944S 24 Hours of Lemons Team....Parts needed!
02-15-2009, 02:21 AM
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944S 24 Hours of Lemons Team....Parts needed!
Hey guys,
Long time no post.
Some local buddies and myself have begun the process of prepping a 944S to run in this year's 24 Hours of Lemons events. Scuderia Prancing Donkey is our team name....
Right now we're registered for the July CT race, but we're also hoping to make some other events. I'd love to make the Nelson Ledges event, but first things first. Our secondary goal is to build this car well enough to run in the 944 Cup (assuming we can avoid the People's Curse)...
Anyway. We found a non-running 944S in a kind of shady mechanic's back lot.
It had been sitting there for well over a year - we actually think it hasn't been run since 1998 (most recent registration is NJ 98). We bought the complete car for $450 and are in the process of selling off parts we don't need. (list of parts we are getting rid of at the bottom). We need to make some money back to get some working room in our budget.
We got the car home and ran some tests on it...Picture Gallery
and were amazed to find 200+ compression on all four cylinders. 210-230-235-220 1-4. Timing was spot on, no coolant in the oil or vice versa. We actually think this is an 86k mile car that was just badly neglected. Given how good the motor is, we kind of kicked around selling the 16 valver and swapping in an 8v NA motor, if anyone is interested in trading an 8v motor + cash or buying this motor let me know, we could use the budget wiggle room...We intend to get it running before selling (if we do sell). Otherwise, we are kind of excited to run the S motor, should be a fun race!
The only things bad on the car we've discovered so far are a locked up fuel pump (which we think may be all that is keeping it from running), bad brake/clutch hydraulics and totally shot front struts. Well...plus the ratty paint...and the dents...and the rust...and the scratches...and you get the idea....We don't care about that stuff....after all, a beauty contest, Lemons ain't. But, there are a few parts we need to get the car ready to race, and since we sincerely hope to avoid the crusher, the cheaper we can find this stuff, the better....
If anyone has any of these parts, shoot me an email me at paul (at) prancing-donkey.com - (preferred over pm's here).
As with any Lemons entrant, we're trying to do this as cheaply as possible. I know, should have gone with a Honda, right? Well we're all Porsche guys and with 8 or 9 944's between the group (5 of those are/were mine), we figure better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Besides, we wanted to have fun out there, and what better way to have fun on a track than in a beat up old 944???
If you have a business, we're happy to run your logos on our car and website for anything you can throw our way for cheap. Or, hell - even if you don't have a business, give us a deal and we'll put your Rennlist name, a complimentary statement about your masculinity, an uncomplimentary statement about your ex-wife, a picture of your pet Parakeet or whatever the hell else you want on it.
Needed:
1987+ turbo front hubs/spindles/rotors/calipers
1987+ turbo rear rotors/calipers
Good front struts/springs. Or, cheap(ish) used aftermarket front springs
Phone dials/928 dish wheels - whatever in 16", 87+ offsets - the more curb rash/scratching and general ugliness the better - provided they are straight
trans cooler loop (can a non-cooled trans be easily converted?)
Used, tattered and torn race seat (prefer local)
Used bolt in cage (any east coast spec guys moving to a weld-in? We may go weld in as well, but wanted to see if this was an option)
I'm sure there's more we'll come up with but thats the list for now...
Stuff for sale:
Entire black interior. Includes power driver seat in decent shape (bolster is worn), complete black carpet set in great condition, cracked dashboard (we'll throw in a dash cover if you buy the whole kit), black door panels in good shape, working dash clock, complete HVAC controls with nothing broken, sun visors and clips, nice rear cargo cover, seat belts, etc etc etc. Basically if its an interior part we have it.
Rear hatch with wiper delete - minimal delam'ing (but yeah, some delamination)
Sunroof, sunroof motor
Headlights - complete system, motor, bar, lights, etc
Windshield washer resevoir
AC System
Heater core
Spare tire
ABS system (we may keep, but none of us is very familiar with this system and we may opt for simplicity instead)
Anyway, thanks for reading all of this, and if you have any of the above parts, or want any of the above parts, shoot me an email and we'll figure something out. We're going to document the whole build over on our website - I'll post the occasional update over here as well. We are also going to run a few in-car cameras and will post vids of the shakedown and the actual event(s)....So stay tuned, should be a blast! And if anyone knows of any other 16 valve 944 Lemons car, shoot me the info, we'd love to see what they're up to...
