The Porsche 944 Autocross racer build thread

dean1484 wrote: Being the cheep.. . . Errrr Frugal person I am . This is how I fixed my shifter. http://www.ehadesign.com/~dsmith/shift-fix.htm

That's really neat. I had never guessed you could do that. Neato.

my fix was even more cheaperer. i ground off the weld, knocked out the pin, used a through-bolt that was just long enough to accommodate a couple of washers i exacto'd out of a prestone bottle, and used a ny-lock nut to hold it all together.

dean1484 wrote: Being the cheep.. . . Errrr Frugal person I am . This is how I fixed my shifter. http://www.ehadesign.com/~dsmith/shift-fix.htm

That is pretty genius! I don't have a welder (yet), or else I totally would have tried that. I saved my old shifter, so I may experiment with it to get a shorter throw and the screw-on knob. Thanks!

Answers!

In box #1 we have...

A steering wheel! I scored a 6-bolt Dino wheel on fleabay for $20, and yes, it actually matches my adapter. This should look great in the 944!

And in boxes #2 and #3 we have...

Racing seats! Okay, okay, yes, they are not SFI or SCCA approved, or even name brand. They are however cloth (which will keep me from sliding all over the seat, unlike the leather we have now), fully manual (lighter!), and cheap. How cheap you ask? $250. For the pair. Shipped

That’s worth it to me! Yes, the color is more like pimp white than linen, but we can always dye the seats and/or the interior. They are Corbeau A4 knock-off knock-offs, but hopefully I can get them in easily…

How embarrassing!

I came home from work (in the Falcon) to find this! The driver’s side trim piece had committed hari-kari and flopped over. So off to the store I went for some 3M trim tape…

That's better!

40 minutes later and it’s all fixed! I had to be really careful scraping off the old adhesive as the paint was just worn out around the trim. In fact, I discovered that this car has been repainted before! They did it correctly (removing all of the trim) which is why I thought it was original, but it has clearly had a full re-spray. The paint job must have happened pre-1992 as I have all of the records from then to now, and there’s no paint work in those records. Odd.

Anyways, the old adhesive was all removed, everything cleaned up, and new 3M tape installed. The trim piece is now arrow-straight and firmly attached to the car once more. I’ll keep an eye on the other pieces to see if they deteriorate as well.

BTW, I had a set of those exact seats in red. They were very supportive, but not exactly soft. The padding was very, very firm. It does soften a bit as you sit in it though.

Great scores though!

Don't tell me you sold the red seats to a guy with a P71 ~3 years ago

I bought a red "suede" pair in Portland back then and installed them in my RX-7. They were very stiff at first but broke in in about 2-3 months. I did a 500+ mile day in them and was quite comfy.

Nah, they went with the Sundance to a buddy of mine. He was supposed to give me the seats back as they didn't fit he or his wife's posteriors, but he disappeared for a while and found enlightenment, moved to the country, etc. Don't really have anything they'd look good in anyway (the Sundance had that wonderfully indestructible, but hideous Red 80's interior) The turbo/auto was a good AutoX combo! Lots of fun with LFB on sticky 17's :)

Updates:

Success!!!

I finally got a stupid steering wheel in this car! The $20 Dino wheel from eBay did the trick. It’s amazing how easy it was to bolt on now that everything had the right bolt pattern. The new wheel is far nicer looking, is easier to steer quickly with, and gives a better view of the gauges.

Seat comparo

I then decided to try and see what it would take to get the seats to fit. I yanked the passenger seat (and found a billfold underneath amongst other items, empty though) and started measuring. The original tracks will not work as they are powered for tilt/rake, so they have large stampings that go up into the seat. The universal rails that come with the new seats will work after I make a spacer to bring them out 3” total, but I also need to come up with a bracket to place the seatbelt receptacle on.

Those are so 1980s awesome. I can totally imagine Don Johnson adjusting his chest hair and snorting coke off the dashboard when I think of them.

That steering wheel actually looks great, (as a fan of the original Porsche wheel, I had my doubts ). Nice work with the matching stitching on the shifter boot, too.

Luke wrote: That steering wheel actually looks great, (as a fan of the original Porsche wheel, I had my doubts ). Nice work with the matching stitching on the shifter boot, too.

I know, and that wasn t even planned! I'm starting to think I should dye the interior black and put red stitching everywhere

Updates!

Another autocross, another win!

