Newbie - My first Porsche

tooooooon · May 27, 2007

Hi to all - after years of mostly Vw's including my current '72 Beetle and '87 Golf Gti I've today bought a 944. Wondered if I've done ok ?? Its a '83 manual 944 Lux in unmarked guards red with teledials - has comprehesive history all old bills/mot's mileage is 103,000. Everything works including aircon, electics and original factory alarm. Full toolkit with sunroof pouch thing and compressor. Tyres are new Michelin pilots and it has a full stainless exhaust. Very 80's unmarked brown leather interior. Came with a full mot and 8 months tax from an enthusiast who's really looked after it.
I paid £2k - mainly because it is going to needs a belt change as the history shows it was done 7 years and 20k ago. Figuring this will cost me around £500 - ??
Does that sound like a good deal for an early car??
Its not quite concours but isn't far off......
What do you guys reckon??
Cheers

Diver944 · May 27, 2007

It certainly sounds nice and is very unusual to have aircon and leather in an early Lux.

You are very wise to have budgeted for the belt change. If they have not been changed in seven years then you really need to get them changed as soon as possible (like straightaway, now). I have lost count of 944s with trashed engines due to poor belt maintenance and it would be a crying shame for your introduction to Porsche ownership to be marred by a big bill soon into your ownership. The standard Porsche interval is 4 years or 48k miles whichever is soonest but the consensus among owners is to err on the side of caution and drop that to every three years.

You may also find that the belt rollers will need replacing and if you have no history of the water pump being changed it's only a £150 part that is easily changed whilst the belts are off [8|]

Please post pictures as soon as you can, we'd love to see your new toy [

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pauljmcnulty · May 27, 2007

Welcome to the forum, T.... - no, I can't call you toooooooooon! [

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Sounds like a good deal. As always, check for rust in the cills and wings, a search on here for "rust" or "corrosion" will tell you what to look for. And, what to protect against...[

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An old stalwart of this forum reckoned you need to allow £1k for any 944 to put right the things that you didn't know were wrong when you bought it. The belts are long overdue, allow 3 years max. At over 100k the engine should just be run in nicely, but it's worth allowing for seals, rollers and water pump to be done with the belt service. Or, you could just do the belt service and then next year do it again to sort the seals, rollers and water pump. I did.....

A lux with leather and air, you'll love it! Far more practical than all those silly Turbo things.......[

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tooooooon · May 27, 2007

Cheers guys - friendly bunch obviously bit like the air cooled scene! I already have it pencilled in for the belt change at my mates garage but could do with a point in the right direction for where to get the bits - I normally use my local Gsf for vw stuff are they ok for the belts etc ?? Just had a look at the history and can't see when the water pump was done last so if what your saying is right I'll go for that as well (as I reckoned on spending a bit more on the car anyway)
As for rust i reckon I'm very lucky as there is none anywhere on the car even on the sills

tooooooon · May 27, 2007

or even cills ![8|]

pauljmcnulty · May 27, 2007

could do with a point in the right direction for where to get the bits

First point of call is always a Porsche dealer. They are often the cheapest, believe it or not, and they bring you your credit card slip on a silver tray. Really. Even for £9.45. [

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Secondly, call Bert Gear. As well as being the Tech Advisor on here, he runs a mail-order parts service. And, if it's a Porsche-only part he tells you, rather than just buying it in and marking it up like some traders......[

] His details are in the magazine and Porschefile.

Places like GSF or ECP are fine on the consumables. Rumour has it that some parts are VW compatible......[8|]

Cills or sills, we're all very liberal on here!

