1st time 944 owner - advice on engine rebuild options and best parts suppliers

[Lbantam1911]

Afternoon all. I've just got hold of a 1986 944 with Turbo bodykit and am going to set out on a restoration project. Delighted to finally get into the 944. I've had a couple of 911s, but I always remember as a kid that my first contact with Porsche was in the back of a Black 944 Turbo. it's always stuck with me and so I decided to lose the 911 and relive my childhood.

My block has over 200k miles on it so am likely to look a rebuild options, either for the original engine or swap. Do any of you have recommendations in terms of good places to entrust the job with?

Other things I need to get on with are cooling (water pump suspected as thermo, coolant, fan etc have been replaced), PS fluid leak, ODO gear, seats, steering wheel and various switches etc. Any good recommendations on best parts dealers etc, or specifically for any of the above?

Also heard that the overheat reading (and suspected coolant issue) can be a problem with the dial and binnacle - any experience and advice?

Cheers
Liam

 

[Tizzy]

Hi

Depends on where you’re located. Cavendish Porsche in Long Eaton, Nottingham have done most of the work on mine and they do a thorough job without being stupidly expensive. They also look after a fair few 944’s which is a good testament in itself. Mine has less miles than yours but we’ve replaced the water pump (expensive as Porsche OE part) and the rad (cheaper than the W/pump). I also had a PAS fluid leak, coming from the front offside wheel arch just in front of the tyre. This was diagnosed as a leaking power steering lube oil cooler, which is not available as a new part any more, but they managed to find a non OE replacement. I got a refurbished steering wheel off eBay, which I’ve found to be an excellent source of smaller parts and trim, and I can recommend a fantastic upholsterer in Loughborough who specialises in old Porsche seats and did an amazing job on my drivers seat.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Lbantam1911]

Thanks Chris. I live only round the corner from Cavendish so know them well, and they looked after 1 of my 911s. Appreciate your views. I'd be grateful to get the contact info for the upholsterer you mentioned.

Liam

 

[Tizzy]

Liam, I used Vaughan Green at Custom Classic and Retro, in Loughborough. He’s on 07950 331759. Can’t recommend him highly enough, he can also get the original Porsche script cloth (though it’s pricey) and match the leatherette exactly. If you’re on Instagram you can find him on there with a lot of pictures of his work, he recently did an entire burgundy pinstripe interior for a 944 which looked superb.

I’m pretty happy with Cavendish, my only slight criticism is that the car is usually returned in a bit of a mess inside (they’ve clearly never heard of vacuuming never mind valeting), but their work quality has been first class.

Chris

 

[dlknight]

Any particular reason you are looking at an engine rebuild? Have you checked the cylinder compression? If the compression is good then you might just get away with doing a front / rear reseal and getting the big end bearings replaced as a precautionary measure. I've had 3 x 944s and two of them over 200k miles without a rebuild, these engines are a lot more robust than their flat 6 cousins.

 

[Lbantam1911]

Just looking at options really. Probably moving away from the idea though given cost and relative benefit - might be money better spent on the sills! I've done a compression test and was pleasantly surprised - 190-200psi on each cylinder. What's the view on that for a 2.5? Sounds OK to me. Did rise quite a bit when I added oil - I believe this can be an indication of worn piston rings? But is it anything really to worry about on a car of this age I suppose is the key question.

I've got a few leaking gaskets, a small hole in the exhaust manifold to close up, and a cooling problem to sort. So all in all, there's be quite a bit of top end stripping going on. So I think I'm going to do the head gasket (I don't know when/ if its been done before, but compression suggests its OK for now), get the cylinder head machined (and maybe value seats), rather than really get into the guts of the block.

Sound like a plan?

 

[dlknight]

Sounds like a plan! - if you are going to that effort you may as well drop the oil pan and do the big end bearings and then you can put a new oil pan gasket in place as they are notorious for leaking with age. I think mine might be leaking but I'm postponing that job (and the big end bearings) until end of the year as I've spent 4 months already getting to where I am.

Front end seal kit is 50 notes from carparts4less - do a search with the Porsche part number, they also have many other OEM Porsche parts - I was pleasantly surprised to find that the parts are identical but the packaging is missing the Porsche logo (I'd ordered 1 x genuine balance shaft sleeve from a specialist and I got another from cp4l and the internal packaging was identical, made by the same OEM and same factory but without the Porsche logo on the box). Worth doing the oil cooler housing seals as well - just did mine on the turbo (slightly easier as the cooler is external on the turbo).

Another culprit for leaks is the power steering pump - you can get a genuine repair kit directly from Porsche for about 10 notes - it is extremely easy to fit and should stop any leaks that originate from the pump.

Also the rear of the balance shaft covers can leak if the o-ring has shrivelled up - you can risk taking the cover off to replace the o-ring (has to be resealed with gasket maker) or you can use some high temp silicone sealant on the end and hope it stops any leak.

EDIT: That compression sounds high for an 8v car - is this an S or an S2 by any chance? if so 200+ is good, otherwise 8v is good at 145+, you should be looking to see that each cylinder is close compression wise - if they are big fluctuations then could be an issue.