Smaller apples are sweeter

[Rapsey0909]

Hi all I’m new to the forum and have just got myself a 1986 944 in sapphire met, I’ve already found a bunch of things that i need to do to but i thought that i would start a thread about little mods people have done that would benefit the car in different ways.
I’m not sure if there is already a thread for this but I’m sure if we can throw a million pounds at our cars they would all be perfect in every way but I’m talking about affordable upgrades that make a difference too daily driving if its comfort, power, economy whatever.
Let’s see what we can share………

 

[Eldavo]

A turbocharger helps immensely []

 

[Rapsey0909]

Honestly I don’t know how much stress they would put on a 35 year old engine, and I understand people do them but how unreliable does the car become as its a very under stressed unit at the mo and would you get a new turbo kit or buy parts from a 944 turbo and retro fit them.

 

[scam75]

I think that suggestion may have been a tad tongue in cheek..............

 

[Rapsey0909]

I have no doubt but not sure if its worth doing for the gains or is it best to keep it real and do a lot of smaller tweaks or go big with a turbo.

 

[Waylander]

Sell your current car, and buy something that’s easy to tweak like a turbo Astra,
think your trying to run before you can walk,

some on here have spent £10,000 on a turbo engine build

 

[Rapsey0909]

Im not too much of an Astra fan although i do work for VW so things like Golf R’s are given to me to quite often to drive so its not so much the performance side of things I am interested in but the project and at £10k for a turbo conversion I think I will pass on LOL

 

[blade7]

some on here have spent £10,000 on a turbo engine build

Audi turbo engine conversion seems to gaining popularity.

 

[PSH]

some on here have spent £10,000 on a turbo engine build

Only £10k?.. cheapskates...

Pete

 

[scam75]

Well I'm in £5k for a bottom end rebuild so far................... not lol []

Stuart

 

[Rapsey0909]

Ok so just got my first big job booked in, belts w/pump oil and filter change but one question
what oil are you guys running, i am thinking 10w50 or maybe 20w50 but what is the general consensus guys

 

[Waylander]

The simple answer is what does it suggest in the handbook, but both of those are in there

 

[Rapsey0909]

they have lots of different types in the handbook you can use but its all to do with temps and it maybe the case of how cold the ambient temp is on start up.
so on a multi grade oil use a 10w40/10w50 for temps in cel -20 to 30 or say 20w50 its between -10 to 40 but i guess some of you have done the subject to death and come up with the perfect lube.

 

[Eldavo]

I use Valvoline VR1 20-50 in a modified turbo engine. A 10-40/50 will be fine in a N/A - Royal Purple do a good one.

 

[Rapsey0909]

Looked through some forums and watched a couple of youtube vids and i think I’m going to go with a 10w40 semi, due to our climate that one seems to be the best one on balance but as i have found there is sooooo much written on this topic one mans drink is another mans poison.
Now i was going to go with mobile super 2000 (because I know of the brand) but Triple QX keeps coming up as an alternative, its a few £££ less but not much have anyone used this brand.

 

[944Turbo]

Hi all I’m new to the forum and have just got myself a 1986 944 in sapphire met, I’ve already found a bunch of things that i need to do to but i thought that i would start a thread about little mods people have done that would benefit the car in different ways.
I’m not sure if there is already a thread for this but I’m sure if we can throw a million pounds at our cars they would all be perfect in every way but I’m talking about affordable upgrades that make a difference too daily driving if its comfort, power, economy whatever.
Let’s see what we can share………

They generally benefit from being bought back to full health / service items etc. / shocks / rubber bushes /seals (engine and bodywork (sunroof and boot usually the worse). Plug leads can be stunningly leaky and the engine still run (open the bonnet in the dark to check, mine were like a firework display before attention).

However what is your aim? the best standard car, the best performance from that set up, the best performance regardless of cost etc?
It can be made a bit quicker all round by adding lightness and it will have a lovely flow down a winding road - it won't be quick in a straight line compared to relatively modest modern metal, more fun to drive than most

If you want to go much faster sell it and buy a Turbo or S2.
I had an 86 lux and it felt like it could handle another 100BHP easily, once it had new (standard) shocks etc. So I bought a late turbo with c100Hp more - Porsche had improved everything else, so it still felt like it could easily handle another 100BHP. Over time it did develop around that and it was enjoyable if little fragile (without spending £10K +). I still own it 20+ years later and added another fairly standard one albeit without a metal roof about 10 years ago.

I enjoy they way they were engineered and built and come apart / go back together (mostly there are some annoyances, the rear number plate light fixings are crazy, the distributor cap can be awkward on a 2.5 and the turbocharger can be very tricky to extract as can the clutch). I would like some time to get my coupe back as a 400BHP tool.

