1984 944 for $300

[ChrisP911]

I seen this car for the last 10 years about 2 miles from my house. It sat in the same spot for 10 years never moved. So two days ago I saw two guys working on the garage door, I stopped to talk to them. I asked the owner of the 944 if it was for sale he said yes, I asked how much, he came at me with $400.00 I said I can give you 300 right now he said deal. I called the tow truck now its mine.

Now I have to get it started, I got new plugs, Oil, and fuel filter. Going to drain the gas test the fuel pump. I have mystery oil sitting in the cylinders for the last 2 days to loosing up the rings. Hope all goes well on Monday.

[djnolan]

Nice find, I can see a gleaming beauty with a bit of elbow grease on the finish.

However NOT a good idea to try to start it with the old timing belt, if it snaps the valves will get bent. Belt is not expensive.

Camshaft / Balance Shaft Belt Information

Timing Belt and Balance Shaft Belt Installation

[JackMan]

Seriously, lots can go wrong without having the cam/timing belt replaced and retensioned. Its the weak spot of the 944 series, at least one that gets peeps from time to time. Good find.

[PHillary]

Yeah really good fine FOR $300!!! Now the real question is how much will it take to get it back up and running...hummm! My guess is $3000 ten times more than you paid Lol! Don't feel bad though, all of us is in that boat.

[v2rocket_aka944]

if its been sitting for 10 years the head needs to come off for a new gasket due to rot anyways, so if the old belt breaks it's not a huge deal, IMO.

[irish44j]

Wow, nice find. That interior looks pretty good too, other than the usual dash issues. As noted I would go ahead and do the belts - they're not difficult. I know you're anxious to try to get it running, but you are gonna have to do the belts (and the noted gaskets) anyhow, so might as well just do that stuff first, right?

Did the owner mention WHY it had been sitting for 10 years?

In any case good luck

[ChrisP911]

It was the guys brothers car and passed away. He drove it for a year and didn’t like it. Belts are noted.

[sugarwood]

Noted.

Translation:
For $300, he's not digging into taking half the engine apart.
He's gonna drop another $50 in gas and plugs, and start that baby up!

Go for it!

[IdahoDoug]

I'd give it longer than a few days with the oil on the pistons. Put some fresh in there after a few days and let that settle in/through the rings also. Two cylinders had open valves. Then I'd simply start working on the belt replacement. At the installation you'll need to rotate the engine to TDC. First moving it by hand at that time will tell you how bad the stuck rings are.

But banging it into motion with the starter? Worst thing you can do. Move the engine by hand. Mark the exact location its been stopped at very precisely. That way when turning it by hand through several revolutions you'll "feel" if there's a spot there by feeling a 'catch" indicating a bad mark on the cylinder.

I just did this on a Supra that's been sitting for 18 years. Successfully got it to turn. Now all I have to do is a quick ball hone on the cylinders to take minor marks off the cylinder. If you break a ring, you'll gouge/groove the cylinder walls longitudinally and that would be a shame. You got a great deal on the car, now do the right thing by her and get her back smashing bugs...

[Spring44]

After you drain the gas, unscrew the fuel filter screen from the sump (17 mm box end, I think) on the bottom of the fuel tank and see what is in there. It could be old gasoline varnish, water, rust, asphalt or a combination of all of these things. This is what will ultimately end up clogging your fuel pump, fuel filter, lines and injectors if you don't get it sufficiently cleaned out.
Be careful with the screen when cleaning it, as it is made of a delicate nylon mesh and costs ~$75. It can be easily cleaned with spray carb/fuel injector cleaner.

[djnolan]

Is the paint solid all the way around, except for the pink fade? I know a good process for wetsanding the pink fade down to the original color. Use 2400 wet/dry with a few drops of dish soap in a bucket of water using a 3m foam sanding pad to get a good flat. Then some polish and paint sealer. Just go real easy on the edges and corners.

[ChrisP911]

So its been raining for the last couple of days and cant do anything to the car. I checked the oil and it looks like it was just changed for 10 years. I really think it has 62448 original mileage. I did nothing to the interior this is how it was. Can someone tell me why their is rain water getting into the battery area and the other corner to. Looks like a new timing belt and valves were done in March of 92. I believe the water pump is the upgraded one because it has the white plastic port on it.

[djnolan]

There is probably a clogged drain towards the outside direction.

