danglerb

As some of you know, I am NOT ready for a 928, no place to park it, many more questions, wife still not convinced a stay in a quiet room with medication wouldn't get me past this phase, but I sent an email this morning expressing interest and offering to pay for an independent inspection at one of the shops I know in the area.

83 5spd with no sunroof, been sitting about a year, but says fully maintained prior to that with a TB in last service. Interior not bad, but some rough bits, so I am really not sure what my impression will be when I can see the car with eyes instead of picts.

What should I be expecting with regard to shifting on the 5 spd? I plan to reread the recent threads, but how bad was it originally and how good does it get with rebuild, or do most people just swap in a later tranny?

Daniel Dudley

Buy one that shifts well. Unless you are able to tackle a job like that yourself, it would be cheaper to buy an 85 or newer. BTW, good early boxes shift well, if not fast. They don't like to shift into second until the oil is warm, and a dragging clutch or pilot bearing will make a good box shift poorly, and wear out the syncros. 1st & second syncros go first, and many people baby that shift, and learn to live with it.

FWIW, assume that the way the car drives now is how it's going to drive period. Trying to debug a 928 can be very trying. Select one that has a personality that you like, or you may always regret it.

H2

Synchros in the pre-85 trans can be weak. Check them. Also, 928s that sit a while often have quite a few gremlins show up in the first year of ownership...also 1/4 or much more ("depending") of the original purchase price of the car may be required to bring it into a reliable state. A PPI by a reliable 928 mechanic (seldom your local Porsche dealership) may be the best investment you make in your new car. These cost anywhere from $150-$250 but are worth every penny.

H2

hacker-pschorr

Even if you buy one with a "bad" trans - make sure the clutch is working 100% and drive it until it blows totally (like I'm doing ).
Actually, having a car with "bad" synchros teaches you really fast how to properly blip & heal/toe!! Think of it as a learning tool.

danglerb

What I am thinking is it must be cheaper to swap in a later trans, than to swap roofs from an earlier car. Two ranges of years I am considering for various reasons are 80-84 and 87-89.

I haven't been able to stop by either of the local Porsche shops, but I have heard very good things about DeVitos and pestered Greg Brown at Precision Motorsports 25 years ago with my 914. Its on my list of stuff to do, but I wasn't expecting to do it so soon.

I only have about a 50/50 shot at this car that popped up, someone else is looking at it before I can, and maybe only 50/50 that post inspection I would be interested at their price.

hacker-pschorr

I would agree with that. Not to mention OB's are lighter.

danglerb

Sounds like Monday I will be running around doing the be prepared thing. Talk to both local shops about the nuts and bolts of getting an inspection, how to arrange it so I would pay with somebody else bringing in the car. What sort of inspection I want, thinking if the repairs it "really" needs passes some figure they can stop and just give me a call without wasting time. Find out how long the car needs to be left for.

Talk with AAA and double check its all smiles on their end, maybe see if they can run the VIN for me.

Must be something I should pester Jim Bailey with.