Flint

I was going home today and momentarily forgot about an intersection that is constanrtly being reworked and resurfaced (I'm not kidding, it changes at least twice a week) and inadvertantly bounced part of the front of my shark off the concrete or whatever material the road's made of today. It made quite a lot of sparks, but I didn't see any real damage underneath (no leaks or anything), but then I only had the benefit of the garage overhead light and a flashlight. Any ideas what I might have scraped or what damage I might have caused would be greatly appreciated.

Until Tomorrow Then.

Jay Wellwood

The lower 'A' arms as well os sopme of the exhaust system bolts are prime candidates for pavement sanding (under prime conditions, the rear lower shock mounts may also fit in this category).

My car has (sarcasm on - thanks PO's - sarcasm off) seen a few off road excursions. When I replaced the carpet, I found a 'gash' in the drivers floorboard about 1" in length.

Best bet would be to raise the car front and then rear (or visa versa) and perform a detailed ispection. Most likely, you didn't seriously hurt anything - but it will be worth the piece of mind.

Ed Ruiz

The lowest part of the front of the car is the AC belt tensioning bracket which is directly mounted to the engine block.

I have heard of cases where lowered 928s have hit bottom and cracked their block.

Moral: Don't lower a 928 below factory specs.

Carlos

I bought my car in Feb. of this year and after a few scrapes ( and two shops telling me the ride height was ok) I decided to check closer. The front spring collars had backed off all the way. I had the height set (at a race shop), corner balanced the car and wow. Several additional inches of ground clearance and much improved ride & handling.

PS apparently many shops don't want to mess with ride height.

John Struthers

Flint, (scrape, sparks?... FLINT I get It, Har, Har).

Sorry , Couldn't help myself, Had a buddy in the Army - Mark Anthony Stone -
MARK A STONE...
O.K. Enough of that.
Check that thin pan directly below and behind the radiator. I don't know what it's protecting or covering but take a peek. I agree with an exhaust system check look for leaks as well as dents/cracks/scrapes. It would be a major bummer to be remembered as "the dead blue guy in the Killer Porsche."
Check all the Vac. lines that you can. When they get dry over the years then take a sharp jolt.... . Don't forget that Plastic 45 degree splitter connector - Behind right front wheel well cover while your in there clean things up and bundle tie together for mutual support. How was the Air Dam/Spoiler and the attending hardware/braces/brackets and mount points? Check your fuses !
John Struthers
1982 Weissach, Auto. "Pattycakes"

Flint

I didn't think my car was particularly low, but then I don't park it next to other 928's to compare but those are all good things to check out. I've seen the ride height adjustment suggestions on the various tips sites, but any idea what it would cost a "professional" (meaning someone with slightly more tools and spare time) to do it?

I just realized that I neglected to say what year/type my car is in case that makes a difference. It's an '84 Euro S, so that excludes under belly pan and cats from damage.
Anyway, those are all good sugegstions, thanks lads.

Carlos

Cost me $225 for ride height adjustment and corner balance. Would have beel less but the collar on the right front was frozen and the strut had to be removed.

Flint

That doesn't sound too bad, but with my luck it'll probably be both front collars. To be honest, I don't think my PO was a great maintenance person. I don't mind though, I think of it like saving an abused dog... Maybe an abused horse, yeah, one of those Irish-bred riding horses, that sounds about equivalent I think.

Ed Ruiz

The ride height should be about 170mm up front, and no less than 173mm in the rear. Anything less can lead to poor handling and excessive tire wear. Also, if too low, the engine block is at risk of being damaged. YMMV.

Flint

Well, I'd like to think that my mechanic would have noticed if the car was too low or off-spec in ride height when he did the pre-purchase inspection, but to be on the safe side, I will definitely have it checked and adjusted (if need be) on my next visit (which will be shortly after I return from vacation). I'm not real worried about having cracked my block, but the prospect of that possibility if the car is off-spec is enough to make me be doubly sure. I've never been fond of cars being artificially lowered. In my mind, the engineers generally knew what they were doing when they designed cars (except maybe the Gremlin) and in the case of Porsche, that should go unspoken.

Ed Ruiz

If the mechanic raised the car off the ground to do the PPI, he would not have noticed the ride height problem. The time to notice is BEFORE the car is raised. Once rasied, the suspension pulls in and when lowered back to the ground, will acctually be higher than its normal operation height.

This is a common mistake made by some technicians. BTW, this is the same reason why the suspension of a 928 should not be unloaded to do an alignment. The car can be raised, but the suspension needs to maintain its normal operating load. There are at least two ways to do this. Make sure you find a technician that knows one or both ways. YMMV.