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Yesterday, this arrived on my doorstep in Fort Worth. The 9/28 coincidence wasn't planned, but it seems a nice omen. I travelled up up to Cleveland about a month ago enticed by this 40 year old survivor with fancy theads and funky gold rings. My wife has been amazingly understanding. I'm new to all this. I look forward to sharing my learning experiences.
Not pristine, but I get the sense of pretty solid condition. 93,000 miles. Experienced the typical wide ranging trajectory of ownership from surgeon to mailman and everything in between. It has suffered questionable performance (and convenience) modifications and "audiophile" upgrades. Thankfully, the wing and subwoofer are long gone. Still, for 40 years of all that, there's a lot left to work with. My motto for car care will be "go slow and do no harm." I love the clean early shape and materials and will preserve rather than replace when possible. I also hope to keep it drivable as much as possible too.
A couple of initial comments/questions:
1. I managed to jump start it to get it off the trailer and drive it around a little, but battery was DOA. Anybody have a good suggestion for a battery appropriate for this 1978 battery box? The 8 year old battery in the box looked too small for it and I don't trust what AutoZone comes up with as a recommendation.
2. We had some rain last night. I haven't transported it over to storage yet so it got rained on (I'm sure it's not the first time). I was checking the carpets for water just in case there was a water leak. In the driver footwell I found slippery brake fluid in the carpet and under pad. I guess I found my first project. That explains the sloppy brakes. Any pointers or links to appropriate threads would be appreciated.
3. Who can explain these gold wheels? An early owner of this car said they were always gold. I've heard they only came from the factory with silver wheels. I've seen at least three other brown 1978's with gold wheels. Was this done at the dealerships? Was it just something that owners did on their own? The color has grown on me and I think it suits the car.
All the best,
Josh
Congrats and nice score on a sweet OB with pasha! I dig the pin-striping. The gold wheels would have been done by a previous owner, but I agree with you that they look good on your car.
When you get a chance take a few hours and read the entire New Visitor sticky. Tons of good info there. One of the first projects you will want to do is to replace all of the rubber flammable fluid lines (fuel, power steering, etc). 40 year old rubber WILL fail eventually. Protect your car sooner than later. You'll come to find that the electrical stuff on the 928s is what renders the car undrivable more than any of the mechanicals. In that regard, cleaning all the grounds and removing and refurbishing the central electric (CE) panel should be high up on the list.
I think one of the first things I would do is "fix" the exhaust. Those pipes should go out the back on the driver side corner, not out in front of the rear wheels.
You should need a group 49 battery. I get my batteries from WalMart. IIRC, there are only 3 battery manfacturerers of batteries in the US. Everybody else (including Interstate) just puts their stickers on the batteries produced and "rebrands" them. Walmart warranty is good at ANY Walmart as long as you have your paperwork.
Next Saturday is the Monthly DFW breakfast GTG. We hope to see you there. I love Pascha.
Thanks for the welcome Nate, Replacing rubber from he gas tank forward is very high on the list.
John, the Mad Max exhaust is something I'll get to some day. It was well done and gives a guilty pleasure rumble, but I agree that long term it's not the best situation. Thanks for the pointers on the battery.
Fiatrn, That's a cool connection you made. Even as a kid I remember that JPS color scheme. Very late 70's.
928 GT R, I agree. Accepting the patina is not just expedient, I think it's a wonderful characteristic of the car. Its number 1041
Kiwiokie, That original fabric is one of my favorite components of the car and I'll treat it with care. It doesn't feel rotten anywhere, but there are a couple of unfortunate rips and seam failures. I'll patch and reinforce what I can rather than replace.
I wonder if anyone's found a source for an acceptable replacement vinyl that matches this brown. There are a couple of sun damaged rips on the top of the rear seats and a previous owner made cuts for speakers in the rear quarter panels. There must be a current product that comes close, or even seat-back leftovers from someone else's re-upholstery project. Any ideas would be helpful.
All the best,
Josh
Great looking moca brown OB with black/brown pascha. Looks great! Only problem is that black/brown is the only pascha color unavailable for reupholstering, but this may change when company starts to realize there is a fairly large population of crazy 928 enthusiast wanting to restore these classics.
YOu are lucky to be in 928 mecca. Lots of good folks around for 928 support. Hope to see you this Sat for the breakfast.
These cars tend to eat batteries, so if you get a new one, and run the engine, I suggest disconnecting it after you are done messing so that your new batt doesn't go flat. There are tests for current draw to find out if you have leakage. Protect your new batt with a modern tender that can keep it up. The brake master cyl job is not fun at all. Tight fit and awkward. Roger will have the stuff you need. 928sRUS.com
Your engine is non-interference(most likely) so a broken timing belt won't damage things further.
I’ll finish off my introduction with my first maintenance. I know this is such a small item, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I was new to this. I’ve never had a Porsche. Up to now I’ve only been an interested observer of older cars. With John’s advice I went out and got the correct battery. The old one was visibly smaller and wedged in with an old towel. The battery box had four bolts sticking up for the lid, but the lid was just placed there with no nuts. The battery box lid secures the battery so I’m sure it was jumping around back there. Once I got the new one in, scooted it forward, and got the cables all the way down on the terminals, the top fit like a glove and left just enough threads to put on some new wing nuts and washers for the cover. Thanks to the the link that Nick suggested, I knew to disconnect the ground cable while I was figuring this all out. It was gratifying to see how the battery fit so perfectly and the lid served its purpose as hold down once again. And it started right up! Next project will be figuring out that brake fluid leak inside the firewall. First thing I plan to do is take out the carpeting and clean up the mess. That will probably deserve a new thread.
Thanks for the help,
Josh
And thanks for the ideas Doc. I disconnected the battery until I figure more of this out. I got signed up to help out with a running event this Saturday morning, but the breakfast get together is definitely on my radar.
Cheers,
Welcome to the DFW 928 group. You do not have to bring a 928 to attend the monthly gathering.
If you want to be added to the group email list email me roger@928sRus.com.
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Does it have the "Do It Yourself" manual transmission, or the superior "Fully Equipped by Porsche" Automatic Transmission? George Layton March 2014
928 Owners are ".....a secret sect of quietly assured Porsche pragmatists who in near anonymity appreciate the prodigious, easy going prowess of the 928."
09-30-2018, 12:16 AM
Special 9/28 Delivery
George Layton March 2014