31 years and rolling on

I should really update this blog more often. The truth is I don't think of the internet when I take TheHoff for a drive.

Just two weekends ago I pulled the 944 out of winter hibernation and took a friend on a drive. We took in some motorways miles and then some country back roads before pulling into a pub for lunch.

It was one of those glorious spring days in southern England and driving TheHoff was pure pleasure.

What I did notice was some clunking from up front & a pull to the right when I brakes, so when I arrived back at home I drove up on the ramps and took a good look around underneath. What I found was rather alarming - the right side rear wishbone bolts were lose...I tightened them up, and everything else I could find, and then took the car down to the garage to have the wheel alignment checked. With that sorted TheHoff was as solid as you'd like on the way home.

This morning it was annual MOT test time - that's the yearly road worthy test here in the UK. After running through the bulbs I discovered that the rear fog light wasn't illuminating and traced the problem to the relay in the fuse box. I swapped it out and up it lit. Quick fix and then off to the testing station. No problems there as the 944 now has a fresh MOT for another year. Happy days.

I've had some great drives over the past year but I really should get out more often!

What I did do last summer, which I've not mentioned in my blog is the few track day sessions at Brands Hatch. They've been great opportunities to develop driving skills but with two spins at Paddock Hill bend in cooler conditions, I've figured this car has a lot more potential than my current driving skills...it's easier to push when the suns out and there's more grip.

I've determined that new tyres will be next on the list before pushing harder on track again. These street performance tyres really do lack the grip the rear end needs when the track surface is cool and damp in the early evenings. If you've driven Paddock Hill bend at speed you'll know exactly what I mean - it's a challenging corner to get right.

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Bellhousing & Clutch fork removal

Removing the bellhousing from the Porsche 944 engine is not as complicated as it may seem - such as in this situation with my replacement engine. When I removed the original engine I detached it from the bellhousing in the car and removed the clutch pressure plate bolts through the starter motor hole - see my other post for details . In this case I decided to remove the clutch fork pivot shaft bolt. Begin by removing the four 17mm bellhousing bolts - you'll find that the bellhousing doesn't detach completely from the engine. It'll feel like its hooking on something. That something is the clutch fork pivot shaft inside the bellhousing. The bellhousing will be loose enough to rotate - turn it 180 degrees and peek through the access port which is now on top - this is what you'll see: If the engine is still in car you'll be looking at this from underneath. The pivot shaft needs to be extracted from the clutch fork. It's held in place by a small bolt on the...

HT lead order effects idle

When I fired up TheHoff after fitting the exhaust it was very obvious that the engine was not running as it should. It was a relief that it was firing up but being so close and not having a smooth running engine after all the hard work is a little discouraging. I videod the engine running and sent the clip to Jon Mitchell at JM Garage to get his views. He suggested it was either spark related or at worst cam timing being off. I spent a lot of time trying to ensure that the timing pulleys were aligned correctly during the rebuild and I'm confident it isn't the issue - but then again... So I began problem solving with the HT leads and spark plugs. Each of the plugs were extracted, cleaned (they were dark from all the firing and refiring I guess) and then connected to an inline spark tester to check if they were in fact getting a spark from the distributor. Thankfully they all were. Next thing to check was the order of the HT leads on the distributor. The 944 has a firin...

Engine out the top - Easy Peasy

After reading numerous posts, the Porsche workshop manual and Clarks Garage step-by-step engine removal guide - I felt confident enough to tackle the job. But I wanted to remove the engine from the top. As I discovered, it was pretty straight forward even for a novice! Result. I wanted to avoid removing the cross member and disturb the front suspension to do something I was convinced could be done easier from the top. Posts such as this one convinced me to give it a go at least. And I'm glad I did. In summary I was able to remove the engine from the top without needing to remove the bonnet/hood; torque tube; transaxle; bellhousing; clutch; clutch slave cylinder; cross member; front suspension; and radiator. Contrary to many so called internet experts opinions and many confusing threads this was painless and without dread. All that was necessary to remove was the starter; power steering pump and alternator (I figured to make the bottom of the engine narrower); intak...

Living with a Porsche 944

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