The Poor Woman's Porsche

[Kenz]

Update!

Suspension has arrived! We started working on it right away. So, out with the old...



And in with the new!



We only have the fronts on for now. Rears take some more time, because we will be removing the torsion bars.



Here it is only slightly spun down on the stock phone dials.

But, it wouldn't be stance if we didn't spin those puppies allll the way down and test fit the meaty ARE 398s. I'm in love.





Rears may or not be on next week. Probably not, because I'd like to get the car down to Helen, GA for VAGfair. Wheels still need tires, so that will be last.

[Pete82]

I have seen one guy who used the stock 2.5 and turbo'd as if it was the turbo engine using porsche parts, apparently it went very well after that.

actually correct that I know of two people who turbo'd the stock engines, both uk cars.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...-944-lux-turbo
http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/...rollTo=1958325

I will have to get a thread started about mine, currently I've not had time to do much with it as I'm sourcing parts for importing two euro cars next year with the parts and I might be getting a 20v coupe quattro as well soon unless I decide to do something with a ur quattro bumper I have and some other bits.

[Kenz]

I'm sorry I'm so terrible about taking pictures! I haven't gotten a chance to snag good pic that shows how well the headlights work, but they are wonderful. Driving the car on a two and a half hour trip to see my folks and a friend this weekend, so hopefully the car holds up well enough.

IN OTHER NEWS~

New goodies are on the way:



This set of suspension is slightly used, but the set up should be fantastic. Koni Cup coilovers in the front with 350 lb springs and bottom mount camber plates. LEDA coilovers in the rear with 500 lb springs so that we can delete the torsion bar. They also have upgraded mounting adapters to handle the new weight load now that the torsion bars are coming out. Also adding a new, rear sway bar!

Would love to have it all installed by Helen (for what used to be SoWo), but I'm not positive it'll happen.

Nevertheless, let's stance this guy!

[glifahrenheitcam]

Looks fun

[Kenz]

Love where this is headed. Can't wait to see it with the wheels.

I just put a set of ARE 398's on my Mercedes W123. I replaced the hardware with gold M7 bolts. I had the centers powercoated. Unfortunately, I had to make the centercaps from scratch. But it all came together.

Thank you so much!

I can't wait to see them on. They were in really rough shape when Ben picked them up, but he refinished the faces for me. I'd love to get them powder coated eventually. Gold hardware sounds like it would look great on these. This hardware is original, but I polished most of the bolts and then soaked all of them in a vinegar bath for a few days and they look good as new. Hopefully getting tires on them in the next week or so.

Nice looking 944 and the wheels suit it.

I too have a 944 currently collecting everything for a 20v 5 cylinder conversion (same as in the urs in the previous picture you posted)

Thanks! I'm so excited about the wheels.

Good luck on your conversion! I would be so interested in seeing it. My only complaint about my 944 is that it's a little slow (compared to my Focus ST) but it drives really well. Ben's URS6 is much, much faster. I wish you could do more to the 944 engine!

[Pete82]

Nice looking 944 and the wheels suit it.

I too have a 944 currently collecting everything for a 20v 5 cylinder conversion (same as in the urs in the previous picture you posted)

[Asshole Bicycle]

Love where this is headed. Can't wait to see it with the wheels.

I just put a set of ARE 398's on my Mercedes W123. I replaced the hardware with gold M7 bolts. I had the centers powercoated. Unfortunately, I had to make the centercaps from scratch. But it all came together.

[Kenz]

Those headlights look pretty badass in my opinion. How's the output at night?

Compared to the stock headlights, it's an insane difference. The previous headlights were dim in comparison and one of the housings was warped and just in bad shape. Pretty much couldn't see at all at night. I drove the car home last from work last night and it was fantastic! I'm really happy I picked them up! They were on sale from Retrofit Source and super easy to install, so I'm thrilled.

I will take a picture of the output tonight since I'm working late again!

[Graphitemk6]

Those headlights look pretty badass in my opinion. How's the output at night?

[Kenz]

Nice job on the rear valence, paint match looks really good

Thank you! We really lucked out. I was super surprised that it turned out so good!

The Turbo rear valence looks really great!

Not sure how I feel about such modern headlights on an old car but, the black housing are sweet, and actually tie in really well with the black bumper pads, keep up the solid work!

Thank you so much!

I am still a little unsure on them, as well. I think they are kinda cute (initial reason I went with these) and they are a really nice brand, which is great. My old headlights were so bad it just wasn't safe driving haha. I kept the old housing and might just HID convert them in the future.

