Wisconsin Joe

Short history: I bought a 944 in '05. I didn't really know what I was doing, but did reasonably well. Learned a lot about Porsches (I've done a lot of my own wrenching for years), had a lot of fun, and a lot of frustration.
But it was sort of a POS, wreck repair, body not quite straight.

So after coming into a small windfall last year, I decided to upgrade. Did I want a better 944, a 911 or a 928??? Cost/benefit of initial purchase indicated a 928 (ownership costs and effort wouldn't be all that different in the long run).
Did a lot of research on here for what to look for and what to avoid. I've lurked here for my 944, but never bothered joining.

So I started looking, and found one. It was in St Paul MN, and I live in WI, near Green Bay. As it turned out, friends of mine were going to the Mall of America to the Sea Life aquarium to swim with the sharks. So I tagged along. Tim is a good friend and a mechanic who has helped a good bit with my 944 and we looked it over as good as we could under the circumstances.
Records were pretty solid, some issues, TB/WP done recently (miles wise anyway), owner did a mostly good job, clearly loved the car.

So I bought it. And drove it back. Across Wisconsin in January. Interstingly, the roads were clear and dry on the trip home Saturday night, I got it put away first thing Sunday morning, and we got 4" of snow Sunday afternoon. Go figure.
The guy at the gas station where I filled up for the trip back yelled at me for having it out this time of year

The drive home was fabulous! 70mph was effortless, bumping up to 80 for a few seconds here and there was "zoom!!!" I drive truck for a living, so I have to be careful with my driving priviliges.

Its an 85 euro, 5speed. I know the autos are really good in these cars, but I haven't owned a slushbox in over 20 years and I don't intend to start now.

It does have some issues, but most I can solve. A couple of the seat switches don't work, but I've already found the thread on repairing those.
Speedo is a little weird (bounces when it's cold) but I found the thread that says it's probably corrosion on the circuit board. I can solder electronics, so I'm good there.

It's got a few dings and dents, but I will live with those. I care more about how it drives than how it looks, I didn't get it to impress other people.

A couple questions:

TB/WP were done less than 5k miles ago, but over 3 years. Car was garaged in an attached garage (not heated, but it is kept fairly warm from the house). What sort of time frame should I be looking at for a replacement. Receipts were from Porsche dealer, so I'm assuming it was a Porsche OEM TB and WP.

The odometer doesn't work, PO said it stopped when he reset the trip odo. I found that it's probably "that gear", but is that for sure? I found dwayne's garage and see that pod removal isn't too hard, but should I order the odo gear before I get it apart and find out for sure what it is?

I got both the long and short keys. In passenger door, short works, but long doesn't. That seems to indicate that the alarm switch is stuck. Any suggestions between penetrating oil and complete disassembly?
In the back hatch, both keys turn to the left, but not the right (inside hatch releases both work). That seems to indicate that the lock cylinder is moving, but the hatch release is stuck. Any suggestions?

I read through the "read this first" thread. There isn't an owners manual for the 85 ROW. Is the 86 close enough? It seems to be, but I don't know enough to say for sure.
There's a link to the shop manuals (page three, I forget the exact post #). Are those the real ones? I've looked through them a bit and they seem to be, but again, I don't know enough to be sure. The PO said he has copies on PDF and said he will burn a set to DVD for me and sent them, but they haven't come yet, and I'm not sure they will.
I'm a detail weenie, and I really like to have the instructions available. I'm also a parachute rigger, and part of the rules for things is "According to manufacturer's instructions". So I want the books.

I have seen the community on here and am impressed. The "I think I'm going to cry" thread is a fabulous example of how you folks are willing to offer advice, assistance and support when needed. I hope I won't need that much, but it's nice to know it's there.

So I have a new hobby/interest/obsession/money pit. I am so screwed
Anybody want a 944?

And for the TTIWWP crowd: (last pic is Tim and his wife Jan in the shark tank)

SeanR

Welcome to the tank. That's a good looking car, you did well.

Tom in Austin

Looks nice, enjoy!

