Porsche 944 - it's Yellow!

[gn3dr]

May 11, 2014 0:05:32 GMT Mark said:

The 944 collection keeps growing! Did he reshell the turbo then?

I know yeah. 12 months ago I just had no Porsche, now there are 4 engines here and three shells

Yeah the guy who owned the Turbo bought an 1990 S2 and reshelled all the Turbo stuff into that, hence me getting all the S2 stuff. Got it for an OK price too - 350 euro. No great market for that stuff over here. I think he only paid 1800 euro for the complete S2 when he bought it.
Only thing is they couldn't find the ecu and afm so will hopefully post that on later. (It was at a Porsche specialist garage in Dublin so there was a lot of stuff lying around.)

[little feat]

A very good read .
Lovely cars , I came close to buying one but couldn't be swayed from a 635 E24 . Those beige sports seats may be of interest to me if you decide against using them .
'Bye the way , I'm just down the road from you.

[gn3dr]

May 11, 2014 9:50:25 GMT little feat said:

A very good read .
Lovely cars , I came close to buying one but couldn't be swayed from a 635 E24 . Those beige sports seats may be of interest to me if you decide against using them .
'Bye the way , I'm just down the road from you.

Thanks
I'll keep you in mind if I decide to sell them but I can't see that happening. I really llike them so will find a way to use them, whether that means dying them, getting new covers for them or just changing a car colour to match them.

Yeah you said previously you were near Killarney. Small world. I wonder do I know you?
How's the E24 coming along. That's another car on my long want list.

[little feat]

Thats OK they're worth holding onto.
I'm in Kenmare .
The E24 's body restoration is almost complete only a few small sections to make and fit and then it's onto fitting complete new components for the front suspension/steering /brakes as was done to the rear .
Then prep and paint , Ugh.......

[gn3dr]

Have done a small bit more to this.

Front passenger floor / sill




And this followed me home

[gn3dr]

Outside of the same corner


Nice to be adding bits back and putting some paint on.

[Speedle]

Love that colour! And that rear end! oooooooffffff!

[gn3dr]

Got a few more bits done to this

New genuine rear beam bushes - they were turning out to be a pig of a job, and I couldn't find any info on the web about fitting them, until I sat back and figured out how they were designed to go in.

The large lip folds forward on itself - (I held it with a hose clip - no doubt there is a special tool) and slides in very easy then.

IMAG2641 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2642 by gn3dr, on Flickr

Next was the gearchange system.

The front joint on the linkage to the gear lever was worn so I drilled and reamed this out to 12mm

IMAG2645 by gn3dr, on Flickr

Then turned down a 12 mm OD brass bush and pressed it in.

IMAG2646 by gn3dr, on Flickr

then reamed the bush ID to 10mm in situ for a nice snug fit.

IMAG2647 by gn3dr, on Flickr

Topped it off with a thicker washer turned down from brass again.

IMAG2651 by gn3dr, on Flickr

It was a simple little job but the end result was very satisfying.

At least now if the brass wears over time it will just be a case of turning down a new bush.

Then onto the gearbox end.

New short shifter from the U.S. (http://only944.com/) v.s. the old worn out one.

IMAG2648 by gn3dr, on Flickr

Was going to make one myself, but for the price only944 were charging, I figured my time + materials would cost more.

I did make up the gold bar with the rose joints (a steering rod bought from a kart racing supply crowd on ebay, which I shortened and re-hreaded) because only944 weren't selling these at the time. (They are now)

All fitted and adjusted so the gear lever is centred
IMAG2652 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2653 by gn3dr, on Flickr

Gearchange feels nice and tight now.
It shortens the forward and backwards movement of the lever a nice bit. There are two settings for the left to right movement of the lever as well but for now I've left the setting closer to factory. Might try the shorter setting when I get this thing driving.

Things left to do

Finish the fuel lines - almost done with these
Make up rear brake solid lines
Fit new brake flexi lines
rebuild all calipers
Fit rear beam back up.
Fit standard length wheel studs
Reconnect engine loom - cross fingers, hope it starts
Fit full interior - probably the piinstripe one for now while I figure out what to do with the Turbo interior

I discovered 2 of the Azev wheels I bought last year have slight buckles on the inside so I'll have to get these straightened. Still having thoughts about finding early offset 16" teledials though....(or if I win the lotto - a set of 16" Fuchs)
I have a set of cookie cutters also and while these have grown on me greatly (the black centres with polished rims just look so right and of the era on the 944) - I think 16" wheels look that bit better proportioned on the 944.
Of course I also regularly check back over the "fun with a big lathe" thread on here and have thoughts about something 16" split rimmed....

[gn3dr]

So, a few more bits done to this

New front arms fitted and stub axles cleaned up a bit.

IMAG2691 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2692 by gn3dr, on Flickr


Then I moved to bleeding the clutch before fitting the starter back on. Problem - pedal going to the floor and not returning. I had read about this online (Rennlist, Tipec etc) and most advice seemed to point to not bled properly or else slave or master cylinder gone. I tried the oil can bleeding method - pushing fluid up from the slave cylinder to the resevoir - but same problem.
So started to troubleshoot - and after tracing back along realised that the problem was that the clutch pedal was tight on it's pivot. So set about tyring to get it off. Even with the dash out this was one pig of a job. Eventually got it off though

The offending item -

IMAG2693 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2694 by gn3dr, on Flickr

the plastic bush is interference fit to the pedal and rotates on the pin but in this case the rust on the pin locked the bush solid so the pedal was only able to rotate on the bush - which is too tight. I was amazed this was enough to overcome the pressure plate spring pressure but it did.

