The sick thing too is that there are plenty of Ricer (Honda, Mitsu, etc) auto repair shops that don't charge much at all over the parts. They "must" have itty bitty Barbie Doll Hands as I was cursing every step of the way on that job.

LOL Forget the interference engine" Issue
If your going to own a PORSCHE you count on High Maintenance >> any kind of Porsche
wake up and smell the Bacon .
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27489056@N03/6155929638/" title="flying money by mendocino2001, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6157/6155929638_b34db98c14.jpg" width="403" height="304" alt="flying money"></a>
get the Idea ?

^^ I find them not too bad if you can do the work yourself. Parts generally don't seems any more outragous than any other car. Heck, I just put a $170 from wheel bearing in my Toyota Tacoma.. I can do all 4 on my 951 for that (or pretty close). I'm poor and still have 2 Porsche's but then again, I'm not paying a shop $100hr to work on them

the Z32, 300Z are notorious for throwing belts,Interference is an understatement, it looks like a mushroom farm in there when they let go.:eek:

I **think** that all the US model 2-valve M28 engines are NON-interference.

I do not know about the ROW 928S engines; They probably are due to the 10:1 compression. I do know that my '85 928S2 [M28-21], along with the '84 and '86 versions of the same ARE interference engines.

When in doubt about a particular engine....assume it is. The timing belt should be changed every 45,000 miles, and I've read that 6 years despite mileage is probably a good idea too. What happens with belts is not that they break- they have kevlar fibers running through them, kind of like the drive-belts on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. What usually happens is that upon startup, the belt shears off a couple of teeth, and the starter motor forces the pistons into the valves as a result. The rubber "teeth" on that belt are nothing more than....rubber, and when rubber gets old it gets brittle. Heat does the same thing in a shorter period of time.

N!

He is correct, but what he left out are all these important caveats-

SmileWavy

First of all, Porsche's are RUGGED cars. Largely hand built, they are put together correctly from the factory. Forget the accessories, they suck, but they aren't what the car is all about in any case. This careful construction prevents a lot of problems.

Second, by the time they reach the second or third hand market where the average schmuck like me can afford one, they have a lot of mileage on them. That means that you are going to have to spend money maintaining and repairing from time to time. If you can turn a wrench, then the costs aren't bad at all, especially with places like 928 International, 928 Specialists, and 928 Motorsports around.

Third, the 928 in particular among Porsches is vastly undervalued on the used market. That means that when you hand the cashiers check to the owner of a 928 and get the title, you still have huge amounts of money in the bank.

-The Quebecois who lives next to me is an old fart, but his nephew isn't; Last spring he spent a month next door, and I took him for a ride in my 928. He was fascinated, and I lent him my "Project 928" book, along with all my 928 and Porsche books so that he could read them while laying around the pool. The result? He showed up yesterday, and told me that he's purchased a decent looking dark brown '81 5 speed! And the purchase price? $3000. Hello? The man is wealthy as hell, so he's got plans [and the 81 X 27 foot garage with a two post lift...!] to do them!

YES, aluminum has a point: Buy an old Porsche, and you better be prepared to spend some money. But I know people who buy $50,000 Ford pickup trucks, spend $25,000 customizing them, and then stare at me and my $10,000 928 and conclude that I must be some rich pretentious bastard.

Hello?

Car's cost money. You cannot take those $ with you when you die, so might as well spend them on some fun while you can!

