blown 87

I will have to say, I was wrong on two accounts, when all you dumb asses told me to sell my 87 AFTER I had put the GTS rear quarters on it and get a 5 speed that i would come out ahead, I laughed in my knowledge that you folks were wrong, now I am trying to hide in the corner with the hope it never, ever comes up again.

I also did not think that it would make that much difference in the car, I was wrong again.

oh well, at least this one did not try to kill me this week like the C4 did.

SharkSkin

I'm mixing nomenclature -- sorry. What I was getting at is, it's a good sign that they didn't seem to alter the flywheel -- could be a sign that they recognized that the engine is balanced internally, not by altering the flywheel.

My comment about total weight of the flywheel was speculation that IF it was balanced as part of the whole rotating assembly, a 10g imbalance on a 10lb flywheel meant to balance the whole assembly might not have the same effect as a 10g imbalance on a 20 lb flywheel. I could be way off base though, I haven't done real calculations involving rotating masses since college (and I'm not sayin' when that was )

blown 87

I hear that, Hacker asked me if I was kin to Willie Nelson because we looked alike, it can be tough getting old gray and grumpy.

The bottom line is it is still just a car and any thing can be fixed on a car for the most part as long as you do not go to far.

I have crossed that line a couple of times when doing mods to a car and try not to do that any more.

The 928 has some very distinct qualities about it that, to me, set it apart from the rest of the pack.

If you had told me six years ago that i would have sold my Chevelle to pay for body mods on that 600$ POS 928 I would have laughed at you, but then I started to drive it, and started to look at the way it was designed and built.

I work on cars for a living, Euro cars, and none have the build quality that the 928 does that I have ran across, and I doubt no car ever will.

It was built when "Do the best you can" was the standing order of the day, not "Where and how, can it be built the cheapest".

There is a whole lot of the lowest bidder going around in the car world, and for some parts it affected the 928 in it's later models.

While over all they may be better, it seems to me that when they came out with the 4 valve motor they started to cut corners, IE the single disk clutch, then early in the production run they started to build cost out of it, no squirters, no folding wing, lessor quality rods, lets take the cooling flaps out, more "Assemblies" that had to be replaced instead of a simple relay.
But I guess that progress it what drives the marketing department, and they are the ones that sell cars.

While I love the looks of the later cars, the air bags and the TPMS, some of it is just added complexity to help the sales IMHO, to say "Look what is new".

I honestly think that the three greatest models of the 928 were the 87 for mechanical parts, the 89 for the non airbag, digi dash, and the looks of the GTS.

That is where I want mine to be, a combo of the three.

I may end up with a lot of money in a "Franken Car" that is worth nothing, but it will be what I want and capable of going a very long time with minimal maintenance other than the scheduled stuff.

As a pro mechanic I understand how important things that folks can not see are, and how they can put a driver to walking when they are old, but not used.

SharkSkin

Great post, Greg. I'm not a pro mechanic, but I agree with everything you've said above -- though I love the all-mechanical simplicity of the OBs.

por917

Good post Greg, keep your nose to the grind with your car. You will eventually get it done and be pleased with your accomplishment and it will be the car you want!

Rich

svp928

Good one Greg! I, too, agree with you. The 928- old or new- is a great car, and not much can stand with in terms of satisfaction for a driver. I happen to think the 5-speed is the best because it involves you with the car, and makes it so much more responsive because of that direct connection...but that's JMHO. This car in any configuration is just an excellent experience to drive.

But 5speeds are still the best

Hilton

Greg, what shift lever are you using? If its the stock one, get a short-shifter.

My personal preference is for the traditional short shifter, which is like the GT one only shorter, and uses hole spacing to change leverage and reduce throw. It retains all the plastic bushings, which eliminates risk of transmission noises in the cabin, and gives a slight cushion to the gearbox internals from my strong-arming.

It makes the 5-speed significantly nicer

(and install only takes an hour or so - if you're a perfectionist and carefully drill and chamfer the lever to perfectly fit the 4 little stock bushings on the rod pins - 10 mins if you're in a hurry).

blown 87

I am using a short shifter from Mark A, and we used the bushings, I also thought about cutting the sides down to use the factory springs, but I decided not to as I really do not know what they are there for.
If I have time I will pull it down next week and get the clutch and flywheel balanced, and maybe change the pod out for the one Gio gave me.

jeff spahn

Greg I agree with everything in your statement except the air bags. As a member of the "I would be dead or severely handicapped if I hadn't had an airbag club", I can tell you the only reason I went with a 90 or above is because of the airbags. Being in a head on collision at 60 mph was reason enough for me to never ride in a car without them. I walked away from it.

Now the TPMS, that is an idea that was great but we didn't need and was marketing going "look what we have".

blown 87

Air bags are one I have mixed feelings about, especially 20 year old ones.
Got a friend who had to have 4 operations on her face when one went off in a very minor impact, hit a small deer.