We had another successful autocross with the 944. Mrs. Javelin is getting better and better and once again I was able to win my class, but my friend in the next class up finally got me! I think it’s a sign I need to do some mods and move up to that class with him…

Seat bases:

Comparing the seats showed me that I needed to do something for a seat base in order to make everything work. The seatbelt receptacles bolt to the seat and the tracks needed a place to mount. I picked these brackets up (for a 944) from a fellow GRM’er.

Last autocross, season championship!

We had our last autocross for the year in October, and it was a great one. Mrs. Javelin and I both had our highest overall finishes ever! I was able to finish out the year with a 100% win rate in the class and earned the Season Championship. I was also able to just beat my friend in the next class up who got me at the last round. We went back and forth with who had the lowest time the entire day, it was some of the best and closest racing I’ve ever been involved with. Autocross is exciting when you have a friend/competitor that runs the same times and you run in the same session!

Trophy!

Our PCA club makes their own trophies for the season champions out of blown up parts donated throughout the season. Mine was a center cap that came off. Very cool, I think! Plus I can hang mine up, unlike the guy that got the busted turbo!!!

Winter hibernation...

On December 1st I drove the 944 for the last time, parked it, un-hooked the battery, and poured some Sta-Bil down the tank. Even if I hadn’t parked it for the winter, there’s no way it would have been able to drive. That’s 12” of snowfall, which is higher than the car’s ground clearance! Not to mention the Hankook R-S3 summer tires…

Coming out of winter's nap...

We had some really nice weather yesterday, so I decided to start waking the 944 up. First things first, the old battery needed a charge. A few hours on the trickle charger was the ticket! (I may replace the battery with a smaller, lighter one though).

Box clean up and inspection

The only place on a galvanized 944 that can really rust is the battery box when acid leaks. That’s never happened to mine, but some good preventative maintenance by cleaning out all of the much and leaves is certainly time well spent. I also brushed the terminal leads in preparation for the battery install.

Completed!

Battery is back in and the original hold-down is working perfectly. So we are all secured and ready for another autocross season. I also opened the car up to let it air out, wiped down the windows, and dumped a bottle of fuel system cleaner down the tank. Now, let’s see if she’ll start…

It runs! But...

The 944 fired right up and gave me instant oil pressure. Nice! There was a hissing noise in the intake, and I think it's this hose. I'll need to fix that. Unfortunately, I also noticed it has developed a small oil leak on the back of the head. Okay, I’ll have to address that before the season starts…

In fact, I have a lot to do before the Annual Tech Day. Timing belt, fuel filter, this leak, some lights, and get those seats installed. Back to work!

Timing belt inspection

The records with the 944 show that the timing belt was done at 216,7xx miles. The 944 only has 227,4xx on it now, about 11K miles. Except the job was done in 2006. With this being an interference motor, I wanted to double-check. It took a little work to pull the inspection cover, but everything looks like it was just done yesterday! (Likely because the 944 is garaged most of the time). The shop also did all of the rollers and tensioners, the seals, and the balance belts. Yes, a water pump was done at the same time, and it’s even the newer Turbo version. This was a job done right, and it is not due to be done again just yet.

Preparing for the new season

Of course the car itself isn’t the only thing that needs preparation for the new season. The helmet has to be de-funked, the faceshields polished, the baclava and gloves washed, and all spare fluids re-filled. I also took the time to charge up the cameras, clean the magnetic numbers, re-provision the race bag, and pack new spares. By the way, the Plastic Cleaner works great on minor scuffs for faceshields, even tinted ones.

Still working out the seats...

Now that I obtained brackets for the 944, it was time to see if they fit. Sure enough, the old Sport seat came out okay and the new bracket bolts right on, including the belt receptacle. This isn’t ideal as the belt no longer stays with the seat when it’s adjusted, but most cars are like that anyways, so it’s no big deal. Now, to get the seat tracks to bolt to the brackets…

Replacement numbers

Among all of the stuff to be done this off-season, the change in class meant I needed some new class letters. I also lost a 3 on track and had a 5 rip, which really is pretty low attrition for 2 full seasons with these things. New replacements arrived from i-Zoom racing matching the original set perfectly. I can’t recommend these guys enough!

Fresh tune-up

Next up on the list of to-dos was a tune-up. The 944 got a new cap and rotor (even though the old ones were still okay, they got cleaned up and made into spares), Magnecor KV85 Competition wires, and NGK plugs. Big thanks to my man Bradley at ECS Tuning for most of the parts, and some others not yet installed.

