Early 944 NA Build

Hi folks,

I don't have the time to transpose all of the images & content from the Rennlist thread I started a while ago, but I'd like to share my build in-progress. It's a Guards Red 1983 Porsche 944, NA 5spd. I'll be building it for time attack, but I certainly won't aim to win anything for a while (if ever). It's more of a hobby / fun car than anything else. I'm aiming to get it track-ready and get seat time before doing any real 'performance' mods beyond tires and small stuff.

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/1212287-83-944-repair-and-build-log.html

Thus far:

• I've repaired a E36 M3-ton of rust damage and welded in new 22ga sheet metal for the battery box/firewall area. 
• Fortuitous CL find - I picked up a 6pt bolt-in Autopower roll cage, removed a bit of surface rust and updated the paint.
• Purchased safety gear: harnesses, helmet, FHR (Zamp 6A)
• Corbeau FX1 seats - initially received poor quality items.. shipping them back for FX1 Pro, slimmer and hoping they are not equally as bad in stitching/bolstering
• 16" BBS wheels made in W. Germany... they're old - stripped and powder coated (in progress)
• Throttle cable cam (only performance mod I'll do.. it's so cheap) 
• Fixed headlight brackets / motor delete
• NRG quick release + momo hub + Momo Master (another CL find) 

There are a few little things that need to be tidied up, like the relay that controls the electric fans... at some point it was rewired directly to the battery/thermoswitch and routed into the battery box compartment. Not 100% sure why, but it works. I'd also like to get a battery cutoff switch installed. I have the materials to fix the dash (you might see a dash cover in 1 pic, and ugly cracked dash afterwards). I'm not a fan of the plastic dashcovers.. just feels like you're sweeping it under the rug. 

Feels like I'm missing stuff, probably am. Check the other thread for more detail, I'll start updating here more frequently.. 

Probably coming in the next year or sooner:

• wilwood brakes
• koni yellow shocks/struts
• aftermarket control arms

The exciting bits... (very) long term goal/wishlist:

• 07k swap
• haltech nexus ecu/pdm 
• 951 trans + lsd, or audi 01e if it's easily viable by then
• widebody/gtp conversion
• custom weld-in cage

Anyway, I just had my 1st kid, so who knows what will come to pass. 

Looks great! 

Love it.  Welcome!

Congrats on the 1st kiddo!  Sorry about your sleep.  They are pretty awesome though, so there's that.  It has to be said, that I've not touched my project 924 since our first was born 4 years ago and our second was born 2 years ago, so I won't likely get time to play with it for another year or so.  Just priorities change with little ones.  Our second loves cars, so he'll likely spur me back into working on cars again.

Anyway, be careful with the Autopower landing pads, they are often undersized.  Double their size and make sure they are backed properly.  Would hate to have it punch through in the event you ever have to use it.

Looks like a good find.  

Thanks folks.... damn near reaching my budget for this build (for this year at least... 10k budget), the majority of the cost has been sunk in tools. Just bought a 20' car hauler w/ winch & toolbox, in hindsight I'm not sure it was a stellar deal... it's a lightly used 2020 BigTex 70CH-20BK model. 

I've only put ~40 miles on this so far and only a single trip. To my surprise there's a slight rumbling vibration around 71'sh mph (unloaded). Not sure if the vibration was resonance from concrete/crap Texas road conditions, or if there's something else lurking. I don't have a wdh (weight distribution hitch), just a bulldog collar lock. My F-150 is only rated for 500lb tongue weight without a wdh, but I can't imagine that limit would be met with an unloaded trailer.. of course, it's an intermittent issue and if I'm going slower or faster there's no real noticeable problem. The previous owner didn't have such issues (or so he says), but he also drove a 1-ton truck. 

As it pertains to the budget... I have a wee bit of space left, enough for a set of tires for the 16" wheels, maybe enough for the brakes I want from a private party on Rennlist.  Would probably be better suited to go ahead and get the koni shocks/struts first in the grand scheme of things... but I'm not sure how long the used bargain will last! 

Is the '83 pre-galvanized years? Just thought your comment about a lot of rust was curious (other than the battery box, which I think we've all dealt with, early or late car...). Mine had literally sat for 2 years with about 6" of water in it (leaking sunroof) before I bought it and still had zero rust other than the battery box. 