Dino V

Congrats and enjoy! Glad to see it's a manual ;-)

BRB-83-911SC

Welcome to the real shark tank. That is a nice looking car, and I am a bit biased toward the 16v Euros. Is it black or dark green? Looks like a nice federalization job - sidemarkers look like factory US as opposed to the usual auto parts store add-ons. Also looks like it retained the H4 headlights - a big plus. One thing that looks odd to me - the left front wheel appears to be an 8" wide S4 rear wheel (dished as apposed to flat), while the other 3 appear to be the correct 7" wheels. Ths could just be an optical illusion in the pictures, but would be worth checking out.

Again, great looking car! Enjoy it, and keep us posted with your experiences.

rgs944

Looks like a great car to work with. Congrats.

mnotz

Congrats to the shark! Very nice looking car. Also wondering about the color - looks too dark for meteor grey, but somehow not quite black and not like moss green either. Maybe it's just the picture. Good luck with it and have fun wrenching, which at least to me is half the fun of owning them!

--Marcus

Wisconsin Joe

Thanks for the welcomes everyone. The color is Dark Green. I'm not sure exactly which green, the option code sticker is gone from under the back carpet.
I didn't notice any difference in the wheels when I looked at it in person. I think it's just an optical illusion. The zoom on the camera was set as wide as I could get it to get the whole car in the pic (you can see that from the way the walls of the house angle inwards).
I will take a close look the next time I go visit the car. It's parked right behind my 944. A friend has a "garden shed" that is about 1500 square feet. I've only been there twice in the past 2 weeks

Tom. M

Yea..looks like one 8" wheel...odd.... Also looks like they got to the front lights...look like Stock US parking lights rather than the Euro Driving lights. Does it have the twin dizzy 16V engine or the Aussie 32 valver?

Love the color too..rare..

congrats on a cool find..

Hilton

Welcome, nice score as a first 928 Straight in with a connoisseurs variant

Workshop manuals can be found here:

http://www.2010.cannell.co.uk/manual...s_porsche.html

Your car has LH2.2 fuel injection - the shop manual covers it in good detail.

Two things worth checking:

First, in the receipt for the Timing Belt job, or any other receipts, did they also replace the belt in the twin-distributor? They're commonly overlooked.

Secondly, the other big thing to check is the age of the MAF - if its ten years old (or possibly even original) its time for a new (rebuilt) one. Swapping out an aged MAF for one which is within spec can make a huge difference, and is more important in the 84-86 Euro's as they run a lot of advance and don't have knock detection like the 87-95 cars, so when the MAF gets old and runs lean, it can break crowns/rings.

cali4sun

Nice looking ride Enjoy!

Wisconsin Joe

Tom -
I'm now going to check the wheel in the next couple of days. I just have to call and make sure someone is home to let me into the building.
The side markers are US spec. It made me a little suspicious that it was really a Euro at first. But the VIN checks, as do other stuff.
Please clarify on the lights. The lower outer lights come on with the "front fog light" switch (the "rear fog light" switch is still there, but does nothing), the inner lights come on with the high beam headlights (driving lights, right?)
Twin distributors. 4.7 motor.

And Hilton - Yes, the distributor belts were done at the same time as the timing belt. It's on the recipt from the dealer.
Thanks for the link to the shop manuals.
I will look into the MAF. It's a resistance check. right?

docmirror

I'm going to wager it's 'mossguen' or moss green met. Could be wrong, but I'll go with that.

Inspect the entire belt path carefully. If all the components look ok, do the tension check and you'll be good for the five year between changes time frame.

frankle951

Super nice shark, plus it's a 5 spd !!!, my trip miles don't work, plan on pulling my dash pod apart this weekend, hoping it's a gear ????

Tom. M

On on old body style Euro, the two sets of lights in the front bumper are Fog and driving lights (not sure which is which); however, on the US old body style there is only a fog light and a parking light (the outer opaque lens). (search google for Euro Porsche 928 and click on images..should be some examples there).. Also, when I meant twin dizzy, hopefully yours is the twin distributor..and not the 32 valve twin distributor caps on the cams

the Euro light switch on yours would have also turned on a rear red fog light (where your black plastic rear bumperrette part is next to the license plate).

sometimes the federalization of the Euro's is more complete and they replace the speedo, headlights, add cats, replace the rear fog with US Spec bumperettes, add the front and rear side marker lights etc.....and other times,...they get away with just changing the speedo.. You should also have a US importer vin sticker somewhere on the car (driver door jamb) that says who did the importation and sometimes it'll be assigned a US VIN...