Hello all. So I'm a 914 guy, and then a mid-engined guy after that, and then probably a 911 guy after that, but I've always had a real thing for 928s.

Three versions are at the top of my list of personal favorites:
1. Early 1978-79 cars in light colors on 16-inch Phone Dials
2. Late GTS cars in just about any color
3. Black/black early 928S on 16-inch Manholes

I can't explain why, but I've felt that way for 20+ years, probably due to a seed planted when Mark Anderson threw me the keys to a really nice early Guards Red 5spd and told me to go have fun. I'll never forget prowling the streets of Orange County in that car. Or maybe it was the black Gobot 928S toy from my youth? Still have it. In any event, I kinda figured I'd miss the 928 boat much like I missed the SWB 911/912 boat. So when I saw the post here for the black 928 parts car for $500 on SF Craigslist, I was intrigued—especially when it looked like a 928 that might be worth saving. Of course, someone jumped on it right away. I mean, it's a black/black 5sp 1981 928 with the Competition Package. Nice score, I thought.

Then he followed up with a post to see if anyone wanted to take it off his hands.

Storage was an issue—and is something I have a lot of right now. So I got in touch with Mark. What a cool dude. He dropped the car off today, and we enjoyed a great conversation over lunch. A good reminder that real-deal car people really are the coolest. In the meantime, the car is now in safe, dry storage. There's a lot to do, but I'm in no hurry. This car can sit for years if need be. But that's no fun.

1. First task: Sort the title. It does not appear to be a stolen car, as the VIN comes up clean on the national register for stolen cars, and on Car Fax. Obviously need to dig deeper, and—if I'm lucky—pay CA DMV for 15 years of overdue registration fees. (Cringe)

2. If I can legally title the thing, then it'll be time to add a battery and see what happens with the electrics. If they wake up, then it'll be time to change all of the fluids and get it ready to try and start it. Curious to hear that Anza exhaust, though a bit scared of what might happen when I turn the key. Ah, mystery...

3. If THAT goes well, then it'll need most of an interior. I spent some time poking around the interior today, and a lot is missing and even more seems to be pure throwaway (all carpeting, the door panels, the glovebox, a lot of other interior pieces, etc.). I have a lot to learn about 928s, but I am guessing I am better off piecing a good used interior together than trying to strip and save all this warped and molded stuff? It's missing all of one back seat, but the other three look well worth saving. If the title comes up clear, I may be tempted into that Pasha-embossed black leather for the seat centers and door panel reliefs, as this seems like a perfect candidate for it.

 

Nice score! You are talking about the "$500 5 Speed Parts Car in San Fran" right? That thing looks to have potential, especially at that price! I thought the engine bay looked fairly complete and while the interior was thrashed, the dash looked good. Will be really interesting to see that car running again. Good luck to you on that project. And congrats again.


And if worse comes to worse, you will make your money in parts.

 

Can't wait to see more pics of what you bought.

 

Congrats(I think). Glad to see you over here. Good bunch of folks, and very helpful.

1) Here's the first piece of unrequested advice. Don't go down the road of title and registration in CA. Either have someone out of state that you trust do a bonded title out of CA, and then once they get the bonded title, sell it back to you and apply for a CA title. Just - don't - go - through - CA title/reg. Do it out of state. May require towing it to Nev or AZ or something for an inspection, but the time and effort to do that will be microscopic by the time you fiddle with the back reg and title in CA.

2) Not just the fluids, but everything has been sitting for a long time. Change all the soft fuel lines. Look for evidence of rodents on the wiring. Remove the plugs and spray some WD-40 down in there now to loosen things up. Rings can stick and break if they are woken up and are brittle in the bore. Plan to turn it over a few turns by hand with the plugs out and check for binding, you don't know what is in the cyl after so long.

Keep us up to date, and ask specific questions when you get stuck. These old cars are notorious for carbeques so don't forget the fuel lines. Also will need PS lines to be safe.

 

I second the unrequested advice above^^^^

Man, talk about taxation, without representation. Paying for back registration on a car that never touched the road systems in 15 years. The more I read about Cali-taxation-fornia...the more I wonder why anyone lives there...lol.

