New here - 1987 944 NA 3-sp Auto

[acavallo17]

Youngest son was amazed by this car and will have the opportunity to resurrect it from sitting for over 12 years. Buying it from the PO and luckily will be working on it at the PO's garage until completely road worthy (read as keeping my garage empty for now) Been checking all the forums and sites to source items that this car will need as well as guides to do the repairs. So far, it has gone from a no-start and a lot of things not opening and fuel leaking to being able to start, idle and driving around the property thanks to info here and some parts from here.

Some of the main things i see i'll have questions about are going to be about the wiring behind the dash for this car that has had a custom radio (but now long since gone), aftermarket alarm (which doesn't seem to be jumpered correctly to completely disable but still starts and runs with no issue) and just wires that seemly go to nowhere. been tracking down electrical diagrams but sometimes its really nice to see someone say 'ah, that wire is ____' from a pic! and tracking down a parasitic power loss (have a few things on that checklist to go through but the battery tray wiring is a mess as well)

Everything else with the car seems to be in pretty good shape considering how long it's been sitting but really looking forward to getting it back on the road where it should be.

[jjeffries]

Welcome Cavallo’s Sr. and Jr.

My thread (See JohnJ’s 87 924S Rehabilitation…) may be of interest. I was told early on that getting my car mechanically sorted after 12 years off the road could easily cost $5-10K in parts. That’s not far off the mark. The condition of your 944 and it’s components, how it was maintained before being laid-up is, of course, the variable.

Others will chime in but here’s something important: go through the fuel system VERY carefully and spend what it takes to minimize fire risks. ALL the hoses, including the vent system. Fires are too common, and we’re talking about your progeny here.

Best of luck, you’ll find so much help here.
John

[CarGuyNeil]

It's nice to see a father and son project. Best to you both. I look forward to the updates on your progress.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[OK-944]

Great to see this! Reminds my of my own "father/son" experience with my son's first car...a 1984 944 which was in pretty rough shape until we cobbled it back together. Great experience, and got me completely hooked on 944's!

At any rate...take your time, do your research, keep tuning in to this forum, and have fun!

[acavallo17]

that is a great thread! took me longer than expected since i didn't realize it was 30+ pages lol but so much great info in there - especially the dash at this point since that is where we are at in terms of working on it.

Very true about the state of condition - after we did the initial go over the car before we started i was thinking about 5K to get it road ready and as we go through it, it is looking to be about that number. going through that thread i see similarities and areas where this car is in pretty good condition. the fuel system was a main point for me - only things left to do for that is inspect the sender and replace the wiring harness for the injectors, everything else was replaced or checked out ok. after we get this wiring and dash stuff cleaned up it will be back to the cooling system, then some of the suspension, then brakes and lines, transmission, and then it's back to some non working items like the sunroof and other odds and ends for the interior and exterior that won't affect trying to get it on the road.

thanks and i hope this can be a 30+ page thread as work progresses on the car!

Originally Posted by jjeffries

Welcome Cavallo’s Sr. and Jr.

My thread (See JohnJ’s 87 924S Rehabilitation…) may be of interest. I was told early on that getting my car mechanically sorted after 12 years off the road could easily cost $5-10K in parts. That’s not far off the mark. The condition of your 944 and it’s components, how it was maintained before being laid-up is, of course, the variable.

Others will chime in but here’s something important: go through the fuel system VERY carefully and spend what it takes to minimize fire risks. ALL the hoses, including the vent system. Fires are too common, and we’re talking about your progeny here.

Best of luck, you’ll find so much help here.
John

[acavallo17]

Thanks! i'll start posting some of the initial progress pics and it is pretty cool to have him so interested in a car that was on my wall as his age lol

Originally Posted by CarGuyNeil

It's nice to see a father and son project. Best to you both. I look forward to the updates on your progress.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[acavallo17]

nice! at first i thought our father/son project was going to be a cobra FFR or a fox body mustang (that was my first car) since i have a 1969 302 built and ready to go in the garage but when this came along and he was so into it (and still is as he wrenches on it) it looks like this will be the first car lol the nice thing is that we have a schedule that leaves us time not to rush it.. this forum has been a huge help already and definitely having fun so far

Originally Posted by OK-944

Great to see this! Reminds my of my own "father/son" experience with my son's first car...a 1984 944 which was in pretty rough shape until we cobbled it back together. Great experience, and got me completely hooked on 944's!