Suffolk944 · May 27, 2007

Hello and welcome - Your new aquisition sounds very nice - even if it does lack the joys of boost [

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Recently had my cars belts replaced and sure enough the water pump needed doing as well....[

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That said whatever you need to sort out on yours will be money well spent on what are truely excellent cars. Enjoy !

peanut · May 28, 2007

welcome T glad you finaly saw sense with your choice of car lol [

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An 83 with no rust in the cills is a surprise. I have an 89 S2 and it has rust in the cills !. I would guess the car has either been drystored all its life or the cills have been filled or replaced.
Its very uncommon for a non turbo car to have both leather seats and A/C they would have been very expensive options at the time of purchase. For very little more you could probably have bought a Turbo which has both as standard I believe. May be the seats have been upgraded at some time. My 86 lux seats looked like a dog had chewed the bolsters .Don't thrash it too hard until you've changed them belts . You'll love the car .

tooooooon · May 28, 2007

tooooooon · May 28, 2007

Once again thanks to all for the advice - the original sales invoice says aircon cost £732 and doesn't mention leather as one of the options but has it listed as part of the spec under the stock number of the car. The coin cassette holder cost a massive £61 and with all of the other options it came to £16,357 which I'm reliably informed was enough then to buy a 3 bedroomed house (I can't remember as I was only 14)
I did look at a couple of other cars and some were quite a bit cheaper but I was warned not to go near some of the cheap thrashed examples. The turbos and series 2 cars and even the oval dash early cars in similar condition to mine were a bit more money.
I think my car has had a very sheltered life and there isn't even any damage to the seat bolsters - I'm paranoid about it now I know the belts need doing so I guess I won't really be thrashing it until its all done. After that I fancy a track day somewhere.............
Put some photos up above - not very good because of the weather!!

tooooooon · May 28, 2007

So far after going over it again the clock/lighter don't work (fuse maybe?) and there are 3 small 1cm cracks on the dash - only found after reading about it on here as a common fault!

Diver944 · May 28, 2007

That does look very nice T [8D]

Now that I have seen the pics I can see that it is genuine leather (many people are fooled by the leatherette vinyl but yours is definately genuine)

I've tidied up your post to include the pics as opposed to a link - hope you dont mind [

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Diver944 · May 28, 2007

ORIGINAL: tooooooon

After that I fancy a track day somewhere.............

If you get the mechanicals sorted in time then there should be a few of us at the track evenings listed in my signature.

John Sims · May 28, 2007

ORIGINAL: peanut

......Its very uncommon for a non turbo car to have both leather seats and A/C they would have been very expensive options at the time of purchase. For very little more you could probably have bought a Turbo which has both as standard I believe. ......

Not when the original buyer bought the car in 1983. The Turbo wasn't announced until February 1985. [

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Hi T [

] and welcome to the forum.

Don't let these scaremongers worry you about rust. If the car was well looked after, and garaged, there is every possibility that it hasn't got rust - at least not to the extent you would need to worry about.

Shame about the Guards Red but at least you will be able to blend into the crowd. [

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tooooooon · May 28, 2007

ORIGINAL: Diver944

That does look very nice T [8D]

Now that I have seen the pics I can see that it is genuine leather (many people are fooled by the leatherette vinyl but yours is definately genuine)

I've tidied up your post to include the pics as opposed to a link - hope you dont mind []

Thanks - couldn't remember how to do the photo's and it kept saying file too large - The seller also said the car has "reflective anti-gatso plates" fitted they are very strange to look at depending on the angle the light catches them but I'm sure they don't work and I hopefully won't have to find out.

tooooooon · May 28, 2007

[/quote]

If you get the mechanicals sorted in time then there should be a few of us at the track evenings listed in my signature.
[/quote]

My main hobby is photography and I shoot for a local motor club in Essex so if I come along to a track day I'll spend half driving and half taking pic's - here is an example taken at North weald during the last meeting I went along to.
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a154/tooooooon/B0000830copy.jpg
And no I don't charge anyone as I just enjoy it so much.

pauljmcnulty · May 28, 2007

That is one very smart looking Lux.

Don't let John worry you about the colour - he's the Forum's official grumpy old g!t....[

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I think it's a steal at the price!

RC18B 911 turbo · May 28, 2007

looks very nice hope you have a lot of fun with it.

"reflective anti-gatso plates" fitted they are very strange to look at depending on the angle the light catches them but I'm sure they don't work and I hopefully won't have to find out.

got to be careful with having anti Gatso plates because if the police see you have them apparently they can have you done something or other can't remember what.