When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
It was a good 928 day today. We removed, cleaned, and re-installed the fuse box. The grounds were a mess. The rest looked ok, but are now much cleaner. We started digging through the cut and broken wires. We got as far as checking the rear lights - all checked out, so the brake light problem must be elsewhere.
I've attached several pictures tonight. We figured out why the fuel gage wasn't working. Some are to answer linderpat's questions - the exhaust looks ok and I'm not really sure what I was looking for below the spider, so let me know if you need better pics of something else.
It's back to work for the week, but hopefully I can break away to get a few things done here and there.
Basically, don't throw anything away before you KNOW what it is and are sure it's not original or repairable. There are a lot of unique parts to a '78 that later cars won't have, and I'm already salivating over a few morsels that love to ****** away for my own car! lol!
Great advice - will definitely post anything I don't know what to do with here and will offer spares up for reuse once we figure out what's what.
Basically, don't throw anything away before you KNOW what it is and are sure it's not original or repairable. There are a lot of unique parts to a '78 that later cars won't have, and I'm already salivating over a few morsels that love to ****** away for my own car! lol!
Great advice - will definitely post anything I don't know what to do with here and will offer spares up for reuse once we figure out what's what.
By way of reference and reinforcement, in 2009 I bought my 78 (Blumaxx). It was in fine shape, and had a cheap aftermarket radio. I wanted a better one. The original Blaupunkt was in a box in the car, missing a couple of *****. So I sold it for $25 towards my new aftermarket radio/CD player. The Blaupunkt radio, if I could even find the correct one for my car, is worth north of $2500
Despite work and school, my son and I have found some time to go through some more systems, clean some more things, and share a few more pictures.
With the interior completely removed and vacuumed, we started testing all of the electronics that weren't working. The good news is that most of the components and bulbs work. The bad news is that many only work if power is applied at the end item. We're trudging our way through grounds and wires and getting our order list together. Yesterday brought joy as the power windows started operating from the switches, both headlights move up and down and illuminate, the driving and brake lights work, and the front wipers work (very, very, very slowly). We are scratching our heads about the turn signals, hazard lights, and rear wiper that used to work but don't now. We assume it could be because of the things we've disassembled or we broke something along the way.
To the fun and interesting pictures:
The trunk latch - it works great from the key, but it's not attached to the remote trunk opener. There's a brown wire with a yellow stripe cut right in front of the latch that seems about the right length. Is it as simple as connecting that wire to the bottom of this latch?
Keeping with the "don't throw away anything without checking first" theme, I got tired of nearly poking an eye out every time I went around the side of the car, so the power antenna came out. It doesn't seem to work right now even with power directly applied to it. Is this one of those parts worth repairing or should I spend the $3 on a cap to cover the hole?
One more - my son is mastering 3D printing and was excited to come across a file to replace our missing lower grill holders. We still need the horizontals eventually, but this was a fun thing to see created from a spool of plastic.
Despite work and school, my son and I have found some time to go through some more systems, clean some more things, and share a few more pictures.
With the interior completely removed and vacuumed, we started testing all of the electronics that weren't working. The good news is that most of the components and bulbs work. The bad news is that many only work if power is applied at the end item. We're trudging our way through grounds and wires and getting our order list together. Yesterday brought joy as the power windows started operating from the switches, both headlights move up and down and illuminate, the driving and brake lights work, and the front wipers work (very, very, very slowly). We are scratching our heads about the turn signals, hazard lights, and rear wiper that used to work but don't now. We assume it could be because of the things we've disassembled or we broke something along the way.
To the fun and interesting pictures:
The trunk latch - it works great from the key, but it's not attached to the remote trunk opener. There's a brown wire with a yellow stripe cut right in front of the latch that seems about the right length. Is it as simple as connecting that wire to the bottom of this latch?
One more - my son is mastering 3D printing and was excited to come across a file to replace our missing lower grill holders. We still need the horizontals eventually, but this was a fun thing to see created from a spool of plastic.
I don't see the release mechanism on your trunk latch. If electrically releasable, it needs an arm on the one side that connects to something. That wire you show and on your latch, that's a ground wire that lights the interior lights when you open the hatch and the pin contact on the latch grounds to the housing from the spring.
The remote latch receiver looks like this (the one with the gold arm - the other was the same but modified to work in an older car). The newer latch won't fit into the opening of an older car and requires some "trimming" to be made to work.
