924 Turbos

[Macroni]

Excellence :: Porsches for Sale : 1980 924 Turbo for sale in Normal, Illinois

What is the brain trusts feeling concerning them and this one specifically?

Meets MadMax's affordability quotient....

Are they expensive to bring all the way back mechanically. I assume body, interior and suspension is equivalent to restoring any other Porsche.....

[christiandk]

Only thing special is the turbo....it might cost a few bucks to replace. Otherwise it is not much different than the standard car.

I was wondering which street WC car will appreciate most in value over the next 10 years. 924 turbo is one of them, among 82 944, 951, 968 CS, 78 928, 928 GT and 928 GTS.

[christiandk]

Thanks for making me look for cars, Mac......jeez! Might post an ugly picture later in spite.

porsche 944 | eBay

[CountD]

The 924 Turbo is a nightmare. If you want one to drive on Sundays that's fine. Mine (and most of my friends, neighbors, and constituents) had so many problems with ours - mine seemed to blow head gaskets for fun, the Turbo is an absolute nightmare to replace (I did it twice), many parts are expensive and NLA. I agree it is rare, but it was rare when I had one 25 years ago and it was rare for a reason. They blow up all the time. The early version still had drums in the back with a 4-bolt pattern, the later ones 5 bolt and discs all around.

The normal 924 with that engine is a dream. They rarely have issues. The 924S with the 944 motor is great as well. Faster than a period 944. I would find a clean 924s.

The 924 Turbo - run, don't walk away.

My romance was this. The happiest day of my then 20-year-old life was getting my 924 Turbo. My next happiest day in my 21-year-old life was selling that thing. It was a pig, and when I got it it was a one-owner, Arizona car.

PS. The one for sale is a 1980 like mine - drums in the back, four bolt. This guy is out of his mind. That price is nuts. Like I said, if you want to drive it a couple hundred miles a year, great. The 924 Turbo steered me from Porsches for 15 years.

[Patrick3000]

Originally Posted by CountD

The 924 Turbo is a nightmare. If you want one to drive on Sundays that's fine. Mine (and most of my friends, neighbors, and constituents) had so many problems with ours - mine seemed to blow head gaskets for fun, the Turbo is an absolute nightmare to replace (I did it twice), many parts are expensive and NLA. I agree it is rare, but it was rare when I had one 25 years ago and it was rare for a reason. They blow up all the time. The early version still had drums in the back with a 4-bolt pattern, the later ones 5 bolt and discs all around.

The normal 924 with that engine is a dream. They rarely have issues. The 924S with the 944 motor is great as well. Faster than a period 944. I would find a clean 924s.

The 924 Turbo - run, don't walk away.

My romance was this. The happiest day of my then 20-year-old life was getting my 924 Turbo. My next happiest day in my 21-year-old life was selling that thing. It was a pig, and when I got it it was a one-owner, Arizona car.

PS. The one for sale is a 1980 like mine - drums in the back, four bolt. This guy is out of his mind. That price is nuts. Like I said, if you want to drive it a couple hundred miles a year, great. The 924 Turbo steered me from Porsches for 15 years.

What he said plus the head likes to warp, they are NLA. If that's not enough the exhaust manifold loves to crack and it is also NLA.

IMHO The 88 924S is a much better choice.

[thamlin000]

I think the logic of buying this early 924 turbo vs a 924S is similar to the logic of buying a 911 Carrera 2.7 vs 89 911. The cooler car wins in both cases, not overall performance or reliability. That is my opinion of the vintage Porsche market.

[Jrboulder]

Nice low mileage examples surface fairly regularly because it's damn hard for one of these to become high mileage.

[Nick Triesch]

My Wife's 67 VW Bug was faster up a good grade than my 77 924. So that must mean that the turbo version would be just as fast as the 67 Bug. Worst car I have ever owned. The dash Imploded! They all did. Everyone who had one had a nice dash cover. And those are it's good points!

[Jrboulder]

Last week I went and bought some parts from an 81 924. I could have bought the rest of the driving car for $200. No thanks, I'm just here for the sport seats.

[Dominic]

If you are looking for a 924 Turbo, I would look at an 81' or 82' model as they had some mechanical updates to the intake system that upped the HP and had less turbo lag than the early models. Plus the later cars had the 5 lug wheels with the larger vented discs (944 brakes), and the newer 5 speed gear box.
The problems I encountered back in the late 80's and early 90's when I owned mine were the waste gate diaphram cracked (too much boost), CIS F.I. Control Pressure regulator vauum line came off causing it to run like crap, top crankase vent line collapsed, causing oil to fill up air filter during cold start. As with any of the 924, 944 type cars the bearings on the shaft that goes thru the tunnel will get noisy when they get old/need replacing. The last thing that went wrong before I sold the car was a soft lifter that destroyed one of the cam lobes.

All that said, it was a pretty cool/fun car when I was 20 years old in the late 80's
I loved hitting the rev limiter in the fist two gears (hit 55mph in 2nd at the redline)

There is one 1980 model that would be worth owning, it was the "S" version of the 924 Turbo, had beefed up anti sway bars and the 928 flat disc 16" wheels all around...good looking / great handling car if you can find one.

