What did you do to your 944 in 2009?

[stogie25]

I'll go first.

I drove my 1988 Porsche 944 home from work today. The smell and feel of the newly conditioned leather of the interior was almost alive as I darted in and out of traffic. The newly reupholstered dash glistening as the streetlights reflected mildly off of it. The matching bright blue glow of the gauges, dash switches, shifter handle, and stereo easy to read in the dark of the drive home. The engine purred as I instantly jumped from fifty to eighty miles per hour to get around a semi in the left lane. The stereo was playing a constant barrage of eighties tunes from the satellite radio through the new speakers all around the car.

It was not like this nine months ago when I brought the car home. It was a rainy early spring night. The little four cylinder motor was chugging along. I could not get my just purchased Porsche to go over forty-five miles per hour. My arm uncomfortably perched on my jacket because the center console armrest was missing. An incessant rattling was coming from an ugly metal shifter that had no business in this Porsche. The stereo sounded horrible, and the amp and subwoofer were sliding around loose in back. None of the electrics worked, the windows, locks, sunroof. One of the wipers shook its way up and back across the windshield like it was having an epileptic seizure. The dash lights were so dim I could not tell how fast I was going without the help of my flashlight. The dash was wavy and misshapen. It turned out that this was a cover hiding the cracked dash of most 944’s. The air conditioning blew warm air, however the heater worked better then any car I had ever been in.

I knew the car was in overall very good shape, but had been sitting for over a year. It would need some work to get it running and looking right. I knew this was going to be a bit of a project, but I was up to the challenge. What I did not expect was that the car started out cursed. Every time I took it out of the garage something went wrong. Not necessarily mechanically wrong, but wrong. Two days after I brought it home, I took my wife to a movie in it. While we were inside some pinhead smashed into the drivers rear quarter. They were so upset at their inability to park that they keyed the rest of the drivers side. It was my first insurance claim in twenty-six years of driving. I had two flat tires within two days after it came out of the body shop. I changed from the wheel and tire combination that came on it to the original phone dials that also came with the car. The phonies were rough, but my tire problems went away. I also thought they handled better then the eighteens that were on there. At one point, the sunroof fell off a shelf in the garage while I was fixing the lifting gears inside the car and got a serious case of road rash. My body guy has a good sense of humor, and took pity on me with the price of repair. I finally managed to outlive the curse (knock on wood).

The biggest performance improvement was to run the year and a half old race gas out of the car, and fill it with fresh premium and a bottle of BG 44K. I also changed the fuel filter. A very complete tune up and timing belt service were next. The previous owner had the spark plugs in finger tight. The new ones are correctly installed, and the car runs like it should. I also managed to get the air conditioning working. It was the first time in a very long time that I took a car to have it serviced instead of doing it myself, but the air conditioning recharge was done well, and blew cold air at me all summer.

Over the course of the year, I also installed a throttle cam and a performance chip. These made a lot of difference in the daily drivability of the car. While I am glad I did the performance upgrades, I am also glad that I drove it without them long enough to appreciate the upgrades for what they were.

I then started to fix all of the minor electrical problems. My weekends were spent disassembling, and fixing or replacing switches, wiring, and other minor items. I bought new speakers, added satellite radio, a TomTom, installed blue LED’s in the entire dash to match the stereo. I also mounted the amp, and ticked minor maintenance items off my list. I sourced and installed a center console armrest and a new shifter handle.

Soon after I got my 944, a friend of mine picked up a 951 in very rough condition. His car had a center reflector that said Porsche. I think it really gives the car a finished look. I sourced one and installed it. I also found a set of emblem stickers to break up the solid black of the front fenders. They are on magnets, so if I change my mind they can come off without issue.

