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The Poor Woman's Porsche

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  • The Poor Woman's Porsche

    Hi hello! I picked up a new friend and project this weekend.

    I had been noodling around with the idea of picking up a project car for, well, a long time. I have really wanted to learn how to get more hands-on with my car, and I want something a little older. Something I can really tinker with. So, I decided to start saving up my pennies and put them towards a project car. But what would I even get? I wasn't really sure.

    I've always been really excited about NA Miatas. They are cute and you can do a ton of stuff with them. I test drove one and, well, it kind of felt like a death trap. Maybe it was the specific miata I was test driving. Nevertheless, death felt imminent.

    So, no Miata. That's fine.

    I decided to look at cars that met two critieria: late-80s to early-90s and pop up headlights. I really love the way they look and how they humanize the car. I'm a girl and, well, I love cute things. My cars have always had names, genders, personalities, etc. I immediately went to the Rx-7 and the 240sx s13, but decided against them as a halfway decent one was out of my price range. I looked at e30s and, while I loved them, they were missing the pop up headlights I really liked. I even test drove a few cars that were out of the scope of what I wanted but in my budget (99 bmw z3, 01 Audi TT, and an 02 bmw 540i). But none of them really gripped me. Finally, I test drove a car that had been on my radar and kind of immediately fell in love with it.

    Let me preface this by saying a few things about how I drive: I am not a fast driver. I don't like to go super over the speed limit. I don't like to beat on my cars and dump the clutch and do burnouts and stuff. My cars have personalities, like I said, so I don't like to do things that would jeopardize them or myself.

    So, I bought a 1986 Porsche 944.



    I have always loved Porsches. I have always drooled over literally every single one I've seen. They were always kind of unattainable goal before I learned more about the 944. Now, I realize the 944 isn't considered a true Porsche by the standards of many car people. And, well, I don't really care. If there's one thing I learned from bagging my Focus ST, it's that you can't worry about what other car people think.

    So I bought this thing. And, wow, I love it.



    The guy who had it before me had had it for about six months or so. He had no idea what to do with it or what it really was, so he had driven it maybe 300-400 miles in that time. He bought it from the second owner, who had had it for a good portion of it's life and knew everything about it. The odometer broke last year at 136,xxx miles, but based on the history from the previous owner, we are guessing it's probably closer to 138,xxx. The only glaringly obvious flaws are this: the windshield is cracked, there are two dents in one of the front panels on the hood, the front seat is kind of shit, and the radio is busted.



    All in all, it didn't seem like a ton of work was needed. It doesn't rattle or shake or have a tantrum at high speeds. The paint and clear coat are in wonderful condition. We haven't seen hardly any rust on it (yet). Aside from having some wheels off of another Porsche, it's pretty much bone stock. (We have the phone dial wheels, too.)




    As for what comes next, I'm not really sure. I'm going to get a new windshield installed and I'm going to put in a new single DIN radio and HID headlights. I'm also going to look into getting the timing belt changed. I don't believe it's had one changed in a while, and I'm going to go ahead and assume it's never happened. I don't have any proof of that, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Eventually, I'll look at getting the seats reupholstered. I assume it's on the original suspension, so I'll probably look into putting it on coils just to update that. I don't know if I'll slam it just yet. Right now, I'm kind of just excited to have something to fix, if that makes sense.

    Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!




    Static 1986 Guards Red NA Porsche 944
    P O R S C H E P A I ~
    The Poor Woman's Porsche

    @kenznotmercedes

  • #2
    Well, from what i've seen with other peoples experiences. Enjoy!

    Jkjk, this will be very cool to see done out. I know you dont like to drive fast, but i would be very happy to see it done out like it does get driven fast. No bags
    I just need something to go from point A to point B
    so i bought 3 bmws
    @cressidodd

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    • #3
      I love 944s too, nice cars indeed.
      Please don't put hideous HIDs on, white lights on an old car feel wrong on many levels seeing shit at night is also massively overrated

      FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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      • #4
        Almost bought one of these back in the day, ended up getting my RX7. Please get a RECARO or something other than re-uphostering the oem seat. Extra points if you get a matching pair in a leather that (somewhat) matches the interior. The OEM seats are weird and since Singer still hasn't done a 944, you could be the first to do a Singer-style update on a 944.

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        • #5
          Wow, well done on the project car of choice. I love them too!! Will be watching this thread. Enjoy!!

