My 944 Story

[Tiramisu]

I was told my 10 year old reliable Kia did not suit my personality and I needed to get a new car. I thought about it for awhile and decided to snoop around for an old Porsche. I have owned two 914's but I was kind of tired of them and decided on finding a 944. I didnt have much money to spend and figured about $1500 was about the most I could afford without leaving my 2 year old son without diapers and food for a few months. I knew for that price it was going to be a project with all kinds of issues. I needed another project like a hole in my head but I knew that if I didnt get a Porsche I would have no passion or inclincation to work on it.

So my quest began by monitoring craigslist, ebay and the newspaper. I live out in the San Juan Islands (near Seattle) which is rather isolated so it had to be driveable otherwise it could cost another minor fortune to have it towed and delivered due to the ferry system and distance involved. I saw a few projects in the $1000 range that either needed a throwout bearing, clutch slave cylinder, been in collisions, etc but nothing that was driveable. After a week or two of searching I found one for $1200 that was driveable and had the color and wheels I wanted. The ad said "AS IS" so I imagined all that could be wrong but it said the engine was "awesome". The car was located only 45 minutes away from the ferry landing so the timing belt only had to survive another 50 miles.

I decided to gamble and called the owner and arranged to buy it sight unseen. A few days later my friend Bill flew me over to the mainland to meet the owner and pick up the car. Bill dropped me off at the private terminal and told me to call if the deal fell thru or I broke down on the side of the highway. I walked out of the terminal and heard a rather loud noise. I looked up and saw the 944 driving by across the street to the commercial terminal. I was thinking to myself on the way over what a new muffler would cost from Pelican...

After a 10 minute walk I found the 944 wedged between cars with people unloading bags and saying their goodbyes. I peeked thru the sunroof to find a 18 year old kid with rap music blaring from the "$1000 dollar sound system" mentioned in the ad. I looked over the car and found quite a few body and paint problems but nothing too serious or unexpected for a thousand dollar car. The kid got out of the car and we did the customary introductions. Only then did I notice the entire interior was in very rough condition with nothing but bare metal rear of the front seats.

The rear seats had been replaced with a ridiculous boom box with huge speakers and a giant amp sitting over the gas tank. Every piece of interior trim was missing and the door panels had been hacked out with a butcher knife to allow room for bigger speakers. I reached for my phone to call Bill and have him fly back and pick me up but then decided against it. I looked over at the kid and told myself he does not deserve this automobile. This is a Porsche for crying out loud. If I didnt buy this car and give it life some other young kid is going to get it and soon after it will be headed to the junkyard. I thought this over for a minute then gave him the $1200 and he signed over the title. The 944 was mine now.

I threw my bag in the passenger seat, jumped in, and adjusted the seat. I had not driven a stick in awhile so I was worried I was going to stall out in front of all the airporters. I reached for the key but it had some weird push button start security system installed. I flipped the switch and pushed the button and to my amazement it started right up..loudly I might add.

I pulled out into traffic and immediately there was a problem as the steering wheel shook quite violently. It smoothed out a bit as I shifted into higher gears but it still shook and was difficult to steer. The car shifted good to my delight as I didnt want to deal with a tranny problem. I got the car out on the interstate and relaxed a bit. The engine felt ok but it was hard to tell as it was very loud inside the car. There was a very annoying whine coming from the rear end that had me worried. I wondered what I had gotten myself into and buyers remorse settled in a bit. Anything can be fixed I told myself and I quickly snapped out of it. The whining noise was the fuel pump I found out later. There was also some banging noise from the rear whenever I hit a rough patch of road. I turned out to be the hatch jumping around as the pins where rusted and the rubber mounts destroyed. Luckily the hatch glass did not shatter on my 50 mile journey to the ferry. The timing belt also decided to hold together and the car was saved from being a new anchor for one of the Washington State ferries.

