1987 944 Turbo Club Racer For Sale

I’ll edit this as I remember more…..

Listing for a customer: $14,000 obo

Also available featherlight open trailer, IIRC 2005 model with tire rack: $5,500obo

Contact: Al Hess 816.985.7711 or email to: al (at) wtatrucks.com

I have performed the maintenance noted below

Details/Maintenance:
PCA Stock class 87 Turbo
Mileage is around 35k IIRC

Suspension:
Koni shocks/struts (front paragon coilover conversion)
Racer’s Edge Control Arms (19mm pins): Brand New
Weltmeister 28mm front/22mm rear adjustable sway bars
Pagid orange/black pads
Fresh rebuilt steering rack installed this year
Wheels: 16″ sewer lids.
Tight LSD Transaxle.

Body:
Front end was hit sometime by the previous owner and was repaired. You can see some filler on the driver’s side front corner where it meets the header panel if you really look at it.
Brumos Vinyl color theme (removable) Installed this year (IE, not a true Brumos car, we just liked the theme)

Interior:
Still has the carpet which can be removed for PCA now
Kirky large driver’s seat, and medium kirky passenger seat.
New driver’s harness last year
Rollcage
Cool Suit installed this year
Back Brace installed this year
Fire Extinguisher installed this year
Hot Lap Timer installed this year.
Updated rollbar padding this year (SFI 45.1)

Engine:
Fresh rod bearings done last year (car only ran 3 DE’s this year)
Waterpump/timing belt/rollers etc done at same time as rod bearings
AC still installed which can be pulled this year with PCA rules.
Kill switch installed this year
New vacuum hoses, etc done this year.

He bought the car 2 years ago from a fellow up in Nebraska, we did the maintenance listed above, and he ran it maybe 4-5 DE events since owning it (never had a chance to club race it). Al is getting out of club racing racing (he sold his main race car last year as well), and is looking for a 996TT for a daily driver and DE car.

IMHO this is a very solid car for someone to club race with.

These are the pictures I have of the car. I am sure Al can provide any additional pictures needed:

Explorer repair in Seattle

While Val and I were out in Seattle for Xmas, I did some work on my mom’s 2002 Explorer.  The ford trucks from the late 90’s to the mid 2000’s have an issue with the digital odometer not lighting up randomly.  Some days it will work, others it will not and you can’t read the display.  Eventually, it will stop lighting up completely (this does not mean it will stop accumulating miles, lol)  The issue is from cold solder joints on the backside of the instrument cluster circuit board.  The repair usually runs about $500 from a dealer and involves a new cluster.  The other option, is to just resolder the joints yourself, which is $free.99.

Now the dash design has changed from the late 90’s to even the early 2000’s, so getting the cluster out may be slightly different depending on the year.  Also, the circuit boards are different from what I found out.  The earlier models have broken solder joints where the ribbon cable attaches to the board.  The later models appear to have broken solder joints around a couple of the resistors that run the odometer display.  I was dealing with a later model.

On the 2002’s, you must first unclip the radio surround.  A flat blade screwdriver will help pop the frame loose from the 6 clips that hold it.  Just work around the trim carefully.  I started at the top and worked down.

Next, remove the lower trim panel.  2 7mm screws on the bottom, and then unclip the top (3 clips).  Set aside.

Once the bottom trim is off, remove the 3 lower screws on the upper section, the 2 upper screws above the gauges, and then pop a clip loose on the top (1 by the air duct, and the other on the other side near the radio end).  Lower the steering wheel to the lowest setting, and pop loose the trim piece near the cluster that is attached to the rubber column boot.  Next, from underneath the steering column, remove the 3 screws holding the upper and lower column covers together.  Wiggle the lower cover piece out.  Then you can remove the upper gauge surround piece after removing the 4 electrical connectors on the backside.  Carefully rotate it counter clockwise and out.  With that out of the way, remove the 2 lower screws holding the instrument cluster in, remove the 2 electrical connectors on the cluster, remove the 7mm bolt holding the gear selector to the column, unhook the cable off it’s column and remove from the car.

