skpyle

Hello All!

This morning, after getting off a wonderful 3 day ride at work, I ventured out to look at a 'parts car' 1985 928 S that had been offered to me. A 911 guy bought it as part of a lot of 6 Porsches. He has no real interest in a 928 and just wants to move it. He offered it to me as a 'parts car' due to no title, no key, and the driver's side rear wheel was toed in 20 degrees from some kind of crash. I believed there was rear body damage to match.

I went with an open mind and a price in my head. Both were blown away. Car is just about too nice(to me) to be a parts car. Just about...Too bad it has issues the guy didn't know about.

He had a key made by the vendor in Australia. There was no rear body damage, though the driver's side rear wheel was toed in.

Looking at the toed in rear wheel, I saw no scratches or rash in the polished face. Car has polished 7" manholes. Hmmm...
The car was up on wheel dollies, so I was able to crawl up under it. Looking at the rear suspension, I saw nothing obviously wrong. However, it was a bit of a tight squeeze to get my fat *** under there, so I couldn't really see all that much.

Continuing my search, I found the front spoiler and grille trashed and ripped off. Guy said it was bad when he got the car, but he and his son did it no favors during loading and unloading from the trailer. Hmmm...
And then I saw the driver's side lower control arm. The front mount is fractured. The metal support bracket is badly scarred up. And the front lower control arm mounting pad is bent in towards the center some. Ouch. Looks like a nasty hit.
I noticed the alternator cooling shroud was cracked and the hose was missing. The alternator did not LOOK like it had taken a hit. Meaning breaking off the boss on the block. However, I wasn't able to get that good of a look at the mounting.

From the under the passenger's side of the car, I could see paint pen marks on the inside of the driver's side rear wheel. And that the tire tread did not match the other three tires. So...something was hit with the rear wheel, and the PO replaced the rear wheel and tire.

Looking closer, at the rocker area on the driver's side, I found one small kiss(dimple) in the rocker under the rear of the door. And then I noticed I could see the lower rear edge of the driver's side door sitting proud of the quarter panel. The door shut solidly, so I think the quarter is tweaked.

For those of you still reading this rambling mess, my question is trying to figure out exactly what in the hell happened to this car? The seller says he saw this car for sale locally and saw it out driving in the past. So this damage is relatively recent.

Based upon the toed in rear wheel and damaged front lower control arm mount on the same side, with the kiss in the rocker, here is my uneducated hypothetical guess: Spirited driving, hit something hard enough with the front lower control arm mount to damage the bracket and fracture the mount, then rear of the car skids around and the rear wheel impacts upon something, bending the rear suspension on that side. Collateral damage of something kissing the rocker panel.

Any of this make sense?

Let me know what you guys think...




Note the impact scarring on the bracket and the cracked lower control arm front mount. Kinda hard to tell, but the mounting pad is bent in.




Another view of the damaged bracket.




I don't really see an impact mark on the alternator.







P.S.: And...I didn't bite on the car. It didn't run, at least not in front of me. Though the car did look complete and the timing belt did not look shredded. He wanted too much for what I consider a 'parts car' or 'fixer upper.' Or at least he wants more than I am willing to pay right now.

Speedtoys

Straight into a curb at speed...

rjtw

Hey Seth! No theories on the damage. BUT, on the plus side, it has the desirable and rare air deflectors under the front lower control arms! :-)

skpyle

speedtoys: I'll buy that explanation.


rjtw: good eye! However...I didn't know those pieces were rare.

Mrmerlin

Based on the pictures and descriptions putting this machine on a frame machine may prove to be a valuable way to save this car.
The front LCA bolts will be bent,
but the unibody may not and a used LCA may fix this ,
the rear wheel may also need a used LCA,
minimal damage to get this parked in your garage

Geo55

I don't see any grass or any other foreign matter so I may even believe that Speed Toys may have the answer. Maybe even playing in a parking lot and went over one of those concrete bumpers in the middle that separate parking areas. Went over something hard none the less. How many mile on it Seth? How did it look under the hood? Looks as if it had a pretty good oil leak.

Speedtoys

Ya..they went over a too-tall thing AT speed. Last chassis I parted out was killed the same way. Alt was fine, but the LCA mounts were squared out from the impact..and the arm bolts were bent back.

skpyle

Stan, you bring up valid points. I think this car is fixable. Not by me, though. I went looking for a parts car, not another project. I need to put together the 928 I have before I look for another one.
More importantly, he wants more than I am willing to pay for a 32V 928 that I haven't heard run, has no title, and has crash damage.
I strongly suggested he get it running, then list it on Rennlist.



Good observation, Geo55. I saw no grass/dirt/road debris of any kind. Just evidence of a no-kidding impact. Car has a smidge less than 90,000 on the clock. I don't think it has rolled over. Under the hood was used and dirty, but looked relatively intact. I saw no blatant hacks or 'repairs.' Oil was relatively clean. Yes, good oil leak down the front of the engine and another back at the transmission.
Body and interior were decent.


Yep. Unless his price drops ALOT, I am going to let someone else have the joy of fixing this 928.

BC

That car looks “bent”

skpyle

I am not going to disagree with you on that.

Wisconsin Joe

I could be totally out in left field, but it looks like 'sideways' damage on the LCA mount.

You noted that the rear wheel & tire were replaced, how about the front? (not replaced, not noticed, something else?)

Given the description of the rear suspension damage, along with no apparent damage to the alternator, my guess would be that it slid sideways into something.

If the front wheel was not damaged or replaced, I would guess that it slid into a space between curbs or parking bumpers. Perhaps a driveway opening.
The front LCA mount & rear wheel took the brunt of the impact. And it wasn't a light hit.
Given the door not closing properly, I'd guess the entire body is bent. Maybe fixable, maybe not. I would doubt it's economically feasible though.