My friend convinced me that we should refinish the phone dials. We spent about twenty hours stripping and sanding the wheels to the raw aluminum that they are now. By spring I intend to paint the insides black. This would already be done if not for a rerun of the ‘80’s T.V. show Knight Rider. The black wheels on the car look horrible, and I got a little scared about doing this to my 944. I have the black on black combo on my Jeep and love it, so I don’t know why I got scared, but I did. I photoshopped the black wheels on pictures of my 944 and have once again decided to continue when the weather is more permitting.

One day I removed the dash cover to see how bad the cracks were underneath. They were pretty bad, so I went to an upholstery shop to price out the repair. It was very reasonable if I removed and reinstalled the dash. With the help of Clark’s Garage I was able to do this fairly easily.

The car now looks and drives great. My only imminent projects are to finish the wheels, and touch up a few small rock chips. As I typed the last line my phone rang. It was a call from a seller on Craigslist. I found a set of cookie cutters about an hour away at an incredible price. He says they were on an ’87 and are in good shape. I guess this is why they call it a work in progress…


Buy Porsche April
Bodywork from theatre April
License plate frames April
Super tuneup April
Fire Extinguisher April
Tools April
Bodywork sunroof May
Super detail May
Fix passenger lock actuator May
Fix lock switch May
Sunroof switch May
Install phonedials May
Arm box May
Sub woofers May
Tom Tom May
Rear reflector May
Air conditioning May
Fuel filter May
Stock airbox May
Wipers May
Headlight wiring May
Replace passenger mirror June
Fix sunroof gears June
Fix passenger window switch June
Throttle cam June
Porsche emblems June
Ash tray June
Cup holders June
Blue LED's July
Sirius July
Mount amp July
Shifter July
Strip phonedials August
Replace dash September
Replace dash trim September
Chip September
Timing belt September
Rear brake pads and rotor turning October
Doctor Color Chip November

When I bought it




Cleaned up on phonedials


Dash replacement








Phonedials refinished




New cookie cutter wheels

[krystar]

let's see...

During spring: put on welt springs, koni shocks, sway bar, tires, seats, harness belt.
During summer: tracked the hell out of it. went to track evening test and tune every other week. SCCA autoX, BMWCCA autoX, PCA DE.
8/25: blew engine. destroyed #2 bearing. towed 200 miles home.
9/06: borrow dad's minivan and drive up to western wisconsin. bought new motor. took my time tearing it down and replacing valves and decking head.
10/30: install 6pt harness
11/20: install rollbar

so yea....that was my year. i'm eager for next year in DE and autox! maybe i should get a 30mm torsion and front coilovers...

[Arizona_928]

New Head Gasket, also Tracked down the elctrical problem, and got her started for the first time this year!

[Jkaindl]

Bought 951 - May
May's improvements:
New brake pads (Thanks pelican!) and rotors resurfaced
Reinstalled sun visor clips, removed junk wiring from a sub box one of the PO's removed but didn't take the wiring with it.
Detailed like a madman.

June:
Removed open element filter and replaced with OEM box and new air filter (does anyone know if there is a real performance gain? I thought open elements tended to draw in hot engine bay air. This one mounted almost directly where the stock one is, but without the snorkel to the wheel well. Something tells me the intercooler's neighborhood isn't that cold.)
First oil + filter change (Total disaster. My car has been nicknamed the Valdez by a friend and I got to spend a few hours getting oil out of concrete) but it finally got done
Replaced a tire
Detailed like a madman some more

July:
Exhaust repaired (SOB cracked on me with no warning)
Short shift kit installed
New shifter lever

August:
Fresh oil and filter, no disaster this time
Replaced turn signal switch
New bulbs in 3 of the tail light slots

SOMETHING IN THE CLUTCH EXPLODES ON MY BIRTHDAY. IN THE MIDDLE OF A TRIP TO A CAR SHOW. NOT COOL.
Leave it with a friend who lived en-route, limp it back to my apartment later.

September
Get the courage to drive a little. I can still stop but its not going into gear while stopped with the engine running, so I get to practice heel-toeing around town.
New battery
Clutch kit arrives: Spec stage 2 (Yummy)

Fast Forward to November:
Drive home from school, parked it in the garage where it will stay till I can save the $ to repair the clutch
Turned 130K on the way home.

