PROJECT 944: The Final Stretch?

It’s been quite a while since i last updated this blog on Project944. Truth be told, pretty much nothing was done for the past few weeks as we were awaiting another shipment of parts to arrive from the States. This time, bearings, synchros, bushings and all sorts of paraphernalia pertaining to a gearbox and differential (it IS a transaxle after all) rebuild. After the parts arrived, another delay followed due to the Lunar New Year holidays, so it was only recently that Project944 went back up the hoist once again. Hopefully for the last time.

Quite a bit of dust has once again gathered on the brand new paint 😦

As you can see, the rear subframe is finally off the car and dismantled.

What should have been an easy procedure turned into something much more complicated as the majority of bolts holding the subframe together were so old and rotten that just a slight twist of a wrench sheared them off completely. The bits that were still holding on were also so corroded that there was no way to get them off conventionally. In the end, just to get the bolts off, the entire assembly was sent to a machining/engineering shop.

Here it is back in the shop with new bolts in place. Next up, to re-index the rear torsion bars and get that 4×4 looking rear ride height lowered!

Gearbox and differential all disassembled and getting rebuilt.

Even the torque tube is getting a proper doing up. I doubt any other 944 in Singapore has had their torque tube rebuilt.

The clutch is also getting replaced after another rush shipment order from the States. All because the clutch kit we bought earlier did not fit even though the seller claimed otherwise! Hopefully i can get a proper refund on the part. It was very frustrating.

The stock standard clutch will be swapped to a higher spec HD unit. A bit of sleuthing on the internets brings up some pretty good reviews on the HD clutch with minimal or no trade-offs on pick up and weight. Should be good.

Once the gearbox, differential and torque tube is done, some welding will need to be done on the extractor as corrosion has also set in on one of the pipes, causing a boost leak. When that is done, Project944 will be undergoing a final road tune and if all goes according to plan, she will once again be road legal. I even made new plates!

Of course, road registration does not mean the project will end, we will still need to work on the interior, final wheel finishing and getting a new windscreen. This never seems to end, but i think, we can at least safely say we are headed towards the home stretch. Fingers crossed!