Tampa 928s

My 68 with Stroker it just sits but when its out, gets a lot of stares.

odurandina

what an ***. not a day goes by that i get a knot in my stomach for selling my 928.

can't wait to drop a V8 in my 9-6.....

hacker-pschorr

+1
63 is considered one of the worst Corvette's ever made (after the 68).
Due to the rarity of the split window, many assume it's the most sought after.

My friends who restore / collect Corvette's will not buy a 63/64 unless the only goal is to flip it.

Well, to be fair, they are replica's of actual racing machines which were not designed for aesthetics.

Here is what the Penske GrandSport #1 looks like:

9two8

Well..., I owned a 75 Vette for two years and thought it was a great car...., I,ve owned my 928 for twenty years now.
Work it out ???

Ken
80 928 S
5 Speed

UK

Bill Ball

A timing belt job takes me one day every 60K miles. You probably were blown over by Dwayne's version of a timing belt job. He practically rebuilt the motor. Most of the stuff he did while doing the timing belt was one-time and will never be done again. Sorry if that scared you. Certainly these can be expensive cars if something bad happens. These are old cars, so you can expect it will happen. Either buy one that has had all the usual culprits repaired already or get lucky like me and find an unbreakable one and just keep driving.

These don't have to be expensive cars only for the well-off. Granted, you should have the reserve capacity to repair or replace the car should things go wrong as well as pay for (or perform) the routine maintenance. I paid only $16K for my car 10 years ago. It was in showroom condition, well-cared for by the original owner. What other super car could you buy for what was basically the price of a corolla? I fell in love at 120+ on I-5 the day I bought it and have since driven the car at sustained speeds over 160 MPH (legally) mile after mile after mile (open road racing) with no significant mechanical issues at all. Since installing the supercharger, I've cruised at over 170 several times and otherwise tortured the drivetrain over and over and it just keeps going. Someday I'm sure I will have to rebuild the tranny and motor, but at this point it doesn't need it. At 217K miles and over 20 years, I am impressed by how new my car still looks and how well it runs. I usually get weary of cars after about 5-10 years of ownership. So far, I don't see that happening here.

blown 87

Try finding the trim for the rear widow on a 63.

mj1pate

Hmmm......actually I drove 4500 miles across the country without incident after picking up my $6700 86.5.

I do spend just under $1000/yr on refurbishments. This is so that 24 yr old fuel hoses don't flame me out at stop lights, and that similarly old breather hoses don't create gaping vacuum leaks. Motor mounts and oil pan gaskets really oughta be replaced after a few decades too. Refinishing aluminum wheels made them look attractive again. To the best of my knowledge, the motor has never been lifted and the transmission has never been dropped and I have no plans to do so. How were you considering a mid-80s vette above these kinds of considerations? You were doing a similar year comparison weren't you?

911tracker85

Man did this thread take off.

when I reached the point I could get a 'real sports car', my first intent was a Corvette. since I grad highschool in '69 my lusts tended to muscle cars. I had NO exposure to porsches at that point, other than seeing them.

long story short, I bought an 85 911 targa and no regrets.

years pass, and as the 911 begins morphing into a track car I started considering another semi-DD. once I owned a Porsche, I began to learn more about the marque and attended PCA events. fell in love with 928s. I got my '84 928S two years ago. in overall good shape and had current TB/WP, brakes, tires. but being 25 yrs old, still needed some refresh work for long term reliability. over 100K miles and solid as a rock and a great V8 growl.

footnotes:
I took my dad to Las Vegas last fall for an 80th birthday presents. rented a Hertz Vette. I was impressed. my Dad asked it I was going to sell the 928 and get one. NOT. if I had the $$ for a new Vette, I would get a great 928 S4/GT that had been refreshed, twin screw SC. still have a lot of $$ left for parts for the 911, a new trailer, and funds for the next couple years of track time.

I had a friend who had a '71 Baldwin Chev Vette. alum 454, built to almost 700hp. fast, brutal, but otherwise a rattletrap POS.