They are all (assuming half decent bushes / shocks) great to drive and very satisfying compared to modern / electric stuff.

So my top 'upgrades' for your car would be to make it work reliably and drive as it did when new (maybe slightly better, Bilstein B6 could be a consideration if shocks need changing anyway)

Tony

 

[Rapsey0909]

Great info there and I’m great full for the input, the idea behind the car is something that i could enjoy every day as i do very little mileage.
All back roads, it will see the motorway once a month if that so i am more into getting the car looking nice and running right but making use of a tweaks that will make a difference.
If i don’t have to because of some major issue i don’t want to be stripping down the engine to gain HP but if some one was to say "change to a MAF set up that makes a huge difference" i would put it on my list and if another 944 driver suggested not to do something like "a chip tune makes no difference" then I would give it a miss.
The car is round 160 ish new so I thought around 180 to 190 would not be too far of a jump assuming I could get that HP back with some good maintenance and then push on with some enhancements from this decade.
But your right, lets get the car running as good as we can then look for a bit more performance so I have new belts and WP going in later in the month along with rollers and accessory bets plus new oil and filter change and maybe even a new fuel filter.
I was going to change the spark plugs as you mentioned but I fires up on the button so not sure if that was needed?
I do have a small fuel leak from around one of the injectors but will need to investigate that (i have put that in another post for advise) and a small knocking when on full lock so would like to have a look at the steering.
I’m not sure if the steering is right or a little heavy as its fine once going but a little stiff when stationary or at very low speeds like under 10 miles per hour.
Like I said any info would be taken on board as It’s not going to be a car for now its going to be something I can enjoy for years.

 

[944Turbo]

Great info there and I’m great full for the input, the idea behind the car is something that i could enjoy every day as i do very little mileage.
All back roads, it will see the motorway once a month if that so i am more into getting the car looking nice and running right but making use of a tweaks that will make a difference.
If i don’t have to because of some major issue i don’t want to be stripping down the engine to gain HP but if some one was to say "change to a MAF set up that makes a huge difference" i would put it on my list and if another 944 driver suggested not to do something like "a chip tune makes no difference" then I would give it a miss.
The car is round 160 ish new so I thought around 180 to 190 would not be too far of a jump assuming I could get that HP back with some good maintenance and then push on with some enhancements from this decade.
But your right, lets get the car running as good as we can then look for a bit more performance so I have new belts and WP going in later in the month along with rollers and accessory bets plus new oil and filter change and maybe even a new fuel filter.
I was going to change the spark plugs as you mentioned but I fires up on the button so not sure if that was needed?
I do have a small fuel leak from around one of the injectors but will need to investigate that (i have put that in another post for advise) and a small knocking when on full lock so would like to have a look at the steering.
I’m not sure if the steering is right or a little heavy as its fine once going but a little stiff when stationary or at very low speeds like under 10 miles per hour.
Like I said any info would be taken on board as It’s not going to be a car for now its going to be something I can enjoy for years.

It is not an easy engine to get more power out of, despite its lazy output as standard. Not many people have done it but a cam might free up some power, however to take full advantage of it you will need a different management system, and all the joy/frustrations that brings. To get to that stage you will have spent the difference between your car and an S2 and still have single piston brakes, probably less than 210BHP etc. You can get the appearance of more power by fitting a throttle response cam - it just shortens the throttle travel so for any movement of your foot you get more opening. A lot of them had them fitted back in the day so you may have one already - You can achieve the same effect by stamping down your right foot faster.

More the plug leads than the plugs (though these need to be healthy too) it might be fine if they have been replaced at some point. Its easy to check - open the bonnet in the dark with the engine running and look for sparks (don't touch!) - I was surprised how bad mine have been with 15 year old leads sparks jumping out all over and it still run fairly well.
On my lux I was shocked how bad the shocks were (around 14 years, 120k miles) - it didn't drive that badly but when I took them out there was virtually no resistance when moved by hand - it drove better after!

Tony

 

[Rapsey0909]

My car does have the cam wheel change but if it didn’t that was on the cards, i do need to change the gear lever as thats a bit sloppy.
i will have a look at the leads in the dark like you say to see if there is anything going on, a cam change could be something i look at later on but also was thinking of working on the exhaust and the afm to see if there could be any gains with getting the car breathing right.
I dont mind that the engine is under stressed as hopefully that will go towards its longevity but as i say its not a big deal to me if my car does not get 200 plus HP just a few tweaks to keep things interesting.

 

[Eldavo]

Try the 4 degree offset cam key?