Rumbling noise may be the torque tube bearings, if I recall things I've read.....

Anyhow, nice color :)

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

1979-up were fully galvanized, before that it was galvanized to the midline.

what isn't galvanized is all of the bits bolted to the body and that's where the problems happen.

the battery box is a constant issue as most fail to remove the stupid rubber flappers on the drains, combined with parking uphill and an exposed battery, you get a rusted out battery tray.  Surprisingly, they don't have replacement pieces available.  Seems like a good product to bring to market.

There are a few options for suspension on the 924/944, but it's hard to go wrong with Ground Control's Koni pieces since the strut tops are adjustable and they keep your suspension travel among other bonuses.  It seems to work for the Spec 944 racers, etc.

Stefan (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

1979-up were fully galvanized, before that it was galvanized to the midline.

what isn't galvanized is all of the bits bolted to the body and that's where the problems happen.

the battery box is a constant issue as most fail to remove the stupid rubber flappers on the drains, combined with parking uphill and an exposed battery, you get a rusted out battery tray.  Surprisingly, they don't have replacement pieces available.  Seems like a good product to bring to market.

There are a few options for suspension on the 924/944, but it's hard to go wrong with Ground Control's Koni pieces since the strut tops are adjustable and they keep your suspension travel among other bonuses.  It seems to work for the Spec 944 racers, etc.

Yep that's why I simply rebuilt the entire tray in fiberglass (with some of the original metal left for support). Never want to worry about it again lol, since generally I do have to park the car uphill (But with a waterproof cover over it)

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/1212287-83-944-repair-and-build-log.html

I am not sure which thread to update, seems silly to keep both open. I put a long winded update on Rennlist, but for GRM... the wheels are done! Finally! More pics on the other thread.

I played a high risk gambit with my wife tonight. I got the tires and had them mounted and balanced today, and as I was clearing out the garage to make space to swap the wheels over, my wife came out with our infant daughter and sort of gave me the stank eye - the "you've been spending too much time on this" eyes. So, I made a risky bet. 

I bet her I could change all 4 wheels over in less than 20min. I told her if I didn't, I wouldn't spend a dime on the 944 in 2021. She gaffed, and said it would take an hour and a half for me to do so. I said "are you kidding? I have air tools". She said she thought it would still take me an hour+. 

That's the time remaining. It took me 12m37s to change all 4 wheels. I win. 

I went with Falken RT660,  225 50 all around, even though the rears are 8" and the front is 7". Though it is negligible overall, the front is perceptibly taller and less wide than the rear, which is both expected and yet a wee bit disappointing. 

Took a drive around the neighborhood (without seats) to see if the suspension might settle a bit, and see if there's any rubbing. I haven't found any issues yet. Also, here's picture in the overcast daylight conditions...

Now that I've satisfied my aesthetic ego... or at least finished the wheels/tires project, it's time to address the actual problems... 

The dash has come out, and surprisingly I didn't ruin the a-pillar trim to do it... pretty sure it'll go back on reasonably well!  

Bummer - the area I wanted to inspect (under the battery tray) is obscured by the A/C box (or maybe it's the heater core/box.. maybe both). I wasn't planning to disassemble that stuff. The further I get along in this disassembly, the more inclined I am to slap in a new ECU/PDM... it might be easier than reassembly, considering I've found several electrical joins held together with with masking tape. I really do need to inspect the area under the battery box though, I need to ensure it's painted and figure out where the remaining leaks are. If you're wondering why the kick panel is still attached in these photos... the screws that hold it to the air box are just spinning in place.

Once the rust repair/leak has been addressed I'll continue to strip the interior - I'll remove the carpeting, sound deadening and any crusty foam that crumbles to the touch. I'm indecisive as to whether I should keep or remove the trim. This will never be a daily driver for me. I'm not sure if I really care if there are bare A-pillars or not. I think I'm more concerned with how removing the trim will impact the sunroof section... I wouldn't want to screw it up, it does currently seal well. 

