Worn seat bolster? and a few other questions

[swright]

Hello, im looking at an 86D 951 in the morning. The car has done 129,000+ miles. My question is, at what miles would you expect the seat bolster to start to wear? The one im looking at is holed quite badly(from the pics i have seen) It has a light (linnen?) interior.

I have had a good chin wag with the owner who has been very honest with me about the few things it needs doing. Namely, it has a very slight oil leak from the front crankshaft seal and there are a few bits of bodywork to sort out. I have managed to get him down to £2500(he has a new company car and has no space for it so needs to sell etc)

What else apart from the obvious oily bits and the rust situation should i pay extra attention to when checking it over tomorrow?

I had an 84 LUX about ten years ago and what a fantastic car it was. after i got rid i always promised myself i would have a 951one day and with how cheap they now are, now is the time[8D]

Cheers,
Stu

 

[DavidL]

ORIGINAL: swright

Hello, im looking at an 86D 951 in the morning. The car has done 129,000+ miles. My question is, at what miles would you expect the seat bolster to start to wear? The one im looking at is holed quite badly(from the pics i have seen) It has a light (linnen?) interior.

Bearing in mind the car is 22 years old it would be more surprising if the seat wasn't a bit worn! Sports seats whilst more desireable will wear more but any can be repaired by a decent upholsterer. Certainly not a deal breaker.

ORIGINAL: swright
I have had a good chin wag with the owner who has been very honest with me about the few things it needs doing. Namely, it has a very slight oil leak from the front crankshaft seal and there are a few bits of bodywork to sort out. I have managed to get him down to £2500(he has a new company car and has no space for it so needs to sell etc)

What else apart from the obvious oily bits and the rust situation should i pay extra attention to when checking it over tomorrow?

It depends what is rusty. Several owners have paid 2K plus to sort out sills and wheel arches properly - take the vents out in the door shuts and have a peer into the gap between the sills. Expect a degree of surface corrosion but hopefully it won't look like a day old 70s Alfa!
Oily bits - oil seals as mentioned, belts, brakes, power steering racks, clutch etc. Nothing is unfixable but unless you can do it yourself these are not cheap cars to fix even if they are cheap to buy.
I would want to see bills for a number of these things done recently - say 4 years otherwise it will be an expensive first year.
Budget 1500 for that year regardless of its apparent condition - bet you spend it!
Go in with you eyes open and your chequebook shut (to begin with) - bargain hard and expect to spend what you knock off (and then some) quite soon.
But by then you will have a very nice car.
Hope that helps.

 

[swright]

Thanks for the info David. I realy apreciate that.

I fully understand that its going to need work and money but im very handy with the tools etc so i should be ok(ish) on that front. I also use a superb mechanic who looks after many classics and modern exotica alike and is very reasonbly priced.

Im certainly going to view the car with a clamped shut wallet until im happy that it aint a rot box and/or a mechanical nightmare. []

The car has had a new clutch 17,000 miles ago, new belts i think 5.000 miles ago. So it needs new belts etc to be safe which would be done at the same time as the crank oil seal. Also new brakes etc not so long ago

Cheers,
Stu

 

[peanut]

if the seats are sports with larger wings then its probably been caused by the rivets in the rear pockets of 501 jeans as most of the bolster wear and damage is.


You can either put a patch repair over the hole using a small piece of material from somewhere under the seat or cut some from a scrapped seat or better still replace the seat entirely. Most driver seats are going to show similar wear I'm not sure if you could use the seat back off a passenger seat which usually have a lot less wear?

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: peanut

I'm not sure if you could use the seat back off a passenger seat which usually have a lot less wear?

Yes, you can swap the seat back from the passnger side onto the drivers side and vice versa. Our seats have the tilt lever on both sides so it makes no difference and helps even up the wear

 

[MarkK]

I had the linen leather seats redyed on my 90 turbo, while they had it they retrimmed one bolster,used to be a pic of it on their website gone now though(classic car services leicester) http://www.classiccarservices.co.uk/private/restoration_p.html , i was really pleased with the results, interior looks alot tider, the redye was 250ish pounds i think,the bolster was about 80 pounds on top,i was pleased with the work freshened up the interior without a full front seat retrim.

 

[peanut]

I am not one for originality myself,afterall when a car is 20 years old its unlikely anything hasn't been either replaced or upgraded.
I would look for seats from another car ,not necessarily Porsche that were better condition and more comfortable.
Yesterday I looked in a Volvo est of all things and saw the most gorgeous seats I have ever seen (except some old Citreon ones ).
They were full cream leather with wide sports bolsters and would fit a 944 .They were so nice I'm seriously considering buying one from a breakers for my computer station !

 

[swright]

Well, i bought it[] It drove so nice and tight. Nice quiet gearbox, no slack in the torque tube at all, no knocks or bangs. The engine and turbo are sweet as a nut, The paint is immaculate gleaming white. No leaky roof or hatch. The sills do need attention but i know a good chap who could sort out the welding and il be able to paint. And oh my word its fast[] It does need a boost enhancer though that's for sure. lots and lots of bills including the clutch, brake overhaul(pistons and seals) etc etc.

Cheers for all the info guys. I expect il be on here quite often from now on, hopefully not with tails of woe[]


Cheers,
Stu

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: swright

Cheers for all the info guys. I expect il be on here quite often from now on, hopefully not with tails of woe[]

Congratulations Stu [] I also hope we have no more tails of woe, we've had too many lately.

Feel free to post pics as soon as you have a chance

 

[swright]

Thanks Paul. I dont pick it up til next weekend but this is the car http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280238989817&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018

Ignore the S2 part!! LOL! I think the wrong listing put a lot of people off bidding. Which is fine by me as i got what i think is quite a bargin.

Cheers,
Stu

 

[appletonn]

Stu, looks great in white - welcome aboard![]

Look forward to hearing your tales of 'fettling' as the weeks go on

Now altogther now...

"Hi, my name is ****** and I am addicted to BOOOOOOST!"[]

 

[swright]

Thanks Nick. i really do like them in white. I have only owned two now and both being white[] This one really has a mile deep shine. In fact the paint is almost immaculate apart from the sills[&o] But il have them done soon.

 

[appletonn]

It's funny how colour fashions change and some cars just look so good in white, yours being one of them.

Enjoy![]

 

[diabloam]

Stu
I bought an 86 951 in November, with a warranted and much paperwork backed mileage of 86k. Its bolster was ripped and worn which worried me, until as mentioned I jumped in a coupe of times with jeans on and stud catched right on that point on bolster so dont worry, so can actually happen at non millenium falcon mileages.

Also my sills need attension but although it looks bad, probably thank to galvanising it hadnt spread to structural areas and it passed MOT last week with holed and bubbled sills. This appears to be an issue most long term 944 owners have to face at some point. You car looks great in white and although they need occasional money spent on them they are well worth it, I have done 5k miles in mine and its been great, enjoy!