That's very cool on the 3D printing. I went a different route and made metal vertical supports and a different type of front grill that's a bit more protective.
Our cars are somewhat similar. The above link is my restoration thread. The car is now undergoing final body and paint although other 928 projects have come and gone in the meantime. I only post this link because I found pleasure in the "little victories" of getting systems to work one at a time. I didn't tear apart the whole car right away. It wasn't efficient, but I didn't want to be intimidated by a pile of parts. I set a nice baseline first. This forum is fantastic but also be advised that some info on here has gone stale now. Always check the dates of posts as we have learned a lot over 20 plus years. Stuff that was discontinued is available again and vice versa.
WHITE SMOKE- my 79 car smoked badly at first, I mean really, really bad and it did eventually subside. I never did isolate the exact reason but i strongly believe it was contaminated fuel. Not sure if the previous owner of YOUR CAR flushed the tank, lines, changed filters etc. My car ran great for the first few startups and then started deteriorating due to plugged fuel system caused by nastiness in the tank. I drained the tank prior to starting but that wasn't enough and I have learned a lot about CIS since 2012. Once everything was clean as a whistle, she never smoked again.
Good luck, I like the project. 78's have nothing but upside
. I went a different route and made metal vertical supports and a different type of front grill that's a bit more protective.
The only issue I see with the metal supports is that Porsche made them plastic to be sacrificial - break the support and not the grill slats when hitting bottom in the front, especially on a car with the front spoiler that hangs low. But nowadays, for how we use these cars, that is unlikely to happen anyway.
The only issue I see with the metal supports is that Porsche made them plastic to be sacrificial - break the support and not the grill slats when hitting bottom in the front, especially on a car with the front spoiler that hangs low. But nowadays, for how we use these cars, that is unlikely to happen anyway.
My grill slats won't be breaking either, as they're also gone. I also have the 928 bash plates which hit before the spoiler unless it's a road impediment and not from a dip or driveway.
I was just thinking about that very mod, even sourced the expanded metal mesh I would use and thinking about a Porsche emblem in the center just as you have done, and lo and behold here's a pic of the finished job! I really like what you've done and may show my admiration by copying it unashamedly. I'm replacing the spoiler with something different so it won't up looking exactly the same, at least.
I was just thinking about that very mod, even sourced the expanded metal mesh I would use and thinking about a Porsche emblem in the center just as you have done, and lo and behold here's a pic of the finished job! I really like what you've done and may show my admiration by copying it unashamedly. I'm replacing the spoiler with something different so it won't up looking exactly the same, at least.
Cool.
There are more photos and details of how I did the design and attaching in my "Added an 81 Euro 5-speed" thread and they should be near the beginning as I think it was the first project I did on the car.
From: South Cackalacky - 86.5 928 5 speed, 86.5 auto project
Originally Posted by sjyokel
Despite work and school, my son and I have found some time to go through some more systems, clean some more things, and share a few more pictures.
With the interior completely removed and vacuumed, we started testing all of the electronics that weren't working. The good news is that most of the components and bulbs work. The bad news is that many only work if power is applied at the end item. We're trudging our way through grounds and wires and getting our order list together. Yesterday brought joy as the power windows started operating from the switches, both headlights move up and down and illuminate, the driving and brake lights work, and the front wipers work (very, very, very slowly). We are scratching our heads about the turn signals, hazard lights, and rear wiper that used to work but don't now. We assume it could be because of the things we've disassembled or we broke something along the way.
To the fun and interesting pictures:
The trunk latch - it works great from the key, but it's not attached to the remote trunk opener. There's a brown wire with a yellow stripe cut right in front of the latch that seems about the right length. Is it as simple as connecting that wire to the bottom of this latch?
Keeping with the "don't throw away anything without checking first" theme, I got tired of nearly poking an eye out every time I went around the side of the car, so the power antenna came out. It doesn't seem to work right now even with power directly applied to it. Is this one of those parts worth repairing or should I spend the $3 on a cap to cover the hole?
One more - my son is mastering 3D printing and was excited to come across a file to replace our missing lower grill holders. We still need the horizontals eventually, but this was a fun thing to see created from a spool of plastic.
Got a link to that file? I've got a grille in pieces and a 3d printer. Might be a good weekend project to rebuild it.
You guys are seriously and professionally all over this project. Kudos! As old and obscure as they are it's pretty amazing the level of documentation and support these 928s have available. Parts reproduction technology is a new frontier we need to embrace though.
04-25-2021 | 10:31 PM
