I agree with everyone here. Go for it! At that price it's not going to hurt. I just bought my first 928 last month, sight unseen, with absolutely no maintenance history. Only thing I am sure of is that it hasn't run for at least 6 years, maybe longer. And I paid $4500. You would be way ahead of me in cash and the knowledge of the car at one point. I wanted a running one that I could drive when I was searching, but like you I love working on cars and the idea of bringing one back was more appealing. You'll have a great resource of help here also. Good luck!

 

This is my wheelhouse as I'm a bottom feeder and have done the deed for several neglect cases.

The tech details are not as important as the personal goals in cases like this. It requires hours of painstaking disassembly, cleaning, painting or finishing and then reassembly again. For some, this isn't ideal or even enjoyable. For others, it's their manna from heaven.

Hobbyists like us typically don't get involved in body and paint work, and do minimal detailed interior work, like upholstery, however panels can be repaired or replaced as needed. I won't kid you, it's a big job no matter how you start.

Look for clean body and paint as you are in the NE area. Look under the car for serious rust on chassis areas. If you find decent paint under the dust and dirt, and minimal rust in the rocker area, and at the low side of the quarter windows, it's worth saving. Alternately, if it's post 1000 VIN in 86, the car is worth at least $1000 in parts if broken up.

You are looking at a large cost in soft materials like seals, hoses, and trim. If the dash and pod are badly cracked, that's quite a large amount of labor, and they almost always are in rough shape.

The downside is that unless the car is taken back to a good #2 condition, prices aren't very attractive now, although I'm always reminded that the price runup for all 928s is 'just around the corner' or 'coming up right now'.
My favorite model was an 86.5 red with black auto. It was a great car and I miss it.

 

If you do your own work, have a ****load of patience and a good chunk of dough for parts, you may want to consider it. Ask yourself whether you are interested in the process of putting a thirty year old exotic sports car back together, over getting in something and driving it.

If you're planning on hiring someone to do all the sorting, have a budget of thousands per month and expect to have a car that you have dropped 2-3x as much into it as it's worth when it's complete and all sorted out. Also known as run the hell away as fast as you can.

I have been financially burned with 928 ownership before and it was a painful experience. It took me nearly two years to mentally recover and I'm JUST now at a point where I'm seriously pounding the payment ready to buy the right car... and I'm planning on paying up for what I want --- which is a nice, well maintained, non-project car that I can torque around in and drive and enjoy.

What kind of experience do you want?

 

What do you want to enjoy - the journey, or the destination?

The questions that I feel are important:
Are you willing to work on the car?
Do you have some place to work on the car?
Are you willing to work on the car for a year on half the weekends and an average of at least one night a week?
Can you afford to put $1500 into the car over the next year? (This assumes that you can live with the paint and interior after a lot of cleaning and patching. Add $4000 at least for a decent paint job, a thousand or so for "some" interior refurb.)
Are you willing to accept that you will be lucky to recoup the money you put into parts, with no return on your labor?
Can you walk away for a couple of weeks after things get too frustrating, then go back to work?

If you think that you will actually enjoy having a serious case of Sow's Ear Syndrome, then go for it!

 

[QUOTE="mrgreenjeans;13397556"]ALL Porsches are special. None deserve the fate this one has fallen victim to ....... do us proud !



This is so true! These are very special cars. The fact they're complicated makes them unique and desirable....for me!

928 have always been dream cars for me but I couldn't afford a high price exotic. I bought a project car...not running...got the engine running, I'm swapping the transmission for a working one, I'm basically doing everything and I'm having the time of my life doing it. Go for it! You'll find everything you need to know here...I have.

 

This is easy. The parts are worth more than the car. Get it. If you can get it running, awesome. If not, I'm SURE someone here will take it off your hands for a parts car. Shoot I'd get it just to have parts for my '86.

A decent '86 in a desirable color combination is easily a +$10k car, so you have a LOT of room before you're in the hole on the value.

 

Do you want it?

Do you understand that there's probably a minimum of $5k in parts needed to get it safely running. And maybe another two or three to get it on the road?

Do you understand that it's a 30 year old car, and it will continually need something?

Are you willing to work on it? You will need a decent set of metric tools, and a willingness to buy more.

A reasonable understanding of fixing cars is important. But don't worry about the specialized knowledge. That's available on here as long as you ask nicely, listen to what's said (at least from the people that know what they're talking about) and say "thanks" for the help, you can get through just about any repair situation.

Often times a 'fixer upper' is a bad idea. This one might not be. If nothing else, there's at least that much in parts if you decide to give up (helpful hint: If the intake tubes are in good shape, that's going to net a large part of your investment).

 

good luck with your potential new save

 

Thanks again for all the suggestions and comments. I am going to try to get over there this weekend and get the full vin and some pictures.

 

Don't forget to bring cash just in case.

 

Well, the part about a trained technician made me chuckle. It is very hard to find shop mechanics who could possibly do better work than you could, on a 928. Most are nowhere near "trained" on this type of car, and the few older folks who are would rather leave it all behind in favor of the modern plug-and-play variety, it seems.

 

I have to agree. With age and a lack of desirability compared to other models, its tough to find a tech who will take the time and learn how to do it right better than the owner can.

 

Thanks again for all the comments. It took me longer to get some pics and more info due to some other priorities.

The owner was out of town, but I spoke with their son and got more info. I was wrong on the year and model. It is a 1984 928S. The number on the plate inside the door is marked 1985, but the numbers on said plate translate to 1984 if I am reading correctly (WPOJB0928ES86XXX)

From what I can gather the car was last on the road in 2005. According to him, the owner had "the engine gone through" that spring. From what he remembered it was new rings, water pump, and a full service (kind of vague). The car has 123K on the clock. He remembered riding in it and said they loved the way it drove, but had a long commute and so parked it. It was put in a portable shelter (think aluminum framed tarp) and just sat there. I remember seeing that old shelter out back. A few years ago a storm took down the shelter and broke the windshield. It has sat under a blue tarp since. At one point 2 years ago, they thought about selling it, and put in a new battery, air filter and fuel, and fired it up but did not drive it. Now it sits. The muffler has fallen off and is sitting on the ground. Windshield is busted, and some decent rust at the bottom of the rear window and drivers rear quarter. I wasn't able to get under it, and am not sure of what the underside looks like. The little bit of floor that I saw showed some cracked paint, but no major rust, though I didn't pull back any of the carpet. I am more hesitant and am thinking it is a nogo at said price. I can do engine work, interior, and even some paint, but need to send things out for any welding. Interested in peoples thoughts.

Again, Thank you for your time,

RSD

Some pics:

 

Run away.

Rich

 

$300.00/$500.00 tops. Judging by the condition shown, I'd buy it just to part it out. I see a few hundred dollars worth of items...enough to pay back initial cost. However, the experiences gained by the disassembly process may benefit you later...when you do find a good/worthy project. This car would cost a small fortune to repair and countless hours of labor. Plus, ever nut, bolt or fastener will be a knuckle buster or will break...causing more repair cost.

There are much better cars out there, if you are patient. $6000.00 spent up front for a decent 928 is worth the money.

Brian.