Dear previous owner,

Thanks so much for replacing the tank-to-filter lines with SAE fuel lines and a lawnmower gas filter with 3/8" fittings. Nothing like a gasoline bath on a hot summer morning.

Love,
Marcus

Seems like I always take a gas bath changing filters on these. First time I did it, I didn't realize all the gas would just drain out of the tank. I was used to modern cars and was running for gas cans!

I would not thank him yet,.. I thought I weeded out all, bus pistons, throttle cable cut off and abandoned in the throttle tube ect., he just routed without tube. Rattle can paint no primer and everyting in the way.. a dozen holes drilled for both style of relective porsche rear lenses and neither installed, crappy thread fixes, bailing wire.. list goes on , so may yours..

does P.O. mean "previous owner" or "pissed off"?


although, most likely, we were all one of those. i know i was (my 1st car burn't down the new owners garage!)

My DAPO's last car burnt down on him because of the DAPO he had. Karma is kool when you get to hear of it.

Ha, me too! I traded mine for a motorcycle. Two days later he drives it onto the driveway, goes inside his house, then minutes later looks out the kitchen window to see it on fire. aka immaculate timing

oh yeah, that reminds me of my baja trade. the first motor i ever built seized after a trade. found out they were oversized main bearings in std. crank... ooops

Where one PO imperfection comes another will follow. My 944 was that way. It was a nightmare.

Do you need a hand with anything. I am just working on cars tomorrow if you need a hand.

I could go on forever with the problems I had from the past owner of my car and just recently found a new problem, but I guess that is some of the fun....finding these things and making them better..I just wish the past owner was more honest about things in the beginning. I know just how you feel...I almost crashed my car when the brakes failed after he told me ALL REBUILT BRAKES AROUND. That was many many years ago and the car is now starting to get some work done and improvments as time and money allows. Good luck on your project

seems prior owner may have saved the car from death with his bad fixes, after all if he never did the repair (botched as it is) the car may had been abondonded and parted out as junk, at least he had it running. and now it can live again in new hands.


when you buy a used car like this, you need to inspect everything, some cars this old have had multible owners with varius degrees of financing and abilitys to keep them from being junked

best inspect all fuel hoses (under the tank comes to mind) and make sure the brakes and steering and wheel components are up to the test before you go driving

good luck

PS the SAE fuel hoses that are rated 30R9 are superior to the german hoses, the SAE 30R9 hose (as opposed to the older 30R7 hose) is lined with a flouropolymer (Teflon like) liner. this prevents the new gasolines (oxygenated crap, mandated by many retarded non-technical politicians) from destroying the rubber hose. if you dont use lined hose, and are forced to use oxygenated gasoline, you will likely have fuel line degredation at an accelerated rate.

I have not yet found a lined tappered hose (the one that goes to the stock filter) so that I keep an eye on, but all my other hoses are now SAE 30R9 rated. look for the 30R9 printed on the hose. you can also look carefully for the liner, some are colored, others are black and a bit harder to see.

5?16 inch line works well for the engine bay hoses, it is close enough diameter to teh metric to work wit hte correct styel (solid band) hose clamps and be leak free.

use SAE 30R9 on all the hoses you can, this will ensure long hose life with todays (and future ) gasolines

note the 30R7 used to be the Fuel injection standard hose, but becuase of the new gasoline formulations and increased smog laws (yes the new hose lets out 30- to 50 times less vapour than the old hose via permiation) I now see new stock of the 30R7 printed witht eh warning to not use it on FI systems, it used to be ok to use it, but now they want you to go to the 30R9. times change!

Alright, I'll play... not 914 related but 944 related.

I first bought my 944 and the car ran great and drove great. I was not new to the 924, but new to the 944. I inspected it to the best of my ability but did not know there was so much to them.

Upon buying the car... it started to have massive problems. It made sounds like wailing like a banshee. Then it started to run funny. Then it had loss of power. Then things intermittently blew fuses. It was a NIGHTMARE. The guy stopped returning my calls and pretended like I wasn't there. I knew at this point he probably wanted to get rid of it and was tired of working on it. Oh well.

