Advise Needed...Thinking of taking the 928 owner adventure.

bdorseyxi1 · 02:44 PM

I have found a very cheap ($600) 1981 928 automatic in my area, Exterior is fine - just needs a wash-wax & some touch up paint as far as I'm concerned. Interior is garbage, just thinking about ripping it all out & having 2-racing seats. I'm not planing a full restore, I just want to get it running & enjoy a V8, rear-wheel drive now & then. Maybe in the future when $$$ permits making it into a track car.

A robbery was attempted on the car, which resulted in the ignition switch being ground up by a flathead screwdriver & the drivers side door being ripped from the hinges by a tree when the thefts attempted to push the car down a steep driveway. The thefts just took the door that got ripped off. Its been under a tarp for a unknown amount of time so interior is horrible.

Make the story short, the car was passed from father to son, which father & son don't speak so no details are known about the car besides the story above. Does the car run, don't know - key will not go in the ignition. I figured I could attempt the basics to see if I could get the car running & if not part it out & make my $$$ back. I have the multi-volume mechanics set of 928 manuals.

HELP NEEDED HERE.
1. I need a replacement ignition switch, which I assume comes with a new key to start the car. I found this on ebay but it doesn't look like what I need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Ignition-Switch-911-912E-944-944S-928-70-95_W0QQitemZ380060691371 If you have a link to the needed part or have it for sale yourself let me know it would be appreciated.
2. Drivers Side door Needed, Have found one in my area for $300, cheaper would be nice.

Thanks for any help or advise on this project. Maybe you can tell me other spots to check out before buying.
If I can't find an ignition switch the purchase of the car will not happen.

DanielDudley · 09-07-2008, 03:05 PM

well, th price was right. See if you can fire that puppy up, and get back to us...

N2O-SHARK · 09-07-2008, 04:27 PM

If you part it out...I call dibs on the center console!

@ $600 you really can't go wrong.

Louie928 · 09-07-2008, 04:30 PM

$600 is too much for that car. Free is too much. It'll be trouble, problems and money, and you still won't have what you could go buy an equivalent running one with decent interior for.

bdorseyxi1 · 09-07-2008, 05:17 PM

Is there a way to bypass needing the key?

I see on ebay, this is what I need the "ignition lock cylinder"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-928-Ignition-Lock-Cylinder-with-Key_W0QQitemZ200229862449

Is there something I can use to see if the car starts, for instance remove the "ignition lock cylinder" and turn the ignition switch with something; Phillips maybe?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-Ignition-Switch-911-912E-944-944S-928-70-95_W0QQitemZ380060691371

Looking for options to sink the least amount of $$$ in to see if it will run or not.

Red Baron · 09-07-2008, 06:04 PM

That looks pretty ambitious, brother. I'd leave that one alone.

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

After looking at your possible project, yours looks mint compared to mine. and I spent an initial $850 for mine. Still not running BTW.

Danglerb · 09-07-2008, 10:09 PM

Try and resist the urge to "see if it starts". What happens during the first minute of running can mean a WHOLE lot of time, money, and trouble. You have old gas and other crud in the fuel tank just waiting to get pumped through maybe a thousand dollars of easily clogged parts. Parts of the engine that REALLY like oil all over them have drained to barest film.

Here is what I suggest.

Tell us what area you are in and maybe somebody is local to you with both help and parts.

Look the car over VERY carefully before you spend dime one.

If you decide you really want to start it up, do all the stuff you should do first; drain the gas and flush the lines and replace the filters. Pull the plugs and squirt in oil and let it soak a day or two etc. (do more than just this, but I'm too lazy to list it all out now). Bypassing the lock and turning the switch might work, but with the wiring diagram it shouldn't be too hard to just hot wire it.

Welcome to the group.

bdorseyxi1 · 09-08-2008, 05:39 AM

Yeah, I'm not "rich" by any means, so I was going to take my time on this & be precise as possible. That's why I joined this forum, so I could talk to all the experts. The car & myself are located in Northwest Arkansas, I'd be surprised if there's any 928 experts around here - maybe Little Rock.

Any more trouble spots to check out or clean before the start let me know. My plan was to drop the gas tank & make sure it was cleaned out, oil change, fuel filter. I want to find a way to at least turn on the electrics so I know at least that much works, with the "ignition lock cylinder" all tore up I don't know a way to do that without replacing it. With the door missing, I figure with a new battery\charge the car will start beeping about the "door being opening" or the doom light may come on.

Is there a switch\sensor that tells the car if the door is open. The manuals I have don't seem to have anything about the interior in them, but I guess I should be looking in the wiring section.

