chorlick

Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Chris Im from north alabama and recently acquired my first 928. Basically saw the car ad on CL and fell in love right away. Such cool cars. Below are is a link to some pictures and Ive uploaded a link to a quote from my local independent euro auto shop would love any feed back from the group and thanks for being so welcoming in regards to my blower motor questions. Hope to get to know you guys over the next few months.

Image album http://imgur.com/a/G0VXb
Estimate album http://imgur.com/a/eBmiB

chorlick

Im actually really happy so far. Last night I fixed my fuel gauge being stuck on 1/4 empty by pulling, cleaning and reinstalling the fuel sender unit. Works like a champ now. Just waiting for a new seal to come in. Woo hoo. I think im going to tackle the front end steering and suspension next.

hlee96

Congratulations on your new purchase. That's invoice is making my head spin! Can't comment on the parts costs, but they are on the high side, I assume, due to built in mechanic markup. $98/hr is like what family practice physicians make in the real world nowadays.

Good luck!
-Hoi

GT6ixer

Welcome Chris! Congrats on your purchase. I also recently bought an '84. Looks like yours had the all too common deferred maintenance previous owner. That bill looks in line with what others have spent to get a neglected car sorted out. Is your shop familiar with 928s? Hopefully someone on here has used them before and can comment. Not sure what your blower motor questions are? If it's about cost, you should contact Roger at 928sRus. He sells a repair kit IIRC that could save you some money.

As others will tell you, any maintenance you can do yourself will save you lots of money towards the big stuff better left to the pro 928 wrenches. Lots of great help on here to get you through just about every task.

Good luck!

chorlick

Thanks all.

Im going to do as much as I can. The boots, tie rods, engine gaskets and seals, water pump i think I can all do myself. The transmission stuff Ill probably have to have the shop do.

@gt6 Ive already reached out for a quote from them on the blower motor itll be cool to get fixed.

worf928

Find another shop. The details of your esimate show that this shop does not know the basics of 928s. Here are a few of the tell-tails:
* $250 for a new water pump. Nope. You can only buy rebuilt or crap at that price.
* $1174 for a new tensioner that 'may not be needed' rather than the ~$10 of parts and the 1/2-hour rebuild of the tensioner that IS needed.

There are many more 'issues' with that estimate. Run away.

$98/hour? Porsche shops around here are charging $150-$200/hr.

Don't focus on the labor rate. Focus on the labor quality.

worf928

Blower motor you can do yourself in three hours or less. (Less if you have someone that can hold the hood.)

chorlick

@worf Will do. Im just curious what other issues you see with the quote. Id like to hear your thoughts.

jcorenman

Chris, Welcome!!

Good job, saved $550 already!

On the electric stuff (headlight motor, blower) check the fuses first, might be something simple. Jim Bailey will be here shortly to lead the "relay, relay, relay" chant.

I didn't see fuel lines on the quote. Unless they have been refreshed, they need to be #1 on the list. At an absolute minimum check that all of the rubber lines around the engine are flexible and not cracked.

Front end is likely tie rods, but the steering rack could also be worn.
Ties rods are relatively inexpensive, racks are readily available from 928 Int'l (<--- website link) or Roger (call him, the 928sRus website is ... well, just call him).

How much work do you want to do yourself? Things like WP/timing belt are eminently DIY-able, and if the 75K is correct then you many not need too many parts. But just be aware that broken odometers are common, the little gears tend to fracture when the reset-button is pushed with the car moving.

chorlick

@jcorenman

Yeah! Im not sure if im more excited about the money or the fact that my fuel gauge works again. I think the only thing I may not be able to do is the leak from the transmission at the differential, other than that Im going to attempt it DIY.
I want to focus on the mechnical stuff first then start at the interior. Im not really trying to get it to show quality, just daily driver ready and a fun care to take the wife out on a friday night in.

Wisconsin Joe

Read through the "New Visitor" sticky if you haven't already.

There are links to tutorials & writeups for much of what you need done. Dwayne's Garage has excellent, picture heavy, detailed guides.

As was noted, the estimate you link shows a rather significant lack of knowledge of the 928.

You were asking about mounting hardware in Roger's thread about the spoilers. If yours is broken, but still attached, then the hardware is all there. Just reuse what you can and replace piece for piece what you can't.

chorlick

Thanks again to everyone who offered some info or just stopped in to say hi. Ill be sure to try and document the process and post progress here. Hopefully I can add something to this board. My plan is to do a through study of the parts i need, part it out and Im hoping you guys will be able to look at the plan and offer input or advice. Thanks again all.

chorlick

One follow up. Im a software developer with alot of experience with microcontrollers and hardware development. If those skills can be any help to you guys let me know.

Wisconsin Joe

Your hood also looks like it is bowing up in the middle. The simple solution for that is to lube the hinges. If they are sticky, they tend to make the hood do that.

If lubing doesn't make it go away, it's possible that the struts in there are the stronger hatch struts. The hood is much lighter than the back hatch, and takes less powerful struts. Rule of thumb is that if you can press the struts in with one hand, they are hood struts. If not, they are for the hatch.

chorlick

@joe
Good catch. Im not sure if its from the hinges like you said or maybe from the frame alignment or something. Ill take a i look. Thanks.