Price check - 951 custom

[tadink]

Hey guys -

I'm a former 2x 944 owner back in the day, and this guy's advert for a 400hp 951 has my attention. What's the impression of this guy's build sheet? Is this thing 'worth' $8500 given all the mods? 95k miles, decent interior, good paint. anything missing that I should be looking for? Here's his build sheet:

This 944 is ready to drive or race - all of the major work and routine maintenance has been done within the past 5-8K miles and it has a ton of new parts and well over $15K in upgrades. This is the fastest 951 with the highest end parts you're going to find for sale in the bay area.

Originally sold by the dealer in 1988, the car came from the factory fully loaded with all the options that were available in 1987 including dual power seats, dual airbags, and seat warmers (an unusual option). This car is ready to drive and should easily last over 250K miles with regular maintenance.

With all of the stage 3 upgrades, this turbo is flat-out the fastest you will experience, with amazingly crisp handling and perfect balance thanks to the $4K custom-built LEDA suspension, heim joint A-arm upgrades and solid rear bushings.

Mechanically, excellent condition. A recent leak-down test shows excellent numbers. Body and paint are very good, with only a few barely noticable dings and no scratches or chips.
Interior is very good: no cracks in leather, vinyl is in good shape except for dash cracks, typical to a 25 year old Porsche. Overall, nothing major that couldn't be done in a weekend.

Following is the catalog of all the stage 3 upgrades: (most work performed 5K miles ago)
Engine:
Fully balanced new K27 turbo
Lindsey stage 3 intercooler + fiberglass louvred front hood dam. (15K miles ago)
Autothority Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor and interface chip (15K miles ago)
Custom, dyno built DME+KLR chip by Autothority. These are not the cheap chips you get on ebay - these are programmed custom to the car, while on dyno
GReddy Profec B-II boost controller
New 3" performance exhaust, ceramic coated headers
Lindsey Racing cut cross-over exhaust pipe (makes it unnecessary to remove the exhaust header for typical maintenance tasks)
High-capacity front-mount secondary external oil cooler with Aeroquip stainless hoses.
AC-delete
Drivetrain: (work performed 10K miles ago)
New Lightweight aluminum flywheel
New dual friction kevlar clutch, T/O bearing, high torque pressure plate.
New clutch slave and master cylinder
Completely rebuilt torque tube with 4 new bearings and upgraded bronze bearing liners (factory are plastic)
New wheel bearings on all 4 corners.
Both axle shafts replaced/rebuilt.
Suspension:
LEDA custom built coilover shocks with remote nitrogen tank, 21 step bump/rebound adjust (10K miles since rebuild) This is the best suspension available. Over $4K was spent on this upgrade.
LEDA strut-tower brace.
Lindsey Racing adjustable front suspension camber braces.
Custom fabricated monoball (heim-joint) front suspension. (similar to Lindsey Racing, but fabricated to the owner's specifications for added durability in racing)
Poly suspension bushings on all four corners
Rebushed anti-sway bars with custom fabricated high-strength CrMo anti-sway bar ends (factory ends will shear under heavy cornering)
stainless brake lines
Newly rebuilt A-arms with racing ball joints
Miscellaneous:
Lindsey Racing 3-piece crossmember (this allows much easier oil pan gasket replacement and bottom work)
Rennline pedal kit with toe-heel throttle and dead-pedal.
Alpine MP3-CD with iPod interface
Keyless entry
Re-upholstered leather shifter knob and leather center console
Factory options:
Electric, fully adjustable, heated front seats
8 speaker sound system - this is a very rare factory option. Two mid-range speakers were re-coned 8K miles ago.
Heated power side mirrors
Rear wiper
Simmons 3-piece 16" wheels
Driver and passenger airbags
Factory alarm (uncertain whether or not this works)
M030 spec.
Reupholstered leather center console
Recent Routine Maintenance (within past 8K miles):
K27 turbo (500 miles ago).
Water pump, timing belt, balance belt, complete front end re-seal, cam tower reseal (8K ago)
New battery (500 miles ago)
Full tune-up, oil change (always synthetic), fuel filter change. (500 miles ago)
Rebuilt CV joints
All new water hoses
New turbo aftercooler pump
Leakdown and compression check show perfect engine condition with 1-4 showing 135,135,132,132 PSI
New engine mounts
New/rebuilt power steering rack
New tie-rod ends
New front wheel bearings
Fuel filter, pressure regulator, ignition wires, plugs, cap & rotor, oil change
New/rebuilt wiper motor
New/rebuilt heater fan motor

[968 GUY]

Would have to see car in person. Seems that when there is a huge write-up, car is not always as described.

