So, what parts of a 928 are from other cars?

[Normy]

-I was flying last week, talking cars at flight level 350, when one of my colleagues told me that he'd heard that Porsches, and the 928 in particular...had a lot of parts from other car companies. I knew a few parts were outside supplies, but by and large the car is Porsche.

He knew enough to not say "928? That's just a big Volkswagen!"

He did know enough to turn to me and say "Who's the U-boat commander?" To which I laughed!

I'm not talking about filters, belts, hoses, batteries, or even CV joints and engine blocks, all of which are from outside suppliers. I'm talking major components from OTHER production non-Porsche cars.

Outside parts that I know of:

* Automatic transmission: Daimler Benz

* Fuel injection: Bosch, same system was licensed by gm for most of their cars '85 and later.

* Air conditioner: Sanden, same as used on mid-'80's VW's and some Honda cars.

* O2 sensor system: Uses a Daimler Benz sensor, wiring.

* Seat belts: Outside supplier; clips and connectors have VW part numbers that correspond to a mid-'80's Golf.

* Radiator: Behr, famous also for selling latex house paint at Home Depot (!)

* Steering rack: Zundradfabrik Freidrichschafen [ZF], a company originally known as Zeppelin werk.

* T connector and vacuum fitting at the brake servo that were also used by Chrysler on the Jeep Cherokee.

* Sunroof motor and mechanicals by Rockwell International. These must have come from another car- one with a production run of more than 5,000 per year!

Any others?

N!

[Landseer]

924 was heavy VW / Audi.

928 very little direct crossover with other cars I think. Some direct sharing with 951 and 944, such as heater valve and some electrical parts like interior lights, window motors, wiper motor. 944 caps fit 928 Euro distribs, etc.

Kind of depends on the definition that you want to use, though.

Do you want to dial-in on swappable stuff or stuff that shares design features?

For instance, ZF is a big supplier of transmissions and power steering units. What besides a 928 will a 928 rack fit? (944/51 is different) Would it fit other cars, though?

This could be useful stuff to know as parts get harder to find, whichever definition you want to go by.

[Danglerb]

Lots of stuff on the 928 is for the 928 and nothing else. Some parts are shared with other Porsche's of the same era, and just before like the 924. Other than the automatic from Mercedes, its more like a handful of parts "can be used" from other cars.

The ideal air control valve is the same as some Lamborghini I think, and MAF is used on some BMW, but many of us are on the constant lookout for alternate parts without much success.

[Jrboulder]

Haha. I've been telling people (mostly 911 owners) for years that the 928 is the only real Porsche because it isn't an evolution of the beetle or any other VW.

Jackson
1990 944 S2 cab

[DPW928]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

Haha. I've been telling people (mostly 911 owners) for years that the 928 is the only real Porsche because it isn't an evolution of the beetle or any other VW.

Jackson
1990 944 S2 cab

Agreed. The 928 was the first clean sheet Porsche. In some respects, the engineers reinvented the wheel. An example is the steering wheel. Instead of using the same sized spline that was used on the 911,924 and 944, they opted for a larger spline so the wheels won't interchange. Another example is the electrical. They could have used a smaller panel with a common fuse for lighting but chose to have a single fuse for each exterior bulb. The fuel pump relay for the CIS 928's could have used off the shelf products manufactured for the 924 and MB but the engineers chose to go with a larger 15 circuit so a new relay had to be developed. The list goes on for almost every area.

[Normy]

Isn't the Bosch alternator interchangeable with an '88 V6 chevy camaro?

-I shy away from other Porsche cars on this one. The mirrors are 911, the distributors on my S2 are 944....et cetera. I'm talking components that were either used on other makes or directly purchased from other car companies.

N

[928 Go Go Joe]

<> Yes, it is an easy mod only requiring a few washers, the GM pigtail adapter plug and sometimes a smaller diameter fan belt. Takes about an hour to do and the GM alternator puts out something like 130amps. I have one on my MY'84 US Spec Auto. works great! With a little effort, you can even modify the rear cooling shroud to fit, though the Delco doesn't really need it. I paid $80.00 for mine from NAPA.

Joe B.

[robucop]

I think the air filter also is a Merc one. (just not sure about the model merc it's from)

[Landseer]

There is a GM delco alternator that has similar mounting configuration to the Paris/Rhone alternator on the 16V cars. Its nothing like the Paris/Rhone or Bosch origninal ones, but can be made to fit with some shim washers and wire splices. Doesn't accept the ducted cover. I've got them on 2 cars, but mainly because they were cheap.

Bosch sensors might be cross referenced to other cars. Same with some injectors. Brains are different. Bosch must have a custom/OEM program to tweak stuff just a tad, and assign a different part number.

Its a unique car sharing no significant modular parts with other makes. Closest I've found in 4 years of working on them are the components internal to the automatic transmission. But that is a Porsche-only transmission / transaxle configuration, just using the same internals.


.

[MarkRobinson]

'85-95 Mass-air meter: same as the '91-94 E34 BMW M5's (& no other vehicles).

85-86 O2 sensor (Maybe later), standard Bosch 3-wire, same as the '89 Ford Probe for $39 at Autozone.

[Landseer]

Good to know, especially MAF^^

That O2 sensor works, as I've bought 3 of them for 84 & 85 cars, but you do need to splice the OEM plugs onto the sensor.

[924CarreraGTP]

My 928 has Recaro seats with Mercedes relays to power them. Its the only part of the 928 I've seen that uses round pin relays.
My 911 however has an original Italian Magnetti Marelli distributor that is a PITA. Why they would have used a Marelli dizzy with Bosch ignition is beyond me.

[harborman]

Maybe you remember back in the 70's GM was caught putting Chevy motors in Oldsmobile's. I think they even used the same chassis on different cars. I don't think there is one car made today that is totally made from ground up by one manufacturer. They all use outside suppliers. Possibly the only one that came close was Ford in it's early days, made just about everything, even it's own glass.