by John Glynn | Sep 15, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Having diagnosed the source of the torrential cabin leaks on my 1983 Porsche 944 Restoration (rotten battery tray), it was time to extract the damaged interior and get the car dry. I started by taking out the front seats.
These are proper Recaro sports seats, so I was hoping to save them. No chance – they are ruined. One front runner bolt on each had to be assisted in release with a crowbar: classic 944 front seat mischief.
Front seats out, you can see how different the footwells are. On the left is the swamp. On the right is dry and lovely. I am so disappointed that someone didn’t do more to save this car early on. The trim is a very nice combination and works well with the white. Must have been a great looking car back in the day, especially as it’s such a lightweight thing. It wasn’t owned by a cheapskate either: I pulled a nice-spec Pioneer DEH-700 out of the dash. Shame no face but the chassis is rusted away anyway.
Front seats out, I started slicing carpet and rear seat squabs. Took a while to get that done and mop up the water (both sides), then I took out the rear seat back before sorting out a cover of sorts for the front glass. This will keep the worst of the rain out of the cabin until such time as Rob Campbell at Racing Restorations – UK Porsche Rust Repair experts – has an open space in his diary to weld up the battery tray, nearside sill and the front seat mounts – might as well be done while everything is apart.
I also replaced the rear lid latches and pins and adjusted the whole thing – such a lovely job using good parts taken from last year’s breakers. Must break a 911 sometime, see what that’s like.
Has returned to the farm for now. We should be able to get back on the case in October some time.
by John Glynn | Sep 12, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
As the 944 Turbo is sold, I was keen to move my other 944 project along; get it MOTed and then either start using it or get shot of it. It has to be MOTed to get the number plate off, so that’s a no choice thing.
Anyway, I collected the Porsche 944 from Midlands Car Storage and hooked up the A-frame. Towing with the Landcruiser is a dream, so we had a good run home, where I put the kettle on and wondered what to do next. I decided to start by getting the boot open.
The way a 944 tailgate works is it has a pin in each rear corner which locks into a recessed latch. To open, the key pulls rods inwards to slide the latch plates and release the pins. There are sponges (I kid you not) between the car body and the latch recesses and then the latch bodies have little reservoirs underneath, which collect the water which runs down the pins, and drains it out through the boot floor. It is convoluted but I think fairly clever. However, it is a bugger if the latches are not used regularly.
I bought the white car knowing it had sat unused for ten years in a leaky car port in Chichester, right by the sea – the house was a street away from the Channel. Imagine the steel pins and steel latches submerged in a salt bath for ten years: they seize solid and need smashing off. Smashing off window locks in a cramped greenhouse, in 26 degree heat, while lying on a floor and working over your head (in a car thick with mould) is a lovely job. I eventually got it all apart, opened the lid and checked out the boot. Dry and healthy and no rot anywhere, except the locks and the number plate lights. I have new ones of these so they’ll go on tomorrow.
I’d stuck the battery on a boost charge, so decided to try some electrics next. The door mirrors worked in 2 out of 4 directions – nice. The pop-up lights did pop up and made me want to keep the car. I love pop ups! The rest is fairly basic: this is mostly a manual car, which is great. The carpets on the drivers side seemed not too damp but the other side was soaked. I pulled the bonnet catch and noticed a lot of rust on the fusebox, the sort of rust that doesn’t happen with leaky rear window seals which is what I though I had. This had to be a hole in the battery tray over the fusebox pouring water straight down.
Battery out and project brakes on! A huge hole right across the front of the battery tray is just pouring buckets of water into the car, every time it rains. That has to go off and be fixed before we do anything else – have booked it in with Rob Campbell at Racing Restorations for some TLC next week. I’ll get the bit on the sill done done at the same time.
Getting the rest of the trim out should be fun – the front seats are seized on the runners which makes removal a job and a half. Will do what I can before the GP tomorrow.
by John Glynn | Sep 6, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Ahead of starting the 911 engine strip down today, I had a major tidy-up in my little garage, which had turned into one of those places where you can get both feet in the door and no further. Five hours later I had floor space and could work on the motor right next to the toolbox. I call that a success.