[tadink]

so, assuming it checks out as advertised, what is the 'real money' on these cars? I'm seeing a wide range from a low of $4k to $12k?

Also - any big gotcha's lurking - it seems like he's already done the water pump, timing belt. What about the head gasket, should it be upgraded if we are pushing this much boost / HP thru the engine?

thanks - looking to drive the thing later today.

td

[kdjones2000]

Originally Posted by tadink

so, assuming it checks out as advertised, what is the 'real money' on these cars? I'm seeing a wide range from a low of $4k to $12k?

Also - any big gotcha's lurking - it seems like he's already done the water pump, timing belt. What about the head gasket, should it be upgraded if we are pushing this much boost / HP thru the engine?

thanks - looking to drive the thing later today.

td

If this car what he says it is, or at least implies, it's a Turbo S car that has been heavily modified for the track.

The Leda's alone are worth about half of what he is asking. I would say off the bat that $8500 is a smokin' deal for the car, IF IT CHECKS OUT.

I would bet that this car probably doesn't run all that well, given the piecemeal modifications done to the engine. Authority stuff is quite outdated for these cars, and there were problems with driveability during hot/cold weather, elevation changes, etc.

Usually conversions from AFM (Volumetric air flow) to MAF (Mass air flow) on these cars are done via tricks to the Motronic code, which is the fundamental problem. No amounts of tweaks/tuning is going to make is right in all situations. Going with a Rogue Tuning/Vitesse setup or full standalone I would expect to be required to make it right.

I would get a PPI on it if you are serious, but if things are as good as stated in the ad that is a very good price. I am just worried that things are not right if he's selling it so soon after doing all of that stuff to the car.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Keith

[UncleRay]

Post some pics if you can.

[JoshB]

Highly doubt 400 at the wheels - in fact will go so far as to say no way.... Probably isn't even doing 350 at the wheels or at least not safetly. Suspension is nice though!

[tadink]

thanks guys - THAT's what I'm looking for - I'm going to see it next week and will post my pix vs what he is showing....although, his pix look great. anything I should have the PPI guys looking for? interesting comment about the tuning and drivability of these mod'ed cars. there is another for sale in SF that the guy says 'will pass smog once the buyer re-tools the computer and fuel program' - huh?

I'll see what docs this buyer has for his 400hp claim.

stay tuned - I may need you guys more and more if I buy this beast....

td

[Streetcrawler]

Originally Posted by 968 GUY

Seems that when there is a huge write-up, car is not always as described.

I call BS on this!

Many very detailed oriented owners tend to carry over their detail oriented skill when they write up the description.

It's the guys that slack on the description that I worry about. The more details the better. It eliminates confusion and repeated questions. It's the con artists that leave out details so that you don't have a paper trail for legal recourse later.






I recently asked a guy for some interior pictures of a car 4 states away from me and his email response was "no pictures, but its nice" These lazy bastards are the ones to stay away from!

[Ruflife]

Originally Posted by joshb

highly doubt 400 at the wheels - in fact will go so far as to say no way.... Probably isn't even doing 350 at the wheels or at least not safetly. Suspension is nice though!

+1

[badcoupe]

I used to run a 27 330 hp tops. I agree with the fact it probably runs good but a good maf setup would improve it, IE vitesse etc. It may be worth the asking price, its easy to get a lot of $$ wrapped up in one of these cars really quickly, this guy may have already done most of that for you.

[txhokie4life]

If it checks out -- this is a good deal.

I would get a PPI -- AND see if someone can follow you while you are driving
get it warm -- and get it under boost to check for any burning oil.

Do note -- that if he had go fast parts -- he probably used them.

Ask him where he tracked it? Others might know about the car
and give you an independent view point.

There has been a lot of $$ dropped into this car.

Mike