Several months ago, I noticed a set of Porsche rims from an early 911 on craigslist.  The guy had the rims, an old Porsche Whale Tail, and several repair manuals for sale.  I really wanted the rims, but he wanted too much money and I really didn’t have a project to use them on.  So, I filed away his address and decided to pass.

Recently, I noticed an ad for a non-running 1984 Porsche 944 that had been stored for the past 10+ years.  I like anything Porsche, the car appeared to be in good shape, the price was cheap, AND you can put old 911 rims on the early 944s.  The 911 Fuchs (or fox) rims look great on a 944.  Plus, they set the car apart from the later more common 944 models.

The car was nearby in Plant City, so I suggested to my wife and vegan step-daughter that we go to Parkesdale Farm for vegetables for them and a strawberry milkshake for me.  After they had their fill of veggie shopping, I mentioned the Porsche and basically kidnapped them to go look at the car.

I bought the car as a “bargain classic” and set about buying the old Porsche rims.  I found the guy’s home and knocked on the door hoping that he still had the wheels.  Sure enough he had not sold the rims or the other goodies.  I offered to pay his asking price for the rims if he would throw in the rest of the Porsche stuff and twenty of so repair manuals.  I love repair manuals and many of the manuals were relatively rare, so definitely a bonus.

I got the car back to my shop, replaced the gas filter and plugs, and repaired some deteriorated vacuum lines and the old beast fired right up.  It still needs a little work but I was able to at least take it around the block. 

But the best part was mounting those beautiful Fuchs!