Anyhow, congratulations on the car. Hopefully, you will have it looking like Marks' in the near future. Okay, that may be a toughy...but a guy can dream can't he.

Looking forward to following along in your adventure.

Brian.

 

I am a little torn on this since I have not talked to Mark or viewed the car personally. My bit of unsolicited advice would be to calculate the time and $$ that is going to be required to bring the car up to your standards, and see if you could not find one in that price range that just needs a little tweaking.
The $500.00 dollar 928 would make a great parts car and since you have the room for storage it would not be an issue.
Also, like a surgeon, who uses cadavers,you could practice on it and then move to the real thing.
Plus you avoid all the registration crap associated with CA.

Just saying...

Good luck on whatever you decide, with the exception of Texas, you have access to some of the best 928 gurus in the US.

Lon

 

A very warm welcome to the 928 community Pete.

Thx for talking this project off my hands, as I really don't think I have the time right now to invest in it like I envisioned. Good to see your enthusiasm for the 928 and your eagerness to save this car.

Yes this is the $500 928 from craigslist (see other post) that I picked up a few weeks ago, while my wife was away on a trip, who then came home as said - what did u do???


Looking forward to following your project and getting to know you. Our lunch discussions were great, about all things not just cars!

Please join us at Norcal 928 events soon!

 

Agreed. Title out of state, then back to CA. 15 years is a LONG time, and that was surely reflected in the price. 2c.

 

Might be a long road, but will be a great save.

 

California needs to be walled off way before Mexico! If there's a way to fleece people outta their money California has it figured out!

 

Hi Pete, Save time and $$ and bid on something like this:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-928-...m=182295241816 Sorry, it's ot a light color as you prefer, but you'll be able to drive this OB straight away. It will also be worth more down the road, re: 3rd owner, clear title, original paint & interior, etc. Keep the $ 500 as a parts car or just sell it. Look forward to whatever you choose to do.T

 

Pete may be as interested in the journey as much as the car. I'm looking forward to the postcards.

 

Thanks, everyone. A lot of good advice here, and I've been mulling it, along with how I want to proceed.

Everything about this project goes against the advice I generally give others, and against how I've owned every Porsche I've had to date save one: the 914. I didn't approach that one intelligently by anyone's standards, but all turned out just fine.

First step is identifying the best path forward regarding the title. Have a few ideas to look into before taking drastic measures such as shipping the car out of state or cold-calling my local DMV. (Cue chills)

Next step will be seeing if the car can be revived mechanically. Was indeed thinking about pulling the plugs, and had started to wonder about leaving a battery hooked up on this thing—ever—after seeing so many 928s engulfed in flames in my early research. Yikes. Will definitely do all of the soft fuel lines if I get to the "let's try and start it" phase. I think that's a ways off given the title issues.

Further poking around finds a lot of white powder on surfaces around the electronics in the passenger footwell, and that can't be good. Looks like this thing was left outside with the sunroof open...which explains the warped interior panels, mold, etc. It's tempting to add one of those head-banging-against-bricks emoticons, but I'm not sure the car would be in my possession had it been properly cared for. The journey is young.

It's going to need a very thorough cleaning, a mechanical going over (!), most of a complete interior, new window seals, proper wheels/tires, brakes, new dampers, and probably paint.

What have I done, indeed? It would be much smarter to buy a $15,000-30,000 928 that's beautiful, but that's not in the cards right now. I've got some decent headroom at a $500 buy-in, so we'll see where things go. And yes, Adk46 has it right: It's the journey that interests me. Right now, I'm just jazzed every time the big door goes up and that black hulk is back there. How can the shape be so good, even when so much is so wrong?

 

Cool car! Very down with the various dark browns and, especially, Cork. However, a friend bought a similarly immaculate early 928 with low miles for big dollars and proceeded to 2x his outlay bringing it up to snuff mechanically. I'm not interested in a mint original car, or in getting into a 928 for $50-70k—certainly not up front anyway.

Plus, those cars don't need saving!

 

Stout,
PM 77Tony to find out about Montana registration. I believe he told me you just need a P.O. Box to do register it there.