Hello all! My name is Jake Abukhader and I would love to share my ‘83 944 with everyone.
The car was originally purchased in october of 1982 in Orange County California. The car then found its way to two brothers and their father in early 2015. After a few months in their ownership it found its final resting place in my ownership. I purchased the car in late 2015 during my senior year of high school at the ripe old age of 17. I was an eccentric Porsche freak as early as my toddler years. Every paper I wrote in school was either about Porsche or airplanes. I used total life savings from birthdays to holidays, to allowances and made my first car this Porssche. The car has been my daily driver from then through early college and to this day as I pursue a career as a pilot. This car has every single piece of its history all the way to the original window sticker from the dealership. Shout out to Buena Park Porsche Audi in culver city!
When I first purchased this car the extent of my automotive knowledge was knowing how to change a tire.within the first month of owning it the master cylinder let go. That was (with small exceptions) the last time I took the car to a shop. From there came the first bulb change, first oil change, first fuel pump relay change and so on. Once a new Porsche dealer opened up in my area I made no hesitations to get the car in for a full inspection. From then on I eventually rebuilt and replaced the entire front suspension. The car was a plain base model with the exception of the sport suspension package and the 10 speaker blaupunkt audio package. The front struts were replaced with yellow koni adjustable sport units. Strut mounts were replaced with new OEM parts, control arms, ball joints, stabilizer bushings were all replaced and upgraded to poly bushings. The lower sway bar bushings were also replaced. The inner and outer tie rods as well as tie rod boots were also replaced. The car was then aligned at a shop. A strut brace was welded to the driver side strut tower due to the firewall being cracked. While this was done a new AC belt was installed on the car. Next I flushed the transaxle fluid. After rebuilding the suspension I upgraded the rear brakes with carbon ceramic pads and steel slotted rotors. During this time I also replaced the headlamps with dual projector LED units and replaced the front door speakers. When I purchased the car it had a radio delete plate and the wires for the headunit had all been cut. I learned how to solder and installed quick spade connectors to easily be able to remove and install a new head unit down the road. I also replaced all of the interior lighting with leds from the dome and hatch lights to the dash gauge lights. I also fixed the wiring for the switch to adjust the mirrors. Then disaster struck. No start! Out of nowhere the car just decided to completely stop running. When it would run it would run overly rich, misbehave, stall, and flood itself. Over the course of the next 18 months I went on to replace everything in the entire fuel system save for the rail itself the fuel lines and the fuel damper. After replacing and resealing the injectors, fuel filter and fuel pump I still hadn’t solved the issue. I experienced weird symptoms that stumped the specialty shops, everyone on the forums, the dealership classic mechanic, and even Tim at Comau Racing in Sandiego! In doing so the car taught me a valuable lesson, how to reach out and communicate with others in the community and how warm and welcoming everyone within the porsche community is. I would not have learned as much as I did without the help of everyone who replied, responded and took my calls. So thank you Pelican Rennlist, Porsche Chandler, Don Jackson Enterprizes, Comau Racing, I********, 20th Street Auto, and Porsche Bob formally the manager of network automotive. The more I learned and trouble shot, the more I decided to replace while I was in there anyways. After tackling the fuel system I took apart the intake and replaced 30 year old vacuum lines and intake gaskets as well as replaced the AOS seals. No dice. From there I replaced nearly everything relating to the L jet tronic system. New Jboot, New airflow meter, new coolant temperature sensor, new spark plugs, new ignition coil, new speed and reference sensors. Still Flooding! Frustrated I pressed on diagnosing and testing learning everything from mechanics, electronics, chemistry, physics, everything under the sun about engineering. Eventually I decided to purchase a brand new wiring harness instead of trying to make my own. The starter burned out so as you can imagine I replaced that along with the battery. While waiting for parts and with the intake off the car I decided to spruce up the engine bay with some light painting. I painted the intake manifold and the negative space behind the lettering on the cam housing. I also swapped the original dash gauges for ones out of a 924s and changed the lighting to blue. To match and to help quicken diagnosing I had a one off custom fuel pressure gauge made and I installed it into the car where the original clock used to be. With the new wiring installed and all brand new sensors the car refused to run. Even with a remanufactured “tested” DME. Well after coming into contact with former electrical engineer and 928 guru Rich I was able to finally get my hands on two more DME units. After plugging in one of those units the car fired right up without hesitation. It has gone back to being my daily driver and has been reliable for the last 7 months. The only other thing I have replaced since then were my tires. This passed weekend I finally cut and polished the car. Just need to ceramic coat it. I am taking a well deserved break from doing any work on the car. Next on the docket are the belts and the waterpump. Should be like a brand new 944 after that!
Are there smarter choices for a first car? Are there cars that may be less trouble? Sure. However in my eyes there will never be a substitute for a Porsche. This car has transcended being simply a mode of transportation. It's become a guide, a mentor, and proof that no matter who may try to tell you you can’t achieve something, that your passion is not worth anything, that they are wrong. This car is mine. I own it. I love it. I drive it. I fix it. I get in and go for a drive even if I have nowhere to go, because it will always put a smile on my face. I couldn’t care less what the dollar amount of this car may be. To me it is priceless. From the day it showed up at my door, I dreamed that someday I would be teaching my future children the lessons this car taught me. Thank you for reading this if you did, I hope you enjoy the car!
