Talk me in off the ledge!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'll be happy to take it off your hands and make all your problems go away.

Seriously though, keep it.

[sand_man]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
I'll be happy to take it off your hands and make all your problems go away.

Seriously though, keep it.

[Dixie]

And I think your comment, Capt. Carrera, was indeed intended to be malicious!

I'm sorry you took it that way. It was not meant as such. After all, you asked for honest feedback.

[sand_man]

I think what upset me, Capt. was the idea that you made a generalization about me and my experience(s) with old cars. FWIW, a $15K rebuild (and that's with me doing a ton of work myself) is WWAAYY beyond "finicky". I'm not talking about cold start problems or an annoying electrical bug! It doesn't matter, I vented, I feel better, I'll keep the car and drive it and maintain it as is it was meant to be...

[Tobra]

Originally posted by Capt. Carrera
I'm sorry you took it that way. It was not meant as such. After all, you asked for honest feedback.

I was sort of expecting you to close with,

"So sell it to me"

You have to keep it. You sorted it out, you will NEVER find another one like that. As long as it gets driven, it will last a very long time with apropriate maint.

[Big Ed]

I went through this, and I sold my 88 930. I found that the headaches were too much, and maintenance requirements too steep for me. To each their own.

[pwd72s]

Turbos are wonderfully fast cars. But it's simply a fact of ownership that they require more maintenance and break down more often than normally aspirated cars. Forced induction means added stress on components. No way around that. For speed thrills...a Turbo. But do be prepared for needed tear downs at a much faster rate that with say, a 911SC, which is an under stressed Porsche engine. Having a toy car and an "appliance" car only makes sense. I have a friend who had two Porsches for daily drivers for nearly a decade. A VERY nice '73 T hot rodded to RS specs, perhaps better, and a 914-6 with a built 2.5. Some people gave him a raft of caca when he sold the 911, bought a new BMW as a daily driver. I understood his motivation perfectly. Hell, he needed a comfortable & reliable car for the daily chores in order to preserve sanity! It's all too easy to put on rose colored glasses with these cars, then become disillusioned when reality bites.

[sand_man]

Good points. And really what I was looking for. As for the engine, hopefully the mods that I've done to it will help with reliability. I got a crazy case of "while you're in there" itis. So Ive tried to overbuild the engine to handle the stress...as opposed to sticking a 1 bar boost spring on a tired engine and calling it a day. During the rebuild EVERYTHING was measured, tested, cleaned, machined, etc. I'm banking that some money spent upfront to ensure the solidity of the longblock will pay off.

[bigchillcar]

sand_man...don't take this the wrong way, but..DON'T MAKE ME FIND COOTERVILLE, CAROLINA AND COME AND ***** SLAP YOU.

umm..keep the 930. (okay, i feel a little better now..meds kickin' in..)
ryan

[sand_man]

Originally posted by bigchillcar
sand_man...don't take this the wrong way, but..DON'T MAKE ME FIND COOTERVILLE, CAROLINA AND COME AND ***** SLAP YOU.

umm..keep the 930. (okay, i feel a little better now..meds kickin' in..)
ryan

I feel better, too! I slapped myself for you!

[bigchillcar]

I feel better, too! I slapped myself for you!

whew! i feel better..i was dreading a really long drive. wait a minute..what am i saying? dreading a long drive? i think i need to get *****-slapped..
ryan

[wcc]

You guys on this board kinda freak me out. Is it possible the PO drove the ***** out of it that's what caused the problems? I mean my '85 911 got 175000 on it before the top end was done and now has about 205000 on it now and it runs like a champ!! I bought my TOTALLY stock 930 last year with 54000 miles on it. I wasn't able to drive it much before the winter set in so I've been doing a little tinkering with it over the winter. Stereo, lower, strut brace, etc....

What I'm getting at is I don't know why a 930 couldn't be totally reliable without a engine rebuild to about 150000. Properly maintained of course. I would be VERY disappointed in Porsche if they deliberately put a car on the market that that they knew it would need an engine overhaul within 60000 miles. Now, saying that, if the car was modified, K27, larger intercooler, cams, exhaust, etc and driven like a madman I would EXPECT the engine to need attention sooner, maybe A LOT sooner. But as for a bone stock 930 that's hasn't been mistreated, that's sad!!!

