Did anyone tinker with their 928 today?

[77tony]

A/C, P.S. and fuel lines-check. T

[Niles]

This is a real minor thing. I saw some post on that other forum about modern radios not matching the character of the Porsche 928 interior. Noticing that my Alpine had a little bling, I pulled the main chrome knob off and sprayed it satin black. Unfortunately, I did not take a "before" photo. I think it's a modest improvement.

[Niles]

When Nicole had her going out of business sale (Hooked on Cars), I decided it was time to buy a new hood (bonnet for the rest of the world) insulation pad. Mine was long gone with a nasty yellow adhesive residue everywhere. I read Dwayne's write-up and tackled this job on Christmas. I removed the hood and brought it into my apartment and laid it on the carpet. I did not find that a stiff brush was adequate for removing the old glue. I actually used a a steel spatula and mineral spirits to work on the top layers of glue. After removing most of it, I was able to use a stiff brush to remove the remainder.

Since I could not find the recommended 3M spray-on adhesive or the DAP Weldwood product, I purchased a small can of brush-on adhesive from the local car parts place. I then put on the silver shark decal. Here's the finished result:

[Niles]

A few months ago, I noticed that my 5-spd shifter was really loose and floppy. Since the front ball socket was replaced when I purchased my car I suspected the rear coupling bushings were shot.

I could feel through the rubber boot that it was really loose so I knew, it need bushings. I contacted Roger (928sRUs) and ordered a replacement coupling. I started working on this Saturday. I could not seem to roll the rubber boot back, so I sliced it with the intention of repairing it or using wire ties on it when I completed the job. All of the posts warn about the cone set screw and sure enough, mine was very stubborn. I broke the first allen socket I inserted. I then tried a different allen wrench, but could not get the leverage I needed. it was too late to buy another allen socket, so it would have to wait until today. I also did some additional reading and all of the posts recommended heating it up.

Today, with a new allen socket for a 3/8" ratchet, I was ready to tackle it. I used my pencil butane torch and heated it up for a couple of minutes, inserted my new 4 mm allen socket and it broke loose - yay! Here's the old coupling with some of the bushing remnants and the cone set screw.



After re-assembling it with the new coupling and adjusting it slightly, I then attempted to re-install the boot. I was not able to get it to seal up, so I got to thinking maybe I could wrap an old bicycle inner tube around it. I found a motorcycle inner tube and sliced a section out of it. I then realized I would need to disconnect my new coupling in order to install the inner tube sleeve. After re-installing the coupling, I slid the inner tube section over the coupling and cinched it at each end with zip ties. Below is the photo of the new coupling installed.

[Niles]

I forgot to mention in previous post, the shifting feels precise and crisp again. Someone else said that this repair was one of the best bang for bucks improvement and I have to agree.

[Alan in AZ]

Originally Posted by Niles

This is a real minor thing. I saw some post on that other forum about modern radios not matching the character of the Porsche 928 interior. Noticing that my Alpine had a little bling, I pulled the main chrome knob off and sprayed it satin black. Unfortunately, I did not take a "before" photo. I think it's a modest improvement.

Maybe try something more like this... you could do it on that unit too I think.



This one (on a Parrot Asteroid) has a functional inside clicker, but its far easier (more obvious) without that. You may even be able to replace the whole knob with a Porsche one.

Alan

[Niles]

Alan, I remembered your use of the odometer reset button and thought about it - it looks great. If I had a spare knob handy, I would certainly have been game to try it. One of these days I'll give it a go. By the way, I like the GTS clock in your console.

[Alan in AZ]

The clock came with the car...

It's actually a blower knob with only the insert from the odo reset (those pod knobs are huge). So you could pull off the head unit knob and see if your blower knob fits the shaft? if not it can still be adapted but more work... alternatively get a rear AC knob and cut/grind the back flush and glue to the stock head unit knob. All these have essentialy swappable inserts (perhaps with a little bit of work)...

The "Asteroid" logo on the original head unit control lights up - so the Pod inserts are preferred as they illuminate - so at night you see the decal slightly illuminated.

Alan

[antsmands]

Originally Posted by Niles

When Nicole had her going out of business sale (Hooked on Cars), I decided it was time to buy a new hood (bonnet for the rest of the world) insulation pad.

Very nice install! That is the exact one I got from Nicole and will install this spring. Gonna look great and keep the crumbling foam pad from falling all over the engine bay.

Great Job!

[Niles]

Learned something new - Relay XXI (Interior Light Delay on 1986 -89 models) when removed will prevent the interior lights from illuminating with the doors open. BUT, the lights will work when the hatch is open. Oddly - the hatch release motor will only run when the hatch is open. This was useful for determining my excessive battery draw was due to a frayed wire on my hatch switch inadvertently grounding. After my solder repair and wrapping electrical tape around it to prevent inadvertent grounding, I was able to verify that my repair was effective. Relay XXI - labeled Innen-Leuchte:



Another note, proper troubleshooting of excessive battery draw (should be less than 50 milli-amps or less than 0.050 amps) can be difficult with the battery in the rear and testing being done with the hatch open. The hatch switch may be disconnected allowing you to leave the hatch open. On my car it was a two wire connector near the spare tire well with a brown wire and brown with white stripe wire leading to the bottom of the hatch receiver assembly. With the hatch switch ground disconnected, my current draw was 0.020 amps. If you suspect the thatch switch is the cause, you will need to keep it connected and close the hatch. Hatch switch connection:



I am now confident that my battery will stay charged for longer than a few days.

