924Board.org

[edredas]

Nick, we also need to do a spring cruise. Maybe if you get your car done we could hit the dragon soon?

Friday, I installed a tach with MPG gauge, I really think they look nice. I also changed all the bulbs in the dashboard and got every single thing on the car working with exception of the cruise control...

While I was swapping the tach out, I found the hall sensor from the speedometer was disconnected. I was hoping that it was why the cruise wasn't working, but no such luck. I wanted to figure out why it didn't work so I pulled and tested the cruise stalk. Then I removed and greased the servo. Everything checked out, so my best guess is that the control module is at fault.

I did open up the control module but there aren't any visual signs of cracked joints, blown caps, or burned diodes, so I'm just going to try and replace it. I've heard re-flowing the solder joints can sometimes work but something is definitely burnt by the way it smells and I have no idea what it is.

Saturday, I had to go out of town. This was the first 100+ mile trip I've taken in it. This thing is tight as a ship, no leaks or odd smells. Here I am with the A/C on at 70 mph just relaxing.



_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[edredas]

Yesterday, I cleaned out the trunk, painted the muffler, and did a few other things.





I also thought just I'd share a few tips for doing a head gasket.

1. Get a telescoping magnet, preferably with a swivel head.

2. Before starting the engine, always check the inside the cam tower for any bolts, especially if you seem to be missing some. They do get in there...

3. Never trust an auto-tensioner. I've seen some that set the perfect amount of tension while others are way too tight.

4. When filling the coolant, have the side of the car with the expansion tank higher than the bleeder. Make sure the heater core is open and fill till the coolant comes out the bleeder, then close. At this point you are done and there is no need to bleed when hot. Also keep in mind that opening the bleeder with the car level or with the expansion tank lower will only introduce lots of air in to the system.

I hope that helps!
_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[edredas]

Yesterday, I changed the oil and cleaned the the engine. I then painted my rusty strut towers and replaced the nasty brown zipties along the firewall.

For the most part this project is done. I'm just waiting for a cruise module and put the side-trim on. I already started my new project this evening.









_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[edredas]

I decided to come back and finish up a few things on this car. My right turn signal would cut off at times so I swapped in a new stalk. I then ran the tests in the workshop manual to see what was wrong with my cruise control. The stalk and everything tested 100%. Even the servo passed its test. I had previously rebuilt the servo, so I went ahead and ordered a new control unit. Unfortunately, the issue persists, so the new unit it is probably bad too...




I swapped in a spare servo just to make sure it wasn't the issue, but no luck. I'll hopefully figure this out soon, I have a few long trips planned.



For those interested in adding cruise to your 924S, you will need the early 944 stalk, early control module, but the late 944 servo. The cruise is fused with the brake lights, so you only need to plug it in. However, you will need a clutch switch if you have a manual car, the servo cable, and accelerator pedal bracket.



Saturday I tried to use the cargo cover and it was completely useless. Once I got home I took it apart and had a look. I followed Clarks-garage procedure, then pop-riveted it back together. It works great now!




Sunday, my perfectly functional sunroof began behaving erratically when the micro-switches came loose and slid too far back. Needless to say that the gears were stripped clean.



Monday, I noticed that my radio didn't really get any stations so I picked up a cheap universal antenna from auto zone. It looks great and works even better! I don't think anyone will ever notice its not the original one.

Yesterday I replaced the hatch struts, hatch seal, and trunk lock seal. I greased every part of the mechanism including the remote release. I had a really annoying squeak coming from the hatch area when driving that is now gone! So nice, not hearing that; not to mention having a functional hatch!

Today my new sunroof gears came in so I got them installed. Everything works perfectly now and the slip clutch is adjusted to where it will never strip them again!



I was asked to write a detailed 'how-to' on the sunroof gears and the cargo cover. So I'll try to do that this week.
_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[edredas]

I still haven't gotten around to fixing the cruise. Everything should work, but isn't and I haven't had anytime to look in to why. Instead I decided to work on other things...