[sand_man]

Originally posted by wcc
You guys on this board kinda freak me out. Is it possible the PO drove the ***** out of it that's what caused the problems? I mean my '85 911 got 175000 on it before the top end was done and now has about 205000 on it now and it runs like a champ!! I bought my TOTALLY stock 930 last year with 54000 miles on it. I wasn't able to drive it much before the winter set in so I've been doing a little tinkering with it over the winter. Stereo, lower, strut brace, etc....

What I'm getting at is I don't know why a 930 couldn't be totally reliable without a engine rebuild to about 150000. Properly maintained of course. I would be VERY disappointed in Porsche if they deliberately put a car on the market that that they knew it would need an engine overhaul within 60000 miles. Now, saying that, if the car was modified, K27, larger intercooler, cams, exhaust, etc and driven like a madman I would EXPECT the engine to need attention sooner, maybe A LOT sooner. But as for a bone stock 930 that's hasn't been mistreated, that's sad!!!

Kinda hard to believe, but it was the LACK of driving this car by the previous owners that caused this predicament!!!! It seems that my car was always part of someones collection. When I took it over, it seems that it passed PPI just long enough for my check to clear...then all of those old dried out seals just let go. Just one of those things. I mean when you buy a used car it's just you and your checkbook. I did as much as I could to ensure I was getting a good car (and I really did)...still it's hard to imagine where the journey will take you.

My neighbor drives his '84 930 EVERY day! He's got 60,000 miles on his new engine and the car still pulls like a freight train and needs nothing! All toal he's got about 135,000 miles on it. I still think it can be done...using the 930 as DEPENDABLE daily transportation.

[bigchillcar]

goes to show that these cars need to be driven. get moving, sand_man..
ryan

[wcc]

Originally posted by sand_man
He's got 60,000 miles on his new engine and the car still pulls like a freight train and needs nothing! All toal he's got about 135,000 miles on it. I still think it can be done...using the 930 as DEPENDABLE daily transportation.

After a rebuild, sure. But it should be dependable straight from the factory. So he had a new engine put in at 75000 miles?

I still don't think that is very good. It should last twice that before a rebuild. I've had beater Dodges and Chevys that lasted longer than that.

[Big Ed]

Originally posted by wcc
After a rebuild, sure. But it should be dependable straight from the factory. So he had a new engine put in at 75000 miles?

I still don't think that is very good. It should last twice that before a rebuild. I've had beater Dodges and Chevys that lasted longer than that.

These engines seem to require rebuilds with alarming frequency. Part of the problem is that mods make them outrageously powerful, so "everybody" does them...but these same mods also seriously decrease engine life. My former 930 had been modified and was rebuilt at 35,000 miles. Yikes. I owned it at 57K and it was starting to get cantankerous, so hasta la vista.

It seems even the majority of 100% stock ones need rebuilds in the 60K range. That gets expensive.

[wcc]

Big Ed,
Did you buy your '88 930 from Madison Heights in Detroit? I've been down there a couple of times looking around. From what I saw over there I thought was overpriced for what it was IMO. They did once-in-a-while get an exceptional car in. I ended up getting my 930 out of Indiana.

Sand_Man,
Well I feel bad for you having to go through that. I would loose some luv for the car too. But since you already put the money into it I would drive and enjoy. I'm sure you'd regret it if you got rid of it.

As for mine, I bought it with 54000 miles on it without the engine ever opened I'm just going to drive it and keep my fingers crossed. I was hoping to enjoy it till about 100-150k miles without major work. But I guess I won't be surprised if it needs a rebuild before 75k miles.

[sand_man]

I agree about the mods...if done carelessly, improperly, or on the wrong foundation - YOU ARE ASKING FOR TROUBLE! However, I've done the following:
-ARP head studs
-ARP rod bolts
-twin plug heads and ignition
-K27-7200 turbo
-SC cams
-B&B headers
-B&B intercooler
-Tial 46mm wastegate
-Imagine Auto fuel head
-.8 bar boost spring
All on a longblock that has been COMPLETELY gone through! NOTHING was left to chance. I know that it seems that I've built an unreliable HP monster, but most of these parts are just better than what the factory was using in '87. They flow better, spool faster, cool better, etc. Cross your fingers! I'm gluing up the case today!

[wcc]

What I was talking about was modifying the car with no internal work being done. What I was saying is different than what you did. I was talking about a larger turbo, intercooler, boost spring, etc with NO internal mods that it wouldn't surprise me that the motor would need work sooner. That's all.

However, if you built a motor that can handle the mods, which it sounds like you did, you should have a reliable and dependable car for years to come.

Keep us posted as to your first drive and impressions etc......