Well, I've gone and done it.

[simdel1]

I've just got back home after collecting a very lovely square dash. Some of you may recognise it...


Here it is from a few days ago when I went to look at it. It's much dirtier now after the rain and a 70 mile drive...

The drive along the A606 back home was fabulous even though it was dark! There may not be a huge amount of power, but the way it delivers it is fantastic. I really enjoyed throwing it through the bends and nailing it on the way out. It's the sort of car that demands your attention 100% of the time though - which is no bad thing. The 'unusual' driving position has grown on me very quickly too. I've identified a few things I want to do to the car, but there's nothing major. I need to move the fire extinguisher because it's stopping me putting the seat as far back as I need to. The boot pins also sound like they need looking at and it needs a good clean. I've got a set of bilt-hamber products (wash, clay, auto-balm) to try out []


The two car plan is now complete - Economical, long distance luxury cruiser and involving classic sports car. I can lay off eBay and autotrader now...for a bit []

Thanks to everyone who has advised me and answered my nOOb questions. I need to give a special thank you to Andy (Hairyarse) for letting me drive his car. That test-drive convinced me that I really wanted a square dash and it gave me a great yard-stick for how 944s should behave!

 

[The Count]

Good choice it looks great but I would say that as it's very much like mine. I hope you enjoy it.

James

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Looks really nice and I know what you mean about demanding attention when you drive it, nothing like a modern car and very different even to a late 944.
Enjoy it.
Andy is good chap!
It's not Pixies car is it ?

 

[simdel1]

Thanks James. Black is the best colour ;-). I'm really enjoying reading your rebuild thread by the way. That car is going to be stunning when it's finished.

Hi Mike. Yup, it is Pixies car. []

 

[robwright]

Weel done mate she looks lovely. Not too struck on the wheels though but hey horses for courses. A little disapointed you didn't hold out for the turbo experience before buying but you seem to have got what you wanted. And then there were three!!!! We will have to arrange a Peterborugh/Stamford meet sometime soon when my turbo is on the road. Not too long now hopefully as a few more shiny refurbished bits make there way from the garage back on to the car each night. Have really missed not being able to drive it. Hope you have been working out at the gym by the way so that you are able to park it [] P.S. you should never get involved with the best colour debate on this forum. Especially as you don@t have a Guards Red car, which obviously was the fastest colour Porsche ever made []

 

[Joss Walker]

ORIGINAL: robwright

We will have to arrange a Peterborugh/Stamford meet sometime soon when my turbo is on the road.

If mine ever comes back from the bodyshop (14 weeks and counting) I'd be up for a pub lunch too. I'm just down the road in Bedford and sharing horror stories is normally entertaining

 

[pixie*porsche]

Simon,

I'm very pleased you are enjoying the car. [] As far as I'm concerned you should get many miles of enjoyment and fun.

To the one who doesn't like the wheels, I love fondmetals and those wheels have been with me for a long time and on quite a few cars! [] Each to their own! Suppose this really means I'm going to have a change - a real big change, been looking at everythng from a Triumph Spitfire Mk.III to a Daimler Double Six for my Porsche replacement!

I find the 944 the most relaxed car I own(ed) to drive but my fleet consists of '60's and '70's sports cars at the moment, must admit when I had my P6, the 944 felt an amazing sportscar. Mind you I think the 944 feels powerful in standard guise ... it's driving those 40+ year old cars again though isn't it??

Must admit I'm quite sad to see it go as in all honesty, I wasn't really expecting to sell the car and I was going to keep it. Though my next car isn't going to be a Porsche - I've had too many of them, 6, more or less in a row, before the age of 22, so it is time for a break, I'll be back in a Porsche one day, I'm sure!

I will certainy stick around the forum to see how PCZ is getting on and answer any 944 related questions. You don't have to own a Porsche and all that. [] Never thought I'd be saying that one about me ...

Pixie*Porscheless ...

 

[pixie*porsche]

Some photos from the last album I created with the 944 in it. It's about "The Shape of Things to Come" which was Triumph's slogan for the TR7, I was showing how the "wedge" shape evolved from very early thoughts on the drawing board (the TR7) to a sophisticated and rather agressive shape which could have only come out of the 80's (the 944). Hope you enjoy. []

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Well, if you're sorting out a spin over there, can I cadge an invite?

