6. When I open the door, the light in the roof doesn't turn on. This might be a user error.
- Somebody clued you in already.

7. The intake manifold coating doesn't match between the main component and the side plates.
8. The intake manifold main component has some sort of small cosmetic damage.
- That is a bit odd looking. Factory finish is silverish and turns tan with age/heat. You could find some paint that is close the silver and spary the tan sidecovers and touch up the defect if you aren't motivated to pull the intake for a full refurb. Mine is tan and I managed to match that color and touch up some scratches so it looks nice enough that I feel no need to refinish it.

9. The driver side seat leather is worn near the left love handle.
- That damage looks very superficial and would likely respond to simply redying the area. You might try something as simple as black liquid shoe dye, although you can get a small bottle of seat leather finish from leatherique.com or SEM that will restore this area to new.

10. There is a mysteriour (to me) open threaded hole just above the rear license plate.
- Everybody has one as others have mentioned.

Anyway, it appears you've got a keeper there. I would be surprised if this is all the defects. Get under the car and examine the rear axle and steering rack boots and tell us what you see.

Be happy,

 

I am paranoid but not that paranoid. In any case, the new avatar will be up soon now that I have the car.

 

Nice score.

I just ran to the video store in my GT. When I came back I said to the wife, "Ya know... Porsches are so awesome!"

Her response, "."

 

Two kwik shots under the car. It seems to me that the belly pan is there, right? Also, there's the rear muffler bypass. The previous owner included the original muffler in nice condition with the car.

 

My bumper doesn't have a hole either which is why I made that comment. I'm still trying to figure out if there was something else covering the opening, maybe a press fit type cover?

Tuomo your belly pan is in place. It looks like you have an RMB too.

 

The two performance mods in this car are RMB and some sort of custom chip. Based on the 800 miles on the highways, the combo is working very well. I don't know if it's producing more power, but the drivability of the engine is excellent. The PO really did take an excellent care of the car.

I got three other chips with it, two of them stock and one mystery chip. All have the same pin interface and look like they are chips for LH. The text on the mystery chip is 355832.

I'll phone the PO next week, ask some questions, and thank him for selling me a peach.

 

The '06 M5 is hard to compare with '87 928.

The M5 engine is better with all the power and instant throttle response due to fly-by-wire individual throttle bodies, but 928 engine isn't bad either. 928 is less instantaneous in responding to gas pedal inputs than M5 when driven in the M mode. 928 response is perfectly adequate, but the M5 V10 is a high benchmark.

The M5 smg transmission in the manual mode would be decisively faster on track than the 928 manual without a question. Note that I am not talking about the car or the engine, but just the transmission. The 928 manual (or the optional M5 traditional manual for that matter) is much faster in traffic on regular Boston roads than the M5 smg in the automatic mode. The '06 single clutch M5 smg in the automatic model can't be driven fast in traffic or in any other situation that requires instant reactions to new situations.

The 928 steering feel is superior to that of M5. M5 is very precise and everybody loves the bimmer steering, but for my taste there's too much assist. I think the 928 assist is pretty much just right.

Then there's the body size. Compared to 928, in M5 you are sitting in front of a car with all that heavy body. 928 is a bit smaller and feels a lot smaller.

All that said, M5 is a great sports sedan when driven in the manual mode. It does have a back seat and all the safety features that one could need.

Here's another comparison. Objectively, wifey's 997 Carrera 2 S cabrio is a better car than the 928. Everything is just a little bit better than in 928. Of course, one car was made 20 years earlier than the other. This is no surprise to me, I bought the 928 because I wanted a 928. Had I wanted a 997, I would have gotten a 997. I am a big believer in just getting what you want and being ok with it. Life is simpler that way.

 

That's why I crafted my post as I did. PET doesn't show anything to indicate that the cover is only on certain years. Of course, since it is in PET is must be true. Not. I can only verify that it is on my '91 and '94. I've got two 87s and two 89s the butts of which I'll check tomorrow.

But, evidence would suggest that the tow eye cover started after MY '89.