- I found out that the rotor was glued and loctited to the cam tip
- The plug wires LOOKED nice but were just clean. They were more brittle than a piece of peanut brittle.
- The cap was a complete mess
- The bra was duct taped to the car to prevent it from moving away.... because it was mangled and ripped all over...
- The radiator was clogged and had radiator stop leak (also known as radiator stop work) in it that was so filled in the radiator that you would think that someone rubbed the radiator around in a sandy beach and reinstalled it.
- The timing belt was about a butthair away from snapping
- The power steering had power steering fluid, not mineral oil as recommended and was leaking like a sieve.
- The wheel bearings sounded like someone put skateboard bearings in it and I started calling them "turning indicators" as the car sounded like a screaming banshee when you turned.
- The car had cheap ass wiring that was leeched into the different dash components to hook up to the stereo and intermittently went out.
- The grounds were a complete mess
- The struts were blown and a rattling noise came from the engine bay only to find out the previous owner used a big aluminum dowel in the battery bay in case you needed to prop the hood up.
- The struts for the hatch were blown, a giant cedar plank was under the carpet to prop the hatch up, classy.
- The car had been repainted with a really really bad paint job. If that wasn't bad enough, it looked like the thick clearcoat was painted on the bottom door panels to protect from rock chips. In fact, it was not, it was actually bedliner, and painted OVER the bedliner to give it the LOOK that it was the thicker clear coat.
- The fuel line was replaced with super cheap fuel line that was the wrong length and posing a serious concern to the first thing to snag it...
- The clutch pedal was horribly adjusted, it felt like you had to push 2 inches before you could even feel the rod go into and actuate the master cyl.
- The adjustment rod for the power steering had cracked and broken, it had been crunched and smushed into itself and then tightened super tight to make sure it didn't budge...

With a parts list of things that has gone on now for 3 pages... the car is back in "as intended" shape and runs like a complete champ. You'd think it was a new car if you drove it. The only thing really left is the cosmetic crap and needing a new paint job and it'll be one VERY happy 944.

And here I have been thanking my PO over and over as I go because he bagged and tagged each individual part as he removed them from the car. Most of the electrical items were snipped instead of disconnected, which is making life so much easier since I was planning on swapping the harness anyway.

Of course, he did jack the car up from multiple areas of the floor pan, from the firewall to the front trunk.... but hey, a BFH and a block of wood did wonders.

All in all, my PO was a saint.... except for the hacking up of the rear trunk to make room for a SBC that he never installed ok, maybe my PO was smart and stupid at the same time.

OK, so who's the dumb ass? The previous owner or the one that bought the car and is now just discovering problems with it? DAPO... Dumb Ass Previous Owner or Dumb Ass Present Owner?

Am I understanding this right? You disconnected a gas line then was surprised to see that gas was coming out of the tank?

lmao with my 944 it was a bit of BOTH! haha! now i know what to look out for on the cars should i ever have a "next time" but to be honest, I've actually ENJOYED working on the car and learning. I feel far more confident in the car, so all in all it was a learning experience. I'm glad I went through it.

If you bought it then he DID get rid of it, and should not be expected to work on it. Buyer beware. I hate selling cars because the Dumb Ass New Owner expects me to take care of the vehicle like it was a new car and I was a dealership that extended some kind of warranty...

Kevin

I've had some great POs (a few on this board). Were there some things I would wished they hadn't done, but that's OK.

I have also had some POs that were POS

Just remember.
ALL of us will eventually be somebodies DAPO.
There is no way to avoid it. We will do something - even if its done right, and the next owner of the car will wonder wtf we were smoking at the time. Thats life and old cars.

Zach

Plus, a car CAN be in top shape before you sell and the day after it sells something goes on it. Sucks but happens. The only POs I can't stand are the ones that are not honest, cover stuff up, or are down right crooked. The majority of people don't fit in that.

Well said. I got pretty lucky with my "73 1.7. It was neglected & not molested. I don't think the PO did anything to it. Mice made up for it.

..Oh ya,the stigma or maybe enigma of acquiring a 914 Porsche
( and I always wash my hands in gasoline...when I change my fuel filter)

Be careful what you say about DAPO's. From some of the thread's I've come across, I'd have to say DAPO's are alive and well and posting here often!

Pump and filter problem solved. I'm moving mine to the front trunk. But then again... I'm probably just a DAPO in the making.