I love the Fondmetals, nearly bought an early offset oval dash gold 944 just for them - (coincidently from Bourne!)

Hope you enjoy the car.

Pixie - keep us informed about your cars, you've had more in 5 years than I've had in 35!

 

[simdel1]

Drove it to and from work today. Never has the commute been so exciting! I managed to take the roof off for the return journey too[8D]


Rob, There's plenty of time for me to sample the turbo. Good luck with the final stages of putting it back together! Personally I quite like the wheels. To me it's like a period modification so I'm happy to have them on the car even though I'm normally obsessed with originality (you should see some of the stuff I've done to the Rover...I'm a geek!)


Nicola, Thanks for posting those pics. The car looks absolutely fantastic. Don't worry, I'll be looking after PCZ[]

Mike/Rob/Joss, I'm well up for a meet at some point. We'll have to sort something out.

 

[The Count]

I will add I love the wheels I was after a set until my Rials turned up but they are very similar.

 

[Hairyarse]

Nice one Simon, not a bad find at all [8D]

I'll have to shoot over some time for a looksee! []

 

[simdel1]

Cheers, Andy. []

I've got a few pics from today that I thought I'd share with you all.

I took the opportunity to fix a couple of things. First, the fire extinguisher had to go! I'm not sure what I can do about the holes though.

I discovered that the passenger seat didn't tilt forward. I found out that the cable that operates the tilt mechanism was no longer attached to the lever at the base of the seat. There was a bit of the retaining collar left, but whatever was clipped to that to hold it in place was long gone. After a bit of head scratching I took a hack saw and chopped a wedge out of a bit of meccano. This clipped perfectly over the retaining collar and secured it nicely in place. The seat now tilts!

The meccano fix...

Then after a bit of fiddling with trying to figure out why the passenger side wasn't unlocking when I unlock the drivers side (totally baffled!) and getting no where, I decided to go for a drive. There aren't many decent roads round Peterborough that I know of, but in the process of getting lost I spotted an ideal photo opportunity just as the night was closing in. The great thing about this photo is that you can't see how dirty it is!

 

[Hairyarse]

Nice last pic Simon and ingenious fix for the seat! Ref the lock, are you sure you have central locking?

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Lovely pic and there are some nice roads not far from P'boro

 

[simdel1]

I'll have track those roads down then, Mike!

Andy,
I didn't think I had central locking at first. But when I unlock the car from the drivers side there's a servo whir and the passenger side door pin moves a bit, sometimes as much as 25mm. It never unlocks unless i go round to the other side and open it with the key though.

 

[944 man]

Its a shame that the Fuchs wheels that the car used to wear, have been sold. I used to use 16" Fondmetal wheels on my old speed series car, but they were heavy and the quality wasnt great. I bought the very last wheel that the importer had remaining (7"x16" and it was almost ten years old then, in 1994) after one of my fronts went out of round for no apparent reason.

Replaced with 7" & 8" x16" Fuchs..... []

 

[simdel1]

This is the seat release knob that I managed to break while I was viewing the car (sorry Nicola!).

I've fitted a new one which I got from marque21's ebay shop.

I now have two tilting seats![]

 

[pixie*porsche]

Glad to hear PCZ is running well for you and you are still having fun. []

As to wheels. they are so down to personal preference, I've no love for Fuchs [:'(] and a lot for Fondmetals ... [] On a road car I don't believe weight is everything though, it's not a racer!

Not really had any luck finding a Porsche replacement for me yet, [] There doesn't seem to be many Jaguars about and that is what I really want if I'm honest with myself!

 

[944 man]

Weight is extremely important, whether youre driving a racing car or a road car. Beyond unsprung weight, which is obvious, you have far greater gyroscopic resistance to turning. Essentially a big heavy wheel doesnt want ot move from centre and it takes more time and effort to turn it. Simple weight comes third.

Early cars dont have central locking btw. The car may have had something retro-fitted of course, but it wont have been factory fitted. Porsche were about a decade behind everyone else when they eventually offered central locking, which used different (internally) handles and was introduced when the series two handles were revised from script to plain.


Simon