924Board.org

[Johnny_Haywire]

Thanks, Ideola!

I'm in the Avondale neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago. Not too far from Woodstock, though the 924 might not be road legal for a few more weeks ; ). It would be great to hang out.
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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[ideola]

PM on it's way.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[kuhdad17]

Looking good so far! I wish I had a 2-car garage... it's the little things
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'78 924 N/A

[Johnny_Haywire]

Thanks, kuhdad. I only get half of that garage, but it's better than nothing, right? : )

Finally a little progress. Well, huge progress, actually. I fitted some 200 psi fuel injection hose to the barbed fitting for the fuel tank return line and installed it, which was a total pain in the arse, as those in the know will attest. I then put a little fuel and a lot of Techron in the tank...and no leaks. A nice relief.

I then hooked a jumper with a switch to the fuel pump relay and pumped about a quart of fuel through the fuel line up to the filter (with the filter detached and a piece of fuel line to an oil jug). Once it ran clear, I put on the fuel filter and set about removing the injectors from the intake manifold.

But no dice there. I cannot get the compression fittings off the injectors. They have been soaking in PB Blaster for 2 days and still nary a budge. I will continue soaking them and I'm sure they'll break loose.

In the mean time, I threw 2 more gallons of 93 octane in the tank and decided to fire her up. Took a while but she finally turned over.

It was not good, she seemed to be running on 3 cylinders and would not go over 1,000 RPM.

I pulled off the intake boot next to the fuel distributor and realized that the airflow meter flap was all gummed up with funk. So I cleaned that pretty thoroughly with carb cleaner and some nice cloth rags.

When I fired her up again, she actually ran much smoother and even revved up decently. The belts are older than dirt and squeal like stuck pigs when she gets over 2,500 RPM, but hot damn was it nice to hear her run. I even drove her about 10 feet forward and 10 feet back. Clutch feels good. Brakes are usable but need some attention before being roadworthy. Fluid is a medium brown right now.

Here's a video after I hit the belts with "belt dressing" to quiet them down.

[IMG]http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w162/pgrens/1981%20Porsche%20924/th_IMG_0310.mp4[/IMG]
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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[Johnny_Haywire]

And I also noticed...the horn works! That was a nice surprise.

At any rate, the drivetrain seems sound, or sound enough to move forward and start throwing a few bucks at her. I'm am thrilled and cannot wait to get her on the road. If I can get enough time and the parts here fast enough, I'm hoping it will be two weeks and she'll be on the the streets for shakedown testing and jaunts around town. I plan to get this car sound enough for road trips eventually.

That bundle of white wire coming off the throttle body and resting near the driver's side wiper in the video is I think the previous owner's wiring for a cold start injector switch. Currently disconnected, but there is an unmarked toggle switch near the HVAC controls on the center stack.
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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[Johnny_Haywire]

Made a little progress on the 924 over the last couple of weeks, even drove her around the block. Fun, but the brakes are in bad shape and the belts howl above 2,500 RPM, so not terribly fun. Manual steering felt awesome, though. Nice and responsive and not as tough at low speeds as other manual racks I've driven.

I installed the new hood release cable and can now actually close the hood with the hopes of releasing it again. The brand was Gemo and it was probably 6" longer than the original one, but works well. The release lever that it comes with is plastic, though, instead of whatever pot metal the OEM came with. I'll just think of that as weight savings

Also threw in a new battery, the O'Reilly brand. Around $118. Seems fine, and works well so far. Proper fitment with the OEM battery hold down clamps, too.

The air flow metering flap for the fuel distributor was still hanging up a bit, but after another cleaning with some carb cleaner and a soft cloth, it's working better now. Throttle response still isn't great (likely due to injectors needing cleