grillage

Hi all,
I found another project a few months back. This one is pretty cool. 1978 924 Limited Edition.

The 78 LE is different in that it has:
Dolomite Gray with black and white pin stripes
Fog lamps
A special anti-roll bar
Pasha seats
Leather Steering wheel
Rear speakers
Specific wheels
I think thats it

Anyway, the car I bought popped up on craigslist and I managed to be the first person to look at it. The seller was the second owner having bought it from a doctor at the hospital he works at in 1986. That doctor bought it new in 78. What’s crazy about that is that the doctor lived about 12 houses from where I did during my time living in Fairfield OH where I lived from 78 to 86 — same years as this car. Crazy!

Anyway, the PO tells me when I come to look at it that it broke a fan belt and he parked it in his garage in 1998 - currently the car has 34,000 miles on it. The license plate shows a ‘98 registration and there is a broken belt in the engine bay (though there is no fan belt on this car, what’s broken is the water pump and alternator belt - but Ill get to that in a minute

He also tells me the car has those “checkerboard seats” which he never liked so he put lambswool seat covers on them in 86. I basically ripped the covers off when he mentioned it had the pasha seats and they’re pristine.

I offer the guy his asking price just as another guy is arriving to look at the car and I bring it home.

So here’s what I got once I cleaned it up a little bit:











So, What's wrong with it?

I don't totally know yet but there were a couple things that were obvious

The "broken fan belt" was a broken water pump and Alternator belt. this broke because the water pump was frozen. Not only that, but there was a bunch of sludgy sandy mess behind the pump once I got it off. Once I discovered that, I decided to just pull the motor out so I could flush the coolant passages and also clean everything up.

Pulling the motor in my '86 Coupe GT and cleaning every single thing was a really great experience and made that car really special. That contributed to me doing the same for this car.

So out it came!










I got the block apart and painted it with POR15



Got the aluminum parts super clean as well:

Now all ready to start re-assembly


Except my dumb *** broke something:
Was torquing down the cam towers after I replaced Valve stem seals and I got one staring to tighten down unevenly. I didnt realize it and it made the stud break its mount and the cam cap



So I found another head complete from a junkyard and I have it out to be looked over and cleaned right now

So since the car has sat for so long, I decided to send all the CIS stuff out, deal with the fuel system so I could minimize any fuel issues as I go

I sent this stuff all to CIS Flowtech in Fairhope AL and got it back about 4 or 5 weeks later:

Having sent them my 928 stuff, I realized that it made more sense to just replace the injectors rather than pay them to test them and end up buying them anyway

So I drained the tank completely and it wasn't actually that bad. The PO told me he had tried to deal with the fuel tank before he sold it by draining it dry and adding good fuel a year or two ago. so there wasn't much there but it wasn't too awful.

I replaced the fuel pump and filter after the pump tested bad.

The CIS stuff was also really really varnishy. That's why I sent it all out originally. I knew it would be bad.

I needed to replace all the tires as they dated to 88 and were all installed with the "inside" text on the outside of the wheels - which was a little weird.

So the plan from here is to get it reassembled and see if I can tame the CIS to make it run! It's really a beautiful car with low miles and in great shape. Can't wait to drive it!

fasteddie313

Awesome car!

DSMblue

Looks to be in nice shape. Since my first car was a 78 924, I can tell a few things from looking at your pictures. First, the a/c unit in your car was a dealer-installed dpd unit. Factory a/c would have removed one of the gauges in the center console (don't recall which, might have been voltmeter?). Second, the steering wheel is aftermarket, as is the ashtray (or whatever that is behind the center armrest), as well as the center panel between the taillight assemblies. Also, those wheels are the standard alloy wheels for the car, nothing special there. The Pasha interior is definitely something to treasure!

GregSC

Your car brings back memories, my first Porsche was a '78 special edition like this one! Concerning the "Porsche" embossed plastic decorative piece between the tail lights, that may be a part of the special edition package (along with the exterior color and pasha seats). I know you could get those after the fact, but mine came with that as well.

grillage

You’re correct, the AC is the dpd dealer installed. There is a note about the install in the service records I have. I will be making it work for sure! The Voltmeter is indeed omitted for the factory install

I have the original steering wheel but I can’t get the Momo off the hub! I’ll deal with that part eventually

grillage

So many of the 924’s from this era had that center “Porsche” panel. I’ve seen Audi 100’s with it as well - but, you know, with “AUDI” instead

I wonder if the dealers installed them? The LE I think has that padded armrest standard that I’ve never seen on any other 924/944

grillage

I got the head back from the machine shop today.

Valve job, head milled - all cleaned.
I had them resurface the flywheel while they were at it.







got the new injector plastic inserts installed - I had to chase the threads on cylinder #1 and as a result now own a 24mm x 1.5 tap


Did some work to get things back together tonight:




Something about clean engines makes me really happy

jeyjey

That's one big-*** tap.

grillage

Sure is — it was terrifying to chase those threads.
When I took the old plastic inserts out, that one wouldn’t back out so I ended up having to break it apart to remove. Turns out it was because the threads were all mangled at the very outside.
All good now

grillage

More progress today — putting things back together and finding little things I’m still missing. A few gaskets, the rubber inserts for the alternator mounts. Stuff like that.

Note the aftermarket AC compressor bracket in the last pic.

DSMblue

That looks beautiful! With that much work, I'm kind of surprised you didn't replate the mounting hardware. More bling....

grillage

I'm cleaning everything, replacing some things

grillage

More progress this weekend!

Got the engine back in the car, everything up and running for now:


Had a problem when I first got it all back together. Felt like it was running on 3 cylinders and in fact it was.
found zero compression in cylinder #4 and I was really confused as to why - having just done a valve job on the head.
Turned out to be something really simple - the adjustment screw on the #4 exhaust valve had flipped over when I put the lifter in and as a result it was pushing that valve open a little bit all the time.
Quick fixes are the best!

Hoping to take it for a spin tomorrow!

The car does leak fuel a bit from the accumulators so I have two on the way.

grillage

Took the car for a very short spin today. Happy to report that overall, It’s pretty good!

the clutch pedal needed adjustment. - the friction point was at the very bottom of the travel. That’s already fixed now.
The fuel level sensor appears to be toast
The muffler is as shot as it looks.
the accumulators really do leak a lot of fuel!
The biggest problem is that the brakes need some attention. Any pressure made them lock up and skid a bit so that needs addressed before taking it on the road proper.

Ironically, I have a record of the last brake work which was a receipt from 1993 for pads, shoes etc. I realized after I looked at it that the car has gone 500 miles since then. Crazy!

grillage

More updates on this car

The brake system ended up failing pretty quickly after I got the car running. The Master leaked into the booster - which was an odd one to figure out. Replaced it with a new one

Then both back brakes started leaking so I replaced the calipers back there (or whatever the drum hydraulic parts are called) - also rebuilt the fronts as they were likely to go as well. All that old rubber failed quick!

Then got the rear muffler replaced as it had a big hole. After that I’ve just been driving it!