I thought I would introduce myself. My Name is Nick. I bought the #185 944 Spec from Phil O'Brian last week. It's an '84 944, w/ an LSD and an 88 Motor and DME. I come from tracking an E36 for a few years in the Rocky Mountain Region, and with any luck I can earn my comp license in April. I've been reading thru these and other forums for the last several weeks, learning everything I can. I'm very excited to get this thing out to High Plains soon and see how she feels. I do have a few questions I could use some help answering. There's only a couple modifications I'd like to make, which should be fairly simple. I have a shift light and Gopro hardwire kit from my old car. Where is the easiest place to find ignition switched power and a tach signal to get these things wired up? I've been digging thru the shop manuals I found online, but it's a ton of info to dig thru, and was hoping that someone might know off the top of their head. What alignment specs should I be running? I found that I like more negative camber than most other E36's I tracked with. I greatly appreciate any and all wisdom or crazy ideas. Is there anything I should look into first to learn the car?

Nick Thiemann
#185 944 Spec
Denver, CO

Welcome to the party Nick!!!

I dont have an answer for the tach pickup but can shed some light on the alignment specs.

Front camber 3-3.5 degrees depending on track and driving style. Front toe should be from 0 to 1/8" toe out.

Rear camber is 2-2.5 degrees and rear toe is usually set to 1/16" toe in on each side. You can run zero toe in the rear but I feel the car turns best with a 1/16" in on each side.

Again welcome to the show, I am sure many others will chime in. It is a friendly place with a common goal to have fun.

Welcome! You are going to have a great time in the RM region - a great group of guys that are growing the class, and having a bunch of fun. Here is a run down on gauge installation: www.944spec.org/944SPEC/forum/race-car-b...ay-to-install-gauges

Yeaaaaah Nick! Nick is an awesome BMW Driver that has moved over to 944Spec! We're gonna have a ton of fun this year!

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. I've been amazed at how helpful the entire 944 Spec family has been. The car dyno'd great yesterday at 133hp/137tq. I took her out to HPR today for my first laps in the car. Unfortunately, I only made it 3 laps before the car started making a very loud knocking noise. Attached is a video if anyone has ideas to get me started. With any luck and some help I should be able to have her ready for comp school in two weeks. Those first 3 laps where great. The car rotates so well and feels so planted.
[video]http://youtu.be/fSN1IKy9NUI[/video]

Well the good news is it does not sound like the #2 rod knock. It sounds like something up top., which is good, because there is a chance to fix that in a couple of weeks, but I'd get on taking apart the tops end. Make sure it's not an exhaust manifold leak (those can tick).