944 Turbo

[chrenan]

Thought I'd start a log of the work this winter. I've had the car since 2007, its a 1987 944 Turbo originally sold in Japan. The mod list can be found through my signature.

As usual there are lots of things to do over the snowy season. Drive, wrench, repeat as they say.



This winter I'll be replacing the factory oil cooler with a larger version, and install an oil temp gauge since the cooler comes with a sensor.

Its also been 5 years since the timing and balance shaft belts have been replaced. Since that is due I'm going to pull the head as well and do the head gasket and a head refresh since those will all be original. Hopefully I won't find anything too scary when I crack the engine open.

The big upgrade will be suspension. I'm currently running double the effective spring rate of the factory setup. Over the winter I'll go to coil overs all round which will let me run proper track spring rates. This means deleting the torsion bars in the rear. I've got a custom setup for the rear coming from Texas:



This setup raises the rear pivot point, therefore correcting for roll center, as it has also been moved a very small amount rearward. It has Rod Ends on the swing arms (solid spherical) to keep alignment specs from being as dynamic as a compliant stock set up. It also solves the difficulty in aligning the rear suspension by not having to get the camber and Toe exactly right at the same time when you tighten the bolts down. You can now get the toe close when adjusting for Camber. Tighten down the bolts, then you can adjust toe with the Turnbuckle that is designed in for easy adjustment after the fact.

Well, that's all for now. This weekend I rolled the car into its hibernation spot in the back of the garage and raised it up. The water is drained and its ready for wrenches.

[JustinL]

I'm pretty quick with the belts now, so just give me a shout and I'll lend a hand.

[chrenan]

Originally Posted by JustinL

I'm pretty quick with the belts now...

Pretty quick? You're as close as Edmonton has to a factory trained 944 tech now. I'll need you for sure, thanks Justin.

[aftermath]

I need him too , and we live so close he feels guilty if he says no !

[RSX-TACY]

I like... me jelly!

[chrenan]

Originally Posted by RSX-TACY

I like... me jelly!

Thanks! Now if only I could drive as well as you.

So I drained the oil last night. While I was waiting ages for the 20W-50 to come out I did a bit of work on the top, went from this:



To this:



Doesn't look like much progress, but its lots of little things (strut brace, plug wires, cap, fuel rail cover, fuel rail harness, throttle cable, rear intake mount bolts, dipstick mount, all electrical and vacuum connections to the intake) that will let me pull the fuel rail and intake next. After draining the fuel rail its 4 bolts and 2 hose connections on the rail and 8 bolts left on the intake and it all comes out.