Long time no post.
Some local buddies and myself have begun the process of prepping a 944S to run in this year's 24 Hours of Lemons events. Scuderia Prancing Donkey is our team name....
Right now we're registered for the July CT race, but we're also hoping to make some other events. I'd love to make the Nelson Ledges event, but first things first. Our secondary goal is to build this car well enough to run in the 944 Cup (assuming we can avoid the People's Curse)...
Anyway. We found a non-running 944S in a kind of shady mechanic's back lot.
It had been sitting there for well over a year - we actually think it hasn't been run since 1998 (most recent registration is NJ 98). We bought the complete car for $450 and are in the process of selling off parts we don't need. (list of parts we are getting rid of at the bottom). We need to make some money back to get some working room in our budget.
We got the car home and ran some tests on it...Picture Gallery
and were amazed to find 200+ compression on all four cylinders. 210-230-235-220 1-4. Timing was spot on, no coolant in the oil or vice versa. We actually think this is an 86k mile car that was just badly neglected. Given how good the motor is, we kind of kicked around selling the 16 valver and swapping in an 8v NA motor, if anyone is interested in trading an 8v motor + cash or buying this motor let me know, we could use the budget wiggle room...We intend to get it running before selling (if we do sell). Otherwise, we are kind of excited to run the S motor, should be a fun race!
The only things bad on the car we've discovered so far are a locked up fuel pump (which we think may be all that is keeping it from running), bad brake/clutch hydraulics and totally shot front struts. Well...plus the ratty paint...and the dents...and the rust...and the scratches...and you get the idea....We don't care about that stuff....after all, a beauty contest, Lemons ain't. But, there are a few parts we need to get the car ready to race, and since we sincerely hope to avoid the crusher, the cheaper we can find this stuff, the better....
If anyone has any of these parts, shoot me an email me at paul (at) prancing-donkey.com - (preferred over pm's here).
As with any Lemons entrant, we're trying to do this as cheaply as possible. I know, should have gone with a Honda, right? Well we're all Porsche guys and with 8 or 9 944's between the group (5 of those are/were mine), we figure better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Besides, we wanted to have fun out there, and what better way to have fun on a track than in a beat up old 944???
If you have a business, we're happy to run your logos on our car and website for anything you can throw our way for cheap. Or, hell - even if you don't have a business, give us a deal and we'll put your Rennlist name, a complimentary statement about your masculinity, an uncomplimentary statement about your ex-wife, a picture of your pet Parakeet or whatever the hell else you want on it.
Needed:
1987+ turbo front hubs/spindles/rotors/calipers
1987+ turbo rear rotors/calipers
Good front struts/springs. Or, cheap(ish) used aftermarket front springs
Phone dials/928 dish wheels - whatever in 16", 87+ offsets - the more curb rash/scratching and general ugliness the better - provided they are straight
trans cooler loop (can a non-cooled trans be easily converted?)
Used, tattered and torn race seat (prefer local)
Used bolt in cage (any east coast spec guys moving to a weld-in? We may go weld in as well, but wanted to see if this was an option)
I'm sure there's more we'll come up with but thats the list for now...
Stuff for sale:
Entire black interior. Includes power driver seat in decent shape (bolster is worn), complete black carpet set in great condition, cracked dashboard (we'll throw in a dash cover if you buy the whole kit), black door panels in good shape, working dash clock, complete HVAC controls with nothing broken, sun visors and clips, nice rear cargo cover, seat belts, etc etc etc. Basically if its an interior part we have it.
