I know, but I'm a sucker for a basket case saved project.

This is very true.

78-79, any 32V or Euro is worth more for such a project than any 16V US car.

Sad truth, but they will always be the lowest on the totem pole.

 

I always went to see a shark saved, tho this one sounds close to terminal. I don't think you are asking us the critical question(s). You sound like you have room, and patience and the budget over time. Are the other hobbies car related? You can get all the help you need here, possibly even some parts or leads on where to get them, if they are NLA. Only you can decide about your commitment, and whether the reward is worth it for you. The car is special whether it is an old bastard or a stroker, but only if it is special to you. You have been warned about the "$10,000 away from a $5,000 car"

 

If you can do your own interior work (have sewing machine, leather/vinyl skills, and space/time?), your own bodywork (cars sitting in long grass don't do well), and are willing to spend $5k in parts (pretty much any 928 will swallow this much in parts, easily), then go for it.

Generally, bottom-feeding the 928 market leads to a wild rush of optimism, followed by a lot of wallet pain, and a subsequent bath on the value when despair sets in.

From experience, each dollar you spend up front on a good condition car is worth at least 3 dollars of "restoration".

Your best bet is to keep saving, and when a well-maintained car with good cosmetics comes up, jump on it. (watching Rennlist sales is a good start - the member classifieds, as well as this forum).

 

My vague rule of thumb : $2 in = $1 out (all things considered) , even if you do the labour. Can your budget handle that?
If you are savvy at parting a car out , you might get that equation turned around, if patient.

 

I'm not going to give the opposite opinion, exactly; I'm going to qualify the opinion.

It's absolutely true that the more you spend up front, the less you spend later on. I paid about three or four times the normal rate for my 944 turbo, but the car has had only one problem in the five years I've owned it. It starts immediately every time I turn the key, runs for hours at highway speeds, and looks absolutely stunning inside and out.

My 928 cost me about the normal amount and it has problems. However, I wanted a 928 and I wanted a car that I could work on. I'm not a great wrench - in fact, I'm a pretty poor one, but I have a garage and I can afford tools and parts and this forum is a goldmine of knowledge and the people here are the friendliest and most helpful in the entire Porsche-verse, so why not?

So, you're looking at a project. A serious, expensive, time-consuming project. Only you can determine if it will crush your soul.

All that being said: Your first task is to get out and get as many pictures of the entire car as you can and post them here. Then these folks can give you an honest, no-bs assessment. Who knows? It might be a lot of car for $900, or it might be rare or important enough to take a chance regardless of its condition.

Also: If you're on a limited budget and you have to have a Porsche, consider a 924/944 series. They made a lot of them, so they and the parts are cheap. The same money will buy you a much nicer 924/944 than it will a 928.

 

All wise advice on this thread. A couple of hundred of bucks a month wouldn't even get you a timing belt. You pretty much can't have any other hobbies AND do a 928 restoration....I'm going on 12 years and Waaaayyy to much money invested and there is always something to fix or upgrade...

 

Just to pile on a bit more -

No. Almost certainly not worth it.

If the owner is asking $900 for it, it probably is only worth scrapyard price.
Depending on how long it's been sitting, the coolant may have turned acidic and eaten away the heads and cylinders.

As was said, you can easily put $5k into an interior. And that's not even a really nice one.

A full restoration can easily run over $15k in parts.
And even though values are starting to rise, a US 84 will always be one of the lower valued years (if it's a Euro that makes a difference).

If you don't have a lot of experience with these cars, "bottom feeding" is a very, very risky route to take. You can find a "deal" and then dump thousands of dollars and countless hours into a car that ends up worth only a couple of grand.
Restorations of just about any car are very rarely worth it. With a few very notable exceptions (very rare and/or exotics) the job will cost far more than the car will be worth.

 

1) Get the VIN#.
2) Shoot a few pics.
3) Post them on this msg board........
and you will get better feedback on the overall costs and value of the project car.

There is noooooo such thing as a cheap Porsche.

 

If you took that $300 a month and socked it away for 2 years, took that $7200 and went shopping you could probably find a nice 84.

 

Usually buying a car that someone dumped a lot of money into is cheaper then trying to do it yourself. If you do get this vehicle, you should just save up for a turn-key 350 V8 and conversion kit. Rebuild the transmission and torque tube yourself.

 

Even if you pay the asking price you could probably get that much back down the road and quite likely more should you part it out.

I think it's worth it just to put in the driveway: it's a conversation magnet with passerbys and neighbours. Anyways, there are lots of classic cars in the area I live in that represent 25+ years of effort.