Been meaning to introduce myself. I recently bought a 1990 GT. I’ve wanted a 928 since I was a teenager and the S4 came out. This one was close and a 5 speed - I couldn’t resist. I paid too much given how much deferred maintenance it needs, but in the end I know it will all be done right.

I live near Philly and therefore near a deep bench of 928 knowledge. (I’ve already reached out to Stan, Hoi, and Gary.) I probably wouldn’t have bought a 928 without such a strong group nearby and on Rennlist. (I keep finding more and more PA/NJ guys which is awesome.) I’ve lurked on the site for a long time and know the community is strong. Hope to start meeting all of you guys in person in the next year.

I haven’t taken pics yet, these are from the PO.






The list of needs is LONG (you’re going to laugh), so I plan to keep this as a thread documenting my journey. I’ve been doing a ton of reading on the different issues I know I have and will reference those threads/sites for any other rookies that come along after me. Hope y’all will follow me along on this journey. I’m always open to suggestions on how to do things. If nothing else, you’ll get the laugh at me as I break bolts and get frustrated along the way.

The list looks worse than how it drives / feels. It starts, stops, steers without any drama. Most of it is just typical deferred maintenance and related issues. PO enjoyed buying cars, but not maintaining them.

I don’t know how far I will ultimately go with this R&R, but the slope feels slippery for sure. If I do all of the below, it will be like a new car! Will start with what it absolutely needs and go from there.

I’m going to focus on mechanical first – roughly in this order below, but electrical needs are also high on the list.

Mechanical

1. New tires needed – date codes are 2007 front and 2015 rear
2. TB/WB w/ portensioner. Remove airpump. (8 years since last TB change)
3. Intake refresh needed (flappy actuator not working) + full WYAIT4. All new fluids everywhere5. Motor mount
6. Transmission mount
7. Oil pan gasket
8. AC doesn’t work – won’t hold charge – convert to 134a with Griffith’s conversion kit
9. Replace suspension (Red Koni’s on now)10. Tire pressure warning – left rear – PO mentioned a cut cable
11. Exhaust – from downpipes (X-Pipe into high flow cats to oem muffler)
12. Replace differential gasket
13. Shifter is sloppy (upgrade to a short shift kit)
14. Is reverse gear lockout working?
15. Windshield washer not working – no fluid?
16. Headlight washer not working – no fluid?
17. Can’t lock driver’s side door with key from outside – key can’t turn
18. Hatchback won’t open w/ buttons – only the key – suspect electrical or motor issue.



Electrical

1. Check / clean all ground points
2. Check all fuses
3. Turn signals and emergency flasher not working
4. Driver door courtesy light won’t stay on – maybe the switch is faulty
5. Most interior lights not coming on – passenger footwell works every time – maybe just bulbs
6. Suspect battery drain issue – PO had a battery maintainer installed
7. Car immediately unlocks itself – does it sense a door open? Possible push pin issue or Grounding / short.
8. Trunk release motor runs, but vertical bar is not moving – don’t see the motor shaft rotating

Body

1. Rust repair on both rear quarter panel windows – this will be interesting….
2. Repaint of spoiler (bite bullet and remove rub strips and go for a full repaint?)
3. Weather stripping / trim around doors needs to be fixed or replaced
4. Refinish wheels or replace/upgrade to larger size
5. Front spoiler missing

Interior

1. Information stalk on steering wheel is flappy / broken but functional
2. Driver A pillar loose
3. Emergency flasher button sticks
4. Side view mirrors don’t work – rocker switch stuck
5. Keys need new batteries / missing pieces to reassemble
6. Armrest ***** missing
7. AC Vent slats broken in various places
8. Dash crack
9. Most speakers not working – need replacement
10. Stereo needs updating / replacement
11. Interior refresh (Classic 9)

 

First thing I did was order the WSM from Roger. Been a huge help already. Can’t imagine taking this on without it.

This week I put in a HUGE order with Roger to cover the TB/WP, Intake R&R plus WYAIT, MM, TM, OPG, shocks, and some other odds and ends. Thanks Roger!

Just today I bought some Carrera IIIs off of Rennlist and ordered tires (Pilot Sport 4S – 222/40 18 and 275/35 18). No spacers.

The Carrera IIIs are close to the OEM wheels specs (18 x 8 ET 57 and 18 x 10 ET 58) and seemed a popular choice that have been well vetted.

 

The rust issue does stink and I know it's not that common on 928s. I suspect the PO left it parked outside a lot and time and nature did their thing. You can see the rust in these pics.

 

You are off to a flying start! That car looks great and it looks like it's in good hands.

Cheers

 

The rust in those spots is extremely common.

BTW great choice in 928. The GT are among the most rare and definitely the best investment aside from the SE and CS models.

 

Nice ride and in good hands. Not to pile onto your shopping list, but I'd add fuel lines too. I'm personally a fan of Greg Brown's, but I think Roger has aftermarket too.

