RobbyK

Hi I am coming from the 944 forum and have a few questions. I have been a 928 fan since I first started looking at cars and over the years I have learned a lot about them and all the problems that make them 928’s. Well when I got my first Porsche I ended up with a cherry of a deal on a 944 and learned a lot of the first and hand do’s and don’ts on that car. Well I was offered a very good price on my 944 and I am thinking about finally getting the 928 I always wanted and I was wondering what is your guys best advice? I Was thinking a 78-79 because of the non-interference engine design , but I know with the early cars there are a lot of electrical gremlins. The car I am least looking to get is the 80 because of the spartan options list they put out that year, and I am really looking to get a Pre-S or a pre 32v S (83-84) any advice would be a great help.

ViribusUnits

Well, electrial grimlins are all over the place, no matter what the year model, your equaly succeptable. Most are fixible, given time and information. The only thing is that the older cars are more likely to be beaten, and more likely to be innored, and well, older, so they often have many more problems.

Truth be told, up to 84 the US cars seem to be non-interference. I can personaly vouch that my 83 busted the belt, and there was no valve pistion contact. And I busted it right, everything was out of wack.

Why pre S? The 83-84 were an "S", but have the 16 valve 4.7l engine. A bit more go juice than the earler cars, and alought more brake, but none of the complexity of the 32v cars. Not a bad car if I say so myself!

Suggestions, the L-jet fuel system that comes with 80-84 cars is pretty good, and normaly quite reliable. However, it's now 20 years old, so may end up needing work. Some of the guys here are really good with the system, and I've done a good bit of work on it myself. The ECU is pretty much indestructable, unlike the later LH ECUs, or the K-jet distributer. It's just not self dignoiseing, and it's probably not as easy to supercharge as the later LH-jet systems.

Um, when you buy the car, the the owners mannual, and the Work Shop Mannuals, if you do any work on the car at all, you'll love 'em. They make it much easier to trouble shoot the ignition system, and the EFI system.

Good luck on your shark hunting.

>> Edited in >> The clutch is hard to adjust and often seems to cause the syncros on the early cars to wear out quickly. As a result, many of the cars have worn out 2 nd and 1 st gear syncros.

Gerry

Hi Rob; It all depends on how much money do want to spend initialy vs. how good a home mechanic you are and what size garage and kind of tools do you have and so forth. If you plan on having other people do the work it gets expensive real fast. If you have the manuals and like to get down and dirty you can have a 'few' 928's like me and it will be afordable.

You can get a lot of car these days for not a lot of money if you shop around.

RobbyK

I would like an S but judgein by my 944 20 years on stuff that at one time was top of the line starts to show wear. I just want to keep it simple and the early cars do that nicely.

Mike LaBranche

Well, the early cars are lot more 'simple' than the later years, obviously.

'78/9: CIS (continuous injection system) is purely mechanical i.e. no computers. Usually have 2 fuel pumps, filter, accumulator, fuel distributor, warm up regulater, simple injectors. Tuning them varies from very easy to impossible based on the state of these parts and your mechanical apptitude. Brakes are poor compared to any later model. Automatics are 3 speed. 4.5L engine is a revvy, ton of fun. About 200 ponies.

80's S: LJet, pulsed injectors, air flow meter, brain. Very little tunability but it compensates for temp much better than CIS (e.g. cold morning starts, hot starts, etc). Typical hot rod path is to bump the fuel pressure. New brains are scarce and expensive, rebuilts are available but don't have enough years under their belt to know if they'll last the 20+ years the originals did. Brakes are very good, especially compared to the Old Buggers. Automatics are 4 speed. 4.7L is another fine example of German V-8 engineering. Unplug the exhaust and you're good for maybe 240-250 HP.

Either example will be a lot of fun. But be aware that in either case, you're dealing with a 20+ year old car. Age is the main enemy and accounts for the biggest dent in your wallet. Disuse is the other. Once you get it right, you _have_ to drive it to keep it happy. Virtually any problem you encounter has been dealt with on this board at one time or another so you'll have plenty of help getting it right and keeping that way.