Cluster out of the car.  Next you can slide the gear selector out of the cluster and set aside.

Flip the unit over and remove the gold screws holding the cover on the back.  Pop the front face cover off by unclipping it, and remove the 2 gold screws on the front side.  I put the cover back on then to keep the gauge needles from getting damaged.

Now you are looking at the rear of the board where the bad joints probably will be.

I pulled the entire assembly apart to check the solder joints on the odometer display as well.  The circuit board actually just pulls off the back of the gauges.  There are 4 pins on each gauge that extrude through the board, and they are just a press/friction fit, so no screws to remove.  Just evenly work the board free if you want to check the rest of the joints (note, this step was not necessary in my case as all the front solder joints were good, but you might as well check)

I found 4 bad solder joints on the odometer end of the board (passenger side).  I also found a joint at the bottom middle of the board that I repaired.   It is hard to see in the pictures, but very obvious with a good magnifying glass in person.

I heated up the joints with a solder iron and added a fresh bit of solder to repair the joints.  On the back side of these joints are actually resistors which run the odometer display.  The one joint was cracked bad enough you could wiggle the resistor on the board.

The other joint that was bad (repaired shown)

Once you have checked all the joints and repaired them, reinstall is opposite of removal.  The big gauge surround piece takes some wiggling to get in, but just be careful and it will eventually slide into place.

Odometer display is lit up and visible!

Squeaks gets a new fuel pump

Val’s jeep has had a couple of no start issues in the past year, all of which quickly subsided after sitting a few hours, but none the less, I was afraid it would leave her stranded somewhere eventually.  The jeeps have a fuel leak down issue on occasion, which requires updating some seals in the fuel sender unit.  Since I would be in there, I replaced the fuel pump and the filter/regulator as well.  Well, I got to do the job twice due to a defective pump, so the second time, I just replaced the entire fuel sender unit which contains the pump since the cost was not much more.  Got it all installed, and it is running better than ever.  With 120k+ miles on, it was time to at least replace the regulator/filter, and probably not a bad idea to throw in a new pump as well. 

So you have a couple of options if this happens to you:

1.  Jeep fuel sending unit seal kit

2.  Fuel pressure regulator/filter

3.  While you are in there you might as well replace the pump as well. 

OR:

1.  Replace the entire fuel sending unit

2.  Replace the filter/regulator

From what I have discovered, just do option #2, the cost ends up being about the same. 

Note:  The 2nd go around, I tried to drop the tank without pulling the rear bumper.  The hardest part is getting the factory hitch dropped out.  The clearance is tight, but everything will come out.  R&Ring the hitch by yourself is a little tough, but if you have a second set of hands, it would be no problem.  Once the hitch is out of the way, the fuel tank drops out without any clearence problems. 

I backed the jeep up on some 2×10’s for some extra clearance.  You could probably due this without raising the car up at all. 

First time around….I pulled the rear bumper cover.

Hitch dropped out.

Once the hitch is out of the way, you can disconnect the lines from the pressure regulator/filter, remove the remaining bolts holding the tank in, and lower it down with a jack.  I did this after the low fuel light came on, so there was only a few gallons in the tank.  Do not attempt this with a full tank.

Once the tank is down, you can pull the sending unit out of the tank.  The fuel pump is actually in the unit, so if you are just replacing that you will have to disassemble the unit. 

The Black wire (next to the red) was a bit crispy.  I repaired it the first time around, but it may have been too far gone to fix.  I assume this was the cause of the occasional no start issue. 

Drop in the new sending unit, and you can raise the tank back into place. 

Lol, If you were dumb enough to remove the rear bumper cover like I was, make sure to test drive the vehicle BEFORE putting on the rear hitch and bumper cover.   I reassembled everything after starting the car (started, idled, and reved fine), before I test drove it.  It was on the test drive that Squeaks fell on his face about a block from the house from fuel starvation.  I was able to limp it back home, but I would have saved a lot of time had I test drove the vehicle first. 

Squeaks gets a new driveshaft seal and axle bearing

I had been doing some maintenance on Val’s 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee the other day when I noticed a leaking rear axle seal on the passenger side.  I had actually smelled gear lube after arriving in SD for thanksgiving, so I pretty much knew what I would find when I looked under the rear of the truck.  Jeeps are pretty notorious for this issue, and I had replaced the driver’s side a couple of years ago. 

The process is fairly straight forward, but does require a heavy duty press and a torch comes in handy as well.  Remove the brake caliper and rotor.  You can leave the parking brake shoes in place.  Remove the 4 nuts holding the axle shaft in the housing.  Once those are out, take a chisel and a hammer and hit the backside of the axle assembly hub outwards to drive the axle out of the housing.  I remember the driver’s side being more of a pain to get out a couple of years ago, but this one came out with one whack of the hammer.  (Note, the ZJ’s IIRC have a circlip inside the diff that you have to remove first).

You can see the retainer sleeve, bearing, and the edge of the wheel seal that needs to be replaced.  The retainer needs to be cut off so the bearing can be removed and the wheel seal.  A dremel will take care of the retainer quickly.  You only need to cut about half way through the sleeve, and it will actually pop and break the rest of the way due to the pressure.  Slide it off.  The wheel bearing is just as easy to cut off, just be careful not to cut into the axle.  Then you can slide the seal off.

Clean up the axle shaft good before reassembly.

The entire assembly almost back together.  The retainer needs to be pushed on slightly further until it is next to the bearing.  Here is the kicker…..it takes a big press to put on the wheel bearing and the retainer.  Heat both with a torch slightly, then press everything back together.  My 12 ton press struggled a little on this, lol.  The new wheel seal and retaining plate are the only things that will go on easy.   Make sure of the orientation of everything before putting it back on, or you will be buy new bearings, etc.  At $160 for the 3 items, you don’t want to mess up, lol. 

Make sure to clean up all the old gear lube with some brake clean before reassembly.

I pulled the rear diff cover to inspect everything, before putting it back together and filling with new gear lube.

951 Output Shaft Seal Replacement

Replaced a leaking output shaft seal on a 951 today.  It had gotten bad enough that it was leaving a puddle on the ground after driving, so it was time to replace it. 

Remove the CV axle from the output shaft.  The bolts are typically 8mm triple square bits but they may have been replaced with 6mm allens at some point.   One the axle is out of the way, remove the 6mm allen in the center of the output shaft.  Then you can pull the shaft out of the transaxle. 

Drain the fluid out of the transaxle.  Make sure to remove the fill plug first.

You can see the leaky seal here.  A large flat blade screw driver behind the seal should pop it right out.  Be careful not to nick the case.

Old seal out.

New seal in

Reassembly is opposite of removal.  Clean everything up with brake clean once it is back together, and fill the transaxle with new fluid. 

993 Repairs

Had a 993 in the garage the other day for a few repairs.  First off I repaired the fan duct housing to the heater assembly, and then I went after a metal rattle in the rear of the car.

New heater duct installed.

Old air duct.  As you can see, the air wasn’t getting where it needed to go, lol

There were multiple causes of the metal rattle in the rear.  The car had been in a rear end accident at some point in it’s life, and the fender liners and rear metal exhaust shield were pretty beat up still.  I had to fab up a little bracket for one of the fender liners as the mount was broken off, and got the missing screws replaced and the liner secured.  Then I pulled the rear bumper to address the metal shield.  While it still resembled something of a metal shield, it was in pretty rough shape.  I had to come up with some creative ways to remount the shield since it was tore up pretty badly, but got it reattached to the exhaust and rear bumper bar.  Rattle fixed.

The left side of the shield and the center mounting points to the catalytic converters were the issue.  A few screws and some metal re-shaping later, and we were on our way.

There is one thing I love more than cars (i know, hard to believe)

And that is hunting……..

Thanksgiving (and usually xmas) week every year is spent hunting up in South Dakota with family.  Every year my wife and I (and the polar bear of a dog) head up for some deer and pheasant hunting.  Having family up there is really nice in regard to land access, and great hunting grounds at that.  Left late friday night, and were up early on Saturday to head out for some scouting.  I typically pull a doe tag for the meat every year, but after the last 2 years of seeing a lot more bucks than does, I think I may have to put in for multiple licenses next year, lol.  Tuesday morning I had a deer in the cooler, and we spent M-F hunting birds.  The bird hunting was a little tougher this year with the crops still in the ground, but we still got a lot of birds.  SD is going to enact an emergency 5 bird daily limit / 25 possession limit to allow for the decrease in rooster harvest this year.   My big goal this year was to get Valerie on the shotgun.  We pulled out the clay pigeons and after some gun handling/positioning work, she started knocking them down like crazy.  Eventually we had to start tricking her a little bit with the thrower as she was getting too good, lol.  I think she found a new hobby.  With some skeet work this year, she should be ready for birds next year.  The O/U 20ga is just perfect for her.

First we had to start with some prairie dogs.  The .17hmr makes short work of them.

Little buggers are destructive.  They completely chewed down through this 4 inch fence post.  I guess they were determined to put their front door there.

The modern day mule makes hunting a lot of pasture easy.

Valerie the first day on the shotgun.  We’ve got some work to do……

My nephew Wyatt shooting the .22  He is already getting to be a heck of a shot.  Shooting empty shotgun shells off the tire.  He even plugged a few p-dogs over 100 yards out with the .17

Valerie on the clays (big difference after fixing her stance, etc)…..now you see it.

Now it’s in a thousand little pieces.

And you can’t just throw away oil from frying that thanksgiving turkey……(well you can, the jug is sitting right above the trash pit).  Wyatt thinks it is fun to put colored kool aid in the jugs and shoot them.

Might as well let the .243 do some talking, lol.  Impact……(I love cameras with continuous shoot mode)

I am sure every raccoon in the county was checking out that dirt pile after dark.

Hunting with Tia.

Tia found a rooster, and appears to be fairly proud of herself.

After a long hard day of work.  It is tough work trying to keep up with a 3 year old lab.  Tia isn’t a dummy, she lets the lab get down in the thick stuff while she watches from the shorter stuff, lol.

And what 14lbs of pheasant jerky looks like (I won’t tell you how many lbs you have to start with to get 14lbs, lol)

Curse the black cars…..

For some reason, black cars, in particular black 951’s have been known to put up a fight with me.  Not just one black 951, but multiple black 951’s, lol.  Oh well.  It was a project that just kept growing and growing as we got deeper into it.  IMHO, the root of everything was for years the car was running 15.5:1 AFR’s under boost after an upgraded turbo and MAF, but still using stock injectors (not my install).  We fixed the fueling/programming/maf issues a year ago when the car came to me and realized what it was doing on the dyno, but I think by then the damage was done and only got worse the more the car was driven hard.

Was hunting up in SD last week when I got a call from the machine shop saying the new head was done and ready to go.  Unfortunately, it needed the whole shebang rebuild.  New guides, seals, pressure checked, surface decked, valve job, hone the new guides, etc…..but we now have a nice new head to work with (with intact exhaust liners, lol).

So Monday morning I picked up it and reassembled everything.

Fired it up after pre-oiling the turbo and let it heat cycle a couple of times to allow everything to burn off and out of the exhaust.  Right now it runs and drives great, but I still have to install a boost controller, then with any luck, the car will be finished and gone.

The list of work was extensive:

Newly rebuilt head due to the old head’s exhaust liners coming apart.  Belts/rollers were all recently replaced.

