1984 Porsche 944 - $825

NMNA - Is this merely a bad idea, or a really bad idea?

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5211768031.html

"1984 Porsche 944, last driven 10 years ago, ran fine then, should take very little to get running. Nose panel is dented by a trailer hitch, but have a replacement panel. Interior needs some attention. Vehicle original paint is Maroon, interior is brown and beige. 5 speed manual transmission, tires are weathered,will hold air for loading or moving.Clean title in hand, $825 or best reasonable offer. "

Depends what your end goal would be. I see rallycross fodder when I look at a rough old Porsche. That car looks like it would take a lot of work to make it nice.

...should take very little to get running....

That's optimistic. 944s don't like sitting. But then again my experience has left me bitter and cynical

Those are 928 wheels, if I'm not mistaken.

BlueInGreen44 wrote: Depends what your end goal would be. I see rallycross fodder when I look at a rough old Porsche. That car looks like it would take a lot of work to make it nice.

...should take very little to get running....

That's optimistic. 944s don't like sitting. But then again my experience has left me bitter and cynical

I don't think anything likes sitting for 10 years...

Throw new underhood and brake rubber at it, flush the fluids thoroughly and drive the piss out of it.

The drivetrain and chassis are pretty damned robust. The occasional relay or ground issue can cause some issues, but that's SOP for older cars.

Don't be skierd, just do it. Worst case, you can make your money back just parting the car out.

Inside for ten years? Take an $800 chance.

Outside for ten years? Nein danke.

Places you find trouble on all 944's. 1) floor of battery box rusted out. If interior smells musty check the passenger floor if moist pull the battery and start poking. 2) the glass hatch is heavy and big. It tends to slide out of the metal holder thus the hatch floor gets wet as the seal is thin. 3) oil cooler in on the motor and cooled via antifreeze from the block they reportedly leak a lot everyone seems to stock the O-rings. (mine never leaked but I had all the parts and tools to do it so that maybe why...) 4) power steering hoses / reservoir. One of the hoses run horizontally along the Timing belt cover if the V-belt is run on the loose side it can wear the hose thin. (or at least it did on my 85- 944. Many story's about the reservoir cracking and or plugging. I took mine out flushed it rinsed it etc. when I did the hose never another problem.

Fun car, dog crap slow to 60mph but after its wound up it moves and well handles so great. still soft and cumfy but you know you hit a bump and never get a weird feeling of out of control no matter how hard I pushed and slide it around I always felt I knew what the outcome would be. Wish I still had it.

turboswede wrote: Throw new underhood and brake rubber at it, flush the fluids thoroughly and drive the piss out of it. The drivetrain and chassis are pretty damned robust. The occasional relay or ground issue can cause some issues, but that's SOP for older cars. Don't be skierd, just do it. Worst case, you can make your money back just parting the car out.

What turbo swede says +1... If you do get it and need anything hit me up, I am parting a couple of them out right now

In reply to Woody:

They are galvanized from the factory and rust very little because of that.

My 924 was bought with 4 inches of water in the floor. Drove it to the nearest car wash and vacuumed it all out, drove home 300miles. Only rust that needed repair was due to previous piss poor repairs/modifications and the battery tray from putting the wrong battery in and slamming the (fiberglass) hood.

In reply to 44Dwarf:

The reservoir should be replaced every so often as there is a filter built into it. Its the same as used on BMW's and other cars from ze germans and costs all of $15. They also use ATF, not Power Steering fluid in their power steering system. Using Power Steering fluid will cause seals to fail and result in replacing them all to seal up the leaks (pump and rack are easily repaired with new seals).

Early cars had steel control arms with $15 VW ball joints. They are really decently simple cars to work on and maintain compared to the later cars.