Entering the (944/1) Fray! (long post!)

[ChrisRL]

Hello All!

Chris here, from Sherman Oaks CA. I'm a professional film maker and TV worker, and I'm on a particularly long-running (for me) TV show here in the Valley area of Greater Los Angeles.

So, here's a story:

I thought I'd give myself a great Father's Day/Birthday/etc present (yes, we all know how this starts) and for some reason the mental image of an early (paper-fold design) 944 cropped up.

Don't know why. Maybe because my last sports car was a Lotus Esprit S1 (well, there was a Miata in there somewhere, along with the Formula Vee and FF1200..., all sadly passed onwards now).

Anyway, around a month of lurking around here and other fora, and then maybe five or six local cars seriously considered, examined, and (mostly for the asking prices as taken against their projected Blu Book values, after all was said and done), regretfully walked away from, I guess I've done this kind of thing for long enough to wait until the right car grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

Along the way I confirmed to myself that I did indeed prefer the less rounded, original model body, early model dash, reverse direction tach, yellow dials and all, and, moreover, came to the realization one day (after the fifth or sixth 944 in poor condition) that in my neck of the woods, at this day and age, the most expensive part of a used 944 is (for me)... the finish! :-)

Seriously. Unless you're prepared to do everything yourself, a decent paint job can cost more than a motor, more than the frame, heck, more than a lot of the cars I was looking at (that I could afford).

So... in the meantime, more information gathering, sourcing, Excel spreadsheets, etc., and generally being a painful newbie and bugging people (George and Kenny from PP, thank you!) and then this appeared.

The PO had donated it to a local charity and it was at a tow yard not too far away for me to have a quick looksee:








I asked the tow-yard owner how long it had been there and he said around a couple months, they'd had a problem getting the pink slip from the PO through the charity but now that was all straightened out.

I cranked it - battery low but it almost caught straight off. Tires were hard from sitting. Everything else was pretty much as you see it above.

Went back to the owner and asked if it started and he said the tags were still current and he parked it right there himself.

Then I asked if it was in good enough condition to be driven back home or would he have to come tow it back to the yard and he said "Look, I'll charge the battery and top the fluids up. You come back tomorrow, show me your money, get in the car, and drive it yourself".

Which I did (actually a few days later, after a short trip out of town, which was also a decent enough "cooling off period").

And that was that. My very first Porsche grin...

Drove it home, then sent it off to a (real) mechanic buddy for the time consuming stuff, since my work schedule doesn't permit at this time. (oh yeah, I already told you about the TV stuff)

In around a week, so far it's been:
Timing belt kit, water pump (already upgraded) kit, new air intake boot, replacement inner cam cover (you can just see one edge missing where it was cracked off), momo wheel, new warning light, sill plates, wipers and blades, Konis up front (the originals were still in there, with Bilsteins already in the back), sway bar braces, el cheapo seat covers, power steering rack rod and ball ends, rotor and arm, all the other belts, oil cooler kit, new window switches (one missing, one terminally corroded), sunvisors (originals missing), rear view mirror (icky), VDO voltmeter with yellow face from Europe to replace the non-functioning clock, coverlay dash cap (for now),

Still to go:
Kyle's kits (hatch, short shifter, shift kit, cup holders, tail light kit), 17"ers (particular thanks to Ian Lynch and Ken B for that particular journey) with new rubber (presently it's on 15" phone dials with the old rubber), throttle cam, redo the rear hatch tint (thanks for the steer, Andrew), Oggees, floor mats, Sparco Corsa pedal plates, maybe, after I've adjusted the brake pedal to match the accelerator.

And of course there's a heck of a lot more to come. Like the R12 system, for instance... :-)

More pictures as I go. Hopefully this will prove entertaining to some!
(because, as you can see, I'm having fun!)

Sure, the car's nice, and will be very nice, but the best part of all of this?
You folk. No two ways about it.

Thanks and

Cheers!
Chris

[POPS 83 944]

Welcome, very nice looking car, love the color.

[Gawernator]

Woohoo!

[GreenWater]

Hi Chris, Did I already talk to you about some parts for your car? I talked to someone from sherman oaks a little while ago. Strange if it wasn't you I guess.

We are happy to see that you got a 944. It sounds like you are going to have a really nice car very soon and should have a lot of fun driving it. We do like to hear about your car and struggles you may have.(will have) It looks like you picked up a very nice car. Post more pictures when you can, we love to see them. I was thinking of selling my 85.5 and getting an early car. Not sure if I will, but it would be fun.

Don't forget the shifter cover. We have them for the early cars too.

Have you gotten to drive it yet?

[ChrisRL]

Yes, Kyle, that was me!

And yes, I really am going to order one of everything you have (just about)!

Just waiting for it to come back down the hill from my mechanic buddy's place and then I'll get to know it a bit better before I start to get it fully sorted.

I drove it awhile just after I picked it up - very smooth, overall. I didn't want to thrash it right out of the gate, since I didn't know what condition the belts, etc., were in, but I did wring it out a wee bit before I bought it just to see that it would indeed hold together. So, perhaps three runs of mixed freeway and street, some back roads and a twisty hill road later, my first driver impressions:

Power to weight seems a little disappointing as compared to a Miata (but mine was a stripped down 1.8 with a Torsen LSD, lightweight flywheel, short shifter, great rubber, etc.), but it corners like an older Lotus, the weight distribution is similar, a very slight understeer coming out of a turn under full throttle (which I'm not sure I'm in love with yet, but I think that will go away with the improved front suspension and rubber), but great into corners, which is where I think momentum cars need to shine. And this one definitely does.

