Porsche 944 Project Story - Year 3 - Status Update, Repairs, Maintenance, & Costs 

Nice man! Would love to see how it turns out. Best of luck!

Hey, thanks for the comments! That’s a great list of cars. I had an ‘86 RX-7 back in the day. The values on wells sorted 240z’s are pretty wild now. In addition to $150 per hour mechanic rates being difficult to stomach, the work is definitely a form a therapy for me. I’ll choose a hand tool over a power tool in most cases. 😂 Glad you enjoyed the content! Cheers!

Thanks Adam! It definitely takes a commitment. 😂 How is your car coming along? Any big plans for it this year?

Thank you! Nice collection you’ve got there! They all suffer the same inevitable surface corrosion unless stored in climate controlled space for most their lives, which is rare. There are some playing companies where you can ship parts in, they’ll plate them and and ship the stuff back, but you’re right that it’s a bit of an undertaking to break everything down.

I remember a friend getting a quote on chroming valve covers they wanted between 600 and 800 bucks up here ...he went on a trip to arizona got it done for 65 dollars

@@tressner Here in Vegas, chroming and powder coating are also very affordable.

😂 Thanks man! Glad you’ve found them useful.

Yeah man! Hopefully it helps save some other 944s out there and educate potential owners on what’s involved in maintaining them. I’m also thinking the digital record should help if I ever decide to sell the car.

@@NC944er no doubt! Do you think it will be fixed in time for you to make it down to Helen, GA in June for the 944 meet?

@@tims_4x4_garage I should hope it’ll be done by then. 😂 The parts from Germany are taking forever with all the carrier delays, but end of March seems realistic, depending on how much I decide to film.

Nice! Yeah, there’s nothing particularly hard about the pan gasket, it just requires a lot of labor and doing the mounts will be a bit easy then as you can lower the cross member and create some space. The annoying part for me was the pan tightening sequence. I feel like I spent an hour going through the three stages and double checking the torque values. 😂

Yes, thank you! It’s a fine line between true dedication and poor financial decision making. 🤣 But either way, the end result looks pretty cool.

I wish it were up to par, but it’s actually pretty messy. 😂 Mainly because the area doubles as storage for kids’ bikes and a treadmill, etc. but I am a fanatic about putting things back in the same place each time, so I can always find what I’m looking for.

Haha, thanks! It makes a big difference, but unfortunately once you get started, it’s hard to stop until it’s all refreshed. 😂

Thanks Marc! I like this series because it tells a story while also acting as a digital service record for the car, which could prove useful to a future owner, or even myself. Glad you enjoyed! Cheers!

Thanks JT! I’m about 4 years in… let me know if you find a cure for the addiction. 😂

@@NC944er Over the past 35 years or so I have had seven Porsches and the last one I sold was a '94 968 and still have my '87 944 S which I am slowly bringing back to life. Your car has given me a vision for my project. The addiction never ends! The only thing I have found to help is to take up other hobbies that turn into addictions on their own but I'm finding I have no time for any of them now.

@@JTMP12 Nice! I’m happy to have inspired a fellow 944 fan! The 968 is definitely under-appreciated… it doesn’t embody quite the same spirit that the 944 does for me, but there’s no denying it’s the pinnacle of performance born out of a decade’s worth of iteration and improvement on the 944 series. The S cars are very rare and special as well, it should be cool to see it all shined up, best of luck on the restoration! 👍🏼

That’s awesome! I’m glad to hear it helped. 👍🏼

Absolutely! Sounds like you’re making some excellent progress yourself. For shock… Koni Sports would be on the high end, pretty firm and adjustable damping. I’d go with Sachs/Boge for standard OEM quality. I have heard many good things about KYB shock (non-OEM supplier), so I’d probably avoid those unless cost is key factor.

@@NC944er I've just finished installing the rear shocks they were so easy it was just 2 bolts on each side finished in one hour. However, when I removed the front strut and looked at rebuilding it with the new replacement inserts I couldn't twist them apart. I don't know if you or anyone has made a video rebuilding the front struts with inserts. I am stuck on this part even heard I have to compress the springs in order for channel locks to work at untwisting the strut apart. Since it's not a sealed system I heard the fluid will be all over inside and a foul smell. Your thoughts?

@@khuzaimaraja8856 Nice! Yes, the rear shocks are A LOT easier. 😂 I did not film the front strut conversion/replacement unfortunately, but I’ll include a technical article below for reference. This will help if you are converting sealed struts to insert struts. Otherwise, if you already have inserts you can simply swap them out. The springs will need to be safely compressed before removing the upper strut mounts, otherwise they will shoot off with a great deal of force with potential to cause injury. www.paragon-products.com/kb_results.asp?ID=50

Update driver strut went in easily. I had a different year strut so ordered a 84-86 replacement strut and now I have both struts with new KYB strut inserts.

@@khuzaimaraja8856 Congrats man! How do they feel? Let me know what you think after you’ve driven a bit on them. 👍🏼

That may be a paradox… they need to be functioning properly in order to be driven and they need to be driven to keep them functioning properly. 😂 I’m currently on jack stands half disassembled waiting on parts for balance shaft housing seal replacement… but I can always watch my driving video.

@@NC944er 944 and 928 have had a hard time over the years. Not cheap when new but sadly undervalued as they became older which allowed people to buy them who had no idea of the costs associated with parts and labour to maintain them. Just bought one of each from the U.K. , both of which had not been driven much, less than a thousand miles in 8 to 10 years. The 944 has cost me $AU15,000 thus far to make it reliable and still needs new struts in the front which be another $AU2,000. Seals dry out over time, rubber hoses deteriorate etc.

