delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Apr 28, 2012 14:42:25 GMT
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This journey all started just before midnight in October 2008. I'd spotted this white 944 on eBay and got a reminder on my phone about ten minutes before the auction end. So I took a look and the highest bid was only a few hundred pounds. So I thought I'd take a punt if there was no movement - I mean who could possibly be watching an eBay auction ending at nearly midnight on a Saturday? I now had about forty seconds left on the auction, there was no movement on the price - so I did what most aspiring Porsche owners would have done at midnight, and pressed enter. I was officially bidding. With less than half a minute left on the auction, somebody, somewhere, was now frantically trying to out bid me. My pulse was racing! If there had ever been a perfectly timed bid of mine, that was it. It wasn't a planned strategy but it sure did work. In the remaining seconds only two bids were registered. Then it was all over. I won the auction with heart pounding in my chest as bidding closed. A few days later I was heading down to Somerset by train to collect "The Hoff" a bog standard 2.5 Lux with about 198,000 miles on the clock and a full service history - which included the original order and bill of sale. Needless to say I was stoked and the grin grew wider as the miles passed by. I've kept a blog of life with a 944 whilst going about services and refurbing things as and when required. Once I'd spent the day thoroughly cleaning then polishing my 944 I took it out for a bit of a photoshoot.    There are some features that I simply love about this car:    ...and that burgandy and pinstripe interior is just so eighties baby!  Like many things with retro rides The Hoff would start a slow transformation but in the mean time I was loving my overlooked, underated front engine rear wheel drive Porsche. |
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Last Edit: Oct 13, 2018 7:28:49 GMT by delux
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Apr 28, 2012 14:46:44 GMT
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Nice car! Looks like you got very lucky on eBay!
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Apr 28, 2012 14:58:33 GMT
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My first so called "mod" was to upgrade the standard 15" Teledials for something a little larger. The debate in my mind was that I love the original Teledials, thankfully the answer to my dilemma came in the form of 16" Teledials from the same model year Turbo.  Whilst only an inch bigger they were enough to give The Hoff a boost to his mojo - there was no escaping the extra dish and fuller arches.  |
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Lawsy
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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Apr 28, 2012 15:07:49 GMT
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Very nice mate - I've just got one myself, but needs some work on it...
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Apr 28, 2012 15:09:46 GMT
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I love white! my first 944 was a white 86, 2.5.
Love the interior and genral mintness.
This will be good, i know there is more to come and your good with the words.
TheEbay story realy puts us there, we have all been there!
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Apr 30, 2012 20:03:32 GMT
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Thanks! Nice car! Looks like you got very lucky on eBay! Yeah I did - I only needed to sort a small 50p size rust spot on the outer sill and it's been nothing stopping it since. C'mon Lawsy get some elbow grease & a thread going. After fitting the sixteens this is what The Hoff was rolling like - the wheels make a subtle but substantial difference IMO   In future I need to space those wheels out a bit I reckon. One thing that bugged me was the non Porsche script drivers door handle. I sourced one from Alasdair in Scotland over the winter and it was one of the first jobs I tackled when the garage warmed up.  It's funny to think it took me a good few months before I realised the door handles didn't match... My car has these strange armour plates installed on both sides, as you can see in the pics, that I've not seen before. The little sticker on the back seems to indicate that they're patented in the US and act as a theft deterent - which is good. They do make the door handle a lot more bulky looking than normal but I'm inclined to keep them and perhaps make them a little less obvious - maybe paint white or polish 'em up. About a year ago I had The Hoff on the dyno at SumoPower in Rye to see what oomph was left of the 163HP from the factory - for 204,000 miles on the clock 125.6 RWHP and 130.6lb.ft torque wasn't too bad eh! By my reckoning thats only about 15hp down on new.  As enlightening as that whole experience was, it did reveal or hasten some wear, that resulted in some nasty blue smoke that filled the dyno room. That got me a little concerned but The Hoff still ran smoothly - only puffing blue on hard throttle or in-gear freewheeling. What it did do though was prompt the purchase of this - a virtually complete stripped down motor as a backup. I figured buying a block whose bores I could see was a better bet than buying something with an unknown demon inside...   Speaking of the unknown I needed to know that was happening inside The Hoff's heart. A compression and leak down test in January by my mechanic neighbour gave the answers I needed. Compression was only 150psi on Cylinder 1 and 160psi on number 2. Three and four were 170psi. However when we added some oil to the cylinders in turn they all bumped up to 180psi. The conclusion was drawn that Hoff needed new rings or maybe a new engine...I guess 204,000 odd miles is a good innings. |
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Lawsy
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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Apr 30, 2012 20:26:10 GMT
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C'mon Lawsy get some elbow grease & a thread going.. My threads already underway.. been a headscratching searching to decide weather to follow or heart tho.. Today Heart as won.. its in the readers ride section, project mid life crisis.. lol Loving the looks with the 16's - so subtle.. teledials defo staying on mine too.. Door guards are common place on veedubs, mk1/mk2 golfs in particular were noted for being easy to break into - pretty much the same handle too.. so either someone already tried in the past, and now fotted them, wouldnt be suprised to see a dent under them, so best option, leave em put.. |
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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cheers Lawsy - I found your thread. We'll have a 944 section soon LOL.
