Got the cheap 928

[Larry Bud]

Ok, I guess for your entertainment, I bought a 1985 928 5.0 32 valve this week for $900....from a Rabbi. Sounds like one of those jokes where "a man walks into a bar with a duck under his arm..." But he was a Rabbi, whole deal, black hat, long beard, very, very cool guy, kind of a religious Mr. Natural. Me, a tall Irish Catholic and after the 2 minute transaction, we talked for an hour and a half about life, very cool guy. Some one had donated the car to him and my accountant had given him my number, telling him that I restored porches as a hobby and might buy it from him. Apparently he had had it for a while on Craig-list with no buyers and was told the engine was shot, clutch was gone and pretty much the interior was trashed. So when he called and told me about the 1980 car, I told him I'd come up after work and look at it. I got there just as the sun was setting, it had an inspection sticker from 1997 on it covered with dust. I looked at it quickly and figure, Oh what the hell, I had $900 in crisp $100 bill and made him the offer figuring worse case I could break it up and make a couple bucks to support my addiction (I currently have 7 Porsche's, 4 Jags and 3 Lotus). I never really looked at it, took his word on all of it, I mean, he was a man of God...
On Saturday, I sent my oldest son up with my pickup and trailer and he grabbed it and brought back to the garage and we brought it in the shop to look at it. It appeared to be a later model than 1980 and I pulled the title he had given me (I never looked at it-he was a Rabbi!). It was a 1985 with the 5.0 and manual 5 speed, ok, this is good. Next, I looked at the odometer-54,000 miles. Never thought to ask or look. The interior is pretty bad, but I've been there before, few thousand and good as new. Had a new batterie in the shop, (my daughter blew up my old '00 Volvo R wagon and that's currently coming apart) so I throw it in, fires right up, a little white smoke, nothing else. Drained the fuel tank and fresh gas, good to go-needs plugs. The clutch was a little more problematic, but nowhere near needing replacement, slave cylinder had no hydraulic to it and the clutch, through the inspection port, still has a good deal of meat left. Now it will need an interior but then, I knew that. Talk about a blind squirrel getting a nut.

So now onto modifiactions-supercharger? Definately a suspension up grade, maybe I pull the motor anyway and make a monster....

[SanDiego928]

Nice.....lucky Larry......

[gjmascoli]

Geez, that's what I'm talkin' about Larry.

[Mrmerlin]

you probably already know this but there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche

NICE score i hope you dont have many issues getting to DD status

[924CarreraGTP]

I like the Lotus Europa too. I have something you might like. 12 inch steel sign.

[Larry Bud]

Yeah, I'm thinking I got lucky on this one. MRMERLIN, my daily drive is an '11 F150 extended 4 x 4 cab-Company owned with a gas card-as long as I keep makin' em money, they get me a new one every couple of years. I doubt this 928 will ever be a DD but it should be a good weekend car like the rest. I know how the $$$ can add up on these cars, been there and done that. That Europa TCS is waiting on a $7000 order from Banks Europa-then add my labor I am thinking that since I'm in this 928 on the cheap, I am going to at least look at making it into something nice, I'm likin that Raptor Supercharger but then that lays into real big dollars on the underside-suspension, tires, wheels, brakes=go fast but go safe

[Larry Bud]

Hey 924CarrerraGT if you want to part with lotus sign, PM me when you have a chance

[Maleficio]

Killer deal.

[MPDano]

He Shoots He SCORESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[Danglerb]

Nice buy, worth $2k easy.

Dunno why you are thinking modification, 928's don't modify cheap, and until it runs perfectly in stock condition any changes can add a LOT of time sorting it out.

Where are you located, it looks kinda cold.

Before you dig into it having someone that knows the 928 well look it over and give you a baseline on the condition is a good idea. Don't even turn over the motor until its been looked at.

Dash looks like hell, but thats fairly common and not too bad to have fixed. Rest of the car could use cleaning and some leather conditioning, but looks fine for a driver.

[harborman]

Parts alone worth more than $900. Is $900 some magic number or what???

[Larry Bud]

Harborman: Must be a magic number, but it was all I had on me at that time-wonder what had happened if I only had $700...
Dangleb: I've probably restore 20 Porsche's of every kind over the last 35 years along with quite a few old school Jag's, Lotus's and most Brit cars. I truly suck at body work, looks like a monkey with paint roller, but engines-its a science not an art! Pretty much whatever I stumble into that looks good like this one. Not to say I've never put $10K into a $2K car, sometimes ya get there. I put myself through college (including a Masters in Civil Engineering) with a wrench in my hand, worked on alot of these cars when they were new. Now not that it couldn't be, but it won't be a DD, just a Toy. My son made a comment about his '87 924S regarding not having cup holder (Kid's nowadays!!!) but read into that-technology changes all of the time. Why not update a very sharp and adaptable car, it's a platform that supports a whole lot of mods! Also, it is cold here, Central NJ, but not as cold as Mid Coast maine where I was born!! I have gas heat in the garage-I hate the cold-hows SoCal today?