Additionally I'm indecisive as to whether I'll delete quasi-extraneous systems like the A/C and heater core/box. One on hand, the A/C wasn't working before I started this process. On the other hand I live in Texas. I'm not actually sure if the heater was working either, I hadn't had a reason to test it. I'm not really sure that the controls worked. I know the main blower part worked, but that's about it. Should I just delete the sunroof and get it over with? It wouldn't be hard to patch some sheet metal over that bare section, reinforce it with a bit of ribbing and fade it in with a bit of bondo and fresh paint... but the paint on this car is fair enough for a track car. Paint is not an expense I really want to take on... so I guess I'm inclined to keep the sunroof, if only because I'm cheap and unwilling to repaint the car (for now). Really do want to know if I can take off the headliner without screwing the pooch. I assume so..

I suppose I'm inclined to keep the heater, but I didn't really want to put the standard A/C controls back in place. Are there any simplistic options to control the heater without reusing stock wiring/controls, since they're questionably disfunctional as-is? 

I don't feel like I've made a lot of progress in the last month or so, but I have effectively totally stripped the car, weighed a bunch of junk and dropped 60+ lbs of carpet and miscellaneous grunge. I'm sure I'm adding that much weight, and more, back into the car with this Autopower 6-pt bolt-in roll cage.  At this point, I'm kind of stumped though. The cage feet are not fitting flush to the wheel well humps in any configuration I attempt. I put a couple of videos on YT to explore the "best" positions: 

Position 1: https://youtu.be/96LWALFPMao

• At least some of the holes are flush.. but I can slide a finger tip under in some spots

Position 2: https://youtu.be/tzbiH0_9mTI

• Much larger gap to the body, but I kind of expected the pads to be oriented this way

Any advice someone could offer about getting this to fit properly would be greatly appreciated. I am in-touch with Autopower and waiting to hear back what they think about it.

I've posted more on the Rennlist thread.. 

https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/1212287-83-944-repair-and-build-log-4.html

I don't have any direct experience, but generally speaking that seems to be par for the course with Autopower.  We had similar issues with one we installed in our old 200sx.  You get to modify/beat it into submission.

doubling or more the square footage of the feet is important as well, since that seems to be an area where they cut corners.

Get yourself a welder and some basic metal fab tools and make it fit.  Or sell it on to someone else and buy a better fitting kit.

Ultimately, they are AN option on the market, but I think there are other vendors selling better fitting and stronger cage kits for the 944.  I've heard good things about 944cage among others.

Good luck!

the wheels look amazing. did you powdercoat them at home?   any tips?

@Stefan - I have tig, stick & flux-core mig capabilities... I'm trying my hardest to not make this "bolt-in" a "weld-in", I'd rather pay for chromoly 4130 for weight savings and superior design if I'm going to go full-bore and weld the thing. It is disappointing to hear that this is a common theme with Autopower. Of the bolt-in cage manufactures, I was under the impression that Autopower was high quality. 

@jfryjfry - Yes, I did it at home using an Eastwood dual voltage gun and some of their black gloss powder. I bought a cheap old in-wall oven for $80 off Craigslist and wired it up with a 240v plug. I threaded that through the window into my laundry room, so I could bake the parts outside.  The prep is the hardest, most time consuming part. In my case, I tried a ton of different prep methods. When I started, the wheels had a few layers of old crappy powder on them. I decided to strip it. Of all the off-the-shelf consumer-ready chemical stripping methods Jasco Paint & Epoxy remover worked the best, but wasn't flawless by any means. I used Jasco, and then a pressure washer to blast off as much as I can. Some of the thinner bits came off with ease, some other spots were much more trying. I ended up using aluminum oxide dremel grinder bits to get into all of the nooks and crannies that still had little chunks of old powder coat on them. I would 100% recommend hot flocking, meaning you pre-bake the part to bring it to temp before spraying on the powder. I'd also recommend putting an in-line regulator and water filter directly on the gun - moisture definitely caused some issues, as did inconsistent air pressure. I was using a 50ft hose, which didn't help. After the prep, the thing I probably would have changed is... not doing it at night/dusk when the insects were out. I didn't have a paint booth by any means, and I wasn't expecting it to be perfect - but I didn't expect insects to be stupid enough to land in hot molten powder while I was hot-flocking it. There are mosquitos/flies permanently embedded in my wheels now.