what have I gotten myself into
 

First, I've only gotten as far as I have because of the info posted on this site.
bought an '83 944 full of milkshake. I've changed head gasket, oil cooler seals, etc. Still kind of apprehensive about timing belt. She'll crank with a shot of ether but dies immediately.
I've jumpered DME and have 12 volts to the fuel pump but it will not kick off.
Fuel pump is out of the car and if I connect to a small battery charger it seems to run fine. Connect to the car and it kicks but won't run. Hooked it up to my truck battery and same thing.
any ideas

don't fear the timing belt, its not that bad.:D

Things to check are, fuel preasure regulator, check and see if you have voltage to the fuel injectors when you crank the engine. A quick check to see if you have fuel comming to the fuel injectors is to take the cap off the end of the fuel rail and turn over the engine and see if you have fuel getting to that point. If you have fuel at that point then I would suspect that the fuel injectors are not firing.

Find out why the fuel pump runs with the DME jumpered, but not with it installed. Sounds to me like your problem is the relay. This is a very common failure. I keep a spare DME relay in my glove box.

Dewatts:

Welcome to the Pelican Forums!

First, as most have said before me, check the fundamentals...spark, fuel, and compression.

Now, do you know if your reference sensors are working or not connected? These little pieces sit on the bell housing and have everything to do with getting your spark, timing and fuel to the engine at the appropriate time. Clarks Garage website has information regarding testing these sensors.

These sensors send signals via the DME (ECU) to the DME relay and fuel pump.

Hope this helps.SmileWavy

If you had oil in the coolant, don't be dismayed if you still see it after the repair. It can take many flushings to get that stuff out. I knew a tech who used to add Dawn dish soap when flushing the cooling system to help get it out.