[harborman]

Hi, I was kidding of course. Good deal on all. I would have offered $928!!!! I have played with cars a good deal of my life but have other interests as well. My 86 was in pretty good shape when I got it two years ago and have driven it now about 12K miles mostly on local trips. Not into rebuilding motors any more. Tune up's, timing belt job was Ok. Winter here has been very mild up until this week. I also have a new heated 3 stall garage with bath room.

[SMTCapeCod]

Nice grab!

I had that car's clone at one point...it may not be too long a road to a fairly nice/exciting ride. Then again, I sold mine around 1998...
Not sure why you are so eager to go at the suspension unless you want to track it- find out whether it has OEM sport susp/and Bilstiens...if the latter, they can be rebuilt and revalved to your specs by manufacturer. I can understand your interest in forced induction...those once impressive HP/TQ numbers don't hold up too well in the context of today's performance cars...but it will be a long way to ensure that the car can safely support that even with the low mileage. Good candidate for it though.
In some respects, the lattitude to do what you want with the interior given that existing is a mess, may be a luxury! There's a bunch of talent to help with custom leather or refurb.

[Danglerb]

Originally Posted by Larry Bud

if I only had $700...
Dangleb: I've probably restore 20 Porsche's
I have gas heat in the garage-I hate the cold-hows SoCal today?

Rained a little today, but on and off its been warm enough to use the pool.

Don't worry, lots of experienced mechanics do fine with a 928. The trick is to take your time and don't assume anything is or works like something else that looks just like it does.

Cash and a trailer works wonders, only thing better is to make the offer in front of the guys wife.

BTW I love mods on cars, walked into 928's 5 years ago with a firm plan on putting a nice 383 in one and tearing up the road cheap. Over time stock keeps looking better and better, with a few exceptions where I apparently haven't learned any better yet.

[SanDiego928]

Originally Posted by Larry Bud

I hate the cold-hows SoCal today?

Yep a little rain. 40 deg right now. Probably get down to mid 30's tonight. Snow up in the hills most likely. 35 miles from the ocean.

Take the 928 to work in the morning.

I just bought one of these. Could not resist.

16V Shirt

[Plexus928]

What's in the Lotus? Renault or Ford/Lotus?It's been about 30 years since I've even seen one of them, They were GRRREAT cars!
Friend bought one of them new, had it for about a week,superb cornering, but pushed it just too fast into a corner, when he woke up, was sitting in the seat in a near bare chassis, body was in a trail of about foot square pieces , from the kerb to the trees,

[Larry Bud]

I'm thinking that I'd like to take the engine and drive train out and just go through the whole car. The Lotus is a Ford/Lotus Big Valve TCS and I'm just finishing up the engine and trans rebuilds (thank God for Dave Bean) , frames out now for media blasting and then hot dipped galvanizing and finally powder coating-then the rebuild/restoration. As my wife says, it a tribute to all of the ones that i killed back in my SCCA racing days-a condition of my parole is that she won't allow any racing anymore-got the ring on my finger (or in my nose) to prove it. Let me tell ya, lotus parts are a whole lot cheaper than Porsches.

Seriously though, I'm thinking I'd like to see the inside of the engine, blow a couple of bucks, clean it up and sort it out. I got the time and I guess I'll find the money. I'm going to need a full interior-apparently the car had a better time in the eighties than I did, keep finding those small ziplock plastic bags under the seats, carpets-ya know, the real small one!! So once I decon the interior, who's got a suggestion on interior sources-dash, seats, headliners and panels-quality, oem grade? Other than some (less than) subtle engine and suspension up grades, I want to keep the appearance stock. Whats the deal with the silly rub strips on the sides?

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by SanDiego928

Yep a little rain. 40 deg right now. Probably get down to mid 30's tonight. Snow up in the hills most likely. 35 miles from the ocean.

Take the 928 to work in the morning.

I just bought one of these. Could not resist.

16V Shirt

That's SIK!! How did you know about that T-shirt. I likey. I may get one myself.

[SanDiego928]

Originally Posted by MPDano

That's SIK!! How did you know about that T-shirt. I likey. I may get one myself.

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