At any rate...take your time, do your research, keep tuning in to this forum, and have fun!

[CarGuyNeil]

Nice to see that you were open to taking a different brand on. I started with Ford Mustangs too when I was a kid and having worked for Motor Trend magazine opened up my world to different makes of vehicles as I was a total Mustang guy in my youth. It's nice to see that he gets the best of both worlds German precision and American muscle.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[acavallo17]

so here is where we started with this.. for the fender, the PO has the replacement so that will be addressed in time (for the damage, it was a hit and run while parked on a street near the PO's house) it was a mess but there is enough there to make it worthwhile to do as a project. The PO has had 944s in the past and they have other projects to complete (928S is one of them) and i think this just became a forgotten car.

[acavallo17]

well, to quote my son i'm an 'audi fanboy' lol.. but for me, i've always been a ford person since my dad sold lincolns and mercurys, right now i have a mustang (08 bullitt) and a jeep and past cars have had minis and an audi a4... so i have been open to most brands and i think he has picked up on that too.. he loves this 944 lol

Originally Posted by CarGuyNeil

Nice to see that you were open to taking a different brand on. I started with Ford Mustangs too when I was a kid and having worked for Motor Trend magazine opened up my world to different makes of vehicles as I was a total Mustang guy in my youth. It's nice to see that he gets the best of both worlds German precision and American muscle.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[acavallo17]

here are some of the things we have done, been keeping track of time, repairs and parts... might make these separate posts, with or without pics..

Initial clean out, full vacuum, wash, wax, glass

Engine bay cleaning, wash, wax, vacuum, spoiler drain clean out, put on jack stands, passenger door fix, install battery, check most electronics, belts and hoses

Engine bay cleaning, hood struts, front wipers, air filter box clean out, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, new plugs, oil change, coolant drain, install new coolant drain plug, add coolant, repair fuel line from tank to pump, add fuel, test start - no start

here are some pics from those steps and it seems our friend the mouse hasn't been back since we have been working on it and moving it each week and all the hiding places have been cleaned out like the air box lol... for things like the fuel lines, you can see how bad some of the lines were and was able to replace them.

[acavallo17]

more steps that have been done, some of the pics from last post are out of order (things like the tank to pump hose probably should have been here):

Install tank to fuel pump hose, install radiator drain plug, check fuel at rails, check relay, check fuel pump, more gas, check injectors, test start, charge battery, clean injectors? Injectors - cleaned, needs new relay, pump ok, starts, runs and idles

new fuel relay (solid state), start electrical troubleshooting, install rear hatch struts, replace fuel tank/pump cover

Remove door panel, start door lock repair, under engine panels cleaned, rear wiper motor inspection - needs repair and replace with rear wiper delete

Paint driver door handle, Rear Wiper Delete Plug, remove wiper washer tank and motor, remove passenger side door panel. Idles good.

[acavallo17]

might do one or two related posts or perhaps separate some of the wiring questions into other posts, but here are some recent things done in the past few weeks:

Door lock repair, drivers side. Door panel repairs and reconditioning complete. Remove wheels for new tires.

Vacuum reservoir repair, ignition coil cover repair, reinstall tires, start dash removal and inspection. Clean out behind dash. Inspect wiring and alarm system and other random unconnected wiring.

Dash removal and prepped, Instrument cluster removed, removal of center console, swap accessory switches to new center console.

Seat removal, more trim removal, front carpet removal, after-market alarm removal, after-market radio harness/accessory wiring removal

some pics attached for some of those things:

[jjeffries]

Excellent, comprehensive approach you guys are pursuing, those tightly written sentences describe a whole lot of action. I can see an automatic being a very pleasant option under some - increasingly common - circumstances. Not to be pooh-pooh’d, I’d like to try one.