 

Yup. Both belly pans are there. No matter what condition the plastic pan is in - or what condition it ends up in - don't throw it away without drilling out the riveted-in metal ducts. You'll need those if you go to the aluminum belly pan.

Also, it looks like your pan has at least one of the Official Porsche fasteners. If all of the fasteners are correct then this is evidence, to me at least, that some care was taken with the car. Most of the time, if the car even has the pans, I find a mixed-bag of fasteners that make R&Ring the pans a minor PITA and the random sizes in the mixed-bag usually result in not being able to use the correct fasteners without also replacing speed nuts etc.

 

Lol,

I have to agree w B Ball. You are, as we say in Texas, "Pickin Fly **** out of Pepper"!! Lookin at your picks and seeing that car, it is in DAMN great shape!!

The things that you have seen/found on your ride are minor in comparison to what many are dealing with from 20 + years of wear/Previous owners.
I'm glad you found one in the shape that you did!!

Great addition to the group. Welcome back!!

 

Hey Tuomo I like you new car! I also think your project is well thought out and coming along well, I put someone in touch with you that has a near new GTS crank and pistons that would be a great match up for you with your billet rods. Just make sure the Tolerance group is the same group as your pistons/block.

Especially as your block should have next to no wear. How did you go getting the info from the GTS service updates? I transferred it to a computer that is connected to the net, it is 5.6 mb. If you still need it let me know.

Greg

P.S did you get any thing out of the CDs I sent you?

 

And I don't see oil all over the bottom of the belly pan. You scored.

The one axle boot I can see looks rather new too, but look the boots over carefully for splts. I find splits on most of the cars I get under.

 

I'll lift the car up next week and photograph the entire undercarriage, and then post the photos here for criticism and advice.

 

Thanks. I passed as I don't need a longer stroke. If anything, I need a shorter stroke.

I am planning to take the block from the fire-damaged engine and send it to Nikasil treatment. It will be like new, or actually better than new, when it comes from there. The stock short block that comes with this car can stay as it is.

Please send it. My gmail can take files of that size with no problem. Thanks!

Yes. Thanks, they were worth the money. I've been listening to them during my commute. They've helped in the following sense:
- Don't try to do anything without a flow bench
- Without sacrificing some heads, one can only maybe 80% there.
- Most importantly, they alerted me to the points that I need to really research. For example, why does air flow with less friction over a slightly rough surface than over a perfectly smooth surface? I've been trying to figure that out from books. It seems to have something to do with moving energy from the boundary layer by replacing the air in it. I don't understand it yet, but one of these days I will.

 

Tuomo I will try today to email you the info your require, I am on a slow wireless connection at this time. As to needing a smaller stroke for the higher revs, I can't agree and Darin Morgan certainly wouldn't agree either. Let me elaborate. The 928 has a very high rod to stroke ratio as it came from the factory.

What is becoming evident is certain rod to stroke ratios work better at certain rpm ranges. This is why in the Engine masters challenge, the winners always have low rod to stroke ratios. Their competition is limited to 6,500 rpm and they have rod to strokes around the 1.5 to 1.6 range. The standard rod to stroke is 1.9, the GTS is less, as the stroke is longer and the rod length the same therefore around 1.75

As such the standard rod to stroke is suitable for a 9,500 to 11,000 rpm engine. The GT3 engine has a 1.75 ratio and my stroker engine the same. This allows for an engine to be built for around 7,500 to 8,500 rpm. I would have thought that is the area you would want to operate in? Although I would keep it in the lower part of the range due to the heavy nature of the GTS crank.

Also the GTS pistons are a bit lighter than your S4 and will be higher comp, so all good there. The rod to stroke ratio issue is a relatively minor issue not a deal breaker as such but there is evidence to support correct piston speed relative to valve timing, i.e draw on the cylinder heads and turbulence as the piston approaches TDC, complete cylinder filling etc to support doing things this way. There has been some abandonment of the Smokey Yunich practice of putting the longest rod you can in there.

Mind you there has been considerable improvements made in material technology and design to support higher mass forces, so I am not being critical of Smokey.

I don't have any affiliation with the seller although he is one of the true original 928 pioneers and will be well known to many members of this board.

Greg