James Bailey

Call Tom at 928 International get the front adjusters for cheap...1/2 price sale

xschop

Beautiful work again. Had a question if you know the weight of the front Euro solid bumper brackets?

The Fixer

Roger that.

I don't have that info sorry. Are all rears solid? I believe mine were.
Doing away with the front bumper assembly, replacing driving lights
with a cold air intake like the White Zombie.

antsmands

Ok Matt;

Another great shift **** and even more fitting for the car. That is Bad ***! Great job! Thanks for the complement on the paint. The picture does it justice, it got its dings but otherwise ok. I kind of agree the the 18" would look awesome but also love the "Old School" look.

The Fixer

Thanks antsmands, that 2nd **** is a prototype when warmer i will make another because i feel it a touch small.

Your beautiful car is the perfect 'dovetail' into my ride height ?? being a 1983 928S as mine is.

Went out and trimmed my small wire brush a few mm to = 185mm exact.

Front ride height on stock size wheels and tires is 180mm, as we can see the gauge stick will not fit vertically on either side.

Rear ride height is a whopping 218mm each side +/- 2mm (sprayed the rear adjusters with PB Blaster, no hydraulic leak)

What gives with the look up front? Ride height is correct up front.

Are we accustomed to seeing sagging springs on our classic Porsches?

docmirror

I'm not sure of this, but right around 80, before we changed over to the 17 digit VIN the US also incorporated bumper height regs. I think it specced from 16-20" and the 928 was one of the many cars that got caught with too low bumper. Like the Fiat X-1/9, Porsche changed the spring/ride height paperwork to reflect this. I think, but have no proof that while they changed the spec in the book, the cars were still shipped with the original lower bumper height, and if the car was fixed, rebuilt, or otherwise worked on sometimes the suspension was raised to meet the book value.

I had a X-1/9 back then, and this was one of the several rules that forced Fiat from the US market. Fiat didn't import the X-1/9 after 78-ish, but Bertone still tried to get some in by raising the front of the car springs to meet the reg. I recall they looked weird. All of this is going from memory, so if I got a date wrong tough shyte, but this is the general deal.

In summary, you should set the bumper height down lower than what's in the book, by I would guess ~30mm. Also, don't forget that the front will settle after driving for > 80 miles. So, give it a good long drive over some less than perfect roads and then recheck.

The Fixer

As usual i agree Doc, Also I'd like it slightly lower up front for that aggressive look.
The suspension is settled in I have driven it over 150 miles i'd say.

On to other ideas;

Reading this months issue of HotRod (Son's magazine) and specifically about the new 10,000 rpm Chevy small block Nascar motor.

Next year the teams using this small block will upgrade to a 140 amp alternator to run the drivers for the additional electric cooling fans.

That means an additional rib on the serpentine belt, which according to the motor designers at GM will rob 5 HP.

So..
Re thinking removing the belt driven power steering pump.
I would just remove the belt at first to experiment. I always get the car rolling before i steer the wheel anyway and that would be the key.
Stock front tires if always rolling a little before turning the wheel may be livable. Less weight and a few added HP is always nice.

I'd be down to 1 belt which would make me pretty pleased with my Porsche.

Shawn Stanford

Is there such a thing as an electrically driven power steering system?

svpmx83

from memory the BMW Mini used an electric pressure pump

other candidates may be
Holden/Opel/Vauxhall Astra
Mini Cooper (2002-on)
Mazda 3 (2007 era)
Peugeot 307
Ford Focus (2012)
Volvo S40
Toyota MR2 (1991-2005)
Skoda Roomster

some have integral elecronics for control - some have a separate ecu - googling for retrofit candidates seems promising

Imo000

My PS belt has been off for a few years, its managable but very hard at low speeds. You have to think ahead. I would keep the bet on if I were you. Not worth the hassle. Also, it gets very hard on the forearm during a spirited drive on twisty roads. Not worth it.

The Fixer

Yes Shawn, there is much out there

Are you running stock wheels and tires?

Have you noticed any wear in the steering column?

First picture is 928 S steering
Second picture is '84-89' 911 (w/ out power steering) lower steering parts

You can see the angle of the joints in the column would make turning the 928 very difficult w/out power assistance. The electric pump would most likely be the way to go.

docmirror

The electric PS pump theory will not gain you any HP, in fact you may lose HP in the long run. While the motor may seem to not take any power to run, I assure you there will be extra load on the alt to power the motor, to turn the hyd pump, to assist to steer the car. I would think the direct drive hyd pump which has lower conversion efficiency loss is the way to go.

Having said that, I don't know what the current draw is on the elec pumps. It could be quite low, and run in a low power mode until the steering is turned sharply. Toyota also uses an elec pump on the Prius to get rid of a belt. And if Toyota is using it there's a chance it's more efficient than the mech pump. Worth looking into. I have a Mini here, and if I new where the circuit was, I could get an accurate reading of the current in use. Maybe it even idles when the car is in motion and the steering inputs are very small. Hard to say.

The Fixer

Doc,

I went out to the garage, turned the key one click and turned the wheel back and forth sitting in the cold garage.

It isn't as bad as i imagined. This could be due to the lighter overall weight of the car.

I noted that when the wheel and pod are in the lowest position, it felt as if slightly less effort was needed, emphasis on slightly.

I want to figure this out without using any pump assist, that would be how i'd prefer my RS Porsche.

docmirror

Make sense to me. To get an even better feel, take off the PS belt, then crack the pressure side of the pump fitting, and drain all the fluid. Then turn the wheel lock to lock several times(jack up the front end) to pump the rams free of fluid so you're not pushing dead fluid in the system. Once the rams are dry, it'll be just like direct steering.

I liked the steering of the 914 when the front suspension was in good shape. Great road feel, and real tight like a little Fiat. Keep the tire pressures up makes a lot of diff too.

The Fixer

You are correct Doc, racks are not lubed by the PS fluid.
But a little fluid left in there with air and sealed delete plugs for the banjo fittings would work fine as air is compressible and shouldn't create pressure at lock.

BMW E30Spec racers do this PS delete, their HP gains are around 7 with their 6 cylinder cars.