Jim M.

Some of the reasons are cars are so great is that they are very well equipped, have lots of power, are relatively light and handle great. Some of the reasons for this is parts are packaged tightly, designed to fit in specific areas and aren't shared with lots of other models from the same manufacturer. This also means that sometimes you need to remove part "A" to access part "B". If this is a problem for you then you don't belong in a Porsche. Go get a generic sedan where the parts are taken from another model and and have lots of access room to work on part "A". The other option is to write a check to have someone else do it for you.

I've done every one of the jobs listed except remove headers and remove an engine. Just about every one was done alone in my garage by one person, me. Yes they were all time consuming and took longer than if it were a generic sedan. BUT, my 928 is worth it.

SMTCapeCod

HVAC vaccum lines and diaphragms. And MBS. Perhaps not service but still...and great to see Wally chime in again!!!

Randy Carter

stuffin' my bitchy *** mechanic back under the engine shroud; gotta lube the little bastard up w/ dollar bills to get the job done.

jon928se

Rear suspension hub carrier/shock pins (on a temperate climate, salt in the winter, car)
Blue clutch hose
Undoing/removing a new front shfter cup when you realise you adjusted it wrong. Old shifter cups are easy (That could be the title of a B movie ala Earth girls are easy - maybe that deserves a new thread)

SeanR

Damn, that's rough.

Gretch

Sterling, can we have a thread which starts with pictures of your car and a description of all your mods??????

That should contain some potential PIAs for everyone else here!

fraggle

Bolting the steering rack back on. Why those 17mm studs aren't captured or solid mounted.

dprantl

Coolant reservoir for sure, especially when there are two charge-cooler lines going into the passenger fender taking up what little space is left down there.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

Randy Carter

Hmmm. I don't remember mentioning anyones name. It worries that both of you immediately assumed I was making a less than positive reference regarding our esteemed Dallas area 928 Doctor.

Maybe, maybe not; but I think the reference to multiple dollar bills might have eliminated Sean. That little bugger doesn't have enough real estate to lube with one little dollar bill much less mutiples of the full sized variety.

Sorry Sean; I think you are one of the nicest little guys I know.

LT Texan

Heli-coiling the damn alternator bracket bolt holes in the damn block!

LT Texan

Putting the f-ing line clip back on (good luck taking off) the f-ing clutch hose. Only to be made to seem easy after somehow getting the f-ing clutch master cylinder back in!

dr bob

Thinwall 17mm socket over the top, with a mini breaker bar/flex handle to hold it. There's no room for a ratchet hence the little bar, and it takes a real thin walled socket to get down in there to hold it. But it works and works well.

Tails

The best challange I had was to reinstall the vacuum hose for the spider splitter to the vacuum connection on the inlet manifold with only the air filter housing removed. The hose has no clip, it just slips on with plastic muff over the hose end to secure it to the outlet elbow.

Fitted the vacuum hose using a mirror, with a small 12 volt globe as a light source where everything was laterally inverted. Paitence is a virtue I'm told.

10 years of ownership and the only mechanical work ever done by a wrench was the initial timing belt change and water pump. No auto electrician has touched the car nor air con technician. All work done by myself wih great assistance from Rennlist members, Jim's technical CD's and the web. Started out with Microfische WSM and PET.

Hall sensor, no problems if your double jointed. Biggest problem was to locate it initially. Of course a good set of tools makes a difference as well as nearby auto shop. As and when I need a new tool I buy it and many instance I fabricate the tool I need. Being retired is a benefit as time is not near the enemy for those still holding down a job.

+1 to Wally P's suggestion.

Tails 1990 928S4 Auto

jeff spahn

The steering rack in my 1990 S4 was a piece of cake. It didn't take 5 minutes for the two of us to have the rack in and torqued. There wasn't anything we complained about or found difficult.

What did I do "right" that should have been difficult?

blown 87

Really the only thing that gave me problems other than PO electrical BS was the gaskets for the GTS mirrors, they are a bitch.