Rear hatch with wiper delete - minimal delam'ing (but yeah, some delamination)
Sunroof, sunroof motor
Headlights - complete system, motor, bar, lights, etc
Windshield washer resevoir
AC System
Heater core
Spare tire
ABS system (we may keep, but none of us is very familiar with this system and we may opt for simplicity instead)
Anyway, thanks for reading all of this, and if you have any of the above parts, or want any of the above parts, shoot me an email and we'll figure something out. We're going to document the whole build over on our website - I'll post the occasional update over here as well. We are also going to run a few in-car cameras and will post vids of the shakedown and the actual event(s)....So stay tuned, should be a blast! And if anyone knows of any other 16 valve 944 Lemons car, shoot me the info, we'd love to see what they're up to...
02-15-2009, 09:24 AM
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02-15-2009, 10:40 AM
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02-15-2009, 11:26 AM
#9
Race Car
02-15-2009, 01:49 PM
#10
Race Car
Well, the race organizers can choose to buy any and all cars at the end of the race for $500. One car will be chosen for immediate destruction in the middle of the race. I don't think you will get that 944S to fly for a $500 car INCLUDING ALL PREPARATION AND PARTS COST total. They don't care how much you say you paid, they go by what they THINK it costs. BS factor is considered as a "handicap" and laps deducted for every $ they believe the car cost. It will be interesting to see the 89 944 turbo S bought by the race sponsors at the end of the race for $500 or voted by the racers mid race for immediate destruction via sledge hammers. Don't enter anything you can't afford to lose.
Last edited by Legoland951; 02-15-2009 at 06:26 PM.
02-15-2009, 02:05 PM
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Legoland - These are all very god points....but we think we're going to come in right around the budget limit to get our car running and ready to go. We may be docked some laps but we don't anticipate being labeled egregious cheaters - especially if there's a 944 Turbo S there! The race prep/safety items like roll cage, brakes, tires, fuel system etc are all free outside of the $500 budget, so don't include the braking system, or any of the safety related items in the $500 limit. We're $450 into the car now and we'll be selling off some of the parts to free up budget space (are people seriously paying $200 for script door handles these days?)....But yes, we anticipate a BS penalty, even though we may not deserve it.
Now, a 944 Turbo S.....if I were the organizer, I'd buy that for $500 without even looking at it. If our car gets selected for crushing or claiming, we won't be out much more than $100 a person provided we can get the safety equipment out first. I'm actually pretty happy to hear there's going to be a 951 S running there, that makes our lowly and ragged NA 944S a much less attractive target for crushing/claiming...
Now, a 944 Turbo S.....if I were the organizer, I'd buy that for $500 without even looking at it. If our car gets selected for crushing or claiming, we won't be out much more than $100 a person provided we can get the safety equipment out first. I'm actually pretty happy to hear there's going to be a 951 S running there, that makes our lowly and ragged NA 944S a much less attractive target for crushing/claiming...
02-15-2009, 03:04 PM
#13
Nordschleife Master
Legoland - These are all very god points....but we think we're going to come in right around the budget limit to get our car our car running and ready to go. We may be docked some laps but we don't anticipate being labeled egregious cheaters - especially if there's a 944 Turbo S there! The race prep/safety items like roll cage, brakes, tires, fuel system etc are all free outside of the $500 budget, so don't include the braking system, or any of the safety related items in the $500 limit. We're $450 into the car now and we'll be selling off some of the parts to free up budget space (are people seriously paying $200 for script door handles these days?)....But yes, we anticipate a BS penalty, even though we may not deserve it.
Now, a 944 Turbo S.....if I were the organizer, I'd buy that for $500 without even looking at it. If our car gets selected for crushing or claiming, we won't be out much more than $100 a person provided we can get the safety equipment out first. I'm actually pretty happy to hear there's going to be a 951 S running there, that makes our lowly and ragged NA 944S a much less attractive target for crushing/claiming...
Now, a 944 Turbo S.....if I were the organizer, I'd buy that for $500 without even looking at it. If our car gets selected for crushing or claiming, we won't be out much more than $100 a person provided we can get the safety equipment out first. I'm actually pretty happy to hear there's going to be a 951 S running there, that makes our lowly and ragged NA 944S a much less attractive target for crushing/claiming...
Good luck and remember the point fo the 24 hours of LeMons is to laugh at the end of the day over what just happened...