[Tbone425]

I bought an 87 944 Turbo for $250 in Jan of this year that had sat for 10 years as well after the owner passed. Took my first drive this past week. The bulk of the last 11 months for me was picking at bodywork in 2-3 hour increments. The tail had rust around the hatch pins. I didn’t want more than a few tablespoons of filler....so lots of welding and grinding. For the mechanical prep I did the following:
-Marinaded with oil down the plug holes for several days
-I bough a cheap $29 Bluetooth endoscope from amazon to inspect inside the cans (it was also super helpful setting up TDC because I could see the flywheel and cam marking at the same time)
-pulled the fuel strainer and drained the tank. The screen in mine was shot after cleaning the gum off of it so I got a new one from our host. Cleaned the tank.
-pulled all of the flex fuel lines and had them rebuilt. Most towns will have a place that does hydraulic hoses. Mine took all of the hoses and rebuilt them with marine grade fuel lines for $30 total.
-tested the fuel pump out of the car for flow rate. It was fine but I had another ready to go in if needed.
-I ran alcohol down the hard lines and blew them out a number of times, until gunk stopped coming out.
-has the injector sonic cleaned
-I changed the oil and filter (even if the oil it it looks fine, it’s old).
*ultimately, I have changed the oil 3 times in less than 1 mile. (1 before start up and 2 more after warming to operating temp to clear any old residual.
- Checked all the fuses, and ground points (there are several)
- my DME was bad (I learned at first try, so I built a 3-prong jumper)
- my belts all felt pretty good but the timing belt is not one to ‘hope for the best’ so they got changed. (Water pump turned smooth and free with any signs of distress,so I let it be)
- I took the radiator out and had it flushed, wasn’t to bad but dirty enough that I was glad I did. I filled it back up with distilled water for start up to clean out the water passageways and in case it puked all over my garage. (Drained and switched to OEM Porsche pink at the second heat cycle oil change.
-I also changed the cap, rotor, wires and plugs (changed out to a fresh set after the first start due to the oil I put down the plug holes)
- pulled the dme and cranked it to build oil pressure before adding fuel and fire to the mix

After all this it was off to the races. As has been my tradition over the course of bringing my 8 pCars back from the dead, my wife turned the key. Spit some smoke from the oil, a little loud while the lifters pumped back up.....ran like a top. I hit the exhaust and exhaust ports with a cheap laser thermometer to make sure it was getting hot in all the right places.

I haves used the Clark’s garage online shop manual for a number of the procedures I didn’t know already... but this is my second 951 so I have build some onboard memory as well.

As for the battery box, the drain is plugged. Get a length of weed eater wire and run it down all of the drain holes. The fancy start shaped stuff works great and you can put it in a power drill to run it in the drain to help clear them. Don’t use compressed air if it clogged it will blow the plastic tube off them....and the sunroof drains are under the headlined. =PITA

I have pretty extensive notes and photos of everything I have done on the 951’s so if you get stuck feel free to reach out.

[ChrisP911]

Thanks guys..... TBone thanks for all the info much appreciated

[kdjones2000]

The early cars have a poor water draining design for the battery box and wiper areas. The late cars are much better.

If the car has its nose higher than the rear, you are going to get some water in those areas until you drive it.

It looks like your drain is working fine, but it's at the front of the battery box, so you have puddles of water.

[DeltaBravo]

WOW! Great find, great price. I have nothing else to add to what needs to be done. Just wanted to wish you good luck, take your time and have fun.

[ChrisP911]

Ok got all my stuff in today. Cleaned out the gas tank for 3 days it had like an inch of tar oat the bottom the tank filter was destroyed. I ordered all new fuel lines up to the hard line. Cleaned the fuel rail out. Blew air into the fuel and return line for any obstruction. Sent the injectors out to get rebuilt and flow tested. The owner had the brake calipers in a box they were rebuilt back in 2007 also have all new brake pads. I will Be installing everything on Saturday. Cranked it over by hand with no plugs, I had no binding at all.

[Tbone425]

Funny how, regardless of if it’s a $300 bar find or a $250k complete restoration, it all comes down to ‘the pucker point’ when you turn the key and mix fire, air, and fuel. Looking forward to seeing how it goes! Keep us posted.

[v2rocket_aka944]

that car's got "good bones"...
a nice refresh of rubber parts, clean fluids, etc should do it nicely.

...and a good buffing