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I found out some encouraging news yesterday. My car came with absolutely no service records, which was a real bummer. I called the Porsche dealership which sold the car to the PO in 1986 to try to get some more information hopefully. They recently changed locations and purged all of their old records so they had no info on the car. I called a handful of other independent Porsche and European shops in the Knoxville area with no luck.
There is an oil change sticker from a service center on the windshield from 2003. I didn't think to call there originally since I thought all they may have done was oil changes. I googled them and they are still in business and turns out only a couple of blocks away from the PO's house. I called and talked to the owner, Jim, and he remembered the car and the PO's wife, "Miss Bailey" he called her. The PO had passed away in the mid 90's and Miss Bailey kept the car out of sentiment. She rarely drove it. Jim remembered the car because it was the only 928 that ever came into his shop. He never did any heavy maintenance on it other than possibly replacing the injectors.
My big fear in getting this car all along was that there was something catastrophically wrong with the engine. But Jim said that the car ran well and that the only problem it had was the battery would discharge from lack of use. He said he'd go over to Miss Bailey's house every so often to charge it up for her. The oil change he did in 2003 was the last time Miss Bailey had it serviced. Shortly after that she was diagnosed with cancer and stopped driving the car all together.
So I am feeling better about the chances that this things starts up after I finish up cleaning out the fuel system, replacing the fuel and PS soft lines, sending the injectors out for refurb, and doing the top end refresh. Parts on on the way from Roger and with any luck I'll be turning the key in a few weeks.
I found out some encouraging news yesterday. My car came with absolutely no service records, which was a real bummer. I called the Porsche dealership which sold the car to the PO in 1986 to try to get some more information hopefully. They recently changed locations and purged all of their old records so they had no info on the car. I called a handful of other independent Porsche and European shops in the Knoxville area with no luck.
There is an oil change sticker from a service center on the windshield from 2003. I didn't think to call there originally since I thought all they may have done was oil changes. I googled them and they are still in business and turns out only a couple of blocks away from the PO's house. I called and talked to the owner, Jim, and he remembered the car and the PO's wife, "Miss Bailey" he called her. The PO had passed away in the mid 90's and Miss Bailey kept the car out of sentiment. She rarely drove it. Jim remembered the car because it was the only 928 that ever came into his shop. He never did any heavy maintenance on it other than possibly replacing the injectors.
My big fear in getting this car all along was that there was something catastrophically wrong with the engine. But Jim said that the car ran well and that the only problem it had was the battery would discharge from lack of use. He said he'd go over to Miss Bailey's the house every so often to charge it up for her. The oil change he did in 2003 was the last time Miss Bailey had it serviced. Shortly after that she was diagnosed with cancer and stopped driving the car all together.
So I am feeling better about the chances that this things starts up after I finish up cleaning out the fuel system, replacing the fuel and PS soft lines, sending the injectors out for refurb, and doing the top end refresh. Parts on on the way from Roger and with any luck I'll be turning the key in a few weeks.
This is great news and information. I always enjoyed playing detective. I once built an entire history over 8 years of service on my old 993 and even located the original owner and window sticker for my 79 928. Guess what? He was a dentist !! Kid you not!!
This is great news and information. I always enjoyed playing detective. I once built an entire history over 8 years of service on my old 993 and even located the original owner and window sticker for my 79 928. Guess what? He was a dentist !! Kid you not!!
Looking forward to hearing it run!
Haha! Guess what? My PO was an eye doctor! I guess he had a good eye for cars!
PS. Thanks for the bumper shocks. They bolted up nicely.
I found out some encouraging news yesterday. My car came with absolutely no service records, which was a real bummer. I called the Porsche dealership which sold the car to the PO in 1986 to try to get some more information hopefully. They recently changed locations and purged all of their old records so they had no info on the car. I called a handful of other independent Porsche and European shops in the Knoxville area with no luck.
There is an oil change sticker from a service center on the windshield from 2003. I didn't think to call there originally since I thought all they may have done was oil changes. I googled them and they are still in business and turns out only a couple of blocks away from the PO's house. I called and talked to the owner, Jim, and he remembered the car and the PO's wife, "Miss Bailey" he called her. The PO had passed away in the mid 90's and Miss Bailey kept the car out of sentiment. She rarely drove it. Jim remembered the car because it was the only 928 that ever came into his shop. He never did any heavy maintenance on it other than possibly replacing the injectors.
My big fear in getting this car all along was that there was something catastrophically wrong with the engine. But Jim said that the car ran well and that the only problem it had was the battery would discharge from lack of use. He said he'd go over to Miss Bailey's the house every so often to charge it up for her. The oil change he did in 2003 was the last time Miss Bailey had it serviced. Shortly after that she was diagnosed with cancer and stopped driving the car all together.
So I am feeling better about the chances that this things starts up after I finish up cleaning out the fuel system, replacing the fuel and PS soft lines, sending the injectors out for refurb, and doing the top end refresh. Parts on on the way from Roger and with any luck I'll be turning the key in a few weeks.
Interesting how thee cars are starting to outlive their originals owners and get passed to their next "keeper" and then later the next one. Even the poor condition 928s that are still around have outlived the normal life expectancy of a regular car (10-15 years) and are starting to have interesting stories of all the people that took care of them. Nice detective work by the way.
Still working towards first start but getting a lot closer.
Drained all the fluids including the oil. Stuff had been in the car since its last change in 2003. Pulled the plug and just a slight bit of metal paste.
Pulled that little protrusion off and cleaned it up. Small sliver of metal about an 1/8" long.
Cut open the filter (NAPA). Used a magnet on both sides. No metal at all. Just some gunky oil deposits on the inside face of the filter.
