hwyrnr

Well the other night my buddy was over and we were talking about my 84 928.
and he was saying he should get a Porsche so we can drive to the lake together.

Now my buddy and I are known to buy useless toys from time to time to give us something to do.

So friday night we get on the good ole craigslist and low and behold a 1981 924 Commemorative edition #116 this fine specimen had not ran in 3 years and the ad stated the fuel pump went out and that he doesn't want to mess with it. "Translation it stopped running and he has no idea whats wrong maybe the fuel pump". This stunning ride was listed for $500. And only 7 miles from my house.

So Saturday I call the guy and my buddy and I jumped into the 928 and drove over to the guys house. We show up to see this fine German auto. Boy is she a little ruff. But hey the guys only asking $500. Well I didn't really think to much of this future disaster. But I offered $150, figured for that much why not take the chance. Obviously he didn't take that so I was pretty much done. I get a text and while I'm texting my buddy buys the car for $220. LOL. So I get to buy some of the parts and had to pay to have it towed to the house.

So today he comes over, we put a battery in it disconnect the fuel line and a little starting fluid and the monstrosity actually fired off. LOL

I climbed under the car and checked to see if we were getting any power to the fuel pump with a test light and looks like no power back there. So on the next days off we will try to figure out whats going on there.

So our fun little project begins.

Thanks, James

hwyrnr

Here she is. $230.00, Car and starting fluid

mrgreenjeans

That is a nice awesome save.....

but as a word of warning:

the next 220 dollars spent won't be the last. Probably add on at least another zero on the end of that number.

And it will be fun. When it stops being fun, take a moment, catch your breath, and don't let it get you down, because the "cheapest Porsche will be the most expensive Porsche you ever buy."

Legit. BEST wishes with a GREAT result ~

hwyrnr

mrgreenjeans. I hear you there. I learned that with the 928. This is more of a fun, how little can I spend to make it run toy. The body has dents over most of the body. The driver side rear quarter panel above the rear wheel is banged up pretty good. The passenger side has a pretty good dent. the rear bumper is held on by a couple of zip ties and the aftermarket ricer exhaust. LOL. This is just suppose to be something fun to mess with. I say that but like you said next thing i know I'll have a couple of grand in it HAHA.

Tiger03447

Mr. Green Jeans..Man are you ever correct about that one! I bought mine(an '83) out of a guys back yard for 500.00 along with a parts car..I have certainly learned a lot from that "adventure". It didn't run when I bought it 3+ years ago. Many dollars later, and lots of sweat and new parts it's about ready to go back together again...It's been an adventure..and probably my last car project..getting too old for this kind of stuff...although I really do like it...just one thing after another....once I get it running, then I can worry more about the aesthetics...

hwyrnr

Well I think I came up with a name for the 924, how's "924 Cheapskate".

My buddy and I are trying to get it running and driving "per say". for under $500.

So I ordered some maintenance parts today. Fuel filter, fuel pump, air filter, cap, rotor, plugs, oh and the Haynes manual. Billed and shipped $107. So yes I pretty much got the cheapest items offered for the car on Rockauto. yes I know it will probably go out pretty quickly. but the goal is $500.

and went and got some new grounding cables. $25 with a Coke.

so now we are at
$220 car
$10 starting fluid
$25 ground cables (& Coke)
$107 Rockauto
Total so far: $362

James

konakat

Sounds like a bad DME relay to me. Try jumpering it and see if you get power to the pump.

hwyrnr

Thanks konakat, will try that

mel_t_vin

Not quite. No DME/DME relay on an '81 924...car is mechanically injected via CIS [continuous injection system].

hwyrnr

Mel_T_Vin, I'm new to the 924 CIS my 928 is a 84 so it doesn't have CIS. But after doing more reading i figured out it didn't have a DME/DME relay. But konakat thank you for responding with the suggestion. I like any help or ideas.

So today before work I decided to pull the fuel pump relay to check to make sure it works. Well needless to say if the rust wasn't the problem on two of the spades, then the fact that I managed to get it out in 3 different pieces probably didn't help. LOL. That sucker was stuck like a mad cat on some corduroy pants. What would be a good reason those two terminals were so rusty (15 and 31) the area didn't appear to be burnt.

so just ordered another relay.

$220 car
$10 starting fluid
$25 ground cables (& Coke)
$107 Rockauto
$22 Relay
Total so far: $384

James

mel_t_vin

James, if a new fuel pump relay results in a <$400 running/driving 924, you will be way ahead of the game.

CIS works well when dialed in. Probably the two most important [and expensive] components for proper operation are the fuel distributor and the warm up regulator. The WUR regulates both cold and hot fuel pressures. If you plan to tune this 924 yourself, it would be helpful to have a copy of the Bosch CIS manual and a set of CIS gauges on hand.

Let us know how things progress.

hwyrnr

Worked on the 924 Cheapskate on one of my days off.

Checked compression and all were about the 125 to 135 with one at 119 so over all I got compression.
Checked for spark good spark with all plug wires.

After fighting with the seat for 2 hours finally got the driver seat out. did the fuel pump jumper test and still no power to the fuel pump. After checking wires and fuses, the problem was the fuse was not making good contact in the fuse holder. Cleaned the fuse holder and now we have power to the fuel pump with the jumper wire in place. My buddy got under the car and said he could hear both fuel pumps run. Put a couple of gallons of fresh fuel in the tank and we turned the car over and no starts. I climb under the car and we have power to the pumps but no pump running. which I kinda figured in the first place. And fuel is dripping from the internal fuel pump seal.

I had already replaced and cleaned some of the grounding points but still had a hard time turning over. We replaced and cleaned the terminal for the battery to the battery shut off installed by a PO. the car has nice and bright dash lights and strong cranking.

So my next step is to pull both fuel pumps and see if I can rebuild the internal pump "if its not to far gone". Get a new seal for it, or order a 928 strainer and figure how to mount the high pressure pump lower. Or mount a low pressure pump close to the tank and leave the high pressure pump where it is. "any thoughts about this".

And the tach is not bouncing, so I need to try to figure out where to start with that.

But over all I'm pretty pleased with the progress for that day. and I'm now at $364 for the project.

James

hwyrnr

Today before I came on shift I pulled the internal fuel pump. Good news is the pump works after I freed it of debris, bad news is the strainer fell off. And there is rust flakes the bottom of the sump but the inside of the tank looks pretty good.

So does anyone have a solution for my strainer issue?

James

hwyrnr

Well I figured being on the 924/944 section as well as the 928 section and asking for help now and then I would go ahead and be a paying member. So I am now a Rennlist Member.

mel_t_vin

Not sure what you mean by "fell off". Disintegrated?

Purchase a new one from a dealer/vendor.