Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

The main car I'm looking at is a 1985 2.5 Lux. It seems to drive more or less faultlessly (from the passengers seat at least, trying to arrange insurance for a proper test) and it's had a lot of work done (belts, engine mounts, suspension totalling more than the asking price). It has the usual cracks in the dash (quite well developed), but I can live with that. The only thing that slightly concerns me (probably for no real reason, but I wanted a second opinion) was this:



What do we reckon? Easy repair or run away? Car is pretty much spot on in all other respects and sensibly priced.

That looks like a rear wing/arch if so then you need to be careful, this forum is full of tales of big money on new sills, apparently you can look inside the section by removing the plastic vent inside the door frame and using a torch can see inside as to how far the rot has gone. If it is the front wing then I had mine repaired both sides for £250 over a year ago and no problems since.

Nope, that's the rear - about 3" forward of the wheel arch. I'm told this is a seperate panel and much easier to repair? I can't deny I'm somewhat willing this car to be structurally good - it was night and day to the rather wallowy floaty 2.7 Lux I drove immediately before it.

That could be local rust, but bear in mind the sills tend to rust from the inside out. Apart from the vent inspection, if you go along the length of the sill pushing it firmly with your thumb and try to see if you can hear crunching as the sill flexes.
At least the rust hasn't been covered up.
I would go for a rust free car with saggy shocks given the choice.

OEM shocks and bushes are cheap compared to bodywork.

Get it on a ramp & have a proper look underneath & poke around a bit. Not difficult to arrange. You could book it in for an mot & be there at the time with the seller. I had a similar problem with mine. The rust was cut out & new metal welded in. Rear wing repainted. New stone guards fitted. £500 just for that. Cheaper than new shocks & bushes but not that much. Tyres don't have much left on either!

Yes Fortytwo whatever.
My car past it's mot no problem. My mates Clio Cup cost £1500. And it's just 5 years old! Still ragging him about it.

you can take a pic with a phone or digital camera and zoom in on this area

IMO check that sill behind the arch on the other side. It should come down from the arch and meet the bottom of the arch. Some people mistake rot there as a step in the rear arch and only the crumbling of rotten metal gives the game away. Mind you, the B Pillar look in the vent test also shows tell tale signs.

Irrelevant now, the car has been sold. To be honest I probably shouldn't have been seriously considering parting with cash this early in the search, but I was. I'm perhaps presuming a lot given I only sampled it from the passenger seat, but I've ridden in quite a few of them over the years (and owned a 924S briefly) and that one felt more composed than the lot. It had been track prepared by RPM and had a front strut brace amongst other things, which may have helped.

So, I shall keep my eye out (preferably for a rust-free pre-85 car with a pristine dash). Ever the optimist...

Well, I got a car!

Thanks for the advice on the turbos I linked to. I completely backtracked on my initial intention to get an S2 or turbo, and have ended up getting an 84 Lux. It actually sounds very similar to the one mentioned by JP above - could it even be the same car??

It's had a fair amount of work done at RPM Technik recently, and I spoke to a Ollie there who said it was solid. I had a good look around it, as best I could, but I realise I don't know much about 944s, and so took a punt based on what RPM had said. Thought I couldn't go too far wrong... has a good blast back from Harpenden to London last night.

This is it: http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1239495.htm. The ad says 85 but it's 84. Got lots of questions now, so will start a new thread!

congrats on the purchase, go enjoy

Thank you!

I've been wanting one for... oh, about 20 years...

That looks very pretty, worth the wait and probably the money, I notice it has a cone filter you can get rid of the original air filter bracket mounted to the front slam panel (keep for later) but this then opens up that whole area and looks much neater, not to mention allowing much easier access to the radiator fan and thermo switch if you need to get to them.

Yep, that's the same one. I suspect I will look back and regret not buying it myself - as you can gather from the above I was impressed by the way it drove - but unfortunately it was the first I'd seriously looked at since deciding to get back into them (that said, I stupidly bought the first 924S I saw for the sake of a good part ex, so I'm hardly an expert) so I wanted to do a bit more homework before committing any money.

I had a TVR until a few months ago and I spent months searching for one, only to realise that perhaps the best example I saw the whole time was the first one. Without a point of reference you just don't know though.

Anyway, congrats and good luck with the car.

JP - So it IS the same car! When I saw you mention RPM Technik I thought it might be. I don't have much of a point of reference either (I'd only looked closely at one other car, which was perfect having only done 37k, and was at a completely different level), so I just went on what the guy at RPM said. I also have been completely without a car for a couple of months, so was keen to get something soon. It might have been more sensibe to buy a cheap modern to fill in and look for longer. I may well regret my impatience later, or sooner! The way I see it is that I will learn something from it and if it's not a keeper, then find a better one eventually.

I plan to take it along to some TIPEC meets - I guess I'll get a better idea then.

All the best with looking. Will be interested to hear how it goes and what you get!

Well done clubjoker. Looks cared for. If it ever needs bottem arms there for peanuts. Many of the early '44 parts are very cheap compared to mine!