Just discover the TIPEC forum and thought I’d say hello. Some of you may already know me from the PCGB forum, I’ve posted a few threads over there and they seem a friendly bunch.
I've been a member of various Porsche forums since Christmas originally trying to find a nice 911. I'd set a budget of around 8k but after seeing a few I began to think it was pointless. They all needed sills, repaints, engine work etc, etc I'm sure I would have spent another 8k fixing them.
Anyway, after travelling the country looking at potential cars I happened upon an advert on ebay for a 944. It was only five minutes down the road and I had a couple of hours to kill so I thought I would pop over and have a look. Well when the guy opened the garage door to an 87 Guards Red 944 with black Fuchs alloys I thought to myself 'I'm buying this!’
It had no mot, 8 owners, no history, a hole in the passenger rear sill and hadn't been used for 2 years. However, it looked in fantastic condition, the engine seemed to run well and the owner was an old chap who seemed genuine. I asked how much he was looking for and he said £600. Well I couldn't believe he wanted so little so I offer £450! (A little cheeky but you never know). Anyway he said no, £600 was the least he would take so I said 'ok' before a queue of buyers were knocking on the door.
Anyway, after getting the car home and searching the various forums for 944 buyers guides it seems I'd bought a bargain, the Fuchs wheels alone being worth what I'd paid. There were areas that needed attention and the list soon started to grow. The tyres were good but they had started to crack so new tyres were the first on the list. There is some bodywork to do including a cracked front spoiler, mis-coloured drivers front wing and then there was the rust repair required to the passenger rear sill.
After taking a tip from another forum I fed a digital camera down the access hole and took a shot of the inner passenger sill. There was some surface rust but nothing some waxoil wouldn't cure. Feeling please with myself I decided to 'just check' the drivers sill. The resulting photo made my heart sink, there was rust and it was quite bad, poking the sill with a screwdriver resulted in a number of holes in the outer sill and a rear sill panel that now looked as bad as the passengers.
I’m now in a position of getting the sills sorted. The car is currently at my local bodyshop getting the sills sorted. The restorer has said the rest of the car is very good so once the work is done the car will be 99.9% rust free which I think is quite rare now for a mid eighties 944.
I’m hoping to have the car back this week and then it’s off to the mot station to see where my wallet is taken next. I think I’ll be spending whatever it takes to get the car looking and driving very well. I’m pricing a respray at the moment, which will cost the thick end of 2k. I’ll probably never get my money back and on reflection could have gone out and bought a very nice car but I’ll end up with a fantastic looking 944. However, in the short-term I’ll be on the road for £1500 which I don’t think is to bad as a starting point.
I know I was after a 911 but I’m very happy with my new car and for half my original 8k budget (well by the time I’ve finished it will probably cost that).
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Got my'44 off ebay. Blown over 3K over the last 12 months. But it's still a cheap car. Very rapid for a 20 year old. They drive better than a than a 911. Sure you will love it. Good to see your doing the sills right. 
