New to 924 - need your advice, input.

[knabini]

Hello, everyone.
I just acquired 1987 924s. I'll describe it's condition, what I found after some observation, what I think needs to be done first, then later, and what I intend to do (immediate, important steps first).
The car and pick up:
model 924s
Manual
no sunroof
mileage - 078xxx, title shows 78xxx (dated 2007)
comes with "phone dialers" (15", I believe - stock) and 16" Fuchs (from 911 - rears rims are wider : 7J16).
inspection sticker on windshield shows expiration date of 2011
car was sitting for about 7 years.
totaled by fallen tree with resulting damages to the hood, right front fender, windshield, windshield metal frame (bottom - near rt. wiper), rt wiper arm), center console door, throttle choke "wheel" (chipped corners).
Upon pick up, the didn't start, but turned - dying battery. After jumping, car started badly and was running only at 2500-3000 rpms. After warming up (still with jump cables), idle could be maintained at about 2000 rpms in order to keep the engine running.
Smoke started to come out from shifter boot - possible oil leak on exhaust pipe.
Damaged hood doesn't close, leaving 1-2" gap.
I towed this car home under freezing rain some 160 miles, it was covered with sheet of ice. Maybe it damaged the battery......
Driver power window didn't work upon p/u.
Upon arrival home, the battery was dead reading 3.8V.

Inspection:
Some wires are disconnected: rear defroster (at gas shocks), parking brake, some small wire near brake master cylinder (to the right of it looking at front of car), driver window regulator don't work). Other electrical components were not checked due to "non-running" condition.
Linkage from rear hatch motor is disconnected at the motor side.
Clogged drains below rear hatch latches and at hatch spoiler.
Driver side seat has some wear and minor rips.
Belts plastic "covers/housings" on rear seats are bent.
Rear trunk cover is missing left "bearing/cover" and can't be extended.
Melted top plastic cover of blower housing (centered under hood near the windshield).
Slightly "wet" CV joints at gear box.
Missing towing hook.
Missing battery hold-down clamp.
Missing 1" hose from air cleaner housing (supposed to go down somewhere under air filter housing)
Almost no rust on body.
All Fluids are low - brake fluid looks clear, power steering - dark and dirty, motor oil - dark (no foam).
Spark plugs seem to be very old.
distributor cap and rotor contacts are fine.
Cracked dash board.

What's done so far:
not much - inspection, vacuuming, replacing hatch gas shocks, removed battery. Batter, I must say, is dead - 8.07V after several attempts to recharge it. Some banks are dead - the volt readings are 0.3V, 2.5V, 3V, 5.5V 6V, 8.07V (measured from positive to each bank acid solution). solution levels are fine.

First steps:
change oil and filter.
re-connect all electrical connectors (that I can see without tearing the car apart) with a dab dielectric grease.
inspect spark plugs (replacing with new as needed).
--- start the engine - see how it behaves.
replace spark wires.
-- start engine.....
replace ignition coil (if needed)
--- start engine (if needed)
replace windshield
I'm a little puzzled because of different (rather opposite) opinions regarding windshield replacement: some advise to get a used glass from junkyard and install it; some advise to get a new one from one of "on-the-spot" installers (like Safelite of the like). New glass is better - no chips and, hopefully, proper installation with proper tools and "materials". Some quoted used glass at up to 200. the new ones 250-350 (w/o antenna). Windshield some in two flavors - with and without built-in antenna. Original one with without (as there's antenna in front left fender). What years are compatible with 1987?
re-shape hood so it will close and open properly (to a certain degree).
If hood work won't be successful - Ill get a new one (damn - they're expensive - 200-250 bucks from junk yards). What years are compatible with 1987?
Maybe replacing oxygen sensors

Second steps:
Brake system work (flush, new pads, possible rebuild calipers (or I could rebuild them myself?) new flex hoses, possibly new rotors and speed-bleed screws), parking brakes/cables, too.
flushing and replacing all remaining fluids. any recommendation on them? Should I buy Porsche brand or any with do?
new radiator hoses and thermostat.
inspecting and, possible) replacing timing belt (as a kit). Water pump???
checking ball joint, bushings etc.
thinking about replacing all shocks.
Wheel balancing and alignment.
Maybe - new tires
Air filter
Fuel filter

Most important step:
DRIVE IT!

Guys, let me know you thoughts, experiences, suggestions.
I'd like to get as much of your input before I start really working on it, hoping to avoid some mistakes.
My goal is to spend as little money as possible. Most of mechanical work will be done by myself with hand tools.
I understand that this 924s is mostly mechanically 944.

Thanks in advance for you input.

[project425]

Welcome to the club. Wow. Sitting for 7 years. This is going to be costly so my suggestion to you is to buy a parts car to save some money. My 924S was stored for 7 plus years and all of the rubber had cracked and electrical connections were dirty. You'll need to do all of the timing components and the fuel,cooling systems will need to be cleaned out and components replaced. Don't over look the oil water heat exchanger and the AOS seals and etc. Spend some time reading the forums and it'll help you a bit. Clark's garage is a favorite site and then youtube there are videos.

[knabini]

project425,
a spare car would be nice, but I don't have this option.

[CarGuyNeil]

I wouldn't even be trying to keep it running without doing the timing belt first. It's an interference engine so when it breaks, you bend valves. Keep us posted on the progress and include some pics. Welcome!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[djnolan]

+1 on the timing belt before starting it again.

And put the old hatch shocks back on as new ones are too strong, will cause the hatch glass and frame to separate.

