Living with a Porsche 944

Tucked away in North Devon I found this intriguing garage. A fairly tasty selection of old Porsche cars scattered about, including some in various states of restoration. How about some lovely 911s? Or an old 944 or 928? There can't be many garages like this about, but clearly these chaps have cornered the market in this neck of the English woods. Can you see the vintage 911 racer stuffed into the corner beneath the 944 getting a full rear end rebuild? Cool.

I dropped my 944 of at my friendly local garage this morning for them to adjust the rear trailing blade and fit a new wheel bearing to the NS rear wheel. Hopefully all will go well. I found this procedure on the web that shows just how the trailing arm can be adjusted to effect a 20-25mm drop on the rear of the 944 without reindexing the torsion bars - which is a major job best avoided I'm told. I had tried to have the bolts undone when I had my tyres changed recently but the impact wrench at the tyre shop couldn't budge them, and as I don't have a torch to heat them up I figure it best be left with people who do. Thankfully these chaps have a penchant for restoring classics themselves so my 944 should be in good hands. With that done I'll be ready to lower the front by fitting new springs. Not many 944 owners like the idea of lowering their car but I think with the 16" Turbo alloys slightly tucked under the arches it will be a marked improvement in the stan...

Seeing as though it was a bit cooler today I decided to fit the new radiator that's been sitting in my conservatory annoying my wife. My old radiator had developed a slow leak from the left side and with it being summer I was seeing a larger and larger pool of coolant under the car after each drive. When I fitted the new radiator fan recently I had tried to see if I could spot the leak but the only recourse was to fit another. It's a fairly straight forward job and took a little over an hour to do. I find the best way to drain the radiator is by removing the lower hose from the water pump side. The drain plug is in a fiddly position - pull that hose and it's a matter of moments and the engine is empty of coolant. Then it's just a matter of removing the other hoses and fan switch connector, loosening the two top bolts (watch out for the rubber grommits when you pull the rad out) and sliding the radiator out from under the car. Simples. I have found in the past that...

Thankfully I managed to fix the issue with my sunroof today! After reading all posts and web pages again & again, that I could find regarding the sunroof, I came to the conclusion that I'd spend the morning with my son's help fine tuning the "adjusting screw and locknut" to eliminate it from the equation, before I tried to trouble shoot relays and micro-switches. I had my son sit in the cabin, finger on the button. I backed off the adjusting screw until the motor just whirred. I then started to thread in the adjusting screw little bit by little bit until it engaged - this was less than a quarter turn at a time. Turn screw, push button, turn screw push button etc etc etc until the motor pushed the roof up. Then I turned the locknut - the first few times it the motor went back to whirring. I tightened it up and back it off until the sunroof was working as before. So as it turns out that adjusting screw & locknut need minute adjustments to set the slip cl...

Not withstanding Englands first game in the World Cup this evening, I think I will tackle my sunroof issue today. It won't go up - only down. I've had lots of advice regarding this anamoly, which only started after I'd removed the sunroof a couple of months ago to soak up the first of the summer sunshine. Don't you just hate it when things work perfectly then all of a sudden don't - without any obvious reason? Hopefully I can get to the bottom of it quickly.

My fan was grumbling. Squeeling sometimes. Not my idea of a cool fan at all. It was time the fan got replaced with an eBay special for £38. I couldn't resist it at that price considering new ones are a fair whack over £250. Sure it's a flyer but this is what keeping a 24 year old 944 on the road is all about when you're on a budget! I like it when big boxes arrive at my front door - especially when they contain parts for my 944. As there was some nice sunshine today I decided to open said box and install the contents: a new fan for my aging radiator (which I think is going to need to be replaced soon). Removing the radiator fan is a fairly straight forward process: 1> remove the undertray front bolts so that it flaps down; 2> undo the four 10mm bolts on the fan shroud; 3> unplug the fan cord; 4> slide the fan assembly out from under the car; 5> slide the replacement into the engine bay from below, bolt it in and connect the plug. I'll head out ...

Cruising along the motorway this morning my 944 experienced a rapid let down! The offside rear tyre punctured and flatted incredibly quickly whilst round a long left hand bend. At first all I heard was a buzzing sound usually associated with a tyre making contact with the wheel arch. Futhermore it was only buzzing when making adjustment to the steering wheel - which made me think that one of my arch liners had come loose. Thankfully I was able to make a hasty route to the hard shoulder through the traffic. Upon inspection of the front wheels and arches I saw nothing amiss, but walking to the rear I saw the culprit: a completely flat, yet intact rear tyre! I was amazed. Losing all tyre pressure at speed so rapidly had not seriously effected the car. I would have thought that the 944 would have snaked & squirmed about on that bend, but the converse was true. Thankfully this puncture didn't end in an armco! Changing a wheel on the shoulder with back to the traffic is not a pleasa...