Porsche 944 Rebuild

Bought one. Actually two.

I have a soft spot for vintage design. The Porsche 944 got me with its pop-up headlights and clean, muscular lines, so I bought one. Then I bought two.

The plan was tidy. The first car, a red one, would become a 24 Hours of Lemons racecar. The second, a white 1986 car I took delivery of from a towing company, would be a daily driver I'd restore and actually drive. In practice I couldn't wait, so I made all my mistakes on the daily driver first.

The red Porsche 944 in the garage with its hood open — The red one, bound for 24 Hours of Lemons.

The white 1986 Porsche 944 parked in a driveway — The red one, bound for 24 Hours of Lemons.

While you're in there

The white car came to me with a leaking cam tower. I meant to reseal it and move on. Instead I decided to replace every seal in the engine bay of a near-40-year-old car, so I would never have to chase a leak again.

Every part I pulled out and cleaned up put me one step closer to pulling out the next one. The "while you're in there" mentality took over. It ended with me buying an engine hoist and lifting the whole engine out in my Sunnyvale garage.

The white 944 with its engine lifted out on a hoist in the driveway — The whole engine, out on a harbor-freight hoist in the driveway.

From there the list only grew: a new clutch and pressure plate, new piston rings, fresh bushings and seals throughout, OEM Bilstein struts and shocks from EBS installed at Modderman, and fuel injectors sent out for balancing. The flywheel and cam tower went to Clark's Garage in Cupertino to be resurfaced.

The worn Porsche 944 flywheel as it came out of the car — The flywheel as it came out.

The same flywheel after being machined and resurfaced — The flywheel as it came out.

The resurfaced cylinder head set back into the engine — Cylinder head cleaned up and set back onto the block.

Four Porsche 944 fuel injectors lined up in a tray — The four injectors, off to be flow-balanced.

The white 944 engine bay coming back together with new seals and hoses — The four injectors, off to be flow-balanced.

Not everything I added was old to me. I tracked down a brand new Technics head unit from the 1980s, still sealed in its box after close to forty years in storage. I loved that it spoke the same design language as the car, so I bought it new and wired it in.

A new-old-stock Technics car stereo from the 1980s, sealed in its original box — A brand new Technics deck from the 1980s, still in the box, installed to match the car.

What it cost

The car cost $3,000. Making it right cost a good deal more. By the time I stopped, I had put $12,713 into a $3,000 car, and that is before counting my own time, which was the real price.

Where it went	What for	Cost
The car	1986 944, bought as a project	$3,000
Modderman	Struts, shocks, brakes, timing belts, alignment, labor	$3,489
Autohaus AZ	Seals, gaskets, sensors, filters (12 orders)	$1,765
944online.com	Complete clutch kit, master and slave cylinders, seals	$1,654
Clark's Garage	Cam tower and flywheel resurfacing	$910
EBS Racing	Bilstein shocks, seals, axle joint kits	$770
GetPorscheParts	Engine mounts, oil pan insert, seals	$619
Lindsey Racing	Silicone hoses, ignition wire	$506
Total		$12,713

What it left me wanting to build

I ended up selling both cars to a father-son pair with more space and time than I had, before I left California. I still regret not getting to drive them the way I wanted. But the work left me with a clear idea: take old 944s, gut them, rebuild them with real attention to detail, and supercharge them with modern tech that stays invisible.

Even a modern ECU could pull big power and efficiency out of that engine. You could program it to fire a single cylinder while cruising the highway, or convert the whole car to electric and really disintegrate some tires. What I love is the pattern: keep a vintage design alive by breathing new life into it with modern integrations you never see.

Late-night work session on the 944's undercarriage.

Sorting out the red car's ignition in the garage

Lifted for underbody work in the garage.

The red car up on stands with the engine out

Thanks

None of this happened alone. Tom Sun, who I shared that house and its garage with, helped me swap the clutch. Kevin Huo, Jerry Li, Shan Mohta, and Rayyan Ghani all lent hands and time along the way, and the work was better and a lot more fun for it.

If I left your name out, I still love you. Send me a note at [email protected] and I will put it right. It also gives my small domain a nudge toward getting noticed by Google.