Larry Velk

I've had '58, '59 and '63 Vettes. Worked in a Chevy garage in the early '70's to early 80's. Spent 19 hours straight in the '59 - not comfy, vertical seat back and wheel. I disagree a bit with Hacker as to '63's, but I understand why Vette guys prefer the other models, but it really isn't a reliability issue. The only '63 specific strangeness was the heater core. It was a '58 Impala unit, but inexplicably leaked when used in the Vettes. The bodies were just as good and the other parts were similarly OK. The Borg-Warner was inferior to the '64 &up Muncie, and, or course, there is the disc brake question and the extra aluminum on the '63's which is always in bad shape. The '68 & ups drove bad due to the Nova steering coloum (they thought the body would be replaced soon and just adapted a collapser from existing stock). The wheel is too close and despite essentially the same frame, the footwells are too small (especially compared to a 928!!). The '63 through '67 are just the bomb - the driving position fit my 5'2" wife - it was her car, yet fit large men as well. Perfect visibility despite the rag top, big side mirror in exactly the right spot, reliable as a rock - excepting the headlamp motors - Electra 225 vent window motors with the can drilled for the armature! Our 928 has all the good parts of the '63-'67 except it is a little too complex for what it needs to be.
We put many miles on our old Vettes and the large dealer I worked at worked on many (the owner would only work on those we sold - he hated them). The '68 and ups had millions of trim problems and also brake trouble from corrosion between the halves. I think a 928 is more reliable than those despite very many more parts. While I'm not a convertible nut, all comments appy to rag-top Vettes as they are the only Vette that makes use of it's advantages. A '63-'67 Vette is also very good in snow, as are our 928's - you'd need to be nuts to use an old Vette like that now, but I remmember the little woman blasting through the snow with a rooster tail behind that old red convert.

mj1pate

Right.....for those of who remember the many quality complaints of the mid-80s vettes, this raised a reaction. My 928 is a daily driver when not on blocks for Spring refreshing. This was obviously a limited volume car, built for mass production reliability. You got what you paid for. I can't imagine a mid-80s vette being anything but a greater problem.

JCP1990S4

I owned a 1994 Corvette and my 1990 s4 at the same time. I sold the vette in 3 months. I admit the Corvette was candle apple red and looked awesome!

I liked driving it around town but After driving it to Arizona hearing all the rattles and sqeaks, I thought I would go crazy. Thank god it had a nice stereo to drown out the noise.

I also had it up to 120 mph and It didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable or as effortless as it felt in the 928.

So, when I got back, I sold the Corvette and gave my 928 a hug and a new coat of wax as it sat in my garage. Zero comparison in quality!

As for repairs/maintenance. Reality is: The hotter the girl your dating the more expensive the gifts and dinners are going to be! But its sooo worth it!

Lloyd

I have owned two 1967 Corvette Coupes and loved each one of them. The styling of 1963-1967 Corvette was as revolutionary as the 928 design a decade later. There must be something about cars derived from the sea, Stingrays and Sharks. The mid year Corvettes were a true sports car. Lighter in weight, slimmer in body, functional cockpit and plenty of power under the hood. I can't speak for the later model Corvettes, except that the newer C5-C6 models captured some of that 1960's feeling. My 1985 Euro puts a smile on my face similar to the 67 Vette. For me, the arguement between Corvette and Porsche came down to this. The Corvette guys tended to show their cars at Wax and Shine events and the Porsche guys tended to drive, race,and enjoy the car behind the wheel. I don't like to wax cars. However, if I could get my 928 to appreciate in value like my two 67 Vettes did, I would have it all.

6mil928

Jim M.

Lets see; I've owned my GTS for 7 years now. Bought it with 27K miles, currently it has 96K miles on it. During that seven (yes seven) years I had to repair or replace the following parts due to failure or worn out. Ignition switch, radiator hoses, Radiator end caps, cam front seal (leak), clutch pivot ball, clutch hose, one axle boot (actually replaced all four but only one failed), and a water pipe on the RH side of the engine compartment. Also the typical batteries, brake pads, spark plugs and oil changes etc. It's also a daily driver and does the 3K mile round trip to SITM the last 4 years. It's the garage queens that end up being the maintenance nighmares IMHO. Drive them daily and drive them like you stole them and the 928 is one of the best GT's ever made!

blown 87

Maybe I should post a link to this over on the "Corvette Forum" that should be fun.