1983 Porsche 944
The finished product.
How it all started...
Pick Up
I found this gem burried under a bunch of spare parts at the European Auto Salvage Yard in Emeryville, also known as, EASY. I had seen it a few times when I had gone up there for the cars and coffee put on by the R-Gruppe. After looking around for a 944 and seeing some in pretty bad shape, I had to buy this before someone else stole it out from under me.
Deep Cleaning
I took the seat out in order to give myself some room to work on the interior. I discovered that the previous owner had created a rats nest of wiring that I will need to cut out and simplify. After I cleaned the carpets, and got the windows to close I was able to give the car a much needed wash.
After a Wash
Immediately after bringing it back home and vacuuming the interior I washed the car to see what I was working with. The car was in pretty good shape, the paint turned out to be better than expected and all of the lights functioned properly to my surprise.
The Wheels
I acquired a set of BBS Mahle wheels from a post on Pelican parts. I had wanted a set of gold BBS wheels since I first got into cars. Unfortunately they showed up in pretty rough shape and they needed some work. I began to polish them with a drill and a buffing wheel attachment. About two hours later I had a single buffed wheel.
The Problem
This was the best wheel of the set. The other wheels had deteriorated from the accumulation of brake dust and the gold paint was looking pretty shabby. I attempted to clean them up but the damage was done.
Painting
I decided to do away with the original gold color all together. However, in order to get the paint to stick to the surface I had to bead blast the original coat off. This process seemed to take an eternity, each wheel had to slowly be blasted away to bare aluminum and the original coat was putting up a fight. Eventually, each wheel was ready for paint.
The Finished Product
Polishing, blasting, masking, and hours and hours of time and effort, and this is what I got. I decided to go with the color white because I wanted something unique. I wanted the wheels to pop against the black paint of the body, and reflect my own taste. Not many people in the Porsche community would have chosen a color like this for their wheels which played a part in my decision.
The Speed Sensors
I'm skipping through a ton of the work I didn't get a chance to document. I changed the clutch which involved taking pretty much everything on this car apart just to get to it. Removing the exhaust, dropping the transmission, sliding back the central tube, sliding back the drive shaft and removing the bell housing. The worst part about all of this was probably getting these speed sensors out. Hard to reach and nearly impossible to wrench on, I ended up breaking one of the two and replaced both with new parts. During these many steps my hands were absolutely filthy and I did not want to touch my phone in the process.
The Belts and Other Miscellaneous Work
I replaced all of the belts on this car which was quite the challenge. Along with the belts, I replaced the brake master cylinder, the brake lines, the clutch slave cylinder, the radiator, the radiator cooling hoses, and the water pump, and the thermostat. The brakes had to be rebuilt with fresh seals, which also involved bead blasting the calipers and repainting them. I also removed the tint from the windows to give the car a more refined look.
Cooling System
The car was running hot and after investigation I noticed that the new radiator coolant hose had rubbed against a pulley and been severed causing a leak and a lack of circulation. Eventually after the work was complete the car ran properly.
Radwood Norcal
This show marked the completion of my car. I had put in an unbelievable amount of work to get to this point. I was still waiting on my seats to arrive from Thailand but the show required a submission photo so the stock seats had to do for the picture. Finally the seats came and I installed them, buttoned up the interior with fresh door panels, and installed a Momo racing steering wheel. I was beyond excited to have made it to this point. Lots and lots of time with the clay bar and buffer went into the paint to get it to its final form, which you can see below.
New Seats
Looking fresh.
Momo Wheel
A steering wheel with a racing style center line was another one of my must haves for this build.