@@eddieselman8942 Yep, it takes a truly dedicated owner to circulate the fluids regularly without driving it “excessively” while preserving it over the decades… making it basically a unicorn. 🤣

License plate sizes are pretty standard in the US, but you’re right that the overlapping fitment isn’t visually ideal. I’ve seen someone make a custom “hideaway” plate bracket that mounted under the rear bumper that attached to a hinge and could be folded up under the car when it wasn’t being driven.

Thanks man! On the super low-mile, all original examples I’ve seen, the brake calipers present as a natural steel color, so perhaps white zinc coated, but do not appear to be yellow. Here’s a pic of one… bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1598555440f451208df9IMG_2611-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1536

Yeah man! Happy to help, what’s going on with your ‘88? I’ll certainly let you know if it’s something I’ve come across.

@@NC944er so I’ve been having an issue where once the car has fully warmed up and I step on the clutch my radio shuts off. Let go of the clutch and it kicks back on. The pedal isn’t hitting any wiring , I’ve cleaned every interior ground I can find, installed a new head unit and re did all the wiring myself . And it’s still doing it. But like I said it only happens once the car has warmed up. After about 10 minutes of driving.

@@jaminwalton4223 That sounds like a fun little electrical gremlin to chase down! 🤣 Given what you've shared, my first inclination would be to trace the entire clutch system end-to-end to see in what ways it interacts with the electrical system (outside of misplaced wiring). The main item that comes to mind is the Cruise Control Shutoff switch that is depressed by a metal tab on the clutch pedal arm when it's in the upright position and released when the clutch pedal is in the down position. The switch is designed to break the circuit during a clutch disengagement when Cruise Control is activated to protect the engine from potential over-revving damage. I'm seeing at least one other person on Rennlist describing the exact same clutch-pedal-radio-killer symptom you've outlined here, which leads me to believe that either the radio is on the same circuit as the cruise control system (which seems strange) or more than one person has tapped into the cruise control circuit while wiring an aftermarket sound system (which seems more likely). Either way, that's where I would focus my initial testing if you haven't done so already... get it warmed up and duplicate the issue by pressing the clutch pedal, with the pedal down and the radio now shut off, reach under and depress the switch button to see if the radio comes back on, if so that's your root cause. Those switches are known to fail over time and can cause the cruise control system to malfunction, so my next step would be to test continuity on the switch and replace it as needed, looks like they run about $30 for part #: 944-613-413-00. Another thing you could do temporarily is disconnect the wiring harness running to the switch and jumper the terminals so that the circuit remains complete regardless of switch positioning, you'd just be losing that safety feature for the cruise control shutoff (which is nullified if don't ever use cruise, I know I don't). Anyway, let me know what you find out... I'm curious to see if that's it. 😁

@@NC944er I had read that posting on renlist but it didn’t get me very far. But thank you for pointing me in a good direction , I was under the impression that switch was a neutral safety switch for starting the car, so that’s good to know. cruise control never even crossed my mind because it’s never worked sense I got my car. I was close to just remaking the loom from scratch. I still don’t see how the car being hot/cold affects this issue though. But I’ll keep you updated. Thank you so much, keep up the great work.

@@NC944er unfortunately my car is buried under a few feet of snow and a car cover so I won’t be getting to it till we thaw out up here in Ohio.

Thanks man! That’s what happens when you spend more hours under the hood than behind the wheel. 😂 For general hardware like nuts, bolts, washers - I like to use belmetric.com as it’s a lot cheaper than getting Porsche bolts. The rest of the parts I try to shop a variety of vendors for the best price. I have a video on parts shopping that provides some recommendations - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ouPC6DuRpuE.html

No official training, just life experience from wrenching on things for 25 years, coupled with a plethora of online resources by way of tech articles, forum posts, and factory manuals.

Hey Ross, for me it’s mostly hands on experience over a period of years, I’m not SAE certified or anything like that. I am a certified technical trainer, but in the telecommunications industry and I’ve never been a mechanic by trade, just as a hobby and a way to save money in maintaining my own cars over time. As for the 944, it’s that experience paired with the consumption of an unhealthy level of technical articles, enthusiast forums, and a dose of the factory workshop manuals. 😂 I would say if you are at least mechanically inclined and can follow a series of steps in order, it’s just a matter of filling your knowledge gaps to the point where confidence tips the scale and you feel more comfortable giving it a go. These cars are pretty simple in a lot of respects once you understand the basics.

The URO rear hatch seal has actually been pretty good, no issues with the installation or usage over the past year. On the other hand, I did encounter major issues with their sunroof seal, it was way too thick and the roof panel wouldn’t go back in place. I ended up switching to the Only944 sunroof seal, which had a nearly perfect fit. But yeah, the URO stuff is hit and miss… it’s hard to fight the urge not to try it though because the cost is usually half that of the OEM parts.

Parker Metal Finishing - parkermetalfinishing.com

It's for an 87na

If you’re referring to the sunroof panel seal, they can be a bit problematic and you’ll see some production variations across brands. I started with a URO aftermarket seal (shown in one of the images in the video) and had a terrible experience with it being way too thick. I ended up returning it and switching to the version sold by Only944.com, which provided a perfect fit.