Just bought a new 944T

[ukporker]

Hi all,
After selling my 1987 944t last year and buying a BMW 540 Sport [:'(] I started to get withdrawal symptoms.
So a few weeks ago I started to look for another 944T - and found one which I picked up on Saturday.
It is the red 1989 944T that was once owned by David Benjamin (F 835 VJT) that I understand has been lightly modified by David when he owned it.
It has "unfortunately" gone to pot somewhat as it appears to have lived in a pub car park since he sold it to the PO.
It is a Guards Red car but was powder pink when I saw it but the parts of the car I have managed to clean up so far are turning out OK.
The mechanicals seem to be ok and it still pulls like the proverbial train.
The modifications that were done to it were (I think) Tial 38mm wastegate, some sort of performance chip, 55lb injectors, 3 Bar FPR and some sort of electronic boost controller - can anybody who remembers the car confirm this or tell me somthing different.
The PO told me that Jon Mitchell had somthing to do with the upgrades ? (Jon is that correct).

The two main things that I can find wrong with it so far are (1) the drivers wing mirror is broken - the whole thing swivels and flops around and (2) the aircon is not working and the heater blower switch only works on number 4.
Has anyone got a Guards red drivers side mirror they want to sell?

I will post some pics when I have got it cleaned up a bit.

Richard

 

[Indi9xx]

Hi Richard,

I can confirm that we were involved in some servicing of the car and some of the modifications, however much of the modification was done by Tony (on here) and David.

From memory it has a chip, 55lbs injectors, standard turbo and a baby tial wastegate and a greddy electronic boost controller.

It used to be one of the UK's highest torque 944 turbos on the league.

With the mirror, if its swiveling it can be repaired, but it involves taking the mirror off.

Where in the UK are you?

 

[ukporker]

Hi Jon - thanks for that info - I am not surprised that it was high in the torque table - this is the first modified one that I have driven - I will have to be careful in the wet []
I am in Norfolk - near Diss.

Richard

 

[Indi9xx]

Well apart from the last year or two of neglect by the sounds of it, you have bought yourself a solid I car I think, It was a real nice example back then, I think he sold it for about £8k to £9k and I think he had a glimmer of regret at letting it go.

 

[ukporker]

With the mirror, if its swiveling it can be repaired, but it involves taking the mirror off.

So what do I need to repair this mirror - are there spare parts available and is it a DIY job or do I need to send it somewhere?

Richard

 

[Diver944]

Welcome back to the fold []

It was indeed a memorable car and is still 3rd on Ricks UK league for torque (as well as 9th for bhp). I can remember Davids delighted face as we saw the numbers on the screen outside the Dyno

http://www.cannell.co.uk/944%20UK%20League.htm

I can remember Davids delighted face as he saw the numbers appear on the screen outside the Dyno cell. Tony (Sidestream Tuning) face was less delighted as it had beaten his own car at the time []

http://www.cannell.co.uk/UKL%20F835VJT.htm

 

[Fen]

ORIGINAL: ukporker

With the mirror, if its swiveling it can be repaired, but it involves taking the mirror off.

So what do I need to repair this mirror - are there spare parts available and is it a DIY job or do I need to send it somewhere?

Richard

You won''t need anything in terms of parts, it will just have come apart inside. Unfortunately it's a pain to fix. Basically there is a hollow pin that holds the two halves together. The pin is in two sections one of which goes up inside the other and is turned 90 degrees so it latches bayonet style. That's all simple, but around this pin is a spring to maintain tension on the pin and force some teeth on the top section to hold in corresponding slots in the base to keep the angle in the right place, but to allow folding in. The spring is strong enough to be a pain. To make matters worse the wiring for the heating and motor runs through the middle of the pin, and due to the size of the plug on the door end of the mirror there is no way to remove it it without taking each of the (6?) wires out of the plug so the can pass individually through the hole.

Even with the wires removed it's a tricky job as you have to push against the spring while trying to rotate the bottom half of the pin so it latches, all this while trying to work on a mirror that is off the car so difficult to hold without risking damage ot the paint. Having done in a couple of times with 968 mirrors (which are ened harder to hold due to the shape) I'd say that with the wiring in place it would be virtually impossible. i suspect there are two special tools for the job, one I know exists to remove the pins from the plug and the other I suspect exists is some form of key to locate in the pin to help rotate it; the pin doesn't have a hex or splines or anything as I recall, just 4 slots on a chamfer.

The failure can be due to a broken lug on the bayonet of part of the pin (my 964 had that) but more often is just because the pin has rotated while the mirror is being folded out or in. For that reason I would not recommend folding in Porsche mirrors (flag or teardrop) unless absolutely necessary as it's a sod of a job to have to do for little reason.

