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1988 Porsche 944 NA 8v, bought as automatic with 112k on it.
The blue is pretty rare, at least in the fact that I have never seen one. This is Azurite Blue, and tan leather.
I picked it up looking like this, but not running well.. the PO had done some...work But the price was right at $2000,
the body was mint, in a color I reaally liked, the interior was great except the driver's seat,
and I'll probably swap them out anyway. Only problem was the automatic. Driving the car was great fun, but soulless at the
same time. I need to row my own.
The engine condition wasnt a big deal to me, since I was going to go through it anyway,
but I checked CL to see what was out there. Started talking to a guy about a motor that sounded like a good
setup and ended up that it was still in the car. The car was also a 5 speed, and same year as mine.
$1300 later and it was in my driveway, including the $250 I paid a friend to go get it in NC because I had to work.
Within a week I had it reduced to this. I kept every single thing that would unbolt, unscrew or unplug (marked for reference)
and scrapped the body. It's a shame the PO painted it yellow. I would have loved it in the OEM color, Nougat Metallic.
Now I had every single nut, bolt and wire, strong engine, and transmission, plus everything else from a manual transmission 944
of the same year.
This was going perfectly. Started ordering parts to refresh the engine before installing it, a few extras here and there. Bought
a brand new Schnell short shift kit and Weltmeister throttle rotor. Picked up all new clutch master and slave cylinders, victor reinz
headgasket kit, and balance shaft seals. Scored a deal on a MSDS header, aluminum underdrive pulleys, and a BremTek flywheel off a retired
championship winning race 944. All these went on the pile.
Oh almost forgot. The reason I went looking for a 944 in the first place. I scored a set of 17/8.5+42, 17/10+45 OZ 2pc Velas.
I really like the look of the wheels, I got them super cheap, and off I went Porsche hunting.. I really wanted a 964 (who doesn't) but had always admired the 944.
I found a set of Falken tires with good tread on CL, ze-912s 235/45/17 all around and so the car went from this
to this..still 100% stock suspension
Cruised around like that for a bit on the weekends, even with a leaking engine and one nearly dead cylinder it was still a nice driver. Then.. the headgasket in my
daily driver 318ti pops. Instantly the 944 gets off the bench and turned into a daily star til the BMW was revived.
That lasted 3 weeks. or should I say the 944 engine lasted 3 weeks.
Thankfully the Ti was a few bolts from being commuter friendly again.
The 944 has been in the driveway since. I'm in the (slow) process of collecting the rest of the bearings and seals to complete the rebuild of the engine out of the
yellow car. The head is off and will be shaved about .020" for a nice little bump in power.
Even if you aren't working on a car though..it is possible to change it.... lucked into a deal with a local guy that had a set of Gotti j55a on CL. Hooked up the deal and a
straight across trade put me in possession of these babies. Gotti j55a 16/8 +26, 16/9 +16. With the good Porsche caps. Wheels came off a 930 cab.
I liked the OZs..but even with a good bump in power, the NA 944 needs all it can get and the 17s were heavy. These Gottis weigh in at just over 16# and look more period correct
to me.. the OZ were made in 99, I'm guessing these were built in the 80s... so it's perfect. Plans are to polish the lips, gold or chrome bolts and body color Azure Blue centers.
True 80s style..just like my old ass.. lol
I have more pics of the interior and the engine build on my other computer. I'll add later..
The blue is pretty rare, at least in the fact that I have never seen one. This is Azurite Blue, and tan leather.
I picked it up looking like this, but not running well.. the PO had done some...work But the price was right at $2000,
the body was mint, in a color I reaally liked, the interior was great except the driver's seat,
and I'll probably swap them out anyway. Only problem was the automatic. Driving the car was great fun, but soulless at the
same time. I need to row my own.
The engine condition wasnt a big deal to me, since I was going to go through it anyway,
but I checked CL to see what was out there. Started talking to a guy about a motor that sounded like a good
setup and ended up that it was still in the car. The car was also a 5 speed, and same year as mine.
$1300 later and it was in my driveway, including the $250 I paid a friend to go get it in NC because I had to work.
Within a week I had it reduced to this. I kept every single thing that would unbolt, unscrew or unplug (marked for reference)
and scrapped the body. It's a shame the PO painted it yellow. I would have loved it in the OEM color, Nougat Metallic.
Now I had every single nut, bolt and wire, strong engine, and transmission, plus everything else from a manual transmission 944
of the same year.
This was going perfectly. Started ordering parts to refresh the engine before installing it, a few extras here and there. Bought
a brand new Schnell short shift kit and Weltmeister throttle rotor. Picked up all new clutch master and slave cylinders, victor reinz
headgasket kit, and balance shaft seals. Scored a deal on a MSDS header, aluminum underdrive pulleys, and a BremTek flywheel off a retired
championship winning race 944. All these went on the pile.
Oh almost forgot. The reason I went looking for a 944 in the first place. I scored a set of 17/8.5+42, 17/10+45 OZ 2pc Velas.
I really like the look of the wheels, I got them super cheap, and off I went Porsche hunting.. I really wanted a 964 (who doesn't) but had always admired the 944.
I found a set of Falken tires with good tread on CL, ze-912s 235/45/17 all around and so the car went from this
to this..still 100% stock suspension
Cruised around like that for a bit on the weekends, even with a leaking engine and one nearly dead cylinder it was still a nice driver. Then.. the headgasket in my
daily driver 318ti pops. Instantly the 944 gets off the bench and turned into a daily star til the BMW was revived.
That lasted 3 weeks. or should I say the 944 engine lasted 3 weeks.
Thankfully the Ti was a few bolts from being commuter friendly again.
The 944 has been in the driveway since. I'm in the (slow) process of collecting the rest of the bearings and seals to complete the rebuild of the engine out of the
yellow car. The head is off and will be shaved about .020" for a nice little bump in power.
Even if you aren't working on a car though..it is possible to change it.... lucked into a deal with a local guy that had a set of Gotti j55a on CL. Hooked up the deal and a
straight across trade put me in possession of these babies. Gotti j55a 16/8 +26, 16/9 +16. With the good Porsche caps. Wheels came off a 930 cab.
I liked the OZs..but even with a good bump in power, the NA 944 needs all it can get and the 17s were heavy. These Gottis weigh in at just over 16# and look more period correct
to me.. the OZ were made in 99, I'm guessing these were built in the 80s... so it's perfect. Plans are to polish the lips, gold or chrome bolts and body color Azure Blue centers.
True 80s style..just like my old ass.. lol
I have more pics of the interior and the engine build on my other computer. I'll add later..
Don't be shy, I build my cars for me anyway. 
It was all the PO. The nice red intake mani will have to go though, the auto and manual ones are different. mine will be nice and clean too though.
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