[19birel]

The Turbo rear valence looks really great!

Not sure how I feel about such modern headlights on an old car but, the black housing are sweet, and actually tie in really well with the black bumper pads, keep up the solid work!

[hinrichs]

Nice job on the rear valence, paint match looks really good

[Kenz]

More news on the Porsche!

Last week, the turbo valance I ordered arrived! I was pretty impressed with how good of condition it was, as I picked it up off of a junked turbo. The only issue was that it was white. Despite my better judgment, we decided to sand and spray the valance ourselves since it was going on the underside of the car anyways. And, wow, I'm impressed!



The paint matched up pretty perfectly when I went to line everything up! We let the valance dry over night and installed it the next day.



Here's the boyfriend and I lining up the holes underneath of the car. Lucky for us, there were already drilled in slots from the factory! But, the space was pretty small (thank god for tiny hands) but we got it eventually.

After a lot of swearing, measuring, and a little drilling...



I'm SO happy with how it turned out! I think it makes the car look so much more complete.

On top of that, my headlights came in! Well, one of them came in last week but I had accidentally ordered only one! So, yesterday I finally went and picked up the other from Retrofit Source. They were super easy to install, pretty much just plug and play. My old headlights were garbage and borderline dangerous, so I think these are a huge improvement. They are much brighter and not as blue as some of the other lights.



Plus, now he looks super kawaii and adorable when the headlights aren't on. Just look at him! OwO



I also put the bumper pads back on because the leftover little nubbins were driving me crazy. Once everything is done, I might drop the 500 bucks to get the nubbins cut off, the holes welded in, and both bumpers resprayed. But for now... stock it is!

We finally got fronts and rears to fit on the ARE 398s. I spent all weekend polishing the hardware, and I'm hoping to wet sand and polish the barrels this week. Hoping to install the wheels sometime this weekend. Fingers crossed!

Still working on figuring out suspension but I'm leaning towards Koni Cups for their price and reliability. That'll come hopefully in May!

Thanks for checking in. xx

[Kenz]

Little update on the Porsche!

I picked it up from Eurofed on Saturday morning. New timing belt and rollers, new water pump, and new seals! Maybe it's placebo, but it definitely feels like it handles better. They said the rollers were so worn and the timing belt could've given way at any moment, so I am so glad we took the car in when we did.

Brought it home and cleaned it up and got to work on a few other things. Our custom center caps for th ARE 398s came in and I could not be happier with them!



We are having a little trouble fitting them with the adapters because of the width of the bolts of the 944. We've drilled a little into this random lip that they have on the inside (nothing that would harm the structural integrity of the wheel) and have managed to get one to fit. Now to finish rebuilding and getting the other three to fit.



I think they will look amazing mounted!



I also removed the front rubber bumper pads on the little protruding snout of the 944. My plan is to sand down these two little nubbins on there and fill the holes JB weld, sand, and repaint. I'm planning on removing that "944" from the snout, as I think that was added there after the fact. I think the car looks a little more streamlined without the pads, but I'm curious to y'alls feedback! I'll also be removing them from the rear, too!



Not a great picture, but totally forgot to take one this morning haha! Hopefully you can tell a little bit of a difference. Lucky for us, the paint was super nice quality under the bumper. I was worried it would be really dirty.

I took the car to work this morning, too! So happy to have it back.



Oh, and a little funny story for you all: I got the car with the odometer stuck at 136xxx miles on it. The guy who I got it from had had the car for about six months, and had driven it only a handful of times. Well, I was doing some digging and found a sticker to have the oil changed at 137xxx miles on it. I about fell over when I saw the date said 2001! So, who knows how many miles this thing has on it. We are guessing maybe 200? There's minimal rust on the chassis and no rust on the body, so who the heck knows.

Anyways, I ordered a few more goodies this past week. I have an OEM turbo rear valence en route to go on the booty of the car, under the rear bumper. Retrofit Source was also having a sale, so I picked up a set of Morimoto LED headlights, too. My current headlights are trash. To my boyfriend's dismay, I did get them with black housings because they look super cute to me. Hopefully, they turn out nice!

Next on the list is a suspension refresh! From everyone I've talked to, it sounds like coilovers are the route to go. If we did that, we'd drop the carrier of the torsion bar and remove it completely. Otherwise, it would be new struts, lowering springs, and reindexing the torsion bar.

Hope everyone is doing well and thanks for reading <3

[pearlyjawn]

Aye, goodluck on the build, can't wait to see the end result.