Time for an update!
I've put about 1k miles on the car since purchase now and it is running/handling GREAT! The only think I've done since posting is take the cluster apart to try and diagnose the odometer randomly quitting on me. I took it all the way apart looking for slop in the gear setup and didn't find anything that looked problematic. Per advice from some other sources I see where guys have added a small spacer to tighten up the side to side of the gear that fails, which I have replaced. So I blindly did this with a couple pices of thin plastic. 300 miles down and it is still working. The most I logged before this was around 250 before it quit. Maybe I "fixed" it ... time will tell.
It is almost time to check timing and balance belt tension. I know the balance belt was installed too tight. There is the slight supercharger sound from it that seems tell tale of an over tightened balance belt. At least I hope it's that and not a bearing
Now for the fun story. I brought the car to discount tire on thursday to get the tires re-balanced. I had a bit of a vibration at highway speeds that seemed to to tire balance.
When I brought the car in I explaned to the guy at the counter that you can not just jack this up where ever you want. Showed him on the car where the jack point was and he seemed to understand. As they pulled the car into a bay I wandered around the front so I could watch. Trust, but verify. Immedietely 2 guys with 2 jacks go under the pinch welds and start pumping away. I ran into the shop grabbed one guy and said W T F are you doing!? Put it down, NOW. Then proceeded to explain those aren't structural and definitely not a jack point ... as they had been told. His response was "How can I rotate the tires with only one side up at a time?" First off, no one said anything about rotation, I just want the balance checked.
20 minutes later they bring the keys to me and say it's done. One front wheel was indeed out of balance. At this point I had to check for damage from their jack. Yep, caved in the front pinch weld a bit. At this point I had to breath deep for a minute before going in to talk to the manager. Pulled him out to the car and explaned what played out. Up to this point I did a good job of keeping my cool and not cussing at them ... until he says, "O, I see. It's not that bad" To which I replied Not that bad!? I don't car if it was just a scratch. The point is your guys did exactly what they were very specifically told NOT to do and resulted in damage to my car, no matter how small, that is not ok. Now I may have been a little loud, but the guy is finally understanding that I'm irate.
A lot of "we are really sorry this happened, I'll talk to the tech ... yadda yadda ... What can we do to make this right?" I'm seeing red and told them how about you go find a clean 86 944 without caved in pinch welds and we swap. In hindsight that may have been a bit silly, but it happened. Now it's time for paper work and to file a claim with their insurance. Which they did and I was contacted yesterday. The insurance contact already knew the whole story. At least they told the truth when filing a claim.
Now, I'm supposed to get quotes to have it repaired. I'm not sure how you would even repair something like that. Put in on the frame machine and pull down, I guess? I'd bet most 944s out there already have this damage from improper lifting. The damage isn't really a big deal. Although I will continue on. If for nothing else, to make a point.
That was my excitement for the week
Any suggestions on what I should do? I'm sure my local frame shop will have a way, but the odds they have ever worked on a Porcshe of any variety is low.
The only bright note is that I no longer have vibration from the front. So there's that at least.
/endrant
When I get new tires for the 944, or have them balance, I take them off at home and toss them in the back of the truck. Your story is a perfect example why, unfortunately.