greg1990964

What does a broken head stud sound like? Can you hear the compression loss as it turns over? Does it make a sharp popping sound under hard acceleration?
Bought a nice all org cool blue non sunroof non a/c 1980 euro sc coupe with 78k miles from orig owner. No rust, could use a re-spray and seats recovered. Paid 8k. Just hoping to not sink money into this car. Could Head studs explain hard starting also?
Thanks.

Amber Gramps

I would first suspect a vacuum leak.

Once you rule that out pull the valve covers off and check for broken studs.

greg1990964

Dumb question but the head studs are in the lower valve covers? Not near the exhaust on very bottom of engine? haha. Never messed with heads before. Everything else. And on 964's. A exhaust leak cause cause the hard starting but I would imagine not the sharp popping sound?

CW-VIESOCK

Hope and pity is all you got, cause luck has expired. May the Porsche Gods have pity on you.

greg1990964

Worst thing is the Porsche gods make me learn how to remove heads and replace studs.

Ed Hughes

That's when the $8000 Porsche isn't $8000 any more.

Leaking exhaust isnt going to make it hard starting, but would make some odd noises, possibly some popping.

greg1990964

If I am lucky it is vacuum leak, and exhaust leak. It didn't help I ran it on 3 year old gas till removed the old bad gas. I hope driving it for a night trying to clear it out didn't hurt it. The car did start running much better and had good power. I didn't really know what to expect as I drive a 73 and a 964. The owner has had it since new and I am friends with his daughter and if it had any head stud issues before it woke from its few year nap, he would of definitely told me. He didn't really even want to sell it. Just my luck studs break on me first day I get it. I guess I just need to actually get dirty and sniff out these issues.

greg1990964

Just remembered, Rene at Rensport in Framingham MA did maintenance on the car before put away last few years ago, and he doesn't remember there being any real issues. Also, it made that sharp ppping noise as I goosed it trying to keep it running when I first pulled away and was hard starting with that old gas as I woke it up. I did feel air around exhaust manifolds area under car..Again, well see I guess. It is a really cool blue color. Wish I could post a pic, but I think I used up my pic quota and don't know how to erase older pics to post new one.

Ed Hughes

There is no quota on pics, they simply must be sized correctly.

JCP911S

Broken head studs are not unusual on these cars... especially the Dilavar studs on the exhaust side of the heads where the heat is.

These have proven brittle over time, and you have a 30-year old car here... a good Porsche specialist can check this... and I would highly recommend doing this, as it will save you MUCHO dollars down the road.

Broken studs will not cause running problems unless it has been neglected for a long period of time... a bad thing.

But not to worry... if the engine is basically sound, a top-end rebuild should run $5-7K at a good shop. Generally the bottom-ends on these cars are bullet-proof, so unless there are signs of metal in the oil, it is probably not necessary to crack the case.

This may sound painful, but a clean solid Euro SC is a $20K car all day long... and let's face it... if you bought this car for $8K, there's probably a good (or bad) reason.

Worst case, this car is probably due for a top-end re-build anyway, and you have a car with a fresh motor that you can drive for years and still not be under-water financially.

NYNick

Ok, is no one going to mention the $8K purchase price?
You've got a long way to go before you turn upside down on this baby…start spending!

greg1990964

I was just hoping it was a stupid exhaust leak and some vacuum issues etc
well see. The exhaust side of the heads make sense. I can hear compression noise as it turns over..Yikes

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Pull the valve covers and very gently check the torque on the head nuts. You'll know in a NY minute if one is broken or not.

greg1990964

The bottom covers?

greg1990964

Pics of !980 SC