Living with a Porsche 944

When I started refreshing this 16v engine it was obvious to see where the oil leaks were originating - the rear of the balance shaft housings...on both sides! As you can see from the image above - and this was after I started to clean it - the engine was caked in oily grime with fresh pools of oil behind the rear balance shaft seals. It's taken a lot of elbow grease but the engine cleaned up nice enough to begin, what I perceived to be the most arduous task - stripping off the balance shaft housings and resealing them. With all the necessary new seals ordered up, and Loctite 574 located on eBay (as this was specified by the Porsche workshop manuals I decided to hunt some done) - it was time to tackle the flanks with vigour! Not having any special Porsche tools meant I had to be a bit inventive with removing the balance shaft gears - they need to be locked in place while the bolt is removed. With those out of the way then came the dreadful looking cambelt tensioner...

It's been a very busy past few weeks - I've moved The Hoff into a larger garage and started to tackle the odd & ends of this refresh that I didn't have space for before. Besides pulling the wiring and ecu out making way for the new engine install, the refreshed engine is getting lots of new seals and parts. One of the most satisfying jobs of late was refurbishing the front brakes. I had considered doing an upgrade but while I plan that route I've spruced up the original calipers and added Hel stainless steel brake lines too. Much like everything else, the brake calipers were rusty but working. With all the new suspension bits I couldn't bring myself to fit the rusty dirty calipers so I stripped them - which was pretty easy. I then attempted to wire brush the three main components so I could paint them with caliper paint... Painting the calipers myself was an "epic fail" - it just looked pitiful. So I took them to my local powder coater and g...

If you're wondering why switch from alloy wishbones to steel, or need to know what to buy - read this post first ... Firstly it's necessary to fit the ball joint to the wishbone - you can already see future painless balljoint replacements right here - it's easy & straight forward. Tighten up the three bolts and you're done installing the ball joints: I purchased a Prothane Bugpack wishbone bush kit from VW Heritage. The poly bush kit comes with a special formulated grease - so I used it, applying a thin film to the inner wishbone bushes before insertion: With the two halves pressed in by hand, I applied some grease to the steel tube and inserted that - the existing 944 inner wishbone bolt is a prefect fit so no need to hunt for a replacement: Before offering the newly bushed steel wishbone to the cross-member it's a good idea to slide the rear bush onto the 'prong' - once again I used the same bolts that came of...

After almost thirty years these Porsche 944's have either worn out their ball joints or are needing new ones fairly soon. Worn balljoints are a real safety concern and a MOT / roadworthy failure. Ordinarily, it's an expensive fix as the alloy Porsche wishbones (or control arms or A-arms as our american brethren call them) have an integrated balljoint - making them costly to replace. Choices are: hopefully good used ones; a DIY ball joint repair kit; refurbished ones; or new ones from Porsche. Even refurbished alloy wishbones are about £200 plus the exchange of your old ones. Not  a cheap fix although well engineered. The balljoint repair kits are around £50 and are a feasible alternative if the wishbone cup is in good condition. I had considered this route as my alloy wishbones look in good enough condition but rumours of poor longevity made me seriously consider another option - retrofitting steel wishbones such as those found on the 924's. I found a pair o...

The shock struts and adjustable camber plate top mounts went together really well. After a minor confusing delay, due to the old springs and the new Spax lowering springs being the same length - which is actually correct - I finished off assembling the front shocks. Before fitting to nicely cleaned wheel wells, the finishing touch were these Porsche sealing rings. Made of a slightly tacky foam, they fitted perfectly and sit between the aluminium top mount and the body work.  With the four mounting bolts done up in the engine bay, the shock assembly hangs on in anticipation for the rest of the front suspension...

Right - finally got all the bits back from the powder coaters and... My newly anodised  top mounts back too: They've got a satin finish now as opposed to the original shiney raw cnc'd aluminium look but won't corrode like a ships bottom over the years to come. Pressing in the bearings was a right pain but they're all ready to fit. Unpacking all the freshly powered parts was better than any Christmas recently! I laid them all out on the table and started to assemble the struts after cleaning up the threads etc... It's going to be a busy weekend!

While I've been waiting on parts to come back from powder coating, and still more engine bits from my OPC, I've prepped and freshened up the engine bay:    I did get these powdered bits today tho - keeping the eighties disco theme alive! Anti roll bars:  Clamps:   And the new clutch plate arrived too - some amazon vouchers made this a relatively 'cheap' purchase from design911 on the mighty Amazon.co.uk: Once all the seals and other engine parts have arrived I can start to put The Hoff back together - April is fast approaching!