When I bought the car it had some black and red vinyl seat covers on them. I'm not really a fan of covers so I decided to see how bad the seats underneath were. Here's a video I made today of my interior and of the car itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dg70OtohqM

It turns out the drivers bottom had only some minor splitting, but I took a good bottom cover out of my parts car and swapped it in to make a perfect seat. I also stitched and ironed in some patches at the seams to keep them from splitting.




My shifter boot was completely worn out, so I ordered a new boot from Only944.




Finally, here's a nice shot of my car taken at 944 fest a few weeks ago. It was about a 200 mile trip up to VIR. The car did great! I ran the A/C the entire time and I plan to take the car out west this fall.

Here's my dash cam video of the parade lap around VIR where that picture was taken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GYEB11jLEY


_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[michaelodonnell123]

Great write up! Please keep us informed on your cruise control. I can't get mine working either.
_________________
MOD
1988 Porsche 924S
2007 Jaguar XK
2012 Fiat 500

[jvandyke]

thanks for taking the time, this helps us with our car tremendously
same issues with the sunroof gears too!
(we drove ours today!!!)

Yours looks fabulous. I just might have to get one for myself.
_________________
87 924S project, '83 944 engine,
my son's first car.

[edredas]

Thanks guys!

Michael, I soldered new caps in the spare control unit, so it must be the servo. I'll try to test it sometime this fall.

Jvandyke, you really should get one and then you can join us at some events!

Here's more pictures of this car that I haven't shared here yet...














_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[edredas]

The other night I was traveling home in heavy on coming traffic and I could not see my headlights whenever a car went past. I had been planning to build a harness for my headlights for sometime to improve their illumination, but I hadn't had the time. After that night, I made the time.

Awhile back in another thread I had demonstrated just how awful the stock harness is. A 1 volt drop in voltage on a modern car would be signs of mechanical failure. However, it is not uncommon for our cars to lose that much voltage because they way our headlights are wired.

From the factory, the wires run from the battery, to the fuse box, to the switch, then a long run to the headlights. This is a terrible way of wiring headlights... in modern cars, the switch controls relays that connect shorter large gauge wires together to get the most amount of power to the lights which makes them brighter.

Our factory wiring is only rated for 60 watt high beams. My plan was to create a harness that would allow me to run any bulbs I desired, however, what I found surprised me...

Here is a diagram of my headlight harness. This thing is a beast! A massive 8 gauge wire runs to the relays, while huge 10 gauge high strand wires run to the lights.



This baby can power any headlights desired. The massive wires had to be soldered by torch.


A close up of some of the connections. Note the giant fuse capable of supplying plenty of power to two 100 watt headlights.


40 amp relays, one for high and low beams. These relays had optional sockets available to make the install look much nicer.


Here's sorta how it looks installed. The relays are tucked under the nose panel where it is safe and dry. This install is reversible within seconds and nothing has been done to alter the car in any way. If a relay fails on this harness then you can just plug in the stock connector and keep driving.


Here are multimeter readings from the stock harness and the new harness. Again, that much of a voltage drop in a newer car would be signs of mechanical failure, yet this is typical in older cars.


Road Test:

Originally, my plan was to build the harness and upgrade my lights. But first, I wanted to see if any improvements had been made. So I took my car out using the same old halogens and the improvement was drastic! I would say that my lighting has improved about 50%. Even with 60 watt bulbs they are incredible and I see no reason to go brighter. I have 75 watt bulbs in another car and these seem both brighter and whiter.

This is just some random unaltered picture I took with my iphone.


Anyway, this was a fun project, and maybe this can help someone struggling with dim headlights.
_________________
'84 944 -White, Brown interior
'84 944 -Red, Automatic
'86 944 -Garnet, Fully loaded, Koni suspension
'87 924S -Red, 300hp 951 swap
'87 924S -Red, Project Car
'88 924S -Red, Daily Driver

[Grenadiers]

Us older guys have a simpler solution, we don't drive at night! But, same theory I used on my CGT clone for both fans and fog lamps I still had on the car.
_________________
'83 944 Track car.
'88 924S Track car.
'89 944 Turbo
2004 Winnebago Vectra monster RV
2012 Jeep Wrangler
2014 Kia Soul
2001 Ford F350 powerstroke