My new 924S - Questions...

[Schumi]

Hello all,
I just bought a 1987 924S here locally. It causght my eye a bit ago and scored it for a good price in my opinion. It has 93xxx miles and great guards red paint, tinted windows, 5 spd, black interior, and sunroof. The engine is in great condition and the powertrain is in great condition. I paid $3K for it. It has a few problems, like at the moment the sunroof isnt going up and down on its own. The motor for it works but theres a cog or something thats out of line or disconnected. Also, it has a dash cover, as I guess the dash underneath is cracked.. but it looks nice and isn't really noticeable. The main problem is that the valence under hte front bumper has some body damage to it and there are a few small dings here and there, but nothing noticable unless you get really close.

Anyways, to a few questions I have...

I want to restore the car to new condition, and I think there is something I'm missing-

1. On the hood, in between the windsheild and the hood, is there supposed to be a plastic rain guard peice or something? I have nothing there to where in the cockpit you can see down into the battery compartment and see the windsheild wiper mechanics. I seems like there was something there at one time....

2. Also- is it easy to find the trim that goes on the side of the body- mine has a black trim line about 3/8ths" thick but a peice or two is missing. Its not that noticeable bcause it left behind a black stripe that from a distance looks like the trim. Anyone know where I can pick this stuff up at?

3. Also sometimes when I'm driving, when I wind out the gears a bit a start to briefly smell that unleaded burnt gas smell- like if you leave your car running in a garage a long time.. I'm thinking this might be my catalytic converter being a it dingy because my tail pipe has some carbon residue in it. I also thought it might be an exhast leak up near the manifold which would leak into the cab at high RPMs but I cant seem to detect any exhast leaks.

4. I really love the look of the 944 fenders or the 944 widebody fenders. and I absolutely love the Fiberwerks front and rear bumpers. What 944 body parts would fit on a 924S? It looks to me like the front bumpers for 944s wouldnt fit the 924 because they woud flare too wide to meet the arched front fenders. I'd really love to get a fiberwerks front end though. It would solve the problem of my lower valence having damage too.

The Carrera GT conversion looks daunting too. allthough I dont like the rear flares compared to the stock 944's. And then theres the Le Mans rear panels (all from Gt Racing of course - has anyone dealt with them directly? They seem to have a lot of parts I'd be interested in.)

My car also sometimes when idling gets kinda low on the RPMs (say about 700 or so) and starts to shake the frame, then it jumps back up and idles smooth again. Anything wrong with this? It doesnt happen a whole lot. Maybe some injector cleaner or some sort of adjustment?



Well thats a lot of questions and I'm sure I have more. If anyone can help me out I'd really appreciate it. I have always loved Porsche and this is my first one.. I'm planning on using it as a trade in on a 951 or a 968 maybe. It's a really great car though...


Thanks,

Mike Eckert
South St. Louis, Missouri.

[AaronM]

1) Nope. No piece. You can see right down to the battery in the gap between the windshield and hood.

2) I'm sure you can get the trim from a Porsche dealer.

3) Check the fuel rail and all fittings there NOW. There is a common issue with the high pressure lines leaking at the fuel rail. If they're leaking, you're risking an engine fire.

4) Front fenders will bolt right up. Rears require cutting and welding. For $3K you can get a 944, you'd be cheaper in the long run to do that rather than doing bodywork on the 924S.

The price you got it for is pretty average.

[Dave L]

before you start ordering up body panels do you know when the timing belt and waterpump were last changed?

[nynor]

you may be getting exhaust fumes in the cab from a bad seal on the rear hatch. ask me how i know...

[Schumi]

I checked the fuel lines the day I got it. There was a T fitting on top of hte manifold that connected 3 vacuum lines that held fuel (?) According to the diagram the lines ran into a fuel pressure regulator and a fuel damper or something. Anyways the T fitting was loose and leaking. I replaced it with a heavier duty part from an autoparts store that had clamps and now it is in good shape and isn't leaking. However it might have been leaking a while and I did notice some gas reside on the top of the block below the intke. It was in a tight area so I couldn't clean it. As for the rear hatch not sealing... maybe.. but it seems to seal exceptionally well to me.

The belts were put on new I believe when the previous owner got the car. They had it less than a year and rarely drove it. So they should be good yet. I don't drive the car taht often either but I plan on getting a dealer to check out the belts and the timing later this summer. I also belive the waterpump was replaced but I do not have any records. The previous owners may have some records but at the time I bought it they couldn't find any.

I'll post some pics maybe later!

Mike Eckert
South St. Louis, Missouri.

[pokey]

You need t5o replace the fuel pressure reg and damper.

[Schumi]

The hose T going bad makes the fuel regulator and damper go bad? Are they expensive parts?

I worked a lot on it today. Mainly interior. I took off the roof valence that covers the sunroof gears in between the roof and the back hatch. It looks to me like it is driven by a cable that runs thru a tube up from the panel well thru the two cog receptacles. The tube that hold hte cable is there but there is no cable in it (????) I'm guessing someone took it apart once before and just never put the cable back in it. Damn. At least the motor works.