Rebuilt Turbo (when exhaust liners come apart, guess where the fragments go)

Resealed the upper balance shaft housing, installed a new rear cap o ring, and added a little RTV for extra holding strength.  (needless to say, this oil puking monster now appears to be leak free)

New Dipstick o-ring

New Oil/Air Separator O-rings

Boost controller (yet to be added)

Oil change/Coolant change

New wiper blades

New DME temp sensor

Cleaned the coolant tank of old residual oil which was hardened and stuck to the tank.  Will monitor coolant for oil (oil cooler seals)  (coolant was clean when drained)

Update: Black 951

Well it was a slow week in regards to the black car.  Sitting waiting, waiting, waiting.  Yesterday afternoon though I got a call that the turbo was rebuilt and ready to be picked up.  So I ran across town and got it, and came home and got it installed and out of the way.  Now I am just waiting on another head to be rebuilt before putting it all back together.  The previous head was unusable due to the exhaust liners.  Unfortunately, this was one of those projects on a low mileage car that just kept getting bigger and bigger the more I dug into the car.   It seems like the low mileage 951’s are always the cars that end up with the huge bills because they really haven’t had any consistent maintenance done on them.  Sitting in a garage not being driven, does not mean that the components on the car are not wearing out with age.  As I showed in the last post, the headgasket was already rotted through with very few miles on the car, but about 10 years of age since the gasket was last replaced.  Constant contact with coolant eventually ate through it.

86 951 Overhaul

No, not a complete overhaul, but it seems to be snowballing as so many of these projects do on the older cars.  It seems like once you get in there, there are a lot of items that would be foolish not to replace, but the price tag is always a bit of a shocker.  This car came in with a smoking issue from the exhaust.  The longer it sat between starts, the longer it smoked.  So the Dr. went to work.  My initial thoughts was a bum turbo due to the nature of the smoking.  What troubled me, was when I was starting it every couple of days, it really didn’t smoke that much.  No smoke while driving either once it was warmed up.  Curious, I pulled the intercooler pipes to look for oil.  Very minute trace of oil, nothing major.  Absolutely no oil in the intake, or throttle body.  My next thought was possible valve seals since it was an issue on initial warm up.

 

Next up was to pull the plugs……..Yuck.

 

Upon seeing that, I immediately did a compression test on the motor:  Healthy at 150psi on all 4.

 

History on the head was about 10 years ago on a top end rebuild (motor has 78k) from another shop.  This is a car that sits in climate controlled storage, and actually sat for a period of time not being used.  Point being a well taken car of car.  Port/polish, guides, seals, and oringing.  I shoved the borescope down the spark plug holes, but the results were inconclusive, so I pulled the intake to peer down the intake valves.  I didn’t really like was I saw, considering there was zero oil in the intake.  Behind the valve stem, you will see a tanish area with some dark speckles….that is a nice film of oil….on all cylinders.

 

So, I pulled the head:

 

Hmmmmmm you can see this head gasket is getting pretty crispy by the holes starting to crack through in the gasket.

 

Now looking down the exhaust port, a few things should stand up and slap you in the face…..

 

Off to the machine shop that head goes.  Once it is cleaned up, we will make a decision on it……

 

Now seeing the exhaust liner in that condition on 2 cylinders, I really started wondering what condition the K27 (upgraded) turbo was in.  I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t pull it and take a look, so I took a couple of hours and yanked the turbo.  It also gave me the opportunity to seal a leaking upper balance shaft housing and OAS seals as well, so it was really a dual purpose.  With the turbo pulled, the hot side was in good shape, so looks like the head porting was done at the previous rebuild.  Since the turbo was off though, I wasn’t going to put it back on without putting in fresh seals.  Off to my local turbo rebuilder for a refreshing……..

 

Turbo off, and upper balance shaft housing pulled.

 

Look at that mess, lol.

 

All cleaned up, back together, and waiting on a head and turbo to arrive back.  Stay tuned.