So power exits seem lacking - the throttle seems to want that cam disc on it (seems sluggish to me), plus your short shifter links and new shifter you provide will definitely make a difference (I'm an early convert to short shifters from my Miata days, and of course all the formula cars have a shifter that's like a motorcycle's - and I have 90 degree throttles on my bikes too). That will all help, but mainly it will be the window dressing to the real deal - refining the entry and exit lines to make the most of the characteristics of this particular tire patch system and keeping the motor inside its optimum power band as much as possible! :-)

I was getting a tiny bit of a throttle stutter at around 1500-1800rpm, we'll see if the basic tuneup and new distro cap/rotor makes it go away. Also perhaps a MSD if not. Or looking into the breathing of the motor at greater depth after that. Perhaps a visit to Mr Comeau's place...

Handling - one of the ball ends off the rack arm was loose, now replaced. The tires are shot and so after moving up to 17's I'm going for Eagle F1s, and then move the brake pedal down so I can heel/toe properly, and then, once I have a proper tire patch to manage, and a proper way to manage it well, I think a lot of what I'm talking about will go away and stay there.

I'll probably take it to a test and tune day after that, just do a few laps to see what's what, going flat out. And then we'll see where we are, and move on to the next level from there.

Use will mostly be as a daily driver and second car until I get it sorted, and then it's the track, most probably Solo II (autocross), then maybe track days - after safety mods, of course. But most probably just autocrossing.

BTW my mechanic friend drove the heck out of it when taking it to his place, apparently, and he was impressed with the setup as it was. So it can only get better from here on in!

So thank you again for your help while I was getting started up in the Porsche world, Kyle. Much appreciated. I'll be in touch mid-end of next week for all those lovely parts!

Cheerio!
Chris

[POPS 83 944]

Greenwater make some awesome products, you will not be disappointed!! You might also look at your rear hatch sets, Greenwaters seats work great.

[Gawernator]

If you think the car is understeering... that can be fixed xD

[ChrisRL]

Hard to tell at the moment, will know better when it has the basics seen to and I can push it around a little more. But then again, after the basics are seen to the car will most probably behave differently!

[ChrisRL]

Happy Father's Day to all!
Having a great day already? I hope so!
Get out there and drive!!!
All the best
Chris

[mytrplseven]

Good looking car, Chris. The first time I test drove one was the first year they came out and it was identical to yours. I was infected by then. I'm on my third one, now. Some things to remember: The timing and balance belts should be retensioned after 1500 to 2000 miles as they will seat into the gear teeth and loosen their tension. When you put the short shifter on from Kyle, you will absolutely think you've gotten into a newer sports car. It's great and takes about 1/2 hour to install. There's a lot of options out there for 17" wheels and you need to do a little research into the offset of candidates so you don't run into installation issues such as rubbing on the struts. Later cars (mine's an '87 N/A) and turbos have different offsets. I also used TireRack research tools when I installed 2006 Cayman wheels because I need to make sure the tires didn't rub the outer fender lip (the tires that came with the wheels were about 1/8" too wide and rubbed when accelerating in a left turn). I installed a MOMO Race steering wheel with the appropriate hub adapter and I love it but be prepared for some blanking of some of the gauges with the smaller wheels.

I recommend becoming a frequent reader of the posts on this website to get educated on the vagaries of this outstanding car. Underpowered? Of course...but 30mpg and having a unique and outstanding road car makes up for it for me.

[ChrisRL]

Got it! Will remember the 1.5-2k re-tension, thank you!

Have a set of early offset (7.5x17 ET23 and 9x7 ET15) rims coming in soon and am researching which spaces I'll need to get.

I was lurking here and on the other sites since around March, I believe - you'll see my handle cropping up here and there, probably more often once I get an idea as to what's what.

Yours is an exceptionally beautiful car, though, I must say!

To qualify what I mean when I say "underpowered", I believe that if one is after raw power then muscle cars (e.g. the Vettes, GT50s etc.) are it.

The Esprit S1, Miata M, and light formula cars I've preferred to own and drive are all momentum cars, of course. Not that I haven't driven more powerful cars and bikes, but after a few years that all went away and skill over brawn started to take over.

Now I prefer autocrossing to road racing, turns to straightaways, slope soarers and ultralights (well, powered gliders, then) to GA craft. For me, it's not the speed itself but rather the sensation of speed that matters more.

So when I say "underpowered", just picture me shrugging my shoulders with a metaphorical "meh" as I'm saying it... :-)

[ChrisRL]

BTW Tire Rack gives the correct 944/1 offsets for 17" wheels as being 21mm instead of 23.3mm for the 7.5x17 fronts and 15mm instead of 17mm for the 9x7 rears.

I don't think there is such a thing as shaving 1.7mm off the hubs fore and aft, is there?

Also there's a range of front tire from 205/40, 215/45 and 225/50 to match the 255/40 rears.
I'm guessing that it's a toss-up between better fender lip clearance at full rack with the 215/40s and a wider footprint at 225/50s?

Any thoughts on that?

[Slam]

Hang on! Donated? Tow yard? I need to get out more...

Lovely car. Welcome to the board!

[ChrisRL]

Thanks Slam.

BTW Clint at Tire Rack just said 225/45 fronts to go with the 225/40s, good front patch, plenty of choices of rubber and very low likelihood of fender intrusion.

Cheers!
Chris