[Fixer]

Originally Posted by Alan in AZ

Maybe try something more like this... you could do it on that unit too I think.



This one (on a Parrot Asteroid) has a functional inside clicker, but its far easier (more obvious) without that. You may even be able to replace the whole knob with a Porsche one.

Alan

Alan great use of the Odo reset button,

are you going to have a vinyl graphic made to cover the odo O symbol

and replace it with a proper power symbol (IEC 5010, power on-off symbol (line within a circle)
used on buttons that switch a device between on and fully off states.

[Danglerb]

Originally Posted by The Fixer

Alan great use of the Odo reset button,

are you going to have a vinyl graphic made to cover the odo O symbol

and replace it with a proper power symbol (IEC 5010, power on-off symbol (line within a circle)
used on buttons that switch a device between on and fully off states.

There is OCD and then POCD.

OTOH I do like matching knobs ...

[honerboys]

while I don't actually have a drivable 928 yet I am getting ready to tackle this project (soon I hope) - so I'm accumulating parts and correcting things I can do inside during winter - here are some pics of my dash repair - I completely recovered it in sheet vinyl - filled cracks with bondo - and sanded it flat - then I used DAP landau top adhesive - very strong stuff - can says the bond improves with age so it should be really glued when I install it this spring or summer

[Fixer]

Originally Posted by Danglerb

There is OCD and then POCD.

OTOH I do like matching knobs ...

Classic Danglerb, LOL

Originally Posted by honerboys

while I don't actually have a drivable 928 yet I am getting ready to tackle this project (soon I hope) - so I'm accumulating parts and correcting things I can do inside during winter - here are some pics of my dash repair - I completely recovered it in sheet vinyl - filled cracks with bondo - and sanded it flat - then I used DAP landau top adhesive - very strong stuff - can says the bond improves with age so it should be really glued when I install it this spring or summer

Awesome work here!^^^

[AirtekHVAC]

^^^^^ditto...I wonder if he is offering his services?

I don't have a pic to share, since I don't have my storage issue solved yet....but I got the parking brake pads installed, and (1) rear rotor and caliper reinstalled, got the drivers side left, and then to install the CV's.....

[Niles]

I did a couple of things recently. After disconnecting the power while doing some maintenance the LCD clock was displaying some extra horizontal bars. Having read that Infiniti used some oval shaped clocks, I ordered one off a well-known internet auction site. It was for an Infiniti M45 ($50.00 including shipping). I also tried Alan's trick of using a Porsche 928 knob to replace my Alpine stereo knob. I used a rear ventilation air flow control knob and added a little paint to make it look different. I'm not overly pleased with it. Any comments? Anyway back to the clock - photos:

Initial test fit of the new clock. It looks like it may work.


Disassembled the new clock. I want to see about removing the Infiniti logo. I painted it over with a dab of black paint. I also soldered leads to the connection tab for the positive, ground, illumination positive and illumination ground.


Disassembled the old clock. It does not look like the internals of the new clock will fit the clock bracket. I also used a Dremel to remove the mounting tabs of the new clock.


Removed the old LCD clock from the mounting bracket using a Dremel. I was thinking of using epoxy to cement the new clock to the old clock mounting frame.


I talked to an acquaintance who does plastic welding and for $50.00 he plastic welded the parts together. It is not pretty, but appears to be very strong.


I found another shifter/clock bezel on the internet and went ahead and purchased it in case I had problems. The new clock is a little deeper than the old one.


The new clock mounted in the bezel. I did have to trim a little on the back side of the bezel to make for a more flush fit.


Here's the new clock installed. The new stereo knob is also shown here.


The finished product all lit up.


What do you think? One downside for using the Infiniti clock, is that it cannot easily be made to fill the hole in the Porsche bezel. Maybe it could be trimmed out using some plastic painted black.

[Alan in AZ]

Originally Posted by The Fixer

Alan great use of the Odo reset button,

are you going to have a vinyl graphic made to cover the odo O symbol

and replace it with a proper power symbol (IEC 5010, power on-off symbol (line within a circle)
used on buttons that switch a device between on and fully off states.

No primarily because this knob doesn't control on/off - there is a button for that.

It it does do volume, input traverse, menu traverse and click to select. The existing logo has grown on me, I'm not sure what would really be better.

A vinyl covering would not make sense as this is an illuminated knob. I'm thinking I will leave it as is.

Alan

[Alan in AZ]

Originally Posted by Niles

I also tried Alan's trick of using a Porsche 928 knob to replace my Alpine stereo knob. I used a rear ventilation air flow control knob and added a little paint to make it look different. I'm not overly pleased with it. Any comments? ...

In that last photo it looks pretty good. In the first photo it looks a little too big for the underlying knob. Seems you filled in the logo to distinguish from the rear air knob...? I think a lighter 'weight' line graphic on the insert would go better perhaps.

Shame there aren't any medium sized Porsche knobs.

Alan

[curtisr]

Replaced the copper crush washers around the fuel pump banjo fitting and check valve. No more fuel leak!

Eight litres of Rotella T and a new filter.

New turn-signal relay. Re-installed EC front cover.

Installed a kill switch in the battery compartment.

[Alan in AZ]

Originally Posted by Alan in AZ

....A vinyl covering would not make sense as this is an illuminated knob. I'm thinking I will leave it as is.

Alan

Here is what it looks like at night - very difficult to photograph:



Alan