Its been the best of times, and its been the worst of times. One thing is for sure though, its never boring to have a Porsche

[porsche4life]

Hmm.... Most if not all of my problems were sorted last year... Other than new injectors...


Guess the only big thing I did with the 944 was autocross the hell out of it.

[Dave L]

plugs, cap, rotor, plug wires, brake fluid
removed rear wiper and put in wiper plug
replaced ripped drivers side seat top with good one
replaced arm rest cover material with material cut from bad seat top
tightened up rear hatch so it doesnt leak

projects for the winter;

removed bumpers to shave the bumper pads off
paint 16ventiller mouldings that I bought about 2 years ago
removed clock to fix it
removed center caps on design 90s to paint

[onZedge]

January: New Years Day - Changed oil, oil filter, Techron FI cleaner, air filter, fuel filter, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, 5-way 19mm rear sway bar, tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
February: Tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
March: Replaced ash tray bulb, tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
April: Fools Day - Changed oil, oil filter, Techron FI cleaner, (4) 205/60/15 Goodyears, Bosch wiper blades, removed all the pesky body side mouldings, tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
May: Replaced broken driver's door latch trigger linkage thingy, R&R'd both door locks, replaced courtesey light door switch seals, tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
June: Tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
July: Independence Day - Changed oil, oil filter, Techron FI cleaner, buffed out with Meguires Ultimate Polish/Meguires No.7 Sealant/many coats of Mothers paste wax (smells nice), tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
August: Tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
September: Labor Day - Changed oil, oil filter, Techron FI cleaner, tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
October: Tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
November: Tweaked suspension/tire pressures & drove it like I stole it.
December: Christmas - (Planned) Change oil, oil filter, Techron FI cleaner, retrofit early 944 aluminum control arms with geometry correcting ball joint pins & Powerflex bushings, tweak suspension/tire pressures & drive it like I stole it.

[cwiert]

lots and lots of little things the PO neglected to do....

- installed rear drain tubes (gee, i wonder why the rear carpet is all wet)
- reconnected rear speakers
- added armrest pad
- new shift boot
- fixed sunroof motor
- replaced sunroof gears
- fixed sun visors
- replaced broken windshield
- Swapped cookie cutter rims (which should never have even been on the car) with 17" 996 rims
- Removed performance exhaust and installed stock turbo exhaust
- removed Cone air filter and put stock filter back in.
- fixed rear windshield wiper
- fixed interior lights
- Installed new dashboard lights
- fixed heater clips
- reinstalled 3rd brake light
- removed crappy tint
- flushed power steering fluid and replaced with ATF fluid (stupid PO)
- fixed power door locks
- cleaned engine compartment
- added subwoofer
- washed, compounded, and waxed.

wow... when listed out like that, i did a lot. i'm pretty proud of myself.

[WizPorsche944]

Here is mine although I really didnt do much due to working alot. I have bigger projects planned for the spring.

Replaced- K&N filter with stock mahle
Cracked blower motor cover
Fuel Filter
Cracked dash strip
Old worn hatch lock seal
Vacuum Lines with silicone hoses

Installed- Porsche crest interior door pulls
KLA Cabin Filters

[HondaDustR]

Well, let's see... It's been a busy year.

Started things off right with a 944MAX chip in January.

February, re-sealed the balance shaft housings both front and rear. Did not replace the seal flanges.

Got two new Bridgestone Potenza 960AS tires for the rear. Can't remember...something like March.

May, June, July...

Replaced the timing and balance belt and at the 1500 mile retension found the water pump was leaking already even though it's barely a year old.

Got 2 more Bridgestone Potenza 960AS tires for the front. First time the car has had 4 of the same tires since I first got it.

