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Hi Guys all the way from New Zealand

D

daz944nz

New member
I've just bought my 1st Porsche 944 (1985) Guardsman Red. It is the realisation of a boyhood dream from way back when. The car appears to have come from the UK in the early 90's. I came across in 2000.

I have been searching for an on line forum for a wee while and glad to found have this one.

I have rebuilt 3 Fiat X1/9 in my time and know very little about the 944. I have read most of the threads available and would be keen to know the best place to source some parts.

My list is growing but at the moment my 1st priority is a new Dash. I just know postage will be a killer and I'm hoping that the English Pound doesn't eat too much out of the Kiwi $. Actual I lied my 1st priority is fixing the battery bay.......any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Darren

 
Hope you enjoy your purchase Darren. I had the same boy hood dream and now I'm on my second 944, the first coming to an unfortunate end....lol. They are such great cars if maintained and looked after, and are becoming a rare sight in this part of the world. How common are they down in New Zealand? I just under took a dash swap as mine was cracked. It's a fairly simple job. I followed the instructions on www.clarks-garage.com it's really helpful. Do a search on my posts for some finished pictures. Any way enjoy the car and the forum, there's some great guys on here with an endless amount of knowledge. Gary
 
Not sure of your import duties and trade relationships with various countries, but you'll probably find it's cheaper to buy many parts out of the US. Shop around I guess.
 
Welcome ! After working on X1/9's, a 944 should be a doddle - still remember the contortions required to repair a slave cylinder on an X1/9 year's ago...... Good source of parts from the USA is 944online, but don't forget to try Porsche main dealers at home - they can be very good on price, although I doubt you will manage to get a dash from them.

944online also have some good technical articles on the forum so worth taking a look.

I am guessing the battery tray is rusted/eaten through ?
 
Hi Patrick many thanks for your response and I'll check out the US sites. I've sold many an X1/9 part over there and purchased a few parts and never paid any duty.......here's hoping nothing has changed. I might be in Sydney in Nov coaching the ANZAC Squad (Combined Services Oz / Kiwi).

Darren
 
Hi Al thanks for the thread greatly appreciated. The 944 isn't that common over here as most have been converted for the race track (I live just down the road from one of the main tracks in NZ).....those road cars that are for sale seem a little over priced but there again it is a Porsche. Good to know that you are familiar with the X1/9 and my latest rebuild requires a respray before summer.....time is getting short lol.

Sadly the Porsche dealers over here seem to want a fair few $$'s for even the smallest of parts......I think its called a monopoly lol.

You guessed it the battery bay has some rust so I'm trying to work out the best way to fix it.......with the wiring and fuse boxes under the affected area I'm a little concerned attempting to cut it out and rewelding a new panel. I'm considering either a carbon fibre filler or fibreglass.....I'm happy to take advice.

I've also just found out that my bonnet release isn't so much releasing as just hanging!

Look forward to staying in touch

Darren
 
Hi Gary many thanks for the thread and looking forward to building my mechanical knowledge of these cars.

Darren
 
Is the battery bay a rust issue? Rust seems to be just starting to come up as a serious issue on these cars, not bad for something a quarter of a century old. Get it sorted right and I reckon they'll go that again with not excessive maintenance. Just be sure to keep using it. They only really rust when sat for long periods.

As said above these cars are extremely helpful and most mechanical jobs and logical and doable. I'm a big fan of New Zealand, made more so by the extensive watching of the 'High Octane' films made there. Always filmed in a good spirit and some great racing footage, tests and information guides in there too.
 
Hi thanks for the thread, the car was sat for a while before I purchased her.......rest assured she is running most days now.

I'm on shift tonight and plan to address the rust issue and then hopefully the problem will go away.

New Zealand is truly an awesome place I moved here from the UK 10 years ago and have never been back.......thats not to say I don't miss the old English Bitter or the Fish and Chips
 
Darren, are you on North or South Is? I've been to the South and it's truly breathtaking. Even got used to that rudukuluss ixsunt lol. Fantastic geography and magnificent roads. It made me want to put my car on a boat and go for a driving tour.

Depending on what you want to do with your car, but yes, basically you will buy cheaper out of the U.S. than the UK or Europe. As for car prices, well you guys pay a lot less than we do the last time I looked. You have a much lower rate of wallet suction from the NZ govt. than the thieves in charge here. Shrouded as Import tax to protect our local industry. Ha.
"Let me think. Do I want the Holden or the Porsche. They're so similar, hmm..."

btw, what are you actually coaching? Rugby?
 
I'm living on Lower North Island about an hour and a half outside of Wellington. I work on one of the Kiwi Air Bases.

I've been over here for 10 years and still loving it..............Holdens are we weekend hire car for me on the odd occassion I can afford the fuel lol.

I'm the current Combined Services Rugby Union coach not bad for a Pome lol.

Looking forward to staying in touch

Darren
 
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