Most of what is in my garage is parts and trim for my white Porsche 944 project – that bargain eBay purchase from last year (at least I hope it was last year). I look forward to starting the job of taking the 1983 944 Lux apart and putting it back together as soon as my little Landcruiser is finished.
Upgrade parts include full Porsche Recaro sports leather in black, fresh carpets and headlining etc, power steering, new engine mounts, new window and rear glass seals, Weltmeister throttle cam upgrade, decent tyres and so on.
This Porsche 944 project is a fairly low mile, two or three owner car, so I am hoping to use it quite a bit when it is back on the road and fitted with the all-important PAS and leather. Think it will look great in Grand Prix White with black hide, plus clearing out all that 944 stuff will give me my garage back.
Was using the parts washer for much of today – did a lovely job on 944 hubs, struts and crank sensors etc. Found the new ECU for it too. Sorting through some more bits tomorrow. I took so many usable parts off the two I broke last year and have such a lot of stuff in the garage. I’m not sure that it’s all going to be required: eBay beckons.
by John Glynn | Aug 23, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
Had an update from my buddy John last week on my California Porsche 911 purchase “The Varmint”: that 1980 Porsche 911 SC I bought off the San Francisco Craigslist. John Holleran had gone over it and decided a few things needed doing to make it ‘basically sound’.
The Turbo tie rods were past it; boots destroyed and binding in lock so they needed changing. The clutch release arm was fouling the SSIs hence the weirdo clutch feeling underfoot, that needed sorting. Most other stuff was OK, all except these oil leaks. Inter shaft gasket looked buggered and the crank seal didn’t seem too happy either, so they both needed doing.
John H estimated 4 hours work, plus parts, plus time to do an alignment which sounded sensible to me so I gave him the go ahead, as well as asking for an oil and trans fluid change. My amigo John also suggested we get some parts to replace some missing interior and sort some door rattles while I am over. That sounds cool to me: there are two great Porsche breakers near him and I am keen to visit both.
The car should be ready some time Monday, so am looking forward to a happy driver’s report next week. I hope the seals fix the oil leak. If not, then it could be the number 8 nose bearing shell/O-ring leaking, which is a different kettle of fish, though the problem often results in just dampness as opposed to a full-blown leak. It’s an engine out & case split job to fix it properly, though I could live with a weep for a few years no problem. Fingers crossed, then.
by John Glynn | Jul 27, 2009 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
My ‘new’ old 911 has finally been dropped to my buddy in San Francisco who will hang on to it until Mr Lipman and I get back out to California in September. Good to get an objective opinion on condition and some recent photographs of the car. Sounds like I did another nice Porsche deal, so I’m grateful to both seller and my mate for helping me out long-distance.
I was told it had an oil leak and some trans woes and this has been confirmed by my wonderful amigo. Here’s what he says:
“Initial impression is, as you said, you can’t lose. Paint is rough, sure. But seems solid and runs great. I mean really runs good, I was surprised, frankly. The motor just zings, no funny business at idle, or mid range or at 5k, which is as far as I took it. I couldn’t get the engine lid open to poke inside, but I’m sure it has some leaks, there was a bit of hot oil smell. We’ll find out about all that. But it really runs good. Rides good, no weirdness to the ride or steering, brakes seem fine too.
The only thing is something with the clutch, which is more like an on/off switch than a clutch. Is fully engaged about two inches off the floor, and is very heavy. Once or twice it seemed to stick as it was released. But no judder, and nothing weird from the back end, so my gut feel is rather than anything with the clutch itself or flywheel, it’s all under the floorboard with cable and adjustment and helper spring. Or lack thereof. No graunching from the gears, but you have to be quite slow and deliberate when going in gear, especially one and two. So, hopefully, rather than anything really in the gearbox with synchros or clutch itself, it’s all under the floorboards. You do get sort of used to it after a few minutes, and can proceed fairly normally from stop lights, but your left leg would be very tired after a day’s driving with the way it is at the moment.