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          • #6
            A porsche to learn on? A transaxle porsche? Hats off, but it seems to be in good shape.

            Since you radio is busted you may be interrested in the continental trd7412ub-or, it has almost everything, but it looks old.., that was a main selling point to me...


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            • #7
              Awesome! Congrats on the new project

              This reminded me that I started a build thread on my crap-can 944 a while back and haven't update it. Which makes sense because it hasn't really had any updates in, eh... a long time.

              These cars are a blast to drive! They don't seem to be all that popular because the timing belt can kill the car in a hurry if you don't swap it out at a regular interval. Doing the timing belt yourself can be a very rewarding and it's not that bad of a job at all. There are a couple special tools required though to hold the cogs while you tighten the belt but it's worth buying them if you plan to keep the car for a while.

              Best first mod is updating the shifter. After 30 years they get reeeaaally sloppy. Only944 sells an awesome short shift kit for the transmission side (make sure to get the shift linkage arm too) and then you can rebuild the shift lever in the car with the following nuts and bolts and 5mins with a grinder:

              - M10x50mm bolt- x1
              - M10 nylon lock nut matching the bolt above - x1
              - M10 thrust bearings - x2 (McMaster 5909K11)
              - M10 thrust bearing washers - x4 (McMaster 5909K71)

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              • #8
                Oh rad! I seriously looked into buying one of these before I goofed and bought an 80's BMW.
                Ol Dirty Bastard - RIP

                Photo by Alex Dooley
                2016 Ducati Scrambler, 2015 Subaru Impreza

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                • #9
                  Good choice. Excited to see what you do with it

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by z168 View Post
                    Good choice. Excited to see what you do with it
                    Same.

                    You should see if a PDR guy can take care of those 2 spots on the front, probably save you a bunch of money

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                    • #11
                      I think the perfect unholy matrimony would be a 1uz v8 in one of these, maybe some deep wheels and a widebody like this one...

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                      • #12
                        Wow thank you all for the amazing feedback! Work has been kind of crazy and we had Riverside Chattanooga this past weekend, so I haven't had much time to fiddle with the 944. We did put a new throttle response cam on it, and I am scheduling get the timing belt replaced. I have heard mixed things on how difficult the timing belt itself is to replace. I'm not sure yet, but I'd love to do it myself if possible.

                        I absolutely LOVE the seats that were suggested. I was definitely thinking of getting new racing seats. I'm not a massive fan of the OEM ones. I also managed to get the old head unit to work with an aux cord. I really didn't want to put in a newer head unit that didn't match.

                        Once the timing belt and water pump are done, I'm going to look more into lowering it. I've read you can put new springs or coil overs on the front and move the torsion bar in the rear to get a pretty good drop. I'm not sure how involved that is. If not, I'll just do coilovers all around.


                        I haven't decided on wheels, yet. There are Fuchs on it right now, and I have the OEM phone dials. Definitely going to do something Euro for wheels, but I'd love to have something three piece. My main goals for this build, right now, are to clean everything up but still keep it super 80s. Drop it low(er) and bigger, nicer wheels.

                        Sorry it's not much of an update! Still trying to get funds and parts around to work on the dang thing. At least my Focus is on hold, for now.



                        Static 1986 Guards Red NA Porsche 944
                        P O R S C H E P A I ~
                        The Poor Woman's Porsche

                        @kenznotmercedes

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                        • #13
                          Dunno if they can be modded like that, but with your idea of project I would look into machining your OEM teledials into faces to bolt to some 18" motorsport slant lips I think that would be super cool and still kind of oem+/period correct

                          FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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                          • #14
                            You can absolutely lower the rear yourself via the torsion bar.

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                            • #15
                              Hi
                              Nice pick. So it's 1986, there is so called 1986.5 that has new dash and better ventilation. What did you get?
                              I've had three, one NA and two turbo's some ten years ago.
                              Cambelt isn't nothing out of norm, biggest difference is that there is counter rotating shaft to even the vibrations. Tightness of the belt is the problem, but there is tool for it and if I remember correctly an phone app that uses mic to listen correct sound of it. Get spare DME relay for fuel pump, it dying is common problem. If you can feel the engine when it is running, exhaust side motor mount needs to be replaced. Torsion bar shouldn't be a problem, unless it is rust welded.
                              btdt 4xmiata, westfield, ae86, 944, 2x951, mini, mk1 golf

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