 

[ukporker]

Thanks for that Fen - I will have a go and see how I get on.
Can I cut the wires and remove the mirror completly and reconnect them (with proper connectors) when I have fixed the mirror - does enough wire pull out from the door to be able to reconnect? This looks like a bu***r of a job.
It might be easier to try and source a secondhand one from a breakers in the correct colour.

Richard

 

[ukporker]

Thanks for the welcome back Paul - have you repaired Lil yet ?
I am still really glad I did'nt have a helmet with me on that evening at Snetterton[8|]

Richard

 

[Fen]

ORIGINAL: ukporker

Thanks for that Fen - I will have a go and see how I get on.
Can I cut the wires and remove the mirror completly and reconnect them (with proper connectors) when I have fixed the mirror - does enough wire pull out from the door to be able to reconnect? This looks like a bu***r of a job.
It might be easier to try and source a secondhand one from a breakers in the correct colour.

Richard

There is quite a lot of wire spare - you can get the plug out of the door and so disconnect the mirror to remove it completely. I suspect most teardrop mirror conversions use cutting the wires as the method - you could cut both sides of the plug off and use bullet connectors to refit for example. Check the wiring colours before you cut though as I think they may not match between mirror and car. The certainly don't match between later motors and earlier cars.

It's a frustrating job, all the more so because of the reason behind needing to do it at all.

 

[ukporker]

Thanks Fen - I will give it a go and let you all know how I got on - or not as the case may be.

Richard

 

[Frenchy]

Out of interest what colour are 55lb injectors ? standard ones are green unsure of the setting on these though ?

 

[ukporker]

Frenchy
I have no idea what colour they are - I suspect that I would need to take them out to find out and if I did that I would probably break somthing or not be able to get them back in.
I expect someone with more knowledge will be on here soon and be able to tell you.

Richard

 

[piperboxster]

Damn, I saw that car and thought "its got to be a dog"

If I had seen it and knew Jon would give it a glowing report, less it needing some tlc to remove the last couple of years neglect I would have bought it in a flash!

What a bargain!

On the 944 I had years ago I had to remove the mirrors to get the stone chips painted (it saved me about £150 taking them off and refitting them myself back then). I remember removing the mirror glass, unscrewing the motor pack thing inside, pulling the pins out of the multi connector inside, then removing the mirror with an allen key (cant remember where I put it) and then pulling the wires through the base. It was fiddly, but I removed both mirrors on a saturday afternoon in the time it took the wife to go to the supermarket and back (couple of hours I think) and the same the following weekend.

 

[Fen]

But that's the easy bit [8D] - compressing the spring while rotating the pin that holds the base onto the body and not damaging the paint is the really tricky part - well, apart from the pins I guess. I have drawn a lot of blood over the years trying to get those pins out with small screwdrivers []

 

[piperboxster]

I did not do the spring bit, I let the bodyshop do that, if they did actually split them !?!?!?

With the pins I recall playing with them for ages, then just yanking them out and once out I bent the tiny detent bit back so it barbed (correct word?) as it was inserted.

No blood or tears, just brute force and LOTS of ignorance!

 

[ukporker]

Damn, I saw that car and thought "its got to be a dog"

If I had seen it and knew Jon would give it a glowing report, less it needing some tlc to remove the last couple of years neglect I would have bought it in a flash!

What a bargain!

Dan - yes I thought the same as you initially from the advert.
On investigation I found out that the PO had advertised the car a couple of months earlier for £7500 but did not manage to sell it (although he told me that he had turned down an offer for £7000)
When I went to see the car it drove very well but he had obviously skimped on the maintenance. He had the belts changed and re tensioned (GT One) but there was no stamp in the book for any services during his ownership. The oil and filter had been changed and a couple of other jobs had been done. As I said earlier, the paint work had been completely neglected, the aircon is not working and I estimate that the clutch is about threequarters worn.
There is what appears to be a small amount of rust at the bottom of the wing just in front of the drivers side rear wheel but the cills (or is it sills) seem ok.
He was asking £5750 for it - I offered £5000 which he accepted.

Overall a good deal - perhaps or perhaps not - time will tell.

I am still working on the paintwork - each panel is getting Tcut followed by a clay block followed by Zymol HD cleanse followed by Zymol wax[8D]
The paint under the crap is in quite good condition.


Richard

 

[appletonn]

TTIUWP!![]

 

[ukporker]

OK - I will ask - what does TTIUWP stand for ?

Richard

 

[appletonn]

'This post is useless without pics'![]

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