Ive always like the shape of 944's (And many 80's cars in general) and i stumbled across an 1986 on a D guards red 944 2.5 lux in a salvage auction looking sorry for itself, so i decided to have a cheeky bid - and i won!
This is how it looked when i first got it : -
As you can see it suffered damage to the front panel, bumper insert , foglight drivers front wing and headlight was also cracked. The radiator was leaking also so i replaced that with a genuine item.
It did have teledials on at first but another lucky bid on ebay got me a set of s2/turbo staggered alloys with michelin pilot tyres - and they are nearly mint
All for £98!!!The other parts were obtained by trawling through ebay and other auction sites (ive tried to keep costs down where possible)and then replaced (only the damaged drivers front wing remains untill i make sure its been serviced inc belts changed and mechanically sound then its going for a front end respray). Its passed an mot with nothing needed (brake pad sensor needs replacing).
The car has covered 125,000 odd miles and seems to run very well with no smoke and the oil pressure is 3.5 ish on the gauge when warm. Everything works as it should and apart from age related wear and tear to the bodywork (more later) it seems i got a pretty good buy.
The only slight concern at the moment is a slight tap from the rear when moving (wheel bearing , driveshaft or gearbox?) and the heaters are now cold since swapping radiators - ive tried bleeding the system and someones suggested trying it on a slope to allow the air to escape easier so i'll try that soon.
The cars just been sat in my backyard since the mot untill i get round to getting the belts changed then a planned part respray and the other day while off work i decided to have a go a cutting the faded paint back and polishing it.
After a rummage around the shed i attacked the car with some "G3" cutting compound by hand (ive burned through the paintwork on a old vauxhall nova with a machine polisher just before i was due to sell it so i'll leave it to someone more carefull than me from now on).
The pic shows my attempt of cutting the drivers wings paint back - it came up really well compared to the faded area! P
Pleased with that i carried on to do the roof, doors , rear arches and tailgate area.
Around 6 hours and endless cups of tea later i ended up with this :-
And thats how it looks at the moment, but is going in to my m8's garage on friday to check on that tapping noise and to check the belts etc.
If everything gets sorted out ok then i'll be booking it in for the front end to have both front wings replaced (already got a good pair from ebay for £40) and a front respray.
Who knows , then i might get chance to drive it!
And the last time i came across there were 3 speed camera vans parked at strategic places(the fastest overtaking parts