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Kieran
East of England
Posts: 148
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That's great, I've always like the 944. Loving the eighties-tastic burgandy interior, looks the part on 16's too.
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Wheels are a win..and rare. looks perfect.
BTW, do you want any of the following?
Chipped ECU (also have the standard chip)
used decent clutch/flywheel
pistons
manifolds & throttle body
injectors
FPR
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Thanks Sumpcracker! So the next stage of Hoff's life is underway - I guess it's the automotive equivalent of a "pacemaker" or "heart transplant". I pulled the engine out of the 944 from the top. I've detailed the process on my blog if you're needing to know how - link in my sig. After clearing the gubbins off the top of the engine, I detached the bellhousing and pulled it out.  Now there's a big gaping hole there - that engine bay is big!  Then off came the Cam Tower:  ... and then the Cylinder Head to reveal four very large bores and coked pistons:  The Turbo head gasket, fitted at some point in the past, looks like it has had better days - there were a few pin holes in it - I'm guessing that's not "The Bess" as Noche Libre would say...  Besides looking a bit on the skanky side the cylinder walls are absolutely beautiful!
 No marks, no lip, no scratches or scores at all. Quite incredible considering the mileage. I was expecting much worse but now I'm facing a little bit of a dilemma - rebuild this motor and keep everything original or the heart transplant I had in mind...  |
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My DT teacher had one of these in the same colour. Very '80s, but at the same time, has aged surprisingly well compared to many other cars of the same age. Btw, was this pic taken at Northney Marina? |
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Yep that's the spot!
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Sept 12, 2012 14:59:16 GMT
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The worst summer in a 100 years or more should surely mean spending more time indoors - like in my garage... As there had been a serious power leak thanks to a loose main hydraulic hose connector the drivers (RHD) side of the steering rack, wishbone and cross-member are caked in a thick layer of grime. It looked particularly sad so I decided to begin stripping off the whole shebang for a thorough clean with a view to replacing knackered parts with shiney new ones. For the most part removing the rack is easy but when it came to the tie-rod ends it was impossible to loosen them when the rack was on the car. With the rack removed I could get the leverage to remove these 26 year old bits.  Next it was time to clean the rack - I used some GUNK Green degreaser from Halfruads that did a great job. The aluminium and steel shaft cleaned up a treat - as you can see from the pics!  Once the steering rack was thoroughly dry I painted the centre steel section with some Hammerite Smooth Silver.  With the steering rack off it was time to tackle removing the whole front suspension.  Apart from some stubborn 26 year old bolts the whole shebang was soon out...  Everything is rusty and nasty looking. I want to get everything shot blasted now so when it all goes back in it'll be nice & fresh. The thing is I'm a little undecided about whether to replace the shocks or upgrade them...One things for sure though - it'll be lower! |
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Sept 14, 2012 15:30:29 GMT
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Those armor door plates are a good job, they prevent this:  I recently installed some on my scirocco. After the break in above. |
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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Sept 14, 2012 17:00:49 GMT
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that's not cool - glad they didn't nick it!
Thankfully I don't have any damage like that so a previous owner must have fitted them pre-emptively.
Started the long and arduous task of cleaning all the bolts using GUNK and diet cola - which does a good job of removing rust.
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 14, 2012 21:18:00 GMT
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Love this. I know of 2 other cars with a scripted n/s handle and plain o/s, and one of them is mine  |
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Sept 14, 2012 21:58:29 GMT
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that's not cool - glad they didn't nick it! I have a full disklok, that covers the steering wheel completely, i never park without it. They broke in to look for a spare key in the glovebox. I don't keep one there, who would? |
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Sept 15, 2012 8:49:56 GMT
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thats weird, it looked allot like conyer!
i like your work and where this vehicle is going
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delux
Part of things
There's treasure everywhere!
Posts: 531
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The shocks I removed looked pretty mangey - they defintely need a nice clean up and paint refresh. Unless I ditch them for something adjustable... After removing them from the car I began stripping the shocks to inspect the dampers. Getting the top nut off is a little more awkward than I'd hoped. Apparently using a impact wrench will remove it but that failed to work, as the cylinder shaft just spins freely, so I needed an alternative method:  I was surprised to find a brand new looking Boge Turbo damper inside the strut. There was a thin film of oil in the strut too - but perhaps that's to prevent the damper and strut fusing together as the damper looks in very good shape with no obvious leaks.  Disassembling the second front strut was much more of the same but it's contents were quite a puzzle! The damper in the second strut - which was on the passenger/ left side is completely different and the strut was actually filled with stinky shock fluid...  The two mismatched dampers I had on my 944 after a quick wipe:  The condition of the Boge Turbo damper has me wondering whether I should just buy another one and be done with it. As it turns out the Bilstein B6 shocks I had been contemplating installing are not adjustable and that has me wondering just how much better they'd be than one of these Boge Turbo dampers. Alternatives are a set of expensive Koni adjustables or one of SPAX's reasonably priced coilover kits. Decisions, decisions... |
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