airosey

Hey guys, I've been in process of restoring my 81 auto. I finished up the interior last year in time for SITM. But my waterpump started leaking a few weeks before, so I didn't make it. I started the tb/wp months ago. Once I got started, I figured what the heck, WYAIT I should just go ahead and replace everything. From the day I got the car, the engine bay has been trash. So, I wanted to get everything cleaned up, and replace anything that needed it (basically everything). There was soooo much grease and gunk on the front of the engine. Looked like it was from a leaky tensioner. I spent hours on hours scrubbing and cleaning everything before all was reassembled. I didn't expect everything to be concours, but I wanted it to at least be pleasing to the eyes. A few times I met up with some local car buffs but was always embarrassed to pop the hood because the engine bay was just so nasty. Once I finished up the tb/wp, I went to work on everything above the heads. Decided to go the route of having alot of parts powdercoated (thanks Keith!). The powdercoat is called chrome, but looks more like dull aluminum which is fine for me. I did polish the fuel rails, strut bar, and a couple other small pieces, but not too much bling bling. All gaskets, hoses, and hose clamps were replaced also. New distributer cap and rotor, plugs, filters, and belts. Then fuel injectors were previously sent off to be cleaned also. I'm in the process of replacing alot of the corroded bolts with new yellow zinc coated ones. And would like to have the factory yellow zinc parts replated. Also need a new hoodliner. Also in the works are some custom aluminum tubing for the old plastic intake tubes. So, it's not completely done, but well on it's way! If anyone has any suggestions or comments, please let me know! I will also be at SITM this year, so anyone there will be able to take a peak.
Here are the pics!

Before


After


Now, if I could just get a supercharger under the hood!

Thanks,
Chris

Hoyo

Very nice and clean.
G

Bill Ball

Jeez, before was better than most I've seen. Very nice.

Shark Lover

Nice work on the intake everthing looks great

RDS928S

Nice job.
The strut bar is sweet.
Check www.eagleday.com for yellow zinc plated hardware. They stock the yellow zinc hose clamps.

RDS

unclenick

I really like it, nice and clean. Very nice work

Carl Fausett

Cocours de Elegance! Show the car in a local car show... you will do well. Audiences love Porsche 928's and they are rarely enterred. Good Job!

airosey

Thanks for the comments! I'm considering entering the concours at SITM. I don't think my shark is councours worthy. But I would like to see how they look at the car, and where I really need to improve. The interior is very near perfect, but the suspension and undercarriage hasn't been touched, so that would hurt (I may get it cleaned up before SITM). I have a small dent in the front left corner or the car, and the paint is scraped in that area. The rest of the paint is great (look at my avatar). Would it be a waste of my time to enter in the SITM concours? Of course I don't expect to win, I've already been warned about all of the great GTS that are going to be there. What do you think?

AJK

By all means enter. When I first started I didn't think I had a chance either. After many attempts, I finally got a best in show, local PCA chapter. The only down side is that you can fall into the trap of not wanting to drive the car for fear of undoing all that prep work. Get caught in the rain once and you start all over.

jarroyo

*sigh* your before pic makes me jealous of my current motor.

airosey

She is definitely a garage queen. My wife and I just plan on taking it out on nice weekends and such. So, no going out in the rain! I have other cars I use for daily driving.

As far as the SITM concours is concerned, how well would a judge be looking at an engine bay? I plan on getting everything as clean as I can, but how perfect does it need to be? It's never going to be flawless, but I'm just not sure how well judges look. Any info to get me prepared would be great!
Thanks!
Chris

Imo000

Very nice !

SharkSkin

Wow... looks gorgeous!

Airflite40

How did you get all the engine parts shiny like that?

airosey

Airflite40: I had most of everything powdercoated. The list includes: intake tubes, intake center piece, fuel lines, waterbridge, thermostat neck, oil filler housing, engine lift brackets, headlight tube assembly (raises and lowers headlights), various other brackets, oil tube on oil pan, and dipstick. I polished the fuel rails and strut bar to a fairly shiney finish. I sanded down the tops of the heads some to get all of the corrosion off, and cleaned anything and everything. I'm pretty happy, but it could still be better.

Anyone have any advice on getting her ready for concours?

Thanks for all of the great comments!

Chris