I made the ferry 10 minutes before departure and drove right on trying not to drive off the end of the car deck from the shaking wheel. We pulled away from the terminal and I got out to do a more through inspection. I had not even looked at the engine yet and was a bit worried as to what I may find. The hood shocks where wore out so I had to hold it up by hand while I took a gander. The first thing I noticed was the cover to the AFM was missing and the stock air filter had been replaced with a cone system that was not designed by our friends in Germany. The entire air intake system was not mounted properly and was ready to fall into the street or alternator belt. I didnt have anything to fix it and prayed it would hold together for the last mile home. Other then that the engine looked to be in decent shape and intact.

The first thing I did when I got home was to call a stereo junkie friend of mine. I told him to come over and adios the stereo box out before I smashed it with a hammer. I didnt care what it was worth as I just wanted it eighty-sixed from the vehicle. He came over and ripped it out along with all of the wiring. The PO drilled a nice big hole in the firewall for me to route the giant amp power wire that was connected directly to the battery. I also gave my buddy the "Rap Mix 2" CD I found in the glovebox.

So the 944 sits the garage awaiting TLC and a fistfull of dollars to begin a new life. For now I am still driving that old reliable KIA that does not suit me but I am happy to be a Porsche owner once again....

[Rjackel944]

Yeahhh! Great story.. Do you happen to have any pictures?? Good luck! I assume timing and balance belts are first? Or is it not going to be driven just yet?

-Ryan

[Dave L]

sounds like a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

If the rear seats are missing it might be an option to carpet that area instead of putting in rear seats. The rear seats are pretty much useless anyways.

[Tiramisu]

It will be a garage queen for quite awhile while I gather all the needed parts and pieces. The wheel shaking was due to a badly warped wheel so that is first on the list along with the timing belt. I did pick up front seats, rear seats and door panels for cheap from a guy coming out for a mini vacation which worked out perfect.

[mikepellegrini]

That's a great story! I can really identify with what you went through.

Some people just do not deserve to own a 944... Thank god you rescued the poor car from that kid...

If you haven't already heard of them, Campbell-Nelson Auto Wrecking in Arlington is pretty close to you - they have more wrecked 944's than any other place in the Seattle metro area.

I was up there a few weeks ago and they had a complete back area carpet in great shape (black) they wanted $50 for - I passed. '

Their prices are kinda high but they usually have a pretty good selection of stuff.

FindUsedParts.com | Over 1000's of used parts in stock

Another good place is Absolute German, south of Seattle. Absolute German Autowrecking : 877-782-6410 - Used Auto Parts for Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Porsche* - AbsoluteGerman.com They were parting a 944 a couple weeks ago.

And then it seems there are always a few parts cars on Craigslist.

Lots of luck on your project! I'm sure you're gonna have fun.

[cvriv.charles]

Great story!!! LOL. Awesome! We're with you man. It's a great thing what you did, saving that car. I thank you. It's your porsche now. Tear it down completely and start from scratch till it's done. Clean her up good. Dont plan on driving it for a while. Driving it is only HALF the fun of owning one of these. You know this.

Congrats on the purchase. If I was you I would of took ownership like a bad drug deal for what that kid did to that car,... that being I would of shot him and took the good and the money. Dont mess with me or my 944's,...

Oh yeah tell me you got some pics of that car before you did anything to it!!!

[db cooper]

Glad to hear that you got yourself a project. It's nice to see those abused 944's being taken in and nursed back to health. You'll find that they are definitely addicting. I'll see you on Wed. with your seats and door panels!

Dave

[cvriv.charles]

we want pics.

[mikepellegrini]

+1 on the pics!

[krystar]

great story hehe. after seeing the car if I were in your position, I would have sounded reluctant and offered him $500. hehe

steering wobbling...i'd imagine it'd be a loose tie rod or wheel bearing or something.
rear whine is prob just trans fluid needs to be flushed.
loud exhaust...yea we know how that can be solved hehe

[cvriv.charles]

Originally Posted by krystar

loud exhaust...yea we know how that can be solved hehe

Yea by installing a muffler.

[Callout]

Wow, sounds like a great project.

I recently picked up a 944 aswell. The PO thrived on how good the motor was, little did I know, the transaxle would blow 5 days later. She needs misc. interior pieces. It also needed other parts, those are taken care of... Good Luck with your project!