Help with definite purchase - please

[vincematthews]

Looked at a '87 944 today and althought the bonnet to wing and badge panel shut lines look reasonable, both head lights have uneven gaps around the covers. What it the most likely cause of this and is it possible to adjust out?

Is bubbling of the paint near the forward end on the top face of both sills an indication advanced rust or just badly repaired surface rust?

Cheers

 

[Copperman05]

Not sure about the first question, I have read that dodgy looking panel gaps often indicates accident damage on these cars. Sills on 944's often rust from the inside out, if its visible from the outside I would say they are going to be pretty shot inside. There is a plastic vent in the door shut, if you carefully take this out you can have a look inside (a camera or torch is good). IMO if the car has rusty cills I would walk away, others here however will say different, there should be enough cars still out there with less rust to worry about, and thats what I would aim for... Edd

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: Copperman05 Not sure about the first question, I have read that dodgy looking panel gaps often indicates accident damage on these cars. Edd

It seemed if you looked at all the shut lines (ignoring the ones around the headlights) the car looked straight. I wondered if the headlight shut lines could be wrong because of a refitted headlight assy. or whether it could only be accident damage. Yeah, the sills have small bubbles 1-3mm across which I'm assuming is rust coming through? I read somewhere that 944s started going rusty easily after a certain production date - can't remember which year now though. Does the 87 car have auto tensioners on the cambelt - do you know? And finally . . . what is the official tyre size for an '87 n/a on teles - does anyone worry about the load rating? BTW The test drive was interesting - found a bit of empty A road to do an emergency stop . . . front right locked and threw the back end round so I took up the whole road!! [:-] Haven't had that happen since the days of drum brakes. Vince

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Without seeing the car it's hard to answer. The bubbling could be anything from the stoneguard paint lifting to rust that's coming through. Yes, the later cars do seem to corrode faster but they all go to some extent and one without any issues is hard to find. Ideally I'd like one that's been well restored, or a cheap one that's not too bad and have it restored. Then at least you know what you're getting. Slightly concerning that it's at the front of the sill. Usually they go at the back, what did it look like inside the sills? You can get a half-decent picture of the whole length of the sill through the vent, but I've never seen one rusty at the front unless the back has been worse. Headlights can be adjusted a little bit from side to side, how far out were they? Brakes certainly don't sound right!

 

[zcacogp]

They don't universally rust from inside the sills out. Often, but not always. Don't judge it 'till you have had a good look inside; take the black vents out of the back of the door shuts and dangle a small digi camera down there to take some photos. That will tell you a lot. Headlights - how bad is bad? Do you have a photo? It sounds like it is a lux (with teledials), so the badge panel may not have been removable, in which case it is unlikely to be because it has been refitted badly. Brakes - as McNulters said, it sounds wrong, but could be a fairly easy fix with a bit of caliper refubishment. Oli.

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp They don't universally rust from inside the sills out. Often, but not always. Don't judge it 'till you have had a good look inside; take the black vents out of the back of the door shuts and dangle a small digi camera down there to take some photos. That will tell you a lot. Headlights - how bad is bad? Do you have a photo? It sounds like it is a lux (with teledials), so the badge panel may not have been removable, in which case it is unlikely to be because it has been refitted badly. Brakes - as McNulters said, it sounds wrong, but could be a fairly easy fix with a bit of caliper refubishment. Oli.

Thanks good tip - sounds like a return visit is called for? Headlights are skewed in their openings, not so bad they touch the sides (joke in there somewhere?) [] Anybody got an official owners manual for the correct tyre size, speed and load rating? Greatly appreciated as it will tell me how many tyres I would need to sort.

 

[944s2]

There was a cracking 944 for sale up here recently if you send an email I'll forward details One of the Scottish members selling I beleive

 

[Pastry]

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: 944s2 There was a cracking 944 for sale up here recently if you send an email I'll forward details One of the Scottish members selling I beleive

Thanks - but I'm hoping to find something a bit nearer home (East Anglia) . . . AND Pastry - your're a star - thanks for doing that - that's really helpful . . .[]

 

[vincematthews]

Headlights - how bad is bad? Do you have a photo? It sounds like it is a lux (with teledials), so the badge panel may not have been removable, in which case it is unlikely to be because it has been refitted badly.

Photos of shut lines - not as bad as I remembered but still could look better.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

They look ok to me - did see one on Ebay in Norfolk I think - will check back.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Its an '86 [link=http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270700763553&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1156]944[/link]

 

[Hairyarse]

ORIGINAL: A9XXC Its an '86 [link=http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270700763553&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_500wt_1156]944[/link]

That looks tidy in white, if it had a square dash I'd take a look!

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: vincematthews Photos of shut lines - not as bad as I remembered but still could look better.

I've seen plenty worse. You've got to remember these are cars of the 80's that were designed with string and sliderules [] The panel gaps are pretty awful compared to modern cars. Plus there is a lot of adjustment to the headlights, it coud be a previous owner tried to even them up and actually made it worse

 

[Mike_Pollock]

If it was a square dash I'd have been over just to look (approx 100 miles)!

 

[vincematthews]

ORIGINAL: A9XXC If it was a square dash I'd have been over just to look (approx 100 miles)!

There's a nice looking square dash in Sandy, Beds apparently low miles. I assume the square vs oval dash has been done to death elsewhere?

ORIGINAL: Diver944 You've got to remember these are cars of the 80's that were designed with string and sliderules The panel gaps are pretty awful compared to modern cars. Plus there is a lot of adjustment to the headlights, it coud be a previous owner tried to even them up and actually made it worse

I know they will have tried harder with publicity shots but most photos I have seen of new cars have near perfect shut lines. Also having been round the production line at the time, I can vouch for the great attention to detail given to the cars. Agree on your 2nd point though, but wondered why it would need adjustment - e.g. evidence of panel replacement or accident?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

but wondered why it would need adjustment - e.g. evidence of panel replacement or accident?

I don't think that it necessarily points to some catastrophic crash: plenty of cars this age will have had a light front-end accident, or just had the panels off to be painted for stone chips or minor scuffs. The headlamp gubbins might well have been repaired at some time and not properly re-aligned, there are plenty of innocent reasons why the gaps are uneven. As always, check underneath for bent metal but I'd say they would adjust back to even again. I've seen plenty of cars with poorly aligned headlight covers, front PUs or badge panels, and even the wrong wings fitted, but still very sound cars.

 

[Northern924]

If its an 87 the badge panel will be screw on, did it look like it'd been removed? I ask because that looks very clean for a 87, very likely its been sprayed looking at it from the pictures it does look very clean, but have a look underneath the headlight pods, around the inside of the badge panel and just see if there are any creases or areas that look cleaner than the rest of the engine bay.

 

[robwright]

ORIGINAL: vincematthews There's a nice looking square dash in Sandy, Beds apparently low miles. I assume the square vs oval dash has been done to death elsewhere?

If you are talking about the guards red one then it isn't that nice. I went to view it with Andy Hairyarse and it is a right plum!!!! Worth £1k max if that. Certainly not the £3995 they are asking [] Funny thing is the dealer was asking me what the problems were with it. He didn't have a clue [&:]

 

[Diver944]

I seem to remember one meet where we lined the cars up and checked whose headlamp covers were flush with the badge panel when closed. Some sticked up and some sat low but only one or two were dead flush [] I think they were both S2's before Oli pipes in <<<<< joke []