But man, it runs good. Those 3.0’s are just great motors. And a lot of other things aren’t bad at all, like the dash pad is perfect. Windows work well too, which is handy. Seats aren’t bad for support, tach or speedo needle doesn’t wiggle, it’s still a good German car in a lot of ways. Stereo doesn’t work (so he says), clock doesn’t work, drivers arm rest and door pocket are missing. Headliner is a little saggy around the sunroof. But good bones. And that’s with California frame of reference. Hell, if you painted it and fixed the dents and redid the wheels and freshened up the interior, it would probably be a show winning SC in Europe. Great car for the money, and great candidate for a backdate hot rod. Did I mention it runs good? It really runs good. More later.”
I am delighted with this quick warts-n-all report. It shows that when you have been buying cars for 20 years, much of it for a living, you can still sniff out a bargain from just a few lines of text and some 6 year-old pics. I’m glad to hear it makes good power. The Euro-spec rebuild through SSIs should give it about 220 bhp, which is loads in a fairly light SC.
The oil lines and thermostat are fairly recent so I doubt it is leaking there. There is a spot of oil under the car in the first pic – if that is from mine, then it looks centre to left side so maybe a return tube or similar, or just a connection. It’s done few miles since a full rebuild so doubt it is anything serious like a case leak (which would be dead centre), but if it is then no problem. Could even be a leak from up top travelling down and dripping off the bottom.
Sounds to me like the clutch has maybe had it which again is OK and was factored in. I’ll get a kit and sort that out with a new cable too. Might even get it whizzed over to the local top Porsche shop and have them do it for me. Then myself and Jamie can have twelve days of SC fun before shipping home a reliable daily-ish driver.
Come on!
by John Glynn | Mar 19, 2008 | Classic Porsche Blog, Project Cars
I have a bit of a 944 fetish going on at the mo, but in my defence it is all related. I have always dreamed of buying classic Porsche 944 Turbo, and watching 944 prices with the SC Cabriolet sale in progress led me to A911 DRY. Bought that and it needed interior and ideally a running car to sort the non-running problem. So I bought the 924 for the trim and the red 944 for the running gear to do some swapping.
No sooner have I agreed a deal on the red 944 than up popped an 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo at Autofarm for £1750. I thought it was an OK buy at that until I saw it at £1250, which is a steal on Fuchs even with a knackered engine. Emailed them and arranged to go and see it next day. Was waiting around for a look for a while but anyway, I eventually got to see it in the dark in a barn with only a candlelight torch to help!
The car presents itself well. Fuchs very nice, with track rubber and the half-leather sports logo trim also very nice. Panel gaps on one side not so nice, so I assumed it had been in a fairly decent smash a while back. Mentioned this to Josh and he said he didn’t think so, thought it was a nice honest car. I bid for it assuming it was on the hit list and the bid was accepted – it is really just in the way down there. Paid a 10% deposit and agreed to pick up at the end of the month, when my Cab has left a space.
Came home and HPI’d it: it was declared a Cat C total loss in 1997. Still I think it’s a good buy at what I paid, even with the damage and the engine in bits. Might make a nice article in the future about buying and repairing damaged Porsches versus buying a nice clean original car.
Went to see Bob Watson today for a chat, and he has plenty of 944 Turbo bits inc crank and oil pump etc. We will use his man to sort the cylinders out; some scoring on one apparently, though I didn’t see the engine either! Bob reckons 300bhp is fairly easy on any 951, I will shoot for 250 on mine. It is more of a family Porsche to replace the Cabriolet than anything, though it’s bound to see the odd French/Belgian track.
Anyway, the aim is to be back down to two Porsches by June at the latest, but we’ll see how that works out. Some pics of my new 951 are here: a long exposure makes it look much brighter than it was in there.
