84 Speed Yellow 944

[100mileperhour]

Greetings all! Been lurking around here a bit and now that winter has hit, I thought I would introduce myself and my winter project.

A year ago, I became a car guy when I purchased my first cool car, a 2000 BMW 323ci as my daily driver to Detroit 140 miles each day (during the school year (Middle School Teacher)). Long story short, the E-46 Coupe is a joy and after putting some money into her, she is by far the best vehicle I have owned, even the new cars I've purchased are far less the car. Wish I had know this about BMW's before kids.

Anyway, I babble a lot!

I bought my BMW from Detroit Hot Rod and became friends with the owner. He would guide me in the maintenance of the BMW and things I should look after. So, I stop buy on my way home from work to chat and see whats in the shop and generally shot the poo. So, this god awful yellow 944 shows up one day. Got me to thinking, I always liked 944's so, on Craigslist I went and saw that prices were affordable (I know then you start fixing them) and went and look at some really P.O.S.'s , which kept bringing me back to the yellow nightmare. Upon further inspection and advice from my buddy, this car has a non-cracked dash, solid body and is mechanically sound for a 30 year old car. So, I bought the car for $2,500.

I ended up driving the car for about a week, when the starter on the BMW went out (A very long and tedious job to replace). So I put about a 1,000 miles on the old Porsche and she did fabulously. I just kept saying to myself, please let there be a newer timing belt on this thing! Other than the power steering being non-existent, everything seems to work, that shouldn't!

Enough of my babble! (I deal with 12-year old kids all day, so this is my therapy)

So over the winter here's the list of things I plan to do. Starting from the front and working my way back.

-

1. Put stock Hella fog lights back (purchased most of the bits on E-Bay already, just need one lens.)
2. -Rebuild the throttle body with new o-rings
3. -Update water pump
4. -Timing belt and rollers
5. -Cam and balance shaft seals, doesn't seem to be leaking
6. -Oil cooler seals
7. -Front suspension bushings (Sway, Control arms)
8. -Control Arms (possible upgrade to something other than the stamped steel O.E.) and Ball Joints
9. -Front Struts (Suggestions please and one a budget so keep it reasonable)
10. -Possibly swapping the old DME with a new Rogue Tuning DME, when they come out, but definitely doing the N/A Tune from Rogue.
11. -Replace the Exhaust, I have a N.O.S. muffler that came with the car.
12. - New CAT (Suggestions Please)
13. - Decided to move up to 17" tires, utilizing a Set of Euromeister Replica's on 225/45/17 tires. According to the a tire calculator, this is only slightly smaller than the stock tires, so speedometer will only be off less than a 1/2 mile per hour at 65MPH.
14. - Rear Shocks
15. -Put the sun roof back together, it's currently held on with a tie strap! (REALLY - People just fix stuff right, the first time)
16. - Get the drivers seat recovered (found a donor seat in a salvage yard, just have to remove the panels and resew.
17. - Shift linkage kit fore and aft

So, thanks in advance for your advice. I've downloaded all the service manuals and put them into binders. I have a buddy who's a Porsche Tech and some time to spare, so I thought why not put together a cool car to go for a cruise in this summer. My son likes the fact the light pop up, he's never seen a car like that and my daughter likes the fact there's not much of a back seat for her brother!

Cheers!!!

[tstark]

Good luck with your project!

[jeff968]

Gotta love Speed yellow

[shoe80525]

Looks like a nice clean car to start with. Good luck with her!

[ideola]

You should drop me a line and arrange time to stop by my shop. I'm literally right down the road from Detroit Hot Rod.
Ideola's Garage

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[ddbach]

Picky detail trivia question - Wasn't it called Pasadena Yellow in 83 & 84? and a lighter Lemon yellow in 87? I agree it looks the same or similar to speed yellow.

[PorscheChef]

"ddbach"- You are correct, it was Pasadena Yellow in 83 and 84 (code L Y1L), then Summer Yellow in 87 (code L MIA). I'd love to get one of the 87's, I haven't had a yellow one yet! There was an 84 on craigslist a few months ago, somewhere in North Carolina if i remember right, it was a sunroof delete with low miles, around 50K. It was a basic, no frills model, but pretty rare.

[pfarah]

I actually like the color very much.

[100mileperhour]

Originally Posted by ideola

You should drop me a line and arrange time to stop by my shop. I'm literally right down the road from Detroit Hot Rod.
Ideola's Garage

View Larger Map

Will Do!!!!!

I drive by every day on M14, Heading to work at Beech-Daily and Warren Ave.

[100mileperhour]

Originally Posted by PorscheChef

"ddbach"- You are correct, it was Pasadena Yellow in 83 and 84 (code L Y1L), then Summer Yellow in 87 (code L MIA). I'd love to get one of the 87's, I haven't had a yellow one yet! There was an 84 on craigslist a few months ago, somewhere in North Carolina if i remember right, it was a sunroof delete with low miles, around 50K. It was a basic, no frills model, but pretty rare.

