Old Newbie

[blease]

Hi all,
Just returned from my first long drive in a 944 S2, bringing it home from purchase. Basically scratching an itch to see what these cars are like. Came into Porsche world via a cracking 3.2 Carrera (if any one knows where B812 RLN is now I'd love to hear) and now drive a 996 C2 Cab. This is a great car but I always feel a bit nervous in the wallet area when I track it. So I have got the S2 mainly as a track day tool. First impressions are good. The car is nice and flexible and runs well for a 21 year old with nearly 200,000 up. Brakes strong and true and steers well but she is sitting a bit low on the rear offside wheel. Hope that is just a tired suspension unit. Car has a half cage already fitted and is partly stripped ready for the track. Body work generally good (inner sills look good when viewed through the B post peep hole). MOT'd last month. Got no service history so first jobs will be:

Belts, idlers, chain and slipper pad.
Presumably water pump?
Check the suspension units.

Any other 'must do's' for a car in this state?
Is Bert Gear best source for these service items?

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Hi and welcome to the wonderful world of
944!
Belts yes and certainly check the water pump.
Also check the cam chain, sprockets and slippers - they are not on the Porsche schedule but can
can cause havoc if there is a problem.
Uneven ride height can be the spring plate adjustment.
That should get you started!
Cheers
Mike

 

[pauljmcnulty]

What Mike says. []

I'd add in check all the ignition components, many of the cars still run with very worn dizzy caps and leads that are falling apart. Fuel and brake lines corrode, and I'd check the head gasket if it's going to be driven hard on track.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

And, change the gearbox oil. Checking the "fill" plug comes out before you drain it. []

 

[AntB]

I guess a good geo setup too could be in order...

 

[912UK]

I will join you I too just bought a cab for the wife.. so we can learn togeather I have looked and my car has had

new disy and cap , new gearbox oil sweptco new belts ( not water pump will change )
new chain 58k and poss new bushes but will look to replace anyway as cheap parts
new rear shocks and also wheel bearings and claipers, pads , handbrake parking shoes , lower front A arms
tyres can't think what else.. all the important stuff anyway

so it looks like that list seems to be the list that they all need at some stage.

 

[blease]

Thanks guys. Nice welcome!
The tip about the spring plate adjustment is very helpful...will look into that.
Was looking at the Promax ignition upgrade kit as a sensible thing to do.
Oh, and I must buy a DME relay! I hear tell that the 993 item is more reliable...is this true?

 

[DavidL]

I think if you order a new DME for a 944 it will come as a 993 part. Anything marked 944 will be a few years old and potentially as unreliable as the one in the car!

 

[blease]

Had a useful chat with Bert at Berlyn...a very honest bloke it seems to me. Certainly did not want to sell me anything more than he thought I needed so the water pump and head gasket are on hold at the mo'.
Thinking about having a crack at changing the belts and chain myself. Have armed myself with the relevant pages from Clarks Garage....what a useful resource! Has anyone got helpful tips e.g. is there something that could really trip up a novice mechanic? Any useful tricks of the trade? The last serious spannering I did was as an impecunious student trying to keep an old BSA, an Imp and a Spitfire on the road!

Also managed to get a couple of Cobra Monaco seats on fleabay. Any tips about fitting? Seats have bottom mounts and currently sit on Honda Civic type R mounts.
Finally (typical newbie....nowt but questions!) I will be looking to fit fast road/trackday suspension. What is generally reckoned to be a good and reasonably priced set up? Spax seems quite good value but what are the forum views?

Oh, Paul can I put her on the register please?

 

[zcacogp]

Blease,

Funnily enough I am about to do the belts and cam chain on my S2 this weekend, and have just posted a thread asking for helful tips here:

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=575798

It may be worth keeping an eye on it.

