Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all,

i'm new to the forum as i'm in search of a 944 as a project car, i'm finding it quite difficult to locate anything ideal for me at the right price.

After spending all of today reading through the great information on this site i thought i'd pop up a topic to see if anyone can help.

Basically i will consider anything, i'm pretty handy with a welder so small repairs to sills etc aren't a big problem, anyhting with an engine or gearbox fault, poor interior etc etc, basically anything considered spares or repairs will be looked at as a potential project.

If any members have or know of a car that suites please contact me.

Many thanks

Chris

Hi & welcome Chris

Be careful with projects, spares for Pork are not cheap & the cost can rapidly run away over what a good one would be. For instance to do a complete belt, seal & Idler swap is £300 in bits alone, assuming you can do the work yourself & that assumes no water pump needed which will be around £100-150 or so.

Thank you for the warm welcome

And thank you for the advice, i have done plenty of research into the parts prices, i appreciate it may/will be cheaper in the long run to purchase a good base but
i like to get stuck in and expand my knowledge at the same time, i'll have my wits about me when viewing any potential cars.

One of the reasons for a project car is that i can drip money into it over a period as opposed to paying out one chunk, for me half the fun of owning a classic is the mechanical hands on side.

Again thanks for the advice, it's all important information i need to learn.

Chris

Good luck with the search. I couldnt agree more, getting your hands dirty is half the fun. Much more satisfiying to DIY, than just taking it to the local specialist, and handing over your readies.

All the best

Craig.

Chris, what sort of money are you looking to spend?

Lots on ebay. Look for an early dash 944 that doesn't have a totally rotten body. Around 1K probably. As Jim says & as I've learned the hard way. It cost far more to restore these than you will ever get back. My excellent '44 is for sale for one third what it cost to fix! Good luck.

Jim, currently upto a £1000 but that will increase as the months go on.

J.J, Thanks for the advice, any reason as to look for an early dash model as opposed to the oval dash?

Thanks

There normally cheaper as the seating position doesn't suit all. Fine if you not too big though. Some of the early cars can be in great condition if they are enthusiast owned & actually get serviced properly. Beware of buying a money pit as already said!

Another vote here for an early dash car! I've driven a few 944's now and it seems like the newer they get the more they seem to handle like puddings.
I had the opportunity yesterday to drive both of my other halfs cars back to back - one an '85 oval dash with trick uprated suspension and her new '83 square dash again with sorted suspension.
I must say i'd always been a bit luke warm about 944's until I drove her '83. The later cars seem to be somewhere inbetween a sports car and a cruiser in that they don't seem to do either very well in my opinion. However, these early cars seem to be much more focused as a sports car. I'm 5'10" with a bit of a podge and I managed to fit into the early car perfectly.

Having driven a few of the later cars, based on how they drive, hand on heart, I wouldn't bother with a 944. However, after driving Nics '83 for 20 miles or so I couldn't stop grinning. Infact, as soon as I got out I offered her 5 grand for it - I was that impressed.
The early cars feel a bit more like a classic car. Which, I guess, could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you look at it? Although, in my book, it's a massive plus point. Must say I'm sorely tempted to start looking for an early car myself. Just beware of rot - I must have looked at about 10 cars with Nic and all the others except the '83 she settled on had some form of rot on them.
I suppose it's a pity they don't still make shells for them like the BMH shells you can get for MGB's, Midgets, Mini's and TR6's.