This car was originally "Red." However, the color is starting to grow on me!

I will be off for the next two weeks, so hopefully I can get the following done.

1. Finish Throttle Body rebuild.
2. Get Cookie Cutters dropped of at the media blaster, then prime the centers and paint, then polish the outer dish.
3. Assemble two stock Hella fog lights that I've managed to piece together from Craig's List and E-Bay purchases.

Questions of the day.

1. Shocked at the lack of choices for wheels for older 944's, so I was thinking of instead of refinishing the Cookie Cutters, pick up a set of Fuch's and go with 16" wheels, for increase tire choices, over 15". What do Y'all think?

2. On the "Cheap" recommendation for a nice shock/strut combination with 200' Weltmeister 200# up front. Thoughts?????

[PorscheNut924]

I love yellow Porsches. Planning to paint my LS1 swap 944 speed yellow or something similar. Looks like a good car.

Definitely get Fuchs. Definitely. And I would agree with the 16's. I had 15x6 wheels on my 924S and I put 16x7 928 wheels on it and the handling improvement was noticeable.

[PorscheChef]

If you get the 16s you will need spacers. Well, you won't "need" them, but I would do it.

[100mileperhour]

Originally Posted by PorscheChef

If you get the 16s you will need spacers. Well, you won't "need" them, but I would do it.

Discovered the Euromeister replica FUCH's with the same offset as the stock Cookie Cutters. Current plan is to bump up to 17" wheels with 225/45/17. This is a very close match to the original diameter according to a online tire calculator.

Thoughts or concerns should I peruse this option? Much more choices in 17" tires.

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by 100mileperhour

Discovered the Euromeister replica FUCH's with the same offset as the stock Cookie Cutters. Current plan is to bump up to 17" wheels with 225/45/17. This is a very close match to the original diameter according to a online tire calculator.

Thoughts or concerns should I peruse this option? Much more choices in 17" tires.

You say you 'discovered' them. But try ordering a set. Apparently they are on forever backorder I think. At least as of a year or so ago. Search "Euromeister" in the 911 forum.

Anyway, great car!

The color appears to change A LOT between the indoor and outdoor picture. Which is it more like, or does it actually change that much? Either way, cool!

Happy Holidays!

[100mileperhour]

Originally Posted by FrenchToast

You say you 'discovered' them. But try ordering a set. Apparently they are on forever backorder I think. At least as of a year or so ago. Search "Euromeister" in the 911 forum.

Anyway, great car!

The color appears to change A LOT between the indoor and outdoor picture. Which is it more like, or does it actually change that much? Either way, cool!

Happy Holidays!

LOL- "Discovered" - Yeah, Like Columbus! I guess what I meant, was that I relieved to see there was a 17" alternative.

The color does change, when you look at it under florescent lighting versus natural daylight. I noticed that to, after I posted those pictures. The color does really grow on you, like mold! Nah, I think, it's gonna be a great color once I get the car "sorted."

"Sorted" my new favorite term for cars, that I seem to picked up from watching to much "British" TV car shows.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by 100mileperhour

LOL- "Discovered" - Yeah, Like Columbus! I guess what I meant, was that I relieved to see there was a 17" alternative.

The color does change, when you look at it under florescent lighting versus natural daylight. I noticed that to, after I posted those pictures. The color does really grow on you, like mold! Nah, I think, it's gonna be a great color once I get the car "sorted."

"Sorted" my new favorite term for cars, that I seem to picked up from watching to much "British" TV car shows.

The color change is because its a respray, the red underneath shows up through the paint in some areas/conditions. My yellow 944 I bought that was a respray from black, would look greenish in areas depending on the light. One more 17" wheel choice are ROH Cup Wheels. A good vibrant yellow is extra $$$ for the factory to do, as it takes a lot of setup and thicker layers.(This is why its not an option on most cars)

[jeff968]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

A good vibrant yellow is extra $$$ for the factory to do, as it takes a lot of setup and thicker layers.(This is why its not an option on most cars)

Believe it or not, Speed yellow was a no cost solid paint offering for three years (93-95) on the 968. I think the North American public just wasn't into the vibrant colors offered by Porsche so that is why they are so rare. Only 10 speed yellow coupes and 10 speed yellow cabs.

[100mileperhour]

So, I told myself when I bought this car, that if I was going to make sure this was a reliable summer car, I had to make sure I did something every day on the project.

So far I have rebuilt the throttle body using the Arnn Worx kit.

Today, I removed the CHEESY fog light an replaced with bits and pieces of fog lights I've been picking up on Craig's List and Ebay.

[100mileperhour]

[andyshoun]

I would stick with the steel control arms. The ball joints are easily replaceable. Much easier and cheaper than the aluminum arms. I back dated my 86 to the steel arms and you have to change the sway bar drop links and attachment also. There is no real performance difference.

If you are bent on converting to aluminum arms I have a set that you could rebuild that will fit your car.