1989 928 S4 Cabriolet - On the Road and Getting Prettier - Work In Progress
 

Well, I finally own the Cab. Not an easy task from the start.

I have wanted one of these a long time and I actually looked for one before I got my Blue S4 - which I love to death. What a great car.

But when this came up I just had to have it... and have it I did.

Turns out that the title on this one was lost between dealers. I have a full a set of records showing change in ownership, but the original title with the three dealers selling it was lost.

The last dealer that owned it went out of business and nothing could be retraced other than going through a bonded title process, which today marks the day that completed. Had to work within the DMV system of three states, an insurance company and a few other steps along the way... but at the end, I am not the proud owner of the Cab you see below.

Now you may ask, why the selling of such a beautiful car back and forth from dealer to dealer's auctions, etc... well, looks like the car has not run right since 1996/97. Only about 3000 miles have been put on it since then and I have all the records along the way (old bills of sales, old car fax reports, copies of the title and dealer hand offs, etc, so no odometer issues suspected.

in 1998 a small fortune was put into this beauty doing all the mechanical items (TB, WP, full tuneup, and on and on - about $6K worth of work). A new material top was made for it (~$10K).

The original sticker on this one was around $72-76K and the convertible work was done in California (at the same time and by the same folks that did Jose Conseco's if that means anything to anyone... ) for $42,500. What a way to start a car purchase... $125K right out of the shoot...

Anyhow, it lived its life in Florida up until the running issues started. I do not have any information on what happened, only the info that it was traded in at a dealer at the end of 1996 with 74,102 on the odometer and I purchased it with over 75K.

I am very impressed with the lever of receipts I have with this car. All the history and the sales info made it fairly easy to do the bonded title, but in reality I would have rather skipped it... an extra experience in life I could have lived without.

I will not go into all the details, but when I bought it, it was suppose to be running great. I knew about the title issue before the purchase and I spoke with all three of the states in question prior to the purchase, so I knew what I was getting into. as for the running right... that was not what I expected.

I was able to drive the car about 1/3 the way home before I purchased a trailer, rented a truck and towed it home. Attached are the pictures of how she looks right now. I will describe the issues in the next posts, because I am going to need help. There are mechanical and electrical issues.

I am not complaining overall. She is a great looking car. The body is great, other than the rear lid where someone shut it on something (easy fix and paint). The conversion is amazing. I will take pictures underneath when I get under it. There is so much steel is this car. I know she must weigh 30% plus more. I will weigh it as some point.

Here are the shots on the top side. The interior is all out. I did get it, but I have to clean it. Carpet is shot and work is required. It will be on redone, cleaned, fixed as needed when i am done. Like new she will be.
Attachment 590990

Attachment 590991

Attachment 590992

Attachment 590993

Attachment 590994

Attachment 590995

Attachment 590996

Attachment 590997

Attachment 590998

Attachment 590999

Attachment 591000

Attachment 591001

Attachment 591002

Attachment 591003

The Help Needed
 

So, when I tried to drive her home, I could not get about 3,000 RPM. If felt like it was choking out. It got worse as it go warmer.

When I got to a point I had to stop, I found a mechanic and we both thought that it was a bad catalytic converter (all clogged up). No real pressure coming out the pipe. This was also the thoughts of one of the 928 brethren here... we were unable to find a replacement, so as an attempt to move this along, we gutted the converter. Did not help. I got about 150 miles down the road and that was the end of the driving.

It may be that we did not get it all out, it may be that was only part of the problem... not sure.

Anyhow, I have another set of pipes coming from 928 int to replace.

I have hear and read a lot on what may cause this. I am not expecting a quick fix. 15 years have passed and it has yet to be solved. fortunately for me I have another 89 just like it to swap things back and forth... that and I am relentless. I will solve this issue. I have some parts coming I know I need to work. Plan in order that I will attack to start with:

o Clean all 9 grounds
o R&R exhaust
o Swap MAF
o replace O2 sensor


o Timing belt, water pump and all the other must do items will get done as well. Belt had 1500 miles, but 13 years on it.

I am looking for any help I can get her. The motor fires up nice and strong up to 3K. All the electrical goodies work that I can tell other than the passaged window and the power mirrors.

I can see areas where oxidation is occurring with the electrical. That is why I am starting with the grounds.

Other things I am thinking:
o Coil?
o full tune up, but that was done in 1998 and that did not fix the issues
o top end of motor?
o injectors?
o not sure...

I have read a lot of threads with similar issues, but not exact (as far as I can tell).