One down, one to go!

Man, that stupid seat project was tough! The no-name seat had a different pattern than the Corbeau mount, and everything just had to be modified to make it work correctly. The new seat is easier to get in and out of and is grippier (cloth vs leather).

Success! x2!

And finally! The driver’s side was even crazier because the bracket was for a side-rail seat or something. Much drilling, a Dremel tool, some grinding, and a lot of swearing later… it’s done!

Lookin good.

First autocross of the year is today! Let's see how we do in the new class

Even though the timing belt looks fine, you NEED to replace it ASAP. 6 years have gone by and that's far too long. They break all the time spontaneously and when they go, all sorts of havoc happens.

If the water pump and the rollers were changed last time, I'd just do the belt. If not, do them too.

6 years of all indoor storage man. The belt looks brand spanking new. I will change it this winter when the engine comes out (if we keep the car).

The first event today was crazy. We had heavy rain with standing water, freezing rain, small hail, SNOW, and a dry track with sun, in the same run group. I spun twice in the same run for the first time ever. Apparently Hankook R-S3's don't autocross well in snow.

I covered my old class (which got combine and re-named, it's now P01, there's an 87 944 and a 73 911T in it now) by 0.8xx seconds, but only managed second in I01 (my new class). It's going to be a fun year!

It was crazy weather out there! So...I have to confess that I gauge my times off of yours (seems like the closest match in that group). I am getting closer to you but still no go I think. Too bad it was so cold and icy and just kinda useless out there today. Still good fun, and the 944 (and driver of course) looked dandy. (Shakes fist in the air) Curse you Javelin! I'll get you next time!

Doesn't really matter if it's indoors or outdoors. If really bad things didn't happen when the belt broke it wouldn't be such a big deal. Search rennlist, they break all the time at very low mileages, in seemingly good condition due to age...

Snowcross...

The first autocross of the year was crazy! We had sun, rain, sleet, hail, and snow! I have to say that autocrossing in the snow on Hankook R-S3’s was not fun. I spun twice! By the end of the day I finally had some semi-dry runs. I managed 3rd (out of 3) in my class, but was only a few tenths behind so I’m feeling okay about it. My car is still 100% P02 class legal (the next one lower), and I would have won that class by over 2 seconds. My wife will be racing the 944 in P02 and I’ll be in I01 this season.

Fuel leak!

I knew I should have changed the o-rings on the injectors when I had to pop the rail off for the wire change. #3 injector sprung a leak, which is really dangerous on a 944, so I parked the car until I could fix it.

Rebuilt injectors

I decided to go ahead and have the fuel injectors cleaned locally. That was the right choice! Apparently they were pretty well clogged up. Now all four flow to Porsche’s specs and within 2% of each other. New pintle caps and o-rings finish off the process.

Problems solved

I didn’t even realize how degraded the 944’s performance was until I got the injectors rebuilt. The hard starts, erratic idle, throttle tip-in stumble, and generally sluggish response were all solved! I wish I had done these sooner!

Filter, too.

Of course since the injectors were clogged and I already had the fuel system depressurized, I went ahead and installed a new fuel filter, too.

Found a leak!

While poking around under the 944 I noticed this. It’s a return line for the steering rack! Must have popped out during a cone strike. I fixed this, cleaned up all of the spray, and noted some other deficiencies such as a bad sway bar bushing. Time to order more parts!

Must-have on PS-equipped 944's!

I changed the oil on the 944 as well, and I have to say that a K&N oil filter is mandatory for power steering equipped 944’s. The reservoir and lines restrict access to the filter, so you can’t get a traditional oil filter socket or wrench down there. The 1” nut welded to the K&N is a godsend!

New battery, too.

And finally, the old battery went and died on me. I mean dead dead, not coming back dead. Optima doesn’t make a battery that clears the hood without converting to side posts, and I didn’t have time to wait for lightweight race battery, so I grabbed a 2-year free replacement one from the local parts store.

Your description of your fuel injector issues has me believing that mine may be in need of a rebuild as well. Kindred spirits

I'm telling you Brad, anything that's broke on mine is broke on yours and visa-versa! Do the injectors and fuel filter and see if the issues go away.

I already bought a fuel filter, but I have not been able to successfully uninstall the old one yet. I'll try to get around to cleaning the injectors this weekend.