1 year abandoned car(buying)

I found a Porsche 944 and the lady that I talked to said it’s been their for a year…I know I have to change out fuel lines and gas tank…what other things would I hav to change …out for it to run…and what bout the oil that it has been sitting on in the engine and oil tray

Old neglected 944 Porsches are money pits. Do you have the ability, time and money to get it back in shape? You apparently don’t know much about them. No such thing as a cheap Porsche.

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If seller has title than it’s not abandoned, it’s just not driven.
is lady landlord of apartment building?
she is last owner/driver? does she know why it was not driven away by last owner?
uh, fuel pump died. thru a rod? bad this that or other?

Just reading your post makes me think that this is way beyond your abilities . If that is correct and you have to pay for the work you will spend a small fortune and may never be done working on this 944 .

Of course you did not really give enough information . Do you even know why it has sat for year and what does this lady have to do with the ownership . Is the title clear and what about past registration ?

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I second the others. You don’t have to replace the gas tank or the fuel lines when a car’s been sitting a year. You need to replace the gas in them.

However, you’re likely to have to replace a bunch of other stuff, and since it’s a Porsche, parts will be expensive. You ready to take this on?

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Porsche is a great driver’s car for a driver who has money. I was warned about buying a Porsche back in 1962. My dad did business with a DeSoto/Plymouth dealer who also handled imported cars including MGs. The dealer had a 1956 Porsche on the lot. My dad was talking to the owner of the agency and I was drooling over the Porsche. The owner saw me and came over. “That’s the last car you should think about buying”, he said. “It will take your monthly pay of $200 a month and you will still need more money to keep it going”. I had just graduated from college and was headed to graduate school where I had a teaching assistantship that carried a stipend of $200 a month. Obviously, I didn’t buy the Porsche. I plunked down my life savings of $75 on a 1947 Pontiac. My $200 a month did cover living expenses: a room for $8 a week and a meal ticket for $14 a week at the student center that provided three meals a day seven days a week. I am not sure a person could live on 10 times that amount today.
Leave the Porsche to the rich.

Other things to consider:

-What else is wrong with this car? Bad trans? Bad brakes? Bad tires? With it not running it will be hard to tell.
-Have any animals made this car their home? Nests/dens under seats? chewed up wires?

The others are correct- this thing could potentially cost you a lot more money than you are expecting. If you are prepared for it, and can afford it (and aren’t expecting this to be a daily driver anytime soon,) I say go for it. Have fun with it.

Personally, though, I’d choose something different for a project car. :slight_smile:

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Well the guys here have made some excellent points as usual and I have no choice but to agree with them… As a Pseudo Mechanic myself I would actually be hesitant to take this on, not for lack of ability, but for the same reasons already posited. There is an excellent website called Pelican Parts I believe… they supply parts for Porsche, Saabs etc and they have an excellent forum there to discuss each model. You can gain a ton of insight thru those guys. But insight is no replacement for mechanical skills, and you are going to need them.

If it ran last year you dont have to go crazy on the fuel system… just fill the tank with fresh fuel and see what you get… You may find that it is just fine. The brake system is where you will most likely be spending most of your time initially, Rotors, Calipers etc… Even if its just cleaning them and reassembling. Rotors hate to sit idle and show their discontent by rusting badly. Brake lines, same thing. The engines and trannys in that model are pretty stout and most likely wont be an issue, you hope.

I dunno… I’d probably take something like this on if the price was right, (and it needs to be right read low), however I am not you and you are not me…

If you got the skills and the bills… Hell, go for it. Just know that there is some work ahead…only you know if you have the ability.

One more thing, if you buy. Before attempting to start the car, pull the plugs, shoot a couple of squirts of light oil or Marvel Mystery oil in each cylinder, leave the plugs out and spin the engine.

Here’s a great description of what a knowledgeable car guy spent restoring an '80s BMW 325i:

The bottom line? Car cost about $2,000, he spent about $8,000 on parts, did 99% of the work himself, which took an estimated 990 hours (!!!). The car had many more issues than he expected (especially rust), even though it was running and he was able to take a test drive before he bought it.

brother in law bought his sisters 924. i saw it in garage of his 1 million house. i think he never drove it. saw him last month and he has new porsche cayenne S now. and a 2 million house. 924 is long gone.

Unless you’re very mechanically inclined (and I’m guessing your are not) and are willing to sacrifice a lot of time and disposable income you really should back away from this thing.

Even if the car was given to you for free it’s going to be a heavy duty chore to resurrect and that’s assuming there are no “forgotten” problems like dangling connecting rods or a wiped transaxle.

Ya I understand that…it was her husband but they got devorced…and she took it bak in her name but just left it sitting their for a year…and was wondering what other stuff I would have to check to make it run or replace

How much money u think I would have to put in wise…just to get it bak and running…and time I got…forsure…but what would b main things I would have to replace… other then the fuel lines pump and tanks

Ya…I was just looking for a lil general nuges…to cing what I was getting myself in to…and it’s the lady’s husband’s car but they got devorced and she took the car into her name …cuz they split their stuff…and it will cost a hefty amount

Gernal how much do u think would parts go for…u been they straight forward…most these guys car bout the lady and stuff like that…but time I got

Why guess on part prices, look them up on line. Again, why do you think the fuel tank and fuel lines need to be replaced? Just have the tank emptied and fill with fresh fuel, I would change any external fuel filter too.

As a general rule, restoring a car never makes economic sense or as the old saying goes, “Lord, when I go, please don’t let my wife sell the parts for what I told her they cost!”

But you say you’ve got the time and interest so start with the cheap DYI stuff and avoid doing any further damage:
Go on line to research all the potential problem areas and parts sources:
Drain & Change all the fluids and give it a good looking over for rust and rotted rubber.
Carefully (battery disconnected and light oil squirted in the cylinders) hand crank the engine and see if it turns over .
If it does, start it up and drive it 50 feet to see if it moves, stops and all the electrics work…

Now you can sit down with a parts catalog and figure out the parts cost, adding at least 50% to your total for the parts you missed, work beyond your skills and specialty tools you’ll need.

Yeah, at least 50% because once you start getting into it is when you discover that the entire suspension and steering box is more worn than an old dish rag, the wiring harness looks more like a piece of macrame and “that little part you need” is only available handcrafted by Trolls from a little shop in Bavaria and is priced accordingly.

Good luck

We can’t tell you what you’d have to spend, because no one knows everything that’s wrong with it.

As a guess, to bring it back to proper condition, I’d start at $10,000. And that’s if you do a lot if not all of the work yourself.

Would it be fair to suggest that …

either you buy Porsche since you have tons of money, so you don’t care about the costs (seem unlikely by what I read above)

… or you should not buy Porsche and better look for something more economical

???

in general, this all sounds like getting into a bottomless money-sucking pit as you do not have skill to DIY it, so repair bills will be sky high