I've dropped the fuel tank and have soaked and rinsed it about 7 times. It's clean now. All the soft fuel lines are removed. All new GB lines are here and waiting to be installed. Injectors off to WitchHunter as of last week. Bunch of other new fuel bits from Roger and 928 Intl on their way.
One thing I am a big proponent of is rebuilding, where possible, tired, worn and broken parts in lieu of just R&R. One such non-working part was the fuel sender. And at upwards of $500 bucks for a new one it was a prime candidate for restoration. However, as you can see in the pictures below, some battles aren't even worth showing up for. This thing was way past gone. Oh well, new one on the way.
Wow, there is a lot of stuff on the top of this motor. But it all came off really easily. Even the water bridge, which one of the guys was having a bear of time with recently on his car. Came right off. The valley is filthy but can now be easily cleaned. Bought all new rubber hoses including new PS feed and return lines. Though the existing ones looked ok to be honest. Gonna do a vacuum check on al the plastic vac line and replace where necessary. Also will vac check al the regulators now that they are out.
Now that its all off, are there any WYAIT items I should consider?
I have thus far only removed the top left belt cover. I have turned the motor by hand and it turns freely but this was before I removed the cover. So I have yet to look at all of the belt. This car had no maintenance history but the belt is at a minimum is 7 years old and likely older. Being a non-interference motor I am inclined to leave it be for now. Want to get the car running and driving this summer and build up some mileage so I can have a winter to-do list based on how it runs and drives. The TB/WP is automatically on the list.
Here are some pics of the belt and teeth. Anybody think I should renew my AAA membership based on these pics?
I believe, you may be disappointed later...if you don't do the belt and waterpump. You're right there, just pop the radiator out (maybe back flush it while out), change the timing belt and related parts and waterpump. You'll just be dissappointed if you go for a ride and the waterpump starts pissing anti-freeze.
Mine was original when I got the 84 and started leaking the next day, it was getting changed anyway...so it was no biggy. Plus, you've already got the anti-freeze all drained out of her...so that mess is behind you in the TB-WP job. It's about a three or four day job after work in the evening, depending on cleaning needed. Mine had a "look to be" twenty year old powersteering hose, reservior to pump, leak and things were horrible.
I have the flywheel lock tool in you need one, shoot me your address in a PM and I will mail it out. Plus, it's already been to NY...now it would like to see the west coast.
Just do the TB/WP job now. I had an S4 which had been sitting for 4 years, and soon after I started driving it again the WP bearing seized and led to an interesting TB/WP job. Once it's done, you don't have to go back later. TB is a wear item.
Given all the work you've done to get down in there and look, it shouldn't be a huge job to finish it up. Plus, it you can take a look at the seals on the front of the engine, etc, see if there are any obvious leaks.
You mentioned the PS lines....did you also get the high pressure one that goes from the pump to the rack? I originally did not, only to find out later that that was the "dangerous" one. So I've ordered it...
Since it's a 16V non interference engine and the top end refresh has little to do with the timing belt job, I would leave it for anther time. However, I woudl do a combustion chamber cleaning once it's up and running, just to get rid of any carbon that might cause the valve to touch the pistons in case the belt lets go. But this is a very easy procedure. Bottle of water hooked up to a small vacuum line that goes into the intake manifold.
I believe, you may be disappointed later...if you don't do the belt and waterpump. You're right there, just pop the radiator out (maybe back flush it while out), change the timing belt and related parts and waterpump. You'll just be dissappointed if you go for a ride and the waterpump starts pissing anti-freeze.
Mine was original when I got the 84 and started leaking the next day, it was getting changed anyway...so it was no biggy. Plus, you've already got the anti-freeze all drained out of her...so that mess is behind you in the TB-WP job. It's about a three or four day job after work in the evening, depending on cleaning needed. Mine had a "look to be" twenty year old powersteering hose, reservior to pump, leak and things were horrible.
I have the flywheel lock tool in you need one, shoot me your address in a PM and I will mail it out. Plus, it's already been to NY...now it would like to see the west coast.
Brian.
Thanks Brian! I will take you up on the offer when I get into it. Full disclosure though, last time somebody sent me an item to spend some time in Seattle I accidentally burned it in my fireplace. It was the original copy of my friend's son's city journal that had been all over the world before it got to me with entries from people in South America, Australia, Europe, etc. I felt pretty horrible about destroying it. Ended up sending him a hockey sweater as a sorry. So no worries, you'll at least have a Matthew Stafford jersey coming back to ya.
Originally Posted by docmirror
Just do the TB/WP job now. I had an S4 which had been sitting for 4 years, and soon after I started driving it again the WP bearing seized and led to an interesting TB/WP job. Once it's done, you don't have to go back later. TB is a wear item.
I can't really disagree with you and Brian on this one. But I just need to see if this thing will run and drive. If the TB or WP goes **** up within a few miles I'm ok with dealing with that. I'll really only be out the cost of coolant at that point since what I've done so far doesn't really coincide with the TB job. Plus after dropping about $2K in parts thus far, I could use the time to save up for the next salvo.
Originally Posted by bureau13
You mentioned the PS lines....did you also get the high pressure one that goes from the pump to the rack? I originally did not, only to find out later that that was the "dangerous" one. So I've ordered it...
I did get that line. The rubber section on the one I took out looked and felt good. But better safe than sorry.
Originally Posted by Imo000
Since it's a 16V non interference engine and the top end refresh has little to do with the timing belt job, I would leave it for anther time. However, I woudl do a combustion chamber cleaning once it's up and running, just to get rid of any carbon that might cause the valve to touch the pistons in case the belt lets go. But this is a very easy procedure. Bottle of water hooked up to a small vacuum line that goes into the intake manifold.
That's something I've never done and read very little about. I'll have to look into it further. Thanks.
07-19-2016, 04:24 PM