Cleaned up

IMAG2695 by gn3dr, on Flickr

It was regreased and refitted
Huge difference afterwards - clutch pedal movement nice a light and springs back up perfectly.
For all you 924 / 44 owners with similar clutch issue this might be worth checking.

[breadvan]

looking good i have always wanted one of these maybe start looking now I'm nearly 40

[gn3dr]

Another little bit done to this - moving along very slowly
Pressed in new wheels studs in all hubs to get rid of the shorter ones that were fitted for use with the spacers.

All brake calipers were rebuilt with new seal kits. Tarted up a bit too with black paint.

IMAG2729 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2727 by gn3dr, on Flickr

Then moved onto the engine and wiring

IMAG2730 by gn3dr, on Flickr

All 4 injectors plugs had broken plastic so replaced these, same for temp sensor and idle control valve connectors.

Got a bit impatient so connected up battery to try start it. No start. Did a bit og digging around, and swapped the DME relay over for a new one that I had waiting since last year (bought before I even knew I needed it because of all the failures I read about for these relays) and she fired up! Only on 2 cylinders first, then three. Tapped the injector on number 1 a bit and she then ran on all 4!

Happy day for me as I have never heard the engine run. Oil pressure look sgreat too.
Only ran it for a very short while because no coolant in it yet.

Have been trying to clean out the inside of the header tank tonight because it looks a bit dark after years of coolant. Any tips for most success on this? I've read about sloshing around uncooked rice grain or pea gravel along with some cleaning agent, but I am a bit slow to put anything like that in there because there are a lot of nooks and crannies in the tank.

[Mark]

I used white vinegar after I was told Citric Acid would remove most crud like that and could easily be rinsed clean. I couldn't find the Citric but Google said the vinegar would act the same way. I also descaled my rad and the transformation was unreal. Only cost 79p!

[gn3dr]

Great, thanks for that. I had read about vinegar but wanted some feedback from somone who had actually used it.

[gn3dr]

Wow time flies when you're trying to finish a car.
Well since the last update, I reassembled everything, put my nice uncracked dash in, in with the pinstripe interior.

Took it for it's first drive - rear hatch kept popoing open! Bought new hatch pins from ebay and cleaned and lubed the latches - seems OK since.
Did a complression test in the engine as it was an unknown entity - everything good at around 220 psi per cylinder. No surprises there then.

Got my 2 Azevs straightened up and fitted 2 new tyres. No cash right now for 4 tyres so luckily there was some OK thread on the rears.

IMAG2770 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2771 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMG_20140913_193036761 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2767 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2768 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMAG2769 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMG_20140906_203823500 by gn3dr, on Flickr

IMG_20141019_224311533 by gn3dr, on Flickr


Then I clay bar'd it
IMG_20141009_233049597 by gn3dr, on Flickr

It was then polished by the guy that owned that Lexus I wide arched.Looks nice an shiny now if you ingnore the few paint blemishes.

IMG_20141019_154850197_HDR by gn3dr, on Flickr


Next to my daily
IMG_20140921_170128175_HDR by gn3dr, on Flickr

I've a few more jobs to do to get it ready for its NCT (like your MOT) on Wednesday.

[Ian]

Good luck with the test, it really does look good now. Have you still accumulated all of the 944's in Ireland then!

[gn3dr]

Thanks. There are a few of them here alright. I'm going to throw the 944 S2 engine in one (the gold one) and the red one is probably only fit for scrap once I get what I need from it. Hate to send a Porsche to scrap though, no matter how bad it is. We'll see

[Mark]

Good work man, you'll have to take a spin up to Dublin

[gn3dr]

Dublin? It would probably get nicked there :-)
Failed the NCT but not too bad - only failed on handbrake balance out of spec - quick adjustment on the rear offside and I should be sorted.

[gn3dr]

SO adjusted the handbrake and will book a retest date tomorrow.
Steering wheel is an aftermarket Momo which is nice but it sits very low in your lap. The original Porsche wheel has an offset centre which raises it up about 15mm. It's a pain because the top of the Momo obscures the top of the guages and I want to be able to keep an eye on the temp with it being a new to me car etc.
So I copied the eccentric mounts on the web and cut one out (I have a small cnc mill which is great for this type of stuff)

Momo eccentric mount by gn3dr, on Flickr

This raises the wheel but 15 mm and pushes it towards the driver by about 15mm.

I'll fit it this week and see how it feels. I might also have to look at getting a wheel with deeper dish though to bring the wheel up and back more.

[ChasR]

Are you becoming the 944 hoarder of Ireland? .

It is interesting to see that the project has taken a different direction in the build. With an S2 engine in the car should be quite lively! Surely you have enough parts to get the best from your 944 now! The shifter mods you have done will pay dividends on the road .

I see the pair of us have fairly similar dailies (albeit mine does not look quite as nice as yours (shots of it are in my RST thread). If I am honest I am surprised that the E36s are as cheap as they are upon driving them!