New 944 owner

[Masher]

Mine is a series 1 with 993 wheels and a turbo - bit of a mongrel in reality but after just 5 days of ownership I'm growing to love it! Cheers Mike

 

[944 man]

If it has an oval dash and a flush fitting windscreen then its a series two. All September 1985> / model year '86 onwards cars are series two models. The S in S2 stands for Super. For one year the series twos were built with suspension which was dimensionally similar to that of the preceding model, although the front and rear suspension arms are aluminium not steel.

 

[Masher]

Clearly I need educating. I thought the S2 cars had the one piece nose / front bumper. I'll do more homework and thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Mick

 

[edh]

stick around here for an education[] I think it sounds a brilliant combo - light 'ish shell with the more lively steering of s1 cars, with 350 (I'm guessing) horses still interested to see how all the cooling / inter cooling works. does the cgt bonnet scoop do anything? What brakes does it have oh and it's definitely crying out for some 16" fuchs with sticky rubber [] we'd be even more jealous then as they wont fit on the later offset cars.

 

[944 man]

ORIGINAL: Masher Clearly I need educating. I thought the S2 cars had the one piece nose / front bumper. I'll do more homework and thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Mick

They do. S2 doesn't stand for series two - this is the root of the confusion. Series one cars have 924 dashboards and steel suspension. Series two 944s replaced these in September 1985 for the 1986 model year. These cars have the 'oval' dashboard, flush fitting windscreen, aluminium suspension arms and manifold other changes. The 1986 model years cars share the series one cars chassis dimensions and ABS was not available. The 1987 model years car added ABS and the offset changed from the earlier 23.3mm to 52.3mm. The 944S was launched for the 1987 model year, with the S standing for Super. It wasn't particularly super though so they tried harder and mixed a larger capacity but otherwise broadly similar 16v engine with the chassis and revised body from the Turbo, making the S2. So: series two and S2 refer to completely different things. The S2 is a series two car, but so is yours. /education []

 

[944 man]

Ive only just seen 'and a turbo'. Sweet! although Id trade my petrol mileage for a steady N/A 8v right now.

 

[nicksonmsport]

looks a nice car! if your after some nice wheels that will bolt straight on without the need for spacers, and fill the arches perfectly, i have a really nice and rare set of azev wheels 17x8.5j and 17x10j et15. 2.8 turbo lump in an early car sounds like a great combo! look forward to seeing more of the car cheers nick

 

[Masher]

Thanks for the education Simon. Having owned a 964 for 6 years I feel I know a bit about these. The education starts again with the 944. Looks like I have a series 2 1986 model year car -funnily enough registered on 1st Jan 1986 presumably from a very enthusiastic Porsche dealer [] The engine has had 104mm pistons put into sleeved bores and with new con rods I have been informed it's now 2.8L. A Cometic head gasket and uprated head studs keep the thing together. Motec electronics run it all with a natty little dash switch for low boost (220hp) or high boost (350hp). The turbo is a standard 944 turbo as is the gearbox and LSD. The brakes are 964 turbo brakes so it stops too! Apparently cooling was an issue when trying to dyno the car so no readout was provided, but having been told it has 350hp and having got used to 250 hp in a 1350 kg 964, I am inclined to believe it. Those who are at Bedford in May can give an opinion. Engine by Redtek in Brackley and chassis by Autofarm. Remaining issues seem to be related to related to no attention being paid to little items - presumably because previous owners having looked at the car as a pure track tool (I believe it's been a race car too) I.e. unsecured window mechanism in drivers door, locking issues, plastic welds to hold switches in place where clips have broken... Stuff that can be sorted over time by finding the faults and chasing down the bits. I'll be friends with car breakers before long! I expect I'll show my ignorance again before long but you seem a forgiving and helpful crowd [] Cheers, Mick

 

[edh]

There's a 2.8 ex Andrew Sweetenham somewhere (now in ireland?) that made 422bhp so they can make big power You might have more cooling issues because the front end of the n/a cars wasn't designed for an intercooler. I assume it's being fed by the 924 turbo style grilles. One way to improve it would be to cut a hole in the bonnet and duct the airflow from the rear of the intercooler and radiator. I think that brake cooling might also be a challenge I'll be waving you past at Bedford []

 

[Masher]

ORIGINAL: edh I'll be waving you past at Bedford []

Don't worry about that - The drivers no good! There is an oil cooler located just to the inside of the power steering cooling coil with a hole cut in the front valence to allow air to it. Looks like a recipe for a stone through it currently so I will manufacture a mesh in due course. The standard rad was replaced and attention has been taken to ensure good cooling - I guess I'll find out on the track when it's 30 degrees (clearly a foreign track day!). The 924 turbo style hump feeds air into the general bonnet area above the turbo so does serve a function beyond addressing my mid life crisis! Be sure to say hi at Bedford, Mick

 

[Steve Brookes]

Congrats Mick....you kept this one quiet over on 964 Rennlist! [] Looking forward to seeing it....are you going to bring this one to the Donington day instead of the 964? I think I need to persuade you to come and sample Oulton Park in it too. []

 

[Masher]

Not keeping quiet so much as looking for an education here instead! And boy do i need it. It's likely I will bring this to Donington since I've bought this with track days in mind. It'll be fun to see it on track with the 964s too. Olton would be a hoot. I just need to think about the logistics and look for a weekend date since I'm going to run short on holiday if I'm not careful. Keep me informed if you book there. Cheers Mick

 

[944 man]

My suggestion would be to remove the bumper and PU and replace it with a GRP Turbo-style nose cone. It will bolt straight up to the original pattern badge panel and front wings, making it relatively low impact and all of the required inlets are present. Whether you car has the intercooler specific ducts I don't know, but I doubt it so youll need to add those and I would ditch the 931 style badge panel too, but you wouldn't have to. If you look around a paddock youll see that many 944 racers use these panels, even cars which came with this style of front body originally are now running original pattern GRP wings and a 951 style GRP nose to suit them. I recommend EMC to supply, fit, get it painted in Riviera (Kevs go-to colour) and then sort out the required ducting. Simon