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

If your thinking about doing some cleaning (tank, lines, oil, etc) then just buy it. thats a lot of work to do for the current owner for free if you decide not to buy. Also, as stated in other posts, you can easily recover your $$ by parting it out. That center console and glovebox look in decent shape and is full leather. If you got the space, buy it and work on it slowly. Also, don't buy eBay ignition swithces as I did and it internals shattered on me. Buy from a reputable dealer like Pelican or other 928 sources.

bdorseyxi1 · 09-08-2008, 06:19 AM

NO, I wasn't going to do that for the current owner - that is the stuff I was going to do first if I bought it. I'd just like to have an "ignition lock cylinder" ordered or at least a place to buy a good one figured out before going that far.

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdorseyxi1

NO, I wasn't going to do that for the current owner - that is the stuff I was going to do first if I bought it. I'd just like to have an "ignition lock cylinder" ordered or at least a place to buy a good one figured out before going that far.

Wow, you know that is a lot of work to down the tank and have it acid washed clean, then clean or replace all the fuel lines, then put a new ignition switch. I know, I had to do this on my 81 Euro. Also, the current owner is in no obligation to let the car go after you fix all the bugs. Just my opinion

Danglerb · 09-08-2008, 10:34 AM

Stuff to do "if he bought it", so no worries Leo. Sorry to hear the cheap switches didn't work for you (eeek since I bought some too!)

The trick to the 928 is save where you can, because a whole truck load of things you have no choice but to pay Porsche prices. Until you need to drive this car you don't need an ignition lock, or a door, and both can be found cheap if you take your time looking.

I would NOT hook up a charged battery to that car without doing a LOT of checking on the wiring first. This car has had some serious screwing with, so no telling what might be shorted to what, and the big battery a 928 uses can fry wires like you would not believe.

This car is not going to safely run for less than $3k to $5k in parts (not labor), so forget about cheap.

OTOH if you have a trailer or can borrow one cheap, show up with cash and make the man a ridiculously low offer. You may get lucky and he will refuse, but be sure his wife can see you holding out cash money and then walking away.

bdorseyxi1 · 09-08-2008, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPDano

After looking at your possible project, yours looks mint compared to mine. and I spent an initial $850 for mine. Still not running BTW.

I see your car doesn't have a "igntion lock cylinder" either, is that the one or one of many reasons why your car won't start? if not how do you attempt to turn it over?

Danglerb · 09-08-2008, 12:48 PM

Jumper directly to the starter solenoid.

Why it doesn't start hasn't been figured out yet, but very soon.

MPDano · MPDano's Garage

I actually have a new ignition switch in it, but still can't turn it over from the switch. Like DanglerB says, you can jumper it from under the hood, which is how I turn mine over. My project is still work in progress. Mike, the battery is fully charged and ready for your magic

bdorseyxi1 · 09-08-2008, 07:27 PM

Few more details to add, if it adds any excitement to forum. Its got 110K miles & the "S package". Appears to have had a Headlight upgrade.

Normy · 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Louie928

$600 is too much for that car. Free is too much. It'll be trouble, problems and money, and you still won't have what you could go buy an equivalent running one with decent interior for.

Ditto.

Don't walk away from this car. RUN!

-That is, unless you are actually Jerry Seinfeld and have coin to spend on a car. If so, I'd still advise a good pair of running shoes because there are dozens of far more worthy candidates available for cheap, and many of them can be daily drivers as well. That thing is best parted out.

Those look like European-spec H4 headlights. If so, they are worth $250 alone. If the VIN of the car starts out as "WP0ZZZ....." then it is an ROW car [a true Euro] and it has the 300 hp high-compression 4.7 liter engine. I think I see fuel rails, which means L-jetronic, and that means it is probably a US model.

Good luck!

N!

Danglerb · 09-08-2008, 09:07 PM

Doesn't look like a Euro to me, and its not just the headlights that have been changed. Headlights could be Euro, or could be $14 looks sort of like them copies.

US didn't get the S model until 1983, my 145k mile car has about 14k on the odometer, almost all have broken and/or been replaced.

Changes nothing in the basic equation, still a parts car.

bdorseyxi1 · 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danglerb

US didn't get the S model until 1983, my 145k mile car has about 14k on the odometer, almost all have broken and/or been replaced.

I'm not an expert but I read an article that said the US could get in 1981-82 an "appearance S package" otherwise someone got the 928S front bumper with the air intakes, front spoiler, disc wheels & rear spoiler put on it.

Article on Wikipedia.org...
As the faster S model was not available in the USA and Canada during the first three years of its existence, a "Competition Group" option was created to allow North American customers to have an S model lookalike with spoilers, 16" flat disc wheels, sport seats, sport springs and Bilstein shocks. Customers could specify paint and interior colors the same way as on a normal 928. The package was available in 1981 and 1982 model years and was canceled in 1983 when the S model became available for these markets. Many cars have had S model features added by subsequent owners, making original "Competition Group" cars difficult to distinguish without checking option codes.