Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

well I have owned a 944 s2, lux and turbo, and I currently own a 924 turbo race car.

I have sold my evo track car, and quite fancy a 968 now, as a nice road car, but for track days next year aswell.

I have my eye on one, but just wondered if there is anything in particular to look for with the 968 over what you would look for on an s2.

it hasn't had belts since 2008 so I know they will want doing, the cam chain and tensioner was done in 2010 or 10k ago.

obviously will be looking for the usual 944 traits such as caliper plate lift, rusty sills, rotten fuel lines etc, but anything else I should be looking for or taking into consideration would be much appreciated.

many thanks, looking forward to hopefully getting back into a Porsche soon

nick

its a manual sport btw

Hi Nick, just a thought...as I too did a bit of research when I was looking around at 968s. The engine (as you are aware) is pretty much the same as the 944 S2, but Porsche added the Variocam device in place of the cam chain tensioner. This pushes the cam chain by hydraulic pressure and varies the cam angles when at certain revs. However, this action does tend to induce more wear on the cam sprockets and 968s will need to have the cams replaced once the teeth have worn badly - this is not cheap!

So, best to look for a receipt that says the cams have been replaced in the service history.

I also understood that although the 968 doesn't have the same sill design as the 944, those plastic trims can hide all sorts of rust problems and repairing a 968 can be a little more difficult that a standard 944 due to the body design.

I am sure that other 968 owners will chip in with their comments too, but good luck with your search.

PS - Didn't get one in the end...but I really hope too some time in the future!

As mentioned above the cams are vario, the chain stretches and the cam teeth can wear/break off, looking at £1k+ to do this job, also diffs can be noisy due to pinion wear, and check all 6 gears, apart from that pretty similar to 944 etc

Hi Nick,

Make sure the head gasket has been replaced. These cars are now 20 years old and the head gaskets rot. IMHO if it hasn't been replaced it needs to be done immediately. This will probably involve the head being skimmed, new valve stem seals and possibly new valve guides.

When accelerating hard check for smoke. It may need new piston rings or worse an engine rebuild.

Check top of hatch as the 968s are now starting to show signs of glass coming away from surroundings.

Check suspension, as it could still be the original. Same goes for exhaust.

Probably worth checking around windscreen rubber for signs of rust. Not common, but has been seen.

I hope that helps a bit,

All the best RDO