Cheers!
Dominic

[zygomatic]

The quote that sticks in my mind: "924 Turbos are God's way of saying you have too much money"

[CountD]

Originally Posted by zygomatic

The quote that sticks in my mind: "924 Turbos are God's way of saying you have too much money"

Right on.

[nickd]

OP- head over to 924board.org and get some non-imaginative feedback from grown-ups. Short story is: they're very fun and unique to drive, they're not for everyone (e.g. 20 year old kids), they're early Porsche turbo tech and require similar attention to that of a 930. The base 1980 is the least desirable of the run and this one for sale is a definitely on the tall side. However, excellent examples are rare as maintenance costs are much different than the purchase price, similar to 944s and 914s. Good luck!

[CountD]

Originally Posted by nickd

OP- head over to 924board.org and get some non-imaginative feedback from grown-ups. Short story is: they're very fun and unique to drive, they're not for everyone (e.g. 20 year old kids), they're early Porsche turbo tech and require similar attention to that of a 930. The base 1980 is the least desirable of the run and this one for sale is a definitely on the tall side. However, excellent examples are rare as maintenance costs are much different than the purchase price, similar to 944s and 914s. Good luck!

I take offense. The 924 Turbo is no Turbo Carrera sir. The only thing they have in common is a KKK turbocharger. I did everything by the book on that 924 Turbo, have never beaten my cars, and I knew several well-heeled adults who were in the 924 Turbo game when I was and it brought nothing but dark, deeply-seeded despair.

The 924 Turbo is the lemon, or should I say stink bomb, of the water cooled Porsche world. As I am now a grown up and have owned many Porsches I still shake my head in disbelief that Porsche ever bolted an Audi truck turbo charger on a Audi truck engine and tried to make it sporting. I loved my regular 924 (yes, when I was a responsible, university-attending human being) and it treated me very well, as well as my 914.

My critique was not imaginative - it was based on two years of constant suffering between blown gaskets, two cracked exhaust manifolds, myriad seals, excessive heat issues, and yes, two warped heads that left even the greatest Porsche techs scratching their heads. Please bring one owner of a 924 Turbo to the board, who drives one today and has positive comments. That way we will not be imagining these issues together.

[christiandk]

Well guys, your idol likes it so most of you will probably like it too soon.

MagnusWalker911: 1980 924/931 TURBO

[Nick Triesch]

Magnus Walker is not my idol and the 924 is not just the worst Porsche ever made but one of the worst cars ever made.

[christiandk]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

Magnus Walker is not my idol and the 924 is not just the worst Porsche ever made but one of the worst cars ever made.

Right.......

[CountD]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

and the 924 is not just the worst Porsche ever made but one of the worst cars ever made.

Thank you. This is the point I have been trying to make.

[Cobalt]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

Magnus Walker is not my idol and the 924 is not just the worst Porsche ever made but one of the worst cars ever made.

No the worst would be the audi 100 LS the car that the 924 borrowed its engine from.

[nickd]

Originally Posted by Cobalt

No the worst would be the audi 100 LS the car that the 924 borrowed its engine from.

Because... Some wankers on the internet say so? I'm unimpressed.

Let's add some reality to this-

CountD, your 931 issues were obviously caused by overheating. If "the greatest Porsche techs" can't figure out why a car is running too hot, then you got the wrong mechanic. The 931 has more than enough cooling capacity for double the power it puts out: a nice big radiator and an thermostat controlled oil cooler to boot. I ran a 931 with an intercooled 1bar and temps never crossed 90C. Contrary to what you may want to believe, 930 and 931 tech is exactly the same. Both run the same kkk turbo design, they have exactly the same wastegates, they run the same CIS injection setup, and are very low compression. I'm not saying that the 931 motor was perfect, but which Porsche engine is? You won't find many 931 folks on Pelican because there is a separate, very active, forum dedicated to the 924 models. I will reiterate: it's not a car for a 20 year old. I thought that I knew everything back then too.

Nick Triesch, even at 1700lb, a 50hp '67 bug is not quicker than a 95hp, 2400lb, US '77 924. All that says is that you bought slow cars, managed to make even the slowest of the 924 series into a poorly running car, and you seem to think that has anything to do with a 931 thread of which you have no knowledge at all.

Cobalt, the vw/audi bottom end is truly bullet-proof. The 2.5l 944 all-Porsche bottom end is the one with limitations. Also both the 924n/a and turbo heads are all Porsche. A similar engine provenance statement could be made about the 911 coming from the vw bug. Not to mention all of the vw/audi parts that are all over any year Porsche. What's your point?

And then there is the rest of the playground talking about a 924na in a turbo thread and the usual "I heard it on the internet" regurgitation. I suppose that they chime in about their uncle's neighbor's 911SC in 930 threads too.

Anyway, OP- check out 924board.org for lots of info. I haven't looked at 931 prices in a while, but it appears that they're starting to move up a bit. Here is a very nice '80 that just sold for $8600 with 46 bids-
Porsche 924 Turbo | eBay