The wind deflector has two end plates that have holes to fit in little protruding knobs that allow it to pivot up and down. Those plates have corners busted off so they need replaced. Doesn't make a big difference to it's operation except makes the sunroof a bit hard to get back on (need an extra set of hands).

The blaupunkt stereo/cassette is really nice, allthough the blaupunkt speakers are dry rotted. I removed them to get replacements. It's a real quality stereo though... says "code protected" and even has a bar to remove the whole thing, I guess to prevent theft. I don't see how to do this though as the gearshft boot is in the way.

I found a pack of clear gloves unopened under the spare tire. looks as though the tire has never been moved. My german isn't the best but I think the gloves said something to the effect of 'to keep hands fresh and dirtless' ... I guess they figured Porsche customers might not like getting dirty changing a tire...

As far as running condition it is superb. Everything is solid from throttle response to gear changes.

I need to get some guards red touchup paint. Not somehing you can find at WalMart...

Heres a picture (lots of glare- it was getting dark):




You can't get a much greater car looks/performance/prestige wise for $3K. I only drive it once every few days but I have already been stopped at gas stations and such by people asking me questions about it.....


Mike Eckert

[pokey]

If there is gas in the vacuum lines at the Y fitting, the Reg. and damper are shot. The hoses should be dry.

[Schumi]

Damn. They are about 70$ apeice here. Easy install? I just checked them out.. would it be tough to replace them without getting gas all over the place when I remove the fitting on the fuel rail?

What are the side effects of not replacing these right away?

[nynor]

your car will run very rich, you will get poor gas mileage, you risk torching the entire car. think: fuel leak.

you will need to depressurize the fuel rail, take those buggers off, and replace them. you are driving a bomb right now.

go to clarks-garage.com for more information.

BTW, mine were a PITA to get off. be gentle. you may be better off removing the entire fuel rail, just to make sure you have the room and leverage to get the things off without damaging the rail and/or injectors.

[PorscheDreamPA]

Cool...just noticed the "missing" piece on my recently purchased 944 S. Thought for sure it had piece to cover since the battery is so exposed. Kind of a wierd design, but hey at least I'm not missing anything like a thought.

[nynor]

if you are talking about a battery cover, there is supposed to be one.

[hausbrauen]

Hottest look on a 924S is going to be the new Fiberwerks/Hausbrauen GTCarrera<---unofficial dub

Fiberwerks front end and 944 fenders, their up and coming CGT style rear flares (that will actually bolt on like all their pieces do, and with templates and instructions), new CGT hood scoop, and the rear bumper conversion. Sound appealing to you guys?

We've been working with FW for a while now developing not only the new and frankly better CGT flares, but also some stock 924 friendly body pieces...(think F-44 meets 924 stock fenders!) Along with some other things.

Nothing is done yet but expect everything to be of typical FW quality and attention to detail. Carl is the best, and we could not be happier with the work they are doing for/with us.

Just want everyone to know that if you are considering going Carrera GT in the future, you might want to wait for something better than the old GT Racing garb.

[Racerbvd]

A fellow PP's old 924S

And one on track

[AaronM]

Originally posted by nynor
if you are talking about a battery cover, there is supposed to be one.

Not on the early style cars and 924S.

[Schumi]

I'm ordering the fuel damper and regulator this weekend. I started the car and then proceeded to take off the rubber vacuum elbow off of the regulator to see if fuel came out. Nothing came out at first. when I revved the engine a bit a few spirts came out. So its not *flowing* out of the thing. Now slightly more came out of the damper. So yea, they do need replaced, but all my hoses are tight and in good codition so I'm not seeing any big risk of a fire. Plus I won't be driving it much of all till I get them replaced. As far as that stuff goes maybe this also explains the seemingly excess carbon build up on ths inside of the tailpipe (from the rich fuel at idle ...... ?)

On another note... that white 924S posted looks amazing. Is that the regular CGT front bumper? Plus- neat to hear FW is getting some 924 specific parts. I de need to fix the front valence (you dont see it in the picture, its on the otehr side on that bottom peice) and updating the front end look would be convient while I was at it. The paint on the car is good enough I think to where a good paint shop could match it without problem *I think*.. but I'm not an expert on paints by far...

[Tervuren]

Where are you located btw? I've seen a red 924S around that I've never seen before some time ago.

[Schumi]

I'm located in St. Francois county, about 50 miles south of St. Louis Missouri. The car was located before me in Farmington MO, which is about 20 miles further south. Before that supposedly the car was located in the St. Louis area and, from what I'm told, was owned by a retired LA Laker. I didn't bother to get the player's name because I was really not that interested in that aspect....
One I get the car in good codition to travel I might find myself some gatherings to attend, especally this summer.

[nynor]

Originally posted by Schumi
So yea, they do need replaced, but all my hoses are tight and in good codition so I'm not seeing any big risk of a fire.

its your car and life...

[87924gt]

Hey Byron, that's a sweet pic.
Steve E
aka 87924GT