86 944 -to buy or not 2 buy..

Lexluther · 10-07-2009, 12:46 PM

Hey, i found a 1986 Porsche 944 turbo locally, the body has some dents, has 16' phone dials, 5speed, with clutch issues, if you roll it off while in 2nd, it goes fine, but when you push the clutch pedal down it wont go into gear and you can feel something weird in the pedal.. i am thinking its a throwout bearing, anyway, it is showing 108000 miles but the odometer doesnt work... engine runs slick with no smoke, good oil pressure... they want $1200... is this a bad price?

carlege · 10-07-2009, 12:52 PM

how much money/time do you have to spend on it?

If you have atleast 5k to spend on it and time to work on it then yes buy it....

But its really hard to tell without pics

Lexluther · 10-07-2009, 12:56 PM

The clutch kit is under $400...ish...... then its roadworthy... where the $5000?

Lexluther · 10-07-2009, 01:04 PM

I dont mind putting money into it here and there, and i do expect to spend on it .. i just dont want to spend more for a starter than its worth...

carlege · 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lexluther

The clutch kit is under $400...ish...... then its roadworthy... where the $5000?

5000 typicall it takes 7k to get a reliable car

Lets go down the list of things that can be wrong with a car that is being sold for 1200 dollars and a turbo to boot? Any more questions?

Clutch kit? 400? if you can find it there. Add T/O Bearing Pilot bearing and such

Rollers, timingbelt, balance shaft belt $150

Oil cooler seal $35

Unknown odds and ends, paint, interior, problems 4000 ish

Possible transmission problem. I think the TO bearing works on all gears not just first, Syncro might be the problem

Lexluther · 10-07-2009, 01:22 PM

I understand paint and body work.. but putting in a clutch kit isnt that hard, i will do that myself... the kits i have priced vary from 400-700 and then it would be driveable.. idk i may just stay clear..

carlege · 10-07-2009, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lexluther

I understand paint and body work.. but putting in a clutch kit isnt that hard, i will do that myself... the kits i have priced vary from 400-700 and then it would be driveable.. idk i may just stay clear..

You thinking of trying to sell for a profit? Hopefully it would be driveable its hard to beat a car at that price. You could part it out for more then 2x that

Lexluther · 10-07-2009, 01:34 PM

I wanted it to drive, i kinda like the 944... and the turbo is a plus, they are supposed to be fast...my last one was a N/A....is ran pretty good..

nize · nize's Garage

my money is not on the clutch being out, but on the clutch fork being worn/broken.

just the fork alone is $400.
throw out bearing is $200.

add that to your 'clutch kit', plus labor, plus whatever else you'll find broken while you have it apart.

Lexluther · 10-08-2009, 03:08 PM

It may be the fork, but whatever it is shows up in the pedal when you push it to the floor and let off it... you can feel something... its weird and hard to explain... no noises though...but ive about decided not to buy it.. it may be worth more than 1200 in the sum of its parts but im not looking for that kinda project now, nickel and diming out parts...

Rav911 · 10-09-2009, 05:48 AM

You only live once. If your heart says that you want it then ignore what your head says.

I bought my 1986 944 T for £2200 GBP. So far its cost me £1k and a further £200 in parts.

Im sure it will cost more as time goes on, but you only live once mate - enjoy it. Money comes money goes.

Lexluther · 10-09-2009, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rav911

You only live once. If your heart says that you want it then ignore what your head says.

I bought my 1986 944 T for £2200 GBP. So far its cost me £1k and a further £200 in parts.

Im sure it will cost more as time goes on, but you only live once mate - enjoy it. Money comes money goes.

I agree! my last 944 i had i gave $900 for and it wasnt bad, i had to do alot of work to it, including waterpump, head gasket, paint.... etc.. and that stuff was pretty easy, and as far as labor.... all that i do myself... i have always done all my mechanic work myself... so a clutch job is only as expensive as the parts.. the paint, my brother paints... my last 944 was painted for free, i bought the materials and paint...so idk, i may just go this weekend and get it.

TSNAPCRACKLEPOP · TSNAPCRACKLEPOP's Garage

what happened here...........i wouldnt for that price, free is better. lol

Lexluther · 10-22-2009, 01:45 PM

Just to update, i didnt buy it... the deal just went south.. sometimes i think things happen for certain reasons, oh well..

Rav911 · 10-22-2009, 11:54 PM

Keep looking mate - it took me over 2 years to find my current 944 turbo.

Its far from perfect but a good starting point.

Good luck.

driftwood · driftwood's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlege

5000 typicall it takes 7k to get a reliable car

Lets go down the list of things that can be wrong with a car that is being sold for 1200 dollars and a turbo to boot? Any more questions?

Clutch kit? 400? if you can find it there. Add T/O Bearing Pilot bearing and such

Rollers, timingbelt, balance shaft belt $150

Oil cooler seal $35

Unknown odds and ends, paint, interior, problems 4000 ish

Possible transmission problem. I think the TO bearing works on all gears not just first, Syncro might be the problem

Ok, I may be new here, but I picked up my 86 951 June of this year for $2k with about 145k on it. Timing belt had just been done and all I have done so far is give it a tune up. Have driven the snot out of it including near wide open at Pocono for two 20 minute sessions through their "Drive your own car" program.

Car has a few dents/scrapes and dings, but there isn't any rust on it and drives solid. Aside from a 2006 A4(wifes), this is my first german car and I am very impressed with the ease of working on it and performance for dollar. Plus it gets about 23 mpg to boot. These things are great!!!

If I saw one around here for 1200, I would scoop it up in a heart beat.

Joe

mitfa911 · mitfa911's Garage

I got mine for $1600 with a spun #2 bearing. Did an engine rebuilt. It took me over 5month to get it running since time and money were not always available. But it was all worth it. The driving is rewarding. Spend another $1800 on the rebuilt doing the work myself. That included new clutch and T/O bearing, all internal reusing pistons. Machine work for the block and head. It does help alot when you do the work yourself. I don't think these cars are that expensive to maintain if you shop around. They only get expensive when you start experimenting with them and adding more power than they can handle.

Arizona_928 · 10-26-2009, 09:48 PM

I have to say go for it, that price is very hard to beat. I kinda wish i bought a turbo before my current project at hand, but their were non that i could find that wasn't 5k+.

As for the $5,000, that's kinda high you could probably get away with 3k if you do everything yourslf, and the best part is when it's done, it will be darn near reliable.

Also as said above; Parts add up quick.....