I may be a masochist... Picked up a 928.
 

Hello,

I picked up a 1982 5-speed 928 with the 16v engine and sunroof delete. I had been looking for a Porsche for a while now and couldn't let it go. I purchased it for an amount I was comfortable gambling with and losing.

Pros:

Engine sounds beautiful, runs smooth, starts up immediately(with jumper to fuel pump).
5-speed
Runs and moves under its own power

...and thats about it.

Cons so far:

Electrics are... bad.
Gauge cluster is dead(plug traces all messed up)
Some dunce broke the key off in the ignition and went medieval on it with a drill. All the ignition wires were hanging down and pieces of the ignition laying in floor board. (This has been salvaged and put back together, just need new lock barrel and cam thingy)
Fuel pump relay is bad.
Transmission link is floppy as can be, but have not noticed any grinding in transmission.(1st and reverse anyways)
Paint is gone.
There are a few dents in body work.

Plans:

I can't justify this as a restoration project due to lack of value of the car. What I do see in its future is a stripped track-day sorta car to have fun with in my spare time. I do all my own work and have experience with high maintenance European automobiles with aluminum alloy v8s.

I may or may not have had a panic attack when I found out this car had a 30+ year old computer in it while diagnosing lack of power to fuel pump. :crying:
(luckily it seems to be working... for now)

If the car is too far gone I'll part it out and cut my losses.... wish me luck.

Any words for the (not so)wise?

Well, the ignition switch isn't that big of a deal. They are available, and if you are willing to do some detail work, rekeying them isn't all that hard.

Shifter slop is a known issue. Kind of a pain to get to, but not too big of a deal.

Relays are available. I don't know if the 82 has the "priming" function or if it's just a standard 53.

Electrical issues are par for the course with these cars. The whole car is 30 years old, not just the computer. You sort of start with the simpler stuff and go from there.

Read the "New Visitor" sticky. It's got a ton of good info in it.

There are shop manuals (WSM) available. There's a free download out there, and there's also a multiple CD-ROM set, that includes a lot of extra stuff. You can't do much to these cars without the books.

There are a number of vendors dedicated to these cars (listed as the "Big 4" in the New Visitor sticky). They have just about everything you will need. They also have the knowledge and experience to make sure you get what you need, even if you don't know it. And the integrity to make sure you don't buy stuff you don't need.
Personally, I've dealt with Roger (928sR Us) and Mark & Tom (928 International). Both places are phenomenal to work with. 928 Specialists is also reputed to be a good place, I just haven't gotten anything from them...Yet.

Welcome to the Shark tank. You can ask even the most basic questions and get a usable answer. You can ask the most obscure question, and someone will know it. You can post your VIN in the "Official VIN Check" thread and find out what options it originally came with. There are some very, very knowledgeable and helpful people on here.

BUT, there's a requirement.
Absolutely vital before you will get much more help.

Pics.

We really need to see pics of the car.

Pictures you say?

These are all I have at the moment, this was it fresh off the trailer.


https://i.imgur.com/59b2V2y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7YbJeE4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DTmrn7g.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Vj9ivEt.jpg

Interior is total sun-rot, unfortunately.

Welcome to the group, nice hi res pictures never get old with us.

Hard to imagine that interior is original. Paint doesn't look terrible, but I am ok with semi beater paint sometimes.

Passenger fender near the front is the 14 pin connector, full of wires you do not want shorted is missing both the lid to the connector and the water shield that clips to the fender.

Lots of owners with a rough car start thinking track car, but it isn't easy or cheap compared to a beater driver.

Welcome to the group. The wheels look vaguely familiar......, where are you located? There may be some folks in your area that can help with spare parts and an extra set of eyes on issues.

The sloppy shifting will most likely be caused by one of two wear items. The most likely is the front ball cup. It is located on top of the torque tube, in the front near the bell housing. The other is the rear shift coupler, also on top of the torque tube in the rear and at the junction of the transmission.


Lots of great write-ups on both of these procedures and parts are readily available.

Welcome again and post progress as it is made.

Yes you are a "masochist" but arent we all with these cars! Looks like a nice project. Color similar to my car. Welcome to the group and best of luck!

It's all stuff we've seen before. Get a list put together and call Roger. This one looks like many hours of tinkering.

Put your location in your profile, or signature.

New development.

I was wondering why it had been resprayed factory color... Its been wrecked in its past. Left front clip has been replaced. Just the support and clip looks like its been messed with best as I can tell. How do I know its been replaced?... I'm embarrassed to admit missing this before I bought the damn thing... The front passenger clip is fiberglass. How cheap can you get? Though all the panel gaps are good.

All the front suspension components look original and don't seem to be damaged. I'll know more once I get it up off the ground.

Since we're talking about the bad, here's the most cringe worthy thing you'll see today and what amounts to a huge. "I was owned by a dunce, run away don't buy me". Click the links at your own risk:

https://i.imgur.com/X4YABYK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/BgYxJkY.jpg

I guess I was stupid for buying it anyways. \o/

So who's in TX and needs some 928 parts? Only interested in recouping what I paid for it! ROFL.

In the process of removing replacement clip. Seems to be hidden bolts holding on the piece, but its too dark to mess with it anymore tonight.

You could still save it! There are plenty of hoods around to replace that horror!

Hoods and front fenders are available. 928 International usually has a "Half off used parts" sale in December.

I gotta admit, that hood scoop is awesome.

It does nothing for the incoming air (intake is above the radiator), it's too low for a forward facing scoop to do much good, and IIRC, that's a LOW pressure zone.
It's going to vent out, not scoop in.

We have a rather well represented group of owners all over TX. It's a big state. And we will gladly pick over the carcass for anything useful.

Still not out of the realm of refurbishment if you don't mind fiddling. We can even source you a fender pretty easily if you want to tackle the job.

Much worse has been turned into a daily driver with just a little TLC. TLC is truck load of cash. ;)

Keep looking and posting picts, we will tell when it gets too nasty, so far its easy stuff.

After seeing the pix of the 'hood scoop', I have to conclude that the PO was illiterate! Obviously thought he had my Grandma's Plymouth and went totally "Mopar-Muscle Car" on it. Evidently, since it does run, the PO was used to Detroit 'Pig-Iron' pushrod v-8s and didn't mess with the engine too much. If it has K-jet injection, like my '83 euro, then don't worry about the computer, it doesn't have one.

Well, I did a vin check on the vehicle... AutoCheck rates it as a 75 which I find to be a bit high...

No reported accidents.

The car was on the road until 1997, was sold in 2009, ended up in an auto auction in 2012. Two short term owners since 2012.

I'm the 4th owner.

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