AFARR

My thread about towing a parts car (probably won't get it--the owner wants too much for a car with mechanical issues including what sounds like a broken timing belt--regardless of how nice the interior is) got me thinking...

If you could find a PRISTINE car (60k miles, say) cheap because the "engine won't work" and you find out the timing belt went. Would it be worth it to you to get it and repair the head? I would guess that the 32V is more of a pain to do than the 16v version.

Can a rebuild be done with the engine in the car?

And, finally, are there Rebuild "Kits", or do you pretty much have to figure out what is bad and go from there to find parts?

Thanks!!

ErnestSw

Your question is meaningless without details.

rixter

depends on MY and condition...
most of the early 16v are non-interference (supposedly) and shouldn't require a full rebuild
all 32v with blown belt should be checked for valve damage

I would NEVER attempt to rebuild a 928 engine while it's in the car
it may be easier/cheaper to swap in a rebuilt unit from 928I than do it yourself

just my 2 cents

tammons

I dont think you can pull 32v heads with the engine in the car.

Valves are also $45 each new.

Jim_H

I'm pretty sure you can...

If you could get a killer deal on a car you want that has bent valves I would do it. But I don't seem to have much restraint.

Jim bailey - 928 International

The 85-86 still use head studs which protrude from the block the 87> have head bolts which greatly eases removing the cylinder heads but if you are pulling both heads it saves time and effort to first remove the engine from the car. Buying any car which does not run is a big gamble because you can not TEST DRIVE to be sure the transmission and or clutch works ,that the A/C works or the computer brains are good etc.etc. Once you start spending money "fixing it" you become emotionally committed to finishing it no matter how much it costs because if you punt it is at a loss and those who doubted the purchase will never forget .

rixter

ROG100

"emotionally committed" ------- me, never

markscott

More details are needed. I recently finished an 89 with a broken TB with the luck of only 4 bent valves. You really should pull the engine for then you can do other things such as the rings, berrings, seals, gaskets, motormounts etc. Your back would really protest if it was even possible and you were inclined to try and do one while still in the car. It's a hell of a lot easier to push an engine around while on a stand where you can get to everything. Of course you will need to enlist the help of friends to help with the "pull and put".

GregBBRD

I just want to know how Jim knows this "emotional" stuff.....did he read it somewhere or is this a personal lesson?

greg brown

Jim_H

Cause Jim knows all...

soontobered84

Sensitivity Training on the part of Jim?

AFARR

Sorry, I should have been more specific--I have no details about a specific car, I am just asking a rhetorical question. The car that got me thinking about it is a 1980 on Ebay ("Broken Timing Belt, parked since the early 1990's")--I had considered getting it as an interior donor for my car (1984 S)--by the time I got seat covers ($200), Carpet ($300), etc. etc. I would have been close to the starting price of the auction to get all the interior stuff (and, then, I would have had some spares--fuses, etc.). Once the price went above $1300 (and Reserve Not Met at that), it was beyond where I wanted to go as a parts car.

I was just wondering if I had run across a car that was Perfect--interior and exterior that looked like they came off the showroom floor, everything electrical worked when a charged battery was installed, but the timing belt was gone....

At what year would you say "Not Worth My Time"?

As Mr. Bailey said--(And I know from past experience) getting into a restoration/repair that you don't want to give up on is frustrating and expensive. However, it is a time filling hobby....

AFARR

AO

I just walked away on a car that ran, not well, but it ran. Probably just a fueling problem. My worry was ending up with a $17k boat anchor, or $24k '89 S4. I wouldn't even bother looking at a car with a broken belt even if it happened yesterday. If it happened 10-15 years ago, They'd have to pay me to take it.

dr bob

These cars are expensive enough when you start out with an "everything works" car. A non-running car is a lot like an iceberg, a lot more below the surface than is visible. In my educated-by-experience opinion, a less-than-mechanically-perfect non-running car is an invitation to disaster.

A few years ago, I suggested to a very serious 928 afficianado friend here that he look at a for-sale car as an "interim" ride while he continued his search for the perfect S4 or GTS. He bought the car in question for a few thou', and over the years has put a lot of time into making the car suitable as a daily driver. I suspect that the distraction has kept him from the Truth (at least his...), a good S4 or GTS. I was just thinking he'd buy it, drive it for six months while his search continued, pay for gas and insurance. Throw it away to 928 Int'l if it broke in the meanwhile, sell it for the same $$ if it didn't. But that didn't happen...

As Jim says, we often get sucked in by some vision of how justa few hours and a few dollars will save us some money over a better ride. The hours and dollars grow as we just fix this and that, stuff that creeps up, until we are way deep in the cars.

I have a close-to-perfect S4, and spent over $2k --in parts-- so far this year on scheduled maintenance stuff. Tank-o-gas number 8 for this year just went in too, so my cost-per-mile-driven for this year looks pretty sucky right now. If I had to pay for and budget the time to do "restoration", this car would be repaired and on the block for sale. The original owner spent over $8/mile to own this car. I felt lucky to buy it with all that depreciation and maintenance cost already bled out of it. I'm still ahead of him on cost/mile, but the gap is a lott smaller than what I originally had in mind. Fortunately my toy budget is big enough to cover the costs...

Many years ago I decided to build a fast car from a non-fast car. It just kinda happened, a little bit here and some over there. I ended up with a 'fast car', but would have been big $$ ahead just buying a 911 and paying the dealer to maintain it for me. I spent more on the project than payments on a factory-fast car. Kinda like all the hot-rodded Hondas and Acuras we see these days, with owners "bragging" that they have $40-50k in the cars on top of purchase price. Pulease! Buy a two-year-old 996, drive it for a few years, compare. Anyway, I'm straying from the Message here:

-- Buy the best example you can find, and consider that paying a little more for a premium car will save you big $$ in the short and the long run. -- Trust me!