 

Thanks. My goal is to get as much done as I can before next Spring. Of course, the 928 has to get in line behind family, work, house projects.

Interesting. I’ll do more research. Only saw a few threads and have had others say it’s not common. Either way, it’s issue for me that has to be fixed. Step one was carving out a place in the garage for it. I would have been happy with an S4, but I’m thrilled to own a GT.

Thank you. I’ve been wondering if I should do fuel lines just as a matter of course. Don’t want an engine fire. Haven’t focused on them when I’ve been under the hood. Will do so next time.

 

Welcome to the shark tank! Nice example. I'll enjoy following.

 

First off, congratulations - great platform you selected and the car looks to be in really nice shape, especially the interior, where things can get pricey.

Add Greg Brown's flexible clutch slave cylinder hose to your list and a replacement high pressure power steering hose. Fire sleeve that hose dieing installation for extra safety.

Also, you'll need a few pints of the brake fluid. Suck all the old fluid out of the reservoir, refill with new and then flush the lines to the calipers. 2 pints should do it. If the flexible brake hoses at each corner look original, replace with stainless or new original ones dieing the process. Original hoses will be narrowed inside and the rubber cracking and brittle.

Your shifter already looks shortened. You probably need some new linkage components rather rathern SSK. Rear ball coupler would be one and front pivot the other. 929MS used to offer a nice upgraded (and adjustable) version to eliminate all the slop. Don't know if they have stock under the new ownership.

You have a long list....do it in small chunks (like what you can complete over a weekend or maybe 2), so you can complete a section then drive the car, complete another section then drive the car. Getting too deep into too many subsystems at one time is when these projects spiral out of control, the cars end up parked, the owners lose interest and then before you know it, it's been 2 years and you haven't enjoyed the car.

For summer events, we have SITM (probably too soon for a long trip without checking a few things off your list), the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Rendezvous event in July and Frenzy in Sterling, VA in September. You should try and make one or both if possible to meet the great folks that are this Rennlist 928 community.

 

Enjoy the time with it. It is an engineering masterpiece and most things can be rebuilt. You will always have something to work on with it.

 

DO the fuel lines!

 

Got it. Adding fuel lines and Petza’s suggested lines to the list. I need to research those to see when I can work them into the plan.

Today I dove into the PSD. It didn’t take long to find the problem.


Reservoir was bone dry. Filled it up with new brake fluid and starting bleeding the system per this excellent write up: http://www.928intl.com/repair/psd1.pdf
Got lots of foam at first, but soon the brake fluid started flowing through. Hardest part of the procedure was getting a 7mm on the bleed valve for the PSD slave cylinder. Got foam there too until the new fluid flowed through. I didn’t get a chance to test drive it afterwards, but hopefully tomorrow.

You’ll notice the extra wire near the PSD. It appears to be an attempt to ground. It disappears into the light on the left rear bumper. Looks like an attempt by someone to bandaid an issue. I’ll get to that later.

Also wanted to show y’all a picture of my “custom” exhaust.




Look Ma, no muffler! It just pipe from the small silencers. Notice the nice rust holes in the pipe. The word “janky” comes to mind. I will replace / update.

 

That exhaust mod. is pretty interesting...sometimes you almost wish these cars could talk so you could hear the story....but a lot of other times, you're glad they don't.

The Michelin Pilot all season is an awesome tire, great choice..I am running them and love them..have them on both my cars.

 

looks like a great car-
lots of maintenance fun in the future-all covered somewhere on Renn and other sites.
I would consider leaving it stock, radio, interior, exhaust, wheels.
GT's are desirable. Stock has the most value, IMO.
Other than the fuel lines, and timing belt, and all fluids, so you can drive it, consider attacking the electrical.
This can be very challenging, but sorted can really help you start with a solid foundation.
I would change the ground strap, refresh or replace the main engine ground underneath, clean all grounds, and completely pull and refresh the fuse panel.
High quality fuses, new relays, perhaps even a new ignition switch.
If the car does not have a lot of aftermarket accessories spliced in all over, leave the wiring stock!
I have spent so much time on the electric on my 89, due to late 80's radar detectors, alarms, amps-all crap!
928 International is the best source for used bits, like the vents and interior pieces.
My info stalk was missing completely, and I replaced it with a used one from them a while ago.
4 stalks rock!
The interior looks nice, I would not change it-
If future resale is not your concern, then modify away!
It's your car-good luck, nice project-
Also consider changing all the interior bulbs to LED’s-
When you did that heat shrink the ends-
This prevents metal on metal contact which can lead to electrical shorts-
Also pull the small red lights on the doors.
These are notorious for needing attention and can be a source for parasitic electrical drains.
Make sure the rubber door seals are pushing the door pins in also.
Door pins easily replaced.
Bypass factory alarm and change temp 2!

 

The red channel iron associated with the rear sway bar in the pix of your 'no muffler' is probably an aftermarket item developed by Louie Ott about 20 years ago to effectively stiffen the rear sway bar. Nice kit for improved handling.