Introduction...well, sorta...
 

Been a Pelican since 2002, but have resided mainly on the 911 and OT boards. Due to the loss of my 911, a story I won't go into here, I've picked up a pretty well sorted 944.

Drove down yesterday to pick her up from white944cup, in St. Augustine. A 6 hour drive back to Marietta, and she's now resting comfortably in her new home. The drive was pretty amazing. Hard to believe so much can come from a4 cylinder engine. I'm much more than pleasantly surprised.

In 5th gear, 3000 RPM, she's right at 90 mph. Had to make a conscious effort to keep her down around 80. :D Nice smooth ride, and plenty of getup and go, even at speed.

Terry, you've taken good care of her. Thanks!!!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1196304132.jpg

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Randy

love the interior colors, just needs new floor mats, would love to see how well shes been taken care of under the hood.

a very fine example of a beautiful early 944.

Well, it just wouldn't be Christmas if you didn't get what you were asking for, now would it? :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1198440762.jpg

And the mats, they're some aftermarket mats that are doing a fantastic job of keeping the original carpet looking very "original". Perhaps Santa will hook us up with some OEM mats for her. ;)

Randy

Welcome to the "dark side" Randy! :D

Wow, super clean! Now I know what an early interior is suposed to look like. Every brown interior I have ever seen looked faded and dingy. Welcome to waterworld.

Hey, vinman! I've been reading through a lot of post all day and seeing a lot of names I recognized. I didn't realize I had so many friends over here on the 944 side.

Kinda feel like a professional athlete who's just been traded to another team. LOL

This car really is pretty sweet. I mean, she has a few "age spots", but she's 23 years old. That's like 161 in dog years! LOL

Randy

She is pretty clean. Has a few cracks on top of the dash that I'd like to do something about...looks like a serious pita to replace the entire dash, but maybe some vinyl repair stuff, along with a dash-pad...

Randy

Real nice looking car! Pretty damn clean for the age. Best of luck with it!

It's actually not quite as bad as it looks and there are several options if you want to repair it permanently. There is a 928 leather shop that sells rebuild kits for it or they will rebuild it for you I think. Let us know if you interested and I'll look it up.

Thanks, Vinny! You know where I'll be if I have any questions! :D

Randy

Tom, that would be great if you could post that information. I don't know how soon I'll get to doing the actual repair, but it's definitely something I'll be adding to my Things To Do list for her.

I found a place online that sells a custom mat made for any particular car for $30.00. The write up from their web page says, "The same great "brandname" Brand custom fit dash cover in an exciting new fabric. Clean and rich looking dash cover with the look and feel of suede leather. Protects your dashboard while mirroring the Original Equipment look of your vehicle. Available in Beige, Grey, Smoke and Black. Two Year Warranty.


They say this is the color, but may not represent the exact mat for the particular year/model. Looks pretty close to me. And for the price, I think this may do for a while. :D
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1198461791.jpg

Randy

When I bought my 87S I was very suprised, as you were at the manners and comfort level of the car. My origional plan was to buy, rebuild and sell for a profit. That soon changed to get running and keep.
It now belongs to a friend, (he got it for cost) But I will get another one. They are great drivers. You will like it more as the miles pile up. Nice get.

Randy: I'm glad she ran good on the trip home....I knew she would, but that was definitely the longest non-stop trip she had taken in 3 years. It was sad to see her going down the road, but she was looking and sounding good! I think you are like me and a lot of other 944 owners on this board.....I was an air-cooled snob and looked at the front-engined waterpumpers with great prejudice and diddain for many years. I never knew what great cars these are, and I never gave them any respect whatsoever until I drove one, and I fell instantly in love with the torque and driveability of the engine, and the fantastic handling. Once you have owned and driven one for a while, it become clear that these cars are indeed Porsches through and through. They do exactly what they were designed for, and they last a long time if they are taken care of. Enjoy!!!!.............Terry

Rick, I found your thread about when you first got your 944. Found it yesterday as a matter of fact. At first I thought it was a recent thread...from this year, and was thinking that a lot of 911 guys were getting 944 cars for Christmas this year. Had a reply all typed in and everything, and then realized your thread was from last year. Story of my life, always the last one to get to the party! LOL

Terry, as we talked about, it really was one great cruise home. I swear she didn't wanna stop. I've got no plans for tomorrow, gonna be all by myself, so I think I may treat her to a tank of gas and some fun in the N. Georgia hills. It'll make for some good "bonding" time before I get my shoulder opened up on Wednesday. Gonna be hard to just look at her sitting in the garage for a few weeks while my arm is immobilized. :( But, as they say, good things come to those who wait. :D

Merry Christmas everyone, and to your families too!

Randy

Actually it's not too hard to do at all - I had my dash out in a morning and back in again within an afternoon. The week in between re-upholstering it was a bit of a chore but removing the old style dash is just a question of being methodical, having a decent supply of plastic bags and making labels / notes for the wiring. You do have to take a fair bit of trim off but it's only a few screws here and there.

I've had some success with filling the cracks with other dashes in the past - I used Sikaflex 221 (a strong industrial sealant / adhesive) applied with a syringe and finished off by dabbing a grain onto it using the upper face of a piece of leather. Sikaflex 221 comes in various colours - including Porsche dash brown!

Nice car, by the way.

Rick, not sure I can say thank's enough for the hook up!

Randy, Welcome to 944 land! Once you get healed up drop me a line & we'll do a few victory laps on the Dragon! SmileWavy

Just did some Googling on the Sikaflex. Lokks like this just might do the trick. Even saw some pics of the brown, in use, and it is definitely very close in color to the dash. This just might be the way to go.

Procon, the tail of the dragon has been on my list of things to do for a while now. I know a bunch of Pelicans do that at least once or twice a year. Once the shoulder is healed, I will definitely be looking to make that ride. Sounds like quite a rush! :D Am I correct in assuming that you're the friend that now has Rick's 944?

Randy

WOW! I've been seeing a lot of references to the "Clarks-Garage" website so I thought I'd check it out. Again...WOW!!! What an amazing collection of information!!!

I'm off work for the rest of the week, and possibly even the week after that. I'll definitely be doing a lot of studying! :D

Randy

check out www.928leather.com

Randy,

Might as well block off the 1st. weekend in November, this will be our 3rd. annual Dragon meet. :cool:
However, since you're so close, there's no need to wait that long! ;)

And your assumption is correct, I am the proud owner of what was the slowest car in Rick's driveway. :D

Jay

Edit: Might want to edit the speed in your orginal post, the ball breaker's will get you!

Great site, Tom, Thanks! Noticed they're in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Planned on making a drive up there next summer to visit some family. Gonna have to check them out while I'm there.

Jay, not to worry, there weren't any ricers in sight throughout the entire trip... ;)

Randy