[knabini]

The hatch shock are "old/used" from 924 and 944.
How complicated is timing and balancer belts replacement? Since I'll replace colllant and radiator hoses I can "free" some room to access timing belt covers.
Oh, I forgot! Spark plugs. I need to check them, too.

[jjeffries]

Hi Knabini, looks like we've chosen the same way to spend our spare time. Mine is also an 87 and had sat for at least 13 years before it came to my home.

I wish mine had the sunroof delete.

As P425 suggested, we have an online workshop manual available to us, in the form of clarks-garage.com. Your timing belt question can be answered there with great clarity, along with most other jobs you may wonder about. I just got my 924 this summer and quickly found Clark's site; it is an amazing resource. Sadly, the man who's creation it was, Clark Fletcher, died a couple of years ago, but his friends and family have kept the site alive.

You will also find the Search function within the Pelican Forum a highly effective way to answer any question you come up with. I usually select Advanced Search, then search by Title. Pretty much anything you or I encounter will have been experienced, and likely solved, by someone who came before us.

And....please post some photos.

Best of luck and looking forward to following your progress.

John

[curtisr]

Glad the car found a good home. I have always thought that the 924s was a terrific car that deserved all the love in the world. The fascination with the 944 escapes me whereas the 924/924s had an understated body that said 'nothing to see here' whereas the 944 cried out 'look at me!'.

[knabini]

can't load the pictures...

[911tracker85]

You will also find the Search function within the Pelican Forum a highly effective way to answer any question

yea but as in iRobot, you must ask the correct question.

I keep hijacking John's thread with post about my 87 924S and other stuff....

enjoy and hope you end up with a nice looking / driving car.

[Jay H]

knabini,

Sounds like you got yourself a good project to keep you busy.

Fuel, Air and Spark are the basics to an engine running, so I'd concentrate on restoration of those systems before worrying about cosmetics or other minor systems. As others have advised, the timing belt replacement is critical.

Some answers to your questions:

The part number on the Porsche PET diagrams for a 924S hood is the same as a 944 hood.

Part numbers are the same for the 924S and the early 944 for the windshield.

As far as fluids go, I'd use anything that is within specification for fluid changes. Once the car is running and driving, I'd change all the fluids again after a short while to flush out the junk / buildup that the fresh fluids may loosen up with the car now running. IMO, it's not worth buying expensive Porsche fluids only to drain it all out after 1,000 miles.

Other thoughts:

In the rear hatch area, pull up the carpet and then access the fuel level sender. Pull that out and peer into the tank with a good light to see what you have inside the tank. 924's have metal tanks. I had a 924 with a very, very rusty tank which caused all sorts of running issues. If you don't address the rust in the tank, you'll contaminate the rest of the fuel system. If the car has been sitting awhile and has rusted, you may end up yanking the tank, cleaning it, then coating it with a rust inhibitor (Red-Kote or similar). Not particularly hard, but the transmission will have to come out to get the tank out.

When buying some parts, you can find the equivalent part (from Bosch for example) for quite a bit cheaper than the Porsche part.

Skip the really cheap Chinese sourced parts that are tempting to buy. The service life on these cheap parts is very short...sometimes only months or few miles.

There is a massive amount of info on this web board and others that will help you get through projects and issues. We've all been there, done that already, so that really helps the new owner be more informed. There is plenty to do on a 30+ year old car that has been sitting for years.

Good Luck!

Jay
'87 924S
'84 911
'19 718

[knabini]

I removed timing belt cover. the belts seem to be in a good condition.
I wonder why there is no back cover - timing belts are exposed to the "elements" from engine compartment.
The timing belt "twists" about 90 degrees at the longest span without little effort with my fingers.
The photos shows existing timing belt with assumable 73XXX miles on the car.
last picture shows spark plug #4 - oil leak?

[knabini]

more close up pictures of timing belts...

[knabini]

...

[9FF]

Belts need changing regardless how they look, wyit you should change the water pump, rollers and front engine seals (foes). It’s like a right of passage to owning one of these cars especially if it has sat a while or has no recent maintenance records. You should get and refit that rear belt cover also, it does an important job.

[project425]

It looks as if your timing setup maybe missing a few parts. 1987 looks like this.

[project425]

And your plug looks oil fouled to me. Or one could argue carbon/oil fouled.

[djnolan]

The fouled spark plug could be caused by a bad valve guide seal, that in turn could be caused by a broken inner valve spring. If the compression or leakdown test are good, valve guide seal would be one thing to suspect.

It is possible to replace valve guide seals/valve springs by removing the cam tower without removing the head.

[knabini]

I got you poing, regarding timing belt replacement.
One one on the windshield - tabs, that hold exterior trim (at top and sides), are rusted. Could I replace them with plastic "tabs", screws in place of these, rusted ones? still, the side moldings don't budge!!!
see pics with window tabs....

[knabini]

Project425,
Regarding the timing belt/covers etc., my engine doen't have securing clip (mounts on water pump) and tensioner assembly.
The plastic back cover is the same - with lots of open space.
I could only assume that the water pump is either original or a wrong replacement.
regarding rought engine idle at time of purchase:
there was a huge slack between crank pulley and cam sprocket.
additionally, the balance belt was out by one tooth (on both upper and lower sprockets).
I'm waiting for parts to tinker with my new old 924.
As I cleaned it, I discovered that it was neglected in past years...
I'll post updates as the work progresses.
And always, thank you, guys, for your help!
Happy New Year!