N

928's are a great Porsche > and at a very cheap Price in fact >
Everyone has a reason why they might like a Certain Porsche Model > Impress The Girl Friend or have a real race car in your life .
My Reasons are not the Norm related to the 928 I am sure >>
I like them because where I live you need only smog them once then your home free >
************************************************** *********************
So for Pennies on the Dollar you can Have a " Quirky " ( Aluminum body ) High Performance touring car for very little Money >>
Now that's real Pleasure for any Car Nut who can fix them themselves .
************************************************** *********************
yup you can install any exhaust system / dash gauges / motor Accessories / blowers /
what ever the mind can come up with ?
****************************
I was one of the original Smog Inspectors in 1966 lol GM send me to school for my License
as I signed off the New Chevy's for one of the dealers I worked for in CA at the time .
I Serviced all the 396 & 427 Corvettes and Chevelle Super Sports at a large dealer in Oakland CA. >>> Smog was about selling Smog Equipment by Law > and Making money "Many said "
your talking Millions and millions of Dollars
********************************
My US 1980 928 Model had No Smog Pump that Year >> a good reason to have one right their lol
I remember ( American Car's ) all the Little Tubes they had early on and passages in the heads lol all that junk and the more they put on the worse they ran >> the cure ? well the motor dogged at low end so they Heated it up with high heat Thermostats ( 195 ) and more to get rid of the stumble of the smog junk >> of course the Total Overall Miles possible on the Motor went way down with the heat everything wore out fast >> but they sold Smog and Smog stations opened everywhere the industry was born.
hummm 97 bottles of Smog on the wall 97 bottles of Smog

Some parts are fine used, or from a parts car, but plenty need to be sourced new, and no few are only available from Porsche. I doubt many longer term owners will say otherwise than parts cost is substantial. Parts for a timing belt service have just gone through the roof, something like $800 just for a pair of cam gears.

You know earlier I said Barrymans Chemtool. I got mixed up. I meant octane booster. Lucas makes a good one. That will blow carbon out of your engine. Barrymans will keep your fuel system clean though. Just beware that your 928 has a plastic gas tank. So you want just a little bit of Barrymans.
928 parts are expensive. With so few cars made in the beggining, they just keep getting harder to find. I'm lucky in that I have access to three 928 parts cars. Most of the 928 parts dealers are not exactly cheap either. I like 928s and even the 4 speed automatics. The kickdown has won me some good races against brand spanking new muscle cars. Sure, I would like to own another stick, but they are troublesome in the 928 unless you get the later transmission in the interference cars. I'll stick with the early cars and the strong Mercedes 4 speed auto. Cost wise, I don't have over $10,000 in all three of my cars. In fact, I've bought four Porsche and three Mercedes in the past few years for less than what a new Ford Taurus costs.
I love my 911 too, but I can't help thinking about a VW beetle when I shift it. The shifter is very robust, but it's so sloppy. Even after new bushings and couplers. I've driven Mercedes from 1970 that shift multitudes better than my 911. My 928s shift awesome if it's 15 degrees or 115 degrees. The naysayer auto critics and Ferrari expert turned classic car price guide book writers can say what they want about the 928. In my book the 928 represents a better quality than the 911. Those who don't agree need to look at Porsche's later application of the 928 Wiessach Axle in the 1990's 911s. The 928 was a state of the art car in it's day and compared to a new Dodge Challenger R/T, its still state of the art. Trust me. I know.
I do also agree that if you buy a porsche, you should be mechanically inclined, spend money on it's maintenance regularly, buy german parts, and have a fire extinguisher in every single one you drive out of your driveway.

Porsches are very well made, but owning a 928 has convinced me that Porsche did NOT make allowances for poor maintenance. My 74 Volvo had 4 independent brake circuits, 3 crisscrossed hydraulic lines and the hand brake, the 928 has a hand brake and ONE hydraulic circuit.

Porsche's attitude is clearly we made it perfect (everything works 100%), now you keep it that way.

^^^ AMEN to that.

Perhaps it's time to start looking at an engine transplant, later model , lower maintenance, more power,more economical, like, something that does not require checking if you have tow insurance before going for a drive in the country.;)

It had two, actually. Most cars sold since 1967 have a split hydraulic system as a safety requirement. If one circuit failed, the other could still stop the car.

mine has 2 (?) .. I have 2 outputs on my master anyhow

yup..the 928 is a totally different monster..nothing like the rear engined models! if it were true that valves would hit on a 16V i would be in very serious trouble as i had an intake valve stuck before repair and NO-Damage! :D