namasgt

Roger once told me about a used car dealer in Europe that would send their early non S 928s to the factory to have them install the s spoilers (probably why yours look factory install). This could be the case with your new car. Pretty rare IMO. I think Rogers is a Kermit green 78 with the S spoilers.

namasgt

Do you know how old is the timing belt, They only have a 5 year shelf life.

abrexrode

Good point on the belt, I think there was a parts receipt in the box. If I remember correctly the parts are from shortly after it was parked. I will need to verify.

vze2jshn

Make sure you install cam according to specs in wsm--it may not be a simple install and drive.

Jadz928

I think the 5 year is a vehicle service timeframe, not shelf life.
I see no reason why a new belt stored properly couldn't stay new.

Anecdotally, I saw a 78 with an original belt in 2008. This car had 30K of its 50K miles put on in the 5 years prior. The belt was slappin' all over the place and needed changing. But it didn't break and it didn't jump.

And you got a non-interference motor so risk is low.

danglerb

It would stay 100% new with me, I'd keep it as a spare maybe, but with a new belt $30 I don't see NOS when new not old stock is available as a way to save money.

Jadz928

^^^^ Uh, I think he is saying he has a NIB timing belt. NOS implies it may have been sitting on the shelf for 20 years.
Any way you cut it, I'm sure it not a problem one way or the other, and not worth arguing about.

abrexrode

Yes, belt still in original packaging.

Podguy

I do not see the difficulty in installing a new cam on a 16 valve 4.5 motor. It can be done with the engine in the car, although with 100K on the motor there will probably be motor mounts, oil pan gasket, water pump, lots of hoses, the green wire, up grading the alternator to a Delco and a bunch of seals.

There are also a couple very valuable upgrades. The stock brakes are inadaquate even for normal driving. There are no height adjusters on the front shocks and the old style motor mounts are both expensive and not very good.

If you can find a 83-86 US parts car and get the cross member and front brakes and shocks then you can upgrade the car for a reasonable price. You will find the S brakes to be more and adequate.

I would use the T-Belt new in the box - the engine is non interference and it is probably as good as a new one anyway. The cams break often becauce the belt is too tight. Check the cam pulley for wear and set the belt to the correct tension.

Good luck sounds fun. I am going through the same with my 78, spent the last two days sorting and cleaning hardware. Oh there are a lot of parts on the engine that polish up nicely.

abrexrode

Thanks Dan, good advice.

LT Texan

oh, come on Dan. That's a bit harsh.

Podguy

The brakes on the early cars are wholely inadequate. I have had them fade on me driving down our local mountain Mt. Tam which by most standards would be considered a hill. The master cylinder is also prone to failure and should be replaced if it has any age on it..

Even under the best of conditions the older brakes are spongy and scary. The difference between the S brakes is like night and day. With the S brakes one needs only barely touch the pedal to bring the car to a safe stop. I have never had the S brakes fade on me. The nice thing about this up grade is only the front spindles, rotors and calipers need to change. Even the hubs are the same. The rear brakes are the same.

There is a coil that goes over the brake hoses. On the early cars the rear brake hoses can chafe and failure. The coil will prevent chafing. This is a very economical upgrade that only improves the proformance of the car with no radical modification.

One thing I forgot to mention was replacing the aluminum ball joints too.

Jadz928

Dan,
All very good advice.

Steel ball joints, later motor mounts, S brakes, uprated alternator...

There were alot of improvements along the way. Later hyd. tensioner, HDT TB/cam sprockets, larger ball socket on clutch release arm (check to see if yours is metal with no plastic bushing), elect. HVAC & central lock controls...

I'm curious how these upgrades affect the originality of the vehicle?

I'm not a purist snob by any stretch (just look at my Perl S4). I'm very limited to the upgrades to my #1 car, but I did put steel ball joints on my #6 car (and would sneak some Euro cams in there when no one was looking. )

PS. Excellence buyer's guide suggests staying away from the 78-79 due to elect. and HVAC issues. I think their position is a bit short-sighted.

Podguy

Jim,

Every year has electrical problems. The 78 was really the car Porsche intended to make until GM and the US government interfered. This is borne out by the fact they made and S and the same 78-79 design in the ROW cars until 83 - maybe 86 depending on how you look at it.

I am not sure what HVAC issues there were with the 78. Mine still is holding the orginal charge.

as far as orginality your list as well as mine contain some service upgrades. The steel ball joints and clutch would certainly fall into the area of service upgrades that would be performed by the agency. I do not see the need for upgrading the timing belt system on a 4.5 motor. The square teeth and older tensoner work just fine. After I replaced the vacuum switch on the 78 the door locks have worked fine since. It was a little expensive but and easy fix.

Although I have been polishing almost anything that can be polished, the manifolds, the phone dials, the top of the radiator, the cross bar, the headlight bar and the A/C fan shroud. Do you think polishing the grill is too much?