02-15-2009, 06:33 PM
#14
Race Car
I bought a good running turbo for $2500 at the auction. If I sold everything off other than the running gear and the shell, I would have negative amount into it (mint interior, perfect front clip, 16x7 16x8 fuchs, etc). I can document everything and really be legitimate. However, no one is going to believe it when the other cars out there are early 80s ford fairmont and POS cars.
Someone familiar with corvettes probably can buy a Z06 and part it out to produce a race car for free since we know parts cost much more than the whole. I don't think anyone else will accept it as a $500 car though.
These are some pictures of what we will be entering. It did cost less than $500 running WITH FULL CAGE AND FUEL CELL. Looking at the condition you will understand as it looks more like a demolition derby car.
Someone familiar with corvettes probably can buy a Z06 and part it out to produce a race car for free since we know parts cost much more than the whole. I don't think anyone else will accept it as a $500 car though.
These are some pictures of what we will be entering. It did cost less than $500 running WITH FULL CAGE AND FUEL CELL. Looking at the condition you will understand as it looks more like a demolition derby car.
Last edited by Legoland951; 08-07-2013 at 07:18 AM.
02-15-2009, 06:51 PM
#15
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Yeah I hear what you're saying Legoland, and this is something we seriously considered while searching for a car. We looked at all sorts of cars from Hondas to Neons to a 77 280Z (sold for $400), etc etc etc. We came to the conclusion that we wanted a car that a) was fun to drive (i.e. Manual, RWD, sporty), was mechanically familiar to the team (Porsche, or American V8), and could get reasonably good fuel mileage over a long run (4 cylinder). After looking around, this 944S came up and it just seemed like the right deal. And, believe it or not, we actually did buy the car for $450, and of course we are keeping very accurate records of everything we have into the car, and everything that is sold will be sold through ebay, so records of transactions should be pretty easy to keep.
If some of the other teams want to run 80's Ford Fairmonts and various and sundry other POS's, thats their prerogative. I don't see why we should attract any more unwanted attention than the C4 Corvettes, Mustangs or other reasonably capable sports cars that will be there (944 Turbo S???). They'll almost certainly all out-horsepower us, and we're going to be driving conservatively anyway - this is a long event and we want to get the car home. We don't intend to poke a stick in any of our competitors eyes by driving aggressively.
We'll have rock solid documentation (notarized bill of sale, receipts for parts, etc) and we think we'll have a good case for the BS inspectors (plus, a few cases of beer). Also, this car looks pretty good in the pics but you can't see the dents, scratches, rust, different shades of paint - in person, you would just write it off as a total POS.
Our goal is to finish the race - we don't expect we'll be battling for the win on our first attempt at the event. If we can get the car home everyone will be extremely pleased. If our car gets crushed, well, we'll have a few beers, take a video, and write off the few hundred bucks each of us has into the whole project. If it gets claimed, that will suck more as we hope to run it in future Lemons events, but we're 100% aware of the risks. Plus, like I said, if there is seriously going to be a 944 turbo S there, we're considerably less worried about the People's Curse.
If some of the other teams want to run 80's Ford Fairmonts and various and sundry other POS's, thats their prerogative. I don't see why we should attract any more unwanted attention than the C4 Corvettes, Mustangs or other reasonably capable sports cars that will be there (944 Turbo S???). They'll almost certainly all out-horsepower us, and we're going to be driving conservatively anyway - this is a long event and we want to get the car home. We don't intend to poke a stick in any of our competitors eyes by driving aggressively.
We'll have rock solid documentation (notarized bill of sale, receipts for parts, etc) and we think we'll have a good case for the BS inspectors (plus, a few cases of beer). Also, this car looks pretty good in the pics but you can't see the dents, scratches, rust, different shades of paint - in person, you would just write it off as a total POS.
Our goal is to finish the race - we don't expect we'll be battling for the win on our first attempt at the event. If we can get the car home everyone will be extremely pleased. If our car gets crushed, well, we'll have a few beers, take a video, and write off the few hundred bucks each of us has into the whole project. If it gets claimed, that will suck more as we hope to run it in future Lemons events, but we're 100% aware of the risks. Plus, like I said, if there is seriously going to be a 944 turbo S there, we're considerably less worried about the People's Curse.