Lusting after 944's

[dannyzabolotny]

Looks like a classic DannyDeal. Totally agreed. I've seen 944's for $5k on CL that are 1000x worse disasters, even with blown motors. At such a cheap entry you have nice options... if it turns out to have some huge lurking issues worst case you can even make money parting it, but short of that you could make it into a track car if it has too many 'luxury needs'. Or, looks like its decent enough (and you're in no-rust-land) it might just fix up to be a great real road driver...

What's a DannyDeal? This one's a little different from my norm since it doesn't have chain guide issues (it has a timing belt lol).

It has zero rust and no real body damage so if I can get it running and driving nicely then I'll just fix it up and make it into a fun car for occasional driving. It has AC and a modern head unit so it would be a fine daily driver if I ever needed to take my touring off the road for an extensive repair/swap.

Plus it could be fun on the track since they handle really well but aren't fast enough to get a beginner into real trouble.

[geargrinder]

What's a DannyDeal? This one's a little different from my norm since it doesn't have chain guide issues (it has a timing belt lol).

I'd say you specialize in 'good deal fixer uppers'. Cars that wouldn't be a good deal for anybody who isn't ready to do some work, but when done, that fix up nice.

[dannyzabolotny]

I'd say you specialize in 'good deal fixer uppers'. Cars that wouldn't be a good deal for anybody who isn't ready to do some work, but when done, that fix up nice.

Ah, I see. Yeah that's what works for me. There are some people who just buy and flip cars without doing much, but that requires having cash laying around and being able to hop on a deal on a moment's notice, along with extreme lowballing. Like there was a guy locally that bought a clean 540i/6 for like $3000 and then resold it for like $6000 the same day. I feel like that's kinda lame though, I prefer to actually make a car better before selling it.

[Brucew]

I've really been looking into getting a 1985+ Porsche 944 now that my 750il is more or less sold, and I've found a few good examples that I'll be looking at. Should be an interesting experience, going from driving a big V12 to a small inline 4 haha. I'm gonna have a pretty interesting garage with a 944 and an M5 haha. I wonder which one will be more reliable :P

I had a 1990 944S2 a few years ago. Loved it - wish I hadn't sold it!
Totally reliable. Just make sure you change the cam belts regularly.
Good luck with your purchase

[OnTheFence]

Yeah, I bought it as a car to mess around with. For $1000 I couldn't really go wrong, haha. I plan to get it running and fix it up bit by bit.

You've had the car for over a year.
Have you actually started to work on it yet?
When you you plan to get it running?

[XAlt]

You've had the car for over a year.
Have you actually started to work on it yet?
When you you plan to get it running?

How to get 944 running.

Step 1: Hire Teenager
Step 2: Have him\her turn keys
Step 3: Car will now start.

[dannyzabolotny]

You've had the car for over a year.
Have you actually started to work on it yet?
When you you plan to get it running?

So much pressure! It's sitting in my friend's backyard for now, once I fix my X5 4.6is I plan to tow it back over to my backyard so I can work on it. So it'll live again pretty soon.

[kevin3681]

I currently have an 87 400 HP 944 Turbo and a 91 944S2. I still have my 1998 528i as my daily driver. My advice to you would be to buy a 944 Turbo. My first 944 was a 1983 NA. You will get very bored of a non turbo car. Trust me on this one. The prices for 944 Turbos have gone up over 50% in just the last 3 years. Even if you find one that has super high mileage, I would still buy it because just a couple thousand bucks will get you a rebuilt short block. You will love them. Even I got bored with the stock 216 HP and $7000 later I have a very nice 400 HP that can be a daily driver. Even if you got the greatest deal ever on an NA, I would still save up for a Turbo (951)

[kevin3681]

The 930 has a waste gate. I know this because it was used at Lemans on the 944 Turbo GTR

[dannyzabolotny]

I currently have an 87 400 HP 944 Turbo and a 91 944S2. I still have my 1998 528i as my daily driver. My advice to you would be to buy a 944 Turbo. My first 944 was a 1983 NA. You will get very bored of a non turbo car. Trust me on this one. The prices for 944 Turbos have gone up over 50% in just the last 3 years. Even if you find one that has super high mileage, I would still buy it because just a couple thousand bucks will get you a rebuilt short block. You will love them. Even I got bored with the stock 216 HP and $7000 later I have a very nice 400 HP that can be a daily driver. Even if you got the greatest deal ever on an NA, I would still save up for a Turbo (951)

I already bought mine like a year ago, haha. It's a 1987 944S. Currently it's sitting in my friend's backyard, but now that the X5 4.6 is fixed I'm gonna tow it over to my house and start working on it. I paid $1000 for it, it has 114k miles. I know they're not super powerful in stock form, but the 16V S motor does make a bit more horsepower than the regular 8V. I'm going to fix it and enjoy it in stock form, and then after that I might think about LS swapping it. There are a lot of good LS swap kits out there and it's pretty cheap compared to getting more power out of a 951 engine. Why get only 400hp for $7k when I could get 500hp for less than that with an LS.

[dannyzabolotny]

Alright so the 944S is finally in my garage after (almost literally) digging it out from my friend's backyard where it sat for about a year. I took some pictures of it as it sits right now in its "barn find" condition.













I guess I'll keep this thread updated on the progress, since there's no real Porsche section on this forum, lol