944: crap or gold? Please help a newb

I think it speaks volumes about a "fast" car when it took 10 years for one to win a Lemons race but there are always some entered.  Our first attempt to build a Lemons car was a 944.  From later observations it looks like we are kind of lucky to give up on it.  From what I can see they throw rods unless you do some bottom end mods and when they do break they seem to be off track for hours at a time which leads me to believe that they are not trivial cars to repair.  In Lemons, the Heroic Fix trophy usually goes to a team who performed some superhuman feat involving welding together parts from different makes of car to repair their badly damaged car so it can return to the race.  With a 944, it has been awarded to teams that simply managed to replace a clutch in a weekend.  Plus, you pay a premium for parts because of the name.  I'd run one if I owned a Porsche wrecking yard but wouldn't recommend one for a newbie team.

But every time that 944 turbo comes flying by me on afterburners at the west coast races I have envy.

944s are fun but frustrating. As mentioned, when things break, repair often means pulling all sorts of stuff apart just to get to what failed. My analogy is that they're built like a 7-layer dip, and everything you want to fix is down in the beans.

DMEs fail randomly and frequently. Rods try to get their way to freedom.

Parts with a Porsche logo on them are costly, so you need to be creative at finding the equivalent part # for Audi, VW, Mercedes-Benz, etc.

And for all your effort, you'll get lap times not that different from your neighbors who dragged a Focus out of a field and put good tires on it.

That said, they're fun when they work. Nice balance, excellent brakes, and non-racers think it's special when you say you race a Porsche (and leave out all the details.)

I'd say get something else if you are looking to just get a car and race it.   
As everyone indicated, hard to work on is my experience also

I'm not sure you've quite understood the point people are making lol.

That's like saying that you've given up on understanding the universe because it's too complicated, so you'll go ahead and invent time travel instead.

Alfas and 944s are both really hard to fix when they break, but the 944 will break more often. Parts for the Alfa will be harder to find (until you build up your private parts-car junkyard, which is easy because basket-case Milanos and 164s are dirt cheap).

FYI a Small Block Chevy bolts right up to the trans and they make drop in kits...

Ha, I thought Lemons racers were supposed to be brave!

Well, that and the 944 sold before we realized what we had and my buddy is into alfas, so there we go.  That and I've seen a number of articles about how Alfas are shockingly reliable.

OK, so we have a line on an 88 Milano Verde, about 100k miles, been sitting in garage for several years.  Older owner passed away and son is selling it.  Looks really solid.  It's ours for $1250.

• Do you think we can sell enough parts from it to get down to Lemons level?  I know these have really great recaros in them and the car allegedly has a bolt of original recaro fabric in it to redo the seats.  Problem is, these cars are so cheap and the enthusiasts of them are too, so thinking probably 400 max on the seats.

• Good car?  I know they are complicated with the rear trans/brakes, but supposed to be inexplicably reliable on the track.  I think these were rated #2 on the reliability scale on an old article from MM?  Plus, glorious sound!

@Alferrari Fistillini - defintiely!  We are west coast based, but I have a working fedex account....

Thanks all!  Looking forward to the party!

Peakay -

At that price, you should be able to sell off enough interior bits, trim and glass to get you within the Lemons budget.

You've got a really good support system for Alfas on the left coast.  Look up Brian Shorey and his gang of Alfa fanatics.  His team raced a Milano in like 90 Lemons races before they finally split every seam on the car.  The 3.0L engines run like freight trains and the chassis is very tunable.  And like Type44 says about the glorious exhaust note.... the aria emanating from the tailpipe can make women swoon and grown men weep.

Let me know if you need anything.

Darren

Alfa Milanos are pretty damn good. There's a few that have been racing for years and finish top 10 often.

I don't think you'll get sweated on a Milano. Sell what you can, make sure it's in good shape, show up and have fun. Check with the other teams that run them to learn the weak points and how to address them.

Looks too nice to LeMonize!  Why don't those deals ever show up in the Midwest?  Oh yeah, because most Alfas of that vintage have returned to the earth in the form of iron oxide.