... so, here is my plea... any help would be appreciated and I will knock out each suggestion as appropriate and keep a running file here with images and progress...

What a great car it is and how much fun it will be once it runs like it should.

Thank you all in advance!!!

Looks like some of whitish oxidation or salt corrosion under hood. Make sure MAF connector contacts are clean and snug. Wires, Distrib Caps and Coils for sure. Motor is hanging low so new mounts.

Good luck.

Awesome...IMHO.

Top/Front end refresh before asking many more "It runs but..." questions.

Basket case 101. :)

How many 928 cabs were made?

Yup... I agree on all. The prior owner replaced the MAF and not change... but that does not mean anything to me. I am going to pull it and put it on my blue one to see if it works. I plan on doing that with about every component that I can to verify functionality.

Motor mounts is a good call. I will do the motor mounts and the oil pan gasket at one time. I want to pull the pan and look at the bottom anyhow.

I will use the volvo mounts this time... I put the FORD ones on the blue one before I knew better :)

For sure. The belt looks good, but the belt and the top are just must does. There will be no leaks or seeps when i get done.


Unknown. It was an after market thing

Fuel filter would be another routine maintenance item that could restrict power.
There is a lot of corrosion in areas that should have been protected, like the trunk hinges. It looks like this must have sat out in some rough weather, parked forever next to the beach or something worse. The MAF plug was already mentioned as something to check. I would go through all the harness plugs and CE panel and clean up anything that needs it. Don't overlook the plug wires, cap and rotor either. They could be corroded or otherwise deteriorated from age and exposure.

Bill,
Good call. I forgot to mention the plan to swap out the fuel pumps for the single filter and 044 pump.

On the harness plugs... do you mean for the entire vehicle? That is a good idea. Do those show up on the wire diagram?

I probably will replace the wires, cap, rotors, etc if they look bad, but those were all done in 98 and the vehicle did not run better (as far as I can tell).

The harness connectors really has me thinking here. I have most the car apart on the back side, so I will work those from the back to front as well when doing the grounds.

As for: Not as far as I can tell. There is really very little on the car to show that. They did not treat all the metal I showed to protect it. I guess the figured it would never have an issue long term. Anything painted has no issue.

since its an auto i would suggest to do a flex plate check and also a crank end play check also tighten the rear pinch bolt its probably loose. another check is to pull the dipstick drip oil onto the black carboard then look at the oil in the sun if you find lots of metallic particles then the thrust bearing is prolly toast as is the engine

When you get tired of it, i will consider your first offer!

Incredible Cab
 

Emerald, you have my absolute dream car. Congratulations on working through the process and obtaining the elusive Title. You managed to do what those before you could not. You have a huge task ahead of you getting her running, but I have no doubt you'll get'er done.

Keep the pictures and progress reports coming. I am learning alot just reading and watching. :bowdown:

Laurie

In reply to Tony's message - sorry Tony, she's mine if he sells her. But he will never give her up. But I look forward to a bid war with you if does. lol

I actually was about to call on that car when you bought it... Glad you have it though. I would not have wanted to do all the sorting you are doing.

Another thing that comes to mind to me is they got the cams WAY out of time at the last belt change! My shop (I am sad to say) did this to my '92 on the last belt change! I picked the car up and it ran like total crap. I said, this is NOT RIGHT...did you check the cam timing.... "Oh yea, we marked it when we took it all apart and put it back together exactly the same way." I needed the car for a photo shoot so I took it even though it was not running well.

I told them I would be bringing it back. Took it back, and they worked on it some more. As in removed the intake completely and replaced all kinds of crap along the way (probably would have cost me $800). Got the car back and told them...HELL NO! This is NOT RIGHT! Did you check the cam timing... "No it is right."

I told them CHECK THE CAM TIMING EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW IT IS RIGHT...JUST DO IT FOR ME! BINGO! Cam timing! Fixed all the problems immediately! EURO85 was the same way but on purpose because they were trying to make it meet CA emissions...never did. That is why I was able to steal that car!

So, CHECK THE CAM TIMING on your '89 when you replace the belt and do it ASAP!

As many as anybody wanted. ;)

Any chance it was one of John Moch's conversions?

Couple years ago I stopped in at John Moch's shop and he was in the process of restoring the first 928 convertible, which he made 30 or so years previously.

Its such an odd thing. It gets worse as everything warms up (or pressures up). It will them get worse until it will not run. Let it sit a while... and good to go for a little while again.

It was done by Newport Convertible Conversion. They also did the replacement top. I am not sure who owns it.