Good luck and have fun.

UKKid35

Are 16V cars really less trouble than 32V? Surely the older the car the more time there is for POs to neglect their car, not to mention the greater chance the rubber and plastic components will have become brittle or broken. I went for a high mileage later car and don't regret it for a moment. Why are you looking for a non-interference engine? - That might sound stupid coming from me, but if your head gasket goes (and you're relying on 20 years of coolant changes to protect against it) then you're in almost as much trouble...

ViribusUnits

Well, it all depends.

Non-interference is just one more thing not to worry about. IF the water pump goes, assumeing you've got the plastic impeller, you just throw a fit an $300 down the drain, and replace everything on the front side of the engine. No biggie. It's a weekend of down time. On a 32v car, it's more money, and much more down time.

If you blow a head gasket, well that sucks. On the price range he seems to be talking about, thats going to be a problem eighter way. IIRC, you can pull the heads inside a 16v car, but not a 32v car. Most people suggest to pull the motor, but at the same time, guys like me don't really have the equipment to pull the motor.

The EFI system seems to be more reliable. The ECU has no history of time caused failures. The rest of the system seems to be at least as reliable as the 32v cars.

However, your right, they're older, and well age is bad.

Drewster67

Of course I'm going to plug in the Euro models.

From 84-86 S2 310Bhp (but Ive read them to be actually around 330bhp stock)

16V 4.7L 10.4:1 Compression

300Ft lbs Trq

LH Injection

More "Go Juice" than the US counterparts of the same year.

If you want an early shark w/attitude - go for a Euro. I am so Happy that I did.

and BTW - Welcome to the Loony Bin!

Jadz928

I second that! ...and much worth it considering how much $ it would take to get the same HP out of an US version. If you have a tendency to acquire horsepoweritus, it is something to consider.

Also something to consider RE the Euros is it's import history. Sometimes they were special ordered by a US business traveler and imported not long after it's build date. These are usually in much better shape than one which spent much of it's life on the Autobahn. You will find the latter to be ragged out w/high mileage.

So if you can find a Euro w/a good pedigree, you are golden.

RobbyK

arn't the euros harder to insure ?

Carson Kit

Rob-

I am sorry to interupt your thread, but I wanted to ask VU a question regarding headgaskets. Please accept my aplogies.

Viribus-

I saw your posts on blown headgaskets for the 16 valve cars.

I have a '79 that is sucking antifreeze and the tank is drained after about 15 minutes of idle or very light driving - under 30mph.

The catch is that there arent any puddles of of antifreeze under the car.

This leads me to believe that I have a blown headgasket, is my assumption correct?

BTW - If I were to take it to the Porsche dealership how much $ am I looking at for having the headgasket replaced vs. if I do it myself?

If you have any suggestions for the diagnosis please PM me.

Thanks,

Carson

Drewster67

As far as I know, its the same as an USA spec shark - or I'm at least hoping it is. Dont tell me if it isn't

Edited Comment: Just dont tell your agent its a Grey market Car. Unless, the vin comes back as an Euro, on their inquiry, I dont think they would know. Then again, I dont sell insurance. Maybe a fellow shakster will chime in.

epbrown01

I'm not VU, but are you seeing anything on the dipstick or noticing the exhaust as being very steamy? Those were the symptoms when I had a blown headgasket on a Toyota I had...

Emanuel

ViribusUnits

Shoot, I've yet to screw that up. I sure don't know. My experence has been with the fuel system, and the igniton system.

But I'm betting your right!

Well, I don't know how much you'd spend eighter. Never had to do that. Shoot, the closest dealership won't even touch a 928, so I don't even know what their rates are.

Good luck.

epbrown01

One solution used with other marques I'm familiar with is to ask the seller who he's insured with and use the same company; that way if the policy writer/agent has a problem you can point out that they've already been insuring the car.

Emanuel