Building a 400bhp+ 2.5 ltr 944 Turbo

[PSH]

As you've had it painted before, isn't there enough paint thickness, to have it machine polished?

Alas no...a few reasons....first its been polished within an inch of its life, so much so that in places, bonnet and roof gutter the primer is exposed. Second, the clearcoat has failed on the drivers side and lastly it needs a new lip welded onto the passengers rear quarter behind the wheel. There may be more hidden work but won't know until its been strippes. The guys checked the car over with the consensus that its a very good car, straight with no panel damage.

Pete

 

[PSH]

Yesterday I dropped the car off at the bodyshop...they should be sending me photos during the work..if so I'll post them here..

Pete

 

[blade7]

Pics should be interesting. Guessing a quality glass out respray is £4k+?

 

[PSH]

Pics should be interesting. Guessing a quality glass out respray is £4k+?

The quote I got from the company who did the respray 20 years ago was over £10k...far to much for a retiree...the company that I've gone with were reccomended to me...the CEO came to see the car in person as he's a transaxle fan, his 951 and 968 are both in the shop having restorations now. We have agreed a very good price, much below what it should be, only time will tell how good the end result...I feel that I can trust those concerned.

Picture is from when I popped in to talk to the team who will be doing the work.

Car [link=https://imgur.com/gallery/i0HouuO]https://imgur.com/gallery/i0HouuO[/link]

 

[blade7]

Shows how much I know. I've never had a whole car painted, just sides or bonnets. Back in the 90's some scum tried to steal my 87 Cos, by pulling the lock out of the door. The local Ford body shop painted the door twice, before I told them to paint the whole side of the car. Apparently there were different shades of Ford diamond white. And even with the fancy cameras used today, there's still no guarantee of matching colours, according to a paint supplier I consulted.

 

[PSH]

My first car was diamond white...68 mk2 cortina...drove it down to Looe in cornwalll. Pulled up at carpark entrance to gey a ticket..had to turn the radio off to speak to attendent. It was then thT we noticed the loud knocking...parked up a d engine seized solid...spent the werm sourcing a reconex sbort block and rebuilt the engine. Took forever to get home as had to run it in...

 

[PSH]

good day all.. today I visited the wonderful company whose care I have entrusted my car too for an update on progress and the chance to see what's been done over recent weeks, they have been busy and I have some pictures to share with you guys.

first up a closeup of the rear driver's side, no one really knows how good a condition their car is in until the paint is removed, I am amazed at how good mine is especially when taking into account that during my ownership of 24 years she has lived outside. The CEO walked in at the time and commented how good the car was, far better metal than his later 89 model 951 is. This would confirm what i have read over the years about how much better built and protected the early 944s were, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.

bonnet and rear diffuser

closeup rear passenger side

front bumper, I was happy to see that they had repaired the crack on the drivers side caused many years ago when hitting debris in the road. you can see the slightly darker area over the epoxy primer.

front view

rear driver's qtr view.. clearly the slight bubble that I had on the sill on this side was just in the paint.

opposite side

sunroof and light panels in epoxy primer

finally, the company who are doing the work, it's a large unit, must have 100 cars on the plot, mine is sitting in just one part.

All I can say is that all my fears of dealing with the unknown are gone.. I'm very much looking forward to the end result, I was invited by the CEO to visit daily, a nice thought but best to let the guys get on with it. I'll probably pop back once she's in paint...

Pete

 

[Kongsodoken]

Looks great

you will have to drive really slow now to avoid the stone chips

cant Wait to get mine done so keep the pictures coming

 

[PSH]

Looks great

you will have to drive really slow now to avoid the stone chips

cant Wait to get mine done so keep the pictures coming

I think you are right...best park up at home and just look at the pretty paint....no driving...

 

[blade7]

It will be interesting to see if the paint on your car is flatted and machine polished, until it's like glass Pete. Or if it's rippled like most of new cars are these days.

 

[PSH]

It will be interesting to see if the paint on your car is flatted and machine polished, until it's like glass Pete. Or if it's rippled like most of new cars are these days.

We shall see....

 

[PSH]

Small update...no pictures as I haven't been back but am being informed as things progress. Metalwork...the left rear wing has now had the replacement lower return lip welded in, this was supplied by me when I dropped the car off from the remains of the rear wing that had been used about 15 years ago to replace the front section next to the sill, the sill had also been replaced at that time. There was a little bit that needed work where the hatch makes contact with the wing, this is also done, so the L/H side is ready. On the right there was a very small patch of corrosion where the sill meets the rear wing, same area as fixed 15 years ago on the left. The bodyshop said they could weld a patch or replace the sill to future proof the body. As this side still has the original sill I have chosen to have a new sill fitted. The price of a sill from Porsche is over £300, I decided to go for the pattern sill from Classic car panels, these are also to pattern but cost a third of the price. Lead time can be long but bodyshop happy to wait.

None of this has come as a surprise and had already been considered as a possibility when priced.