There is much debate about suspension on here, but the general concensus is that KWv3 is by far and away the best choice, although it is very expensive (well into 4 figures, and probably about 1/3rd of the value of the car.) Coming down in price from here there are a few options, none of them very cheap any more. The Koni adjustables used to be good value, but they have gone up in price a lot recently. The standard (Sachs and Fitchel) parts are not to be sneezed at if you can find them at anything less than wallet-busting money. A good geo set-up is essential, and not doing this (as well as replacing bushes and steering tie rods) is a false economy.

If the car is new to you then it is worth checking the calipers for the dreaded plate lift. A google search will tell you all you need to know about this.

Seats: lots of the track boys on here seem to have regular arguments about seats and harnesses; I'm sure one of them will be along shortly to help you out.


Oli.

 

[blease]

Thanks Oli, just spotted your thread so I will look for other comments plus your own after this weekend. Watched the helpful videos on youtube and the flywheel lock looked a pretty sensible move to me. It looks like you could make your own. Given all the nervousness about keeping everything in alignment I would have thought it a pretty essential step?
Will probably get my engine fettled and then do a track day to see what issues in braking/suspension get thrown up.

 

[zcacogp]

Ooooh, youtube videos? Got linkage? Those could be helpful ...


Oli.

 

[egan1]

Video tutorials on timing belt and water pump change for a turbo
http://www.youtube.com/user/vsvenson#p/u/15/nqc0mm-7ukY

 

[zcacogp]

>Clicks<
>Watches<

Thanks!


Oli.

 

[blease]

still bonding with the car...its beautiful! checked the rain drains today. All clear! Thick strimmer line makes an ideal cleaner.
But, feeling like a dork, could not work out how to get sunroof off. How do you release it from rear toothed elevating mechanisms?!

 

[zcacogp]

Blease,

In short:

Turn the ignition off.
Turn the ignition on to the first position. (NOTE: this is only very slightly indented, and you may not have noticed it. What you usually think of as 'first' position is probably second.)
Press the sunroof up side of the rocker switch. (I think it's up. If not, it will do nothing and you need to try 'down' instead.)
The sunroof legs will retract into the car.
Unclip the two flaps at the front of the sunroof, lift the back of it right up and slide the front out from the windflap. (It is a good idea to have a friend helping you with this stage when you first do it - the sunroof is heavier than you expect and if you drop it on the roof of the car you risk damaging something.)

Refitting is easy. Slot the front back in, lower the sunroof into the car and turn the ignition on. Or lock the car. Either will cause the legs to re-attach.

Enjoy! They are lovely cars with the rooves out.


Oli.

 

[blease]

Ah! I had the ignition fully on. Will try this asap!

 

[blease]

Thanks Oli, the sunroof came off real easy. Hope your cam-belt change went OK. The easy way to re-install the sunroof single handed is to stand on the sill with the door open.

Cranked up the offside to have the wheels off today to 1. Find out what suspension units I have on the car. 2. to investigate why the rear off side sits lower than the near side.
I have yellow Koni K2 adjustable front struts so I plan to replace the inserts. At the back I have old looking black boge dampers so these need replacing with konis. There are no 'helper' springs. Are these a good idea or not? The torsion bar plate looks heavily corroded and when I put the car back on its wheels, the rear end stayed very jacked up until I released the handbrake and then it collapsed back down to its abnormally low level. So it seems like something is sticking...perhaps it is the damper that is faulty? Annoyingly, after all this, when I drove off the handbrake warning light would not extinguish. Again, maybe something sticking? I plan to get every thing jetwashed and then WD 40'd so I can try to see what is going on.

 

[Diver944]

If you fit a rear shock that has coilover helper springs you will probably need to reindex the torsion bars or you will raise the ride height, though some people have been able to get round this by using the eccentric ride height adjusters on the rear swing arms.

The handbrake light is activated by a switch at the base of the lever by the seat and is not a major job to readjust or replace if you're having problems (though its a bit fiddly if you don't take the seat out for access)

 

[blease]

Thanks Diver, will look into that.
In the meantime, here's a few pics.

Hmm, I get a message saying only one image per post....how do people upload multiples??