Best, John

[acavallo17]

As we were going through the carpet removal and seat removal, came across a few odd things... e-brake wire was completely cut, will have to clean up and reconnect.. front driver's seat, connected but power seat functions don't work - at least the seat manually slides and reclines manually... passenger seat, power wiring exists but not connected? cleaned out connectors and will see what to do to avoid corrosion if not used or an option for the seat... passenger side footwell, while removing the after-market alarm, came across one wire that will need to be traced - a yellow wire that doesn't seem to lead from main harness... still have to do the factory alarm harness jumper fix, but car does start and run good so far... there is another mystery wire near the ignition, pic posted - it is the harness with the green wire looped back into the harness and has a black and red wire that wasn't connected to anything while removing the dash. will go through the wiring diagrams as best i can to see what it could possibly be.

will post a few more pics about the radio wiring harness and some wires that came from the after market alarm as well as a few more mystery wires that i believe are definitely radio related. everything else seems accounted for.

[acavallo17]

Originally Posted by jjeffries

Excellent, comprehensive approach you guys are pursuing, those tightly written sentences describe a whole lot of action. I can see an automatic being a very pleasant option under some - increasingly common - circumstances. Not to be pooh-pooh’d, I’d like to try one.

Best, John

thanks and glad it works as a progression for what's going on, we have a lot of pics but it's not quite a full step by step if i had to do it that way, so going to be a lot more writing than pics for most of the things we have been doing. for the automatic, i'm interested how it will perform as well. that will be one of things to address as well as we have the filter and gasket to replace for it. i would really love it to be a 5 speed but for what this car will be, i think it will still be pretty fun to drive.

[acavallo17]

been working on some of the dash restore prep and will start some of the instrument cluster restore as well but as i was going through some pics, i went back to the full parts manuals and had a question about the shifter. The shifter in the car is broken at the top that depresses, but seems to be a totally different style than a replacement that was included in the car. the replacement matches the manual exactly so now i'm wondering if i'll have to replace the whole shifting mechanism. i've found a ton of stuff for the 5 speed shifter but not too much regarding the auto other than rebuilds of the trans itself. thoughts and/or ideas? as it is now, it shifts good by depressing the broken tab but as the interior goes back together, it has to be addressed lol

[acavallo17]

more work on the car today:

prepped and filled dashboard cracks, prepped glove box door and started refinishing, pulled out driver side carpet and padding, refinished driver side and passenger side footwell carpet sections, double checked OEM alarm wiring - looks like it is jumpered like it should be, new issue with headlights though - parking lights OK, fog lights OK, headlights pop up but don't turn on (fog lights also go off when headlights pop up) found an aftermarket wire going to headlights from under fuse box and traced to a wire that looks like it goes to the original headlight wiring. was simply cut at fuse box and then a heavier gauge wire was run across the firewall to the passenger side light and same wire was just cut and left there as well. will have to check all wiring and plugs. fuses are ok, will check the flasher relay since blinkers haven't worked. will take pics next week if i can.

would still like to find out more about the shifter though, once carpet is in place would be nice to get center console and dash all back in.

[acavallo17]

this week's progress (son took pics and i'll post some later on):

dash prep and fill is progressing, will do one more fill coat and then start to apply the vinyl wrap. for the vents, will be going with the finish trim to make that clean. seat rails reconditioning started so will be painting that next week, hopefully the reupholstering for driver seat can be started next week. not sure about tackling the power seat features yet. might decide once starting the tear down of the seat. seat trim pieces being reconditioned, all new fuses and will replace all relays in the fuse box. still tracing down the cut wire issues, didn't get to check too much today and thinking of focusing on grounding issues for the headlight issue... rear seat and rear carpet reconditioned... fuel sending unit cleaned - hoses were good, sending unit needed cleaning.. automatic shifter repair is done - once it was apart wasn't sure it would work but it does. the units are definitely different but connect exactly the same and the top part is the same. the insides, totally different. the original does the same thing for depressing the switch but has double the parts doing it. with the repair done, depressing doesn't feels the same. will know for sure how smooth it is once center console is back in place.

[acavallo17]

here are some pics the younger one took, the shifter was a relatively easy swap and it seems it will work with the shifter handle on. for the back seat, we haven't figured out what human would fit back there so that's why we decided just to recondition them.. maybe a book bag would fit? lol the seams showing will be tucked in, just wanted to get full coverage unlike the previous work done on them. now all crevices and seams and overlaps are full black. the back carpet is in ok shape so next week the side panels along the back and the back seat carpet will be reconditioned. those speakers will be coming out as well, nothing fancy, just decent newer ones. he only took a pic of the fuel sender once it was back in (hoses were in good condition btw), so sorry for not showing a before and while it was out of the tank pics lol