I'll give another update when it comes to me

Pete

 

[PSH]

Another small update..spoke to the bodyshop this morning, things are moving much quicker that I had thought possible. The main reason is that the pattern sill from Classic Car Panels which according to their website can take up to 9 weeks for delivery actually arrived at Pennings in just a few days..

Present status is that the sill has been fitted, all welding has been completed and the car is presently in the booth for its coat of epoxy primer. It will then be dressed ready for its base paint.

I'm popping in thiz Wednesday so will take some pictures and post later this week.

Cheers

Pete

 

[blade7]

You've sunk some dosh into the old girl over the years Pete. I bought my turbo over 15 years ago, because they were the best bang for the buck back then. And it was a close run thing between a 944 turbo and a M3.

 

[PSH]

I can't deny that I haven't spent a pretty penny over my 24 years of ownership Paul. Do I regret spending the dosh...no sir...this latest round will hopefully see me out in as far as the exterior goes, I will now put my time into the interior and general replacement of parts...need to replace the fog lights for one which as you know aren't cheep.....oh and she needs new tyres and wheel refurb too...

Pete

 

[blade7]

I've said this before, but if the 944 was my only car I'd soon fall out of love with it. I don't know if you have another car Pete, but something recent with awd, 300+ bhp, a 7sp auto gearbox, and big brakes is a much nicer daily drive. But the power delivery isn't as much fun as an 80's turbo car.

 

[Eldavo]

I've said this before, but if the 944 was my only car I'd soon fall out of love with it. I don't know if you have another car Pete, but something recent with awd, 300+ bhp, a 7sp auto gearbox, and big brakes is a much nicer daily drive. But the power delivery isn't as much fun as an 80's turbo car.

I’ve been running around in my wife’s S3 for a couple of days as been taking it for MOT and wheel refurb, etc. on the school run and bobbing around too. Call me whatever you want but my EV is much better daily driver and urban steer.

 

[PSH]

Does a Citreon C2 count...[]. my wifes car...

Ok so a few pictures, these are both a few that I took today and also those taken by the shop during work so far. If you compare to the photos shown in my earlier post you'd be forgiven for thinking they are two different cars... just goes to show that you don't really know what's going on under the paint or even under the bare metal.

Driver's side sill removed, it was good to see that the welding that my son did more than 6 years ago to the inner sill and torsion bar support was still good, pretty amazing considering that he did this blind with the outer sill still in lace.

the lower rear wing needed some attention... here it looks like they have drawn a line for where new metal is required.

I assume that this is the replacement part ready to go in, this also gives a foundation for the missing rear bolt behind that held the sill skirts on, the rear bolt had been missing for years.

The inner sill still looking good.

A picture of the outer sill when peeled away, the black stuff is the Por15 which was painted over the area after the inner sill was fixed, when you compare this with the photo above you can see how well it protected the metal and also how well the guys have cleaned it up.

drivers roof gutter

Hatch lip drivers side was good

passenger side needed some work

There had been a leak on the rear hatch to the left for a long time, I hadn't realised that it had rusted through.

same area after repair

Both sides of the rear corners above the bumper had small holes..I'm only going to show one side to keep post a little shorter

After repair

The rear..... now remember all these photos are work after the first pictures that I posted when they were down to bare metal... just goes to show what's found when you start probing that metal...

if you remember I said that I had supplied a new rear wing section to repair the missing lip on the passenger's side.. well here it is fitted, they decided to cut out the entire bottom rather than just replacing the lip.. top work ...

Looing at the same area from the rear.

These last pictures are what I took today..as you can see we now have some epoxy primer on ( I'm told this is very expensive) and the various panels are being checked for alignment.

The new sill fitted... you can't see the diamond for the light but it is there. Reports back are that it was a pretty good fit, just a couple mil taken off its height.

The new rear section being blended in

Lastly, I took this picture just to remind me that I need a new air filter...

The shop said that they'll give me a call later this month when she's back in paint so that I can take more pictures before the final assembly..

Pete

 

[blade7]

I've said this before, but if the 944 was my only car I'd soon fall out of love with it. I don't know if you have another car Pete, but something recent with awd, 300+ bhp, a 7sp auto gearbox, and big brakes is a much nicer daily drive. But the power delivery isn't as much fun as an 80's turbo car.

I’ve been running around in my wife’s S3 for a couple of days as been taking it for MOT and wheel refurb, etc. on the school run and bobbing around too. Call me whatever you want but my EV is much better daily driver and urban steer.

My daily is a Cupra R estate, came standard with 350 bhp, 2 deg negative camber all round, 370mm discs/ big brembos, different suspension modes etc. I'm sure an EV would murder it on acceleration, but that's about it I reckon. My daughter is picking up a 22 S3 next week, I think I'm getting her 2011 Fiesta Zetec S for a rurnabout .

 

[blade7]

If my car was ever having a major repaint, I'd definitely do a sunroof delete.