Somehow thought that I could pull off a marathon water pump replacement, front seal replacement (remember those flanges?), this time with new flanges, and valve stem seals all at once. Didn't work so well. The water pump and seals went fine. I was way too tired by the time I got the first set of valve springs off and could not install the new seals to save my life. 8 mangled seals and a cylinder with no valve stem seals later, I throw it back together and pretend it never happened.

Longest road trip yet, only a week after the valve stem seal incident. Made it all the way to Lexington, KY and back for an equestrian competition. I took Rt 50 on the way home and got some pretty sick runs in up in the mountains. I brought 6 quarts of oil just in case and ALL of them were gone by the time I got home. 250 miles/qt is ridiculous! It doesn't really leak and still has decent compression.

August-December...
Not letting myself be beaten so easily, I order more parts to knock out the valve stem seal job and cut oil consumption once and for all...hopefully. I had 3 days to do it, got them installed just fine, and...just like it always does, starts raining at the most inopportune time. I need the car to get to work the next day and all I have to do is get the cam back on. Being exhausted and having already made a few stupid mistakes trying to install what took like 30 minutes with my eyes shut to remove 2 days ago, I decide to just quit and finish the next day before I absolutely lose it and do something really stupid. Well, that was the worst time to have been so brutally interrupted. The series of unfortunate events involving paper towels still in the oil drains in the head all this time quickly lead to oil consumption increasing even more to about 100 ft/qt out the cork gasket on the cam housing, no oil pressure and seized rod bearings on the way to work...and so the epic revival project begins.

To make a long story short, ~$2K later I've got a beautifully rebuilt and internally balanced motor, plus a new clutch back in the car. The thing hauls noticably better than the old one ever did. Also did a full cyl head mild porting job and intake port matching while I was waiting for parts. No more smoke and leaking except for the RMS but something's not right. Oil is disappearing just a little too much, but it's probably the RMS, right? Had to get a new battery since the old one was at least 4 or 5 years old and apparently could no longer cope reliably with the higher compression of a fresh motor. I love how the oil looks clear and clean like I just changed it yesterday, even after 500 miles. New rings work wonders!

Found where the oil is going and that would be in the coolant! and I have to drive to NJ for a very important equine body clipping job in two weeks. Found the oil cooler o-ring tore on some corrosion in the galley. Smoothed it out and sealed the o-rings with instant RTV just to be sure. Just some residue in the tank so far. Should have used dish soap, but it's clean enough. It's not getting worse so it looks like problem solved. Put on a new O2 sensor, a new used 1 piece OPRV, and my gutted cat pipe while I was at it. Made it to Jersey and back no problem and turned the 1000'th mile on the new motor!!!

Only Chrismas left to leave it's mark, or not... (Bursch exhaust header is on sale at **********...ooohh, this is a hard call so close to chrismas!)

Oh, good times!

[jcommin]

Not much to mine because I did too much stuff 2 years ogo.

Oil change in spring.

Replaced light blubs in rear tail lights.

Removed and replaced the seal around the rear tail lights (taking on water inside the wells).

Replaced rear cam tower gasket.

I used the car quite a bit a daily driver from April till Thanksgiving. Sitting in the garage right noe. Need a weekend to get it ready for winter.

[The Glademister]

Which One? LOL

Each car has seen it's fair share of fixes and improvements. Of particular note...

Had the '87 944S painted and that contributed to a quick sell to a fine young man that will take good care of it. (Read recently that none of us ever have ownership of our Porsches - they'll eventually pass to someone else who'll continue the stewardship)

Purchased a fine '87 951 with the proceeds from that sell and after the usual front end refresh, some wastegate tweeks and new tires - it's proved to be a reliable, fast and fun daily driver.

Continued to drive the red '88 924S autocross on Hancook RS2 tires in our local SCCA street tire group. I've found with the performance improvements to that car - it's superior in quickness and handling to the 951.

Found another '88 924S well deserving of restoration. That process continues today when I attack the rear brakes. It will provide me with many hours of bliss and torment in the garage this winter. I'll press on until parts and funds run out...

[Tishabet]

Dang, you guys are making me look bad! In 2009 I:
-Changed the oil
-Replaced an intake manifold gasket
-Replaced some burnt out bulbs
-Replaced the seals and hats on my injectors
-Put around 15k on the odometer

[ernie9944]

Since all the major maintenance was done in 08- this year Turbo style water pump- wheels bearing all around -one injector that was troublesome-new windshield + lot of cleaning & shinning. Then sold it (crazy me) & even thougth I love my new ride I ready miss "Old faithfull " after all the love story lasted 25 years.One good thing came out of it a good friend of mine owne's it now and I'll still be able to work on it if needed & will be able to drive it around once in a while.

[Flatsixhead]

Silver Bullet 2009

Changed/filter oil 3 times
Had LSD Trans rebuilt
New torque tube installed
2 new clutches, TO bearing, fork etc etc (The first one was not installed correctly ##$@%^^^((*&!!)
New clutch slave & master
Installed GT Racing hood & nose panel
Cleaned, buffed and waxed paint (Looks like new as car has never sat outside)
Removed everything that adds unnecessary weight
Drove car from Chicago to Mid-Ohio and back for first DE and had a blast!!
Car is sung as a bug in a rug waiting for spring...

She's a monster but I was on Lindsey Racing site recently and might get really crazy in 2010...

[VII]

I've recorded nearly everything I've done to the car since I bought it in Feb. I have 23 pages of typed notes, single spaced at 12 font. I have a large folder about as thick as the yellow pages filled with almost every receipt associated with the car (only missing a couple gas station receipts). I bought the car for $800 but now probably have about $3000 total in it.

[flash968]

lol - the list is long, but i'm closing the year by supercharging the blue 968

[white944cup]

Drove it about 8000 miles (daily driver)
2 Oil changes
New NGK plugs
Replaced the thermofan switch
New Wiper blades
Disassembled, cleaned, lub'd and adjusted the sunroof mechanisms

[Paulyy]

well first off i welcomed mine to the family!!
- fixed central locking
- fixed indicator problem
- replaced exhaust gaskets
- replaced old rear shockers with koni yellows
- koni coilovers + koni shockers at the front
- rebuilt all four, 4 piston brake calipers
- cleaned up all rusted bits
- new filters...oil,air,fuel
- changed stock sound system

[incomplete]

well, for starters, i picked up my 944 three weeks ago. since then i've:

* tightened about 10,000 screws in the interior. 99% less rattles now!
* fixed an annoying rattle in the gear shift linkage (might go short shift, who knows)
* expoxied the shift boot leather back on the plastic
* fixed my reverse lights, brake lights and side indicators (there's a custom 12" sub that blocks the passenger side light panel in the back, so i had to freaking break a bulb and housing to get it out. some epoxy and dremel work later it slides in and out w/o a problem)
* dropped some cash on new motor mounts and rear axles. talk about smooooooth...
* sealed up a couple of holes in the firewall w/silicon glue
* blew a coolant hose (don't ask, i was an idiot and the only thing i forgot to check was the stupid coolant level -- i killed the engine the second it hit the red and coasted to a stop)
* whilst debugging the coolant "problem" learned how the system works on the car
* started shopping for seats and a steering wheel
* hoping to hit a track day next spring!

i picked up the car for a steal... it's got 136k, and 50k on a fully rebuilt motor. the turbo is an upgraded kkk variable wastegate dealio, and a cheater: it's the bigger turbine in a milled out stock housing! the car has a full suspension, bigger brake upgrades, BBS wheels, and borla breathing gear: cat-back exhaust, intake and exhaust headers.

i'm running @ 15psi right now, which is fine by me. once i get the interior fixed up, the engine gremlins gone, and the brakes and suspension to my liking, i'll think about more power.

Picasa Web Albums - shane - porsche 944