and more commonly understood name people understand the importance a lot better.

Timing Chain Tensioner Rail (Upper)

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/92810550901.htm?pn=928-105-509-01-M100&SVSVSI=767&DID=15026

and Timing Chain Tensioner Rail (Lower)

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/92810534701.htm?pn=928-105-347-01-OEM&SVSVSI=767&DID=11044

Originally Posted by stitch

They're way more now, unfortunately, try $300-400. I have been trying to find a cheaper source for them, from Germany, but not from Porsche directly.

The upper is $13.69 and the lower is $286.59.

[Marine Blue]

The previous owner installed a CarPlay head unit which to me looked out of place in the 944 cabin. In addition to looking out of place it was also in close proximity to the shifter resulting in accidental contact and changing whatever was on the screen. Here’s a shot of what was installed:



I picked up a Continental Bluetooth to replace it, I’ll post pictures of the completed install soon.

[Marine Blue]

The Continental headunit has been installed! The matte finish and square buttons are a perfect match for the 944 dash. It’s great to have that bulky screen gone.

[Marine Blue]

The previous owner had spent a decent amount of money having the paint polished and ceramic coated and overall I was pleasantly surprised by the paint condition with a few exceptions.

The rear decklid still had lots of hazing, water spots and some oxidation under the ceramic coating which was driving me crazy. The third brake light was also looking a little tired and the detail shop didn’t do a great job with the finish around the light so I decided to disassemble it, clean everything up and perform some polishing.

I started by cleaning up the red lense and then used a finishing polish with a polishing pad to remove the surface hazing on the exterior surface.

Next up was paint correction. Before I started I ran a paint meter on the rear decklid to make sure I had enough paint to work with and everything measured between 5 and 6 mils so the paint hadn’t been polished much. I chose a microfiber polishing pad with Menzerna 3800 finishing polish on my PXE80 3” Polisher at full speed to correct the paint. I was surprised to see my pad turn blue as I thought the paint was clear coated. When I completed the initial polish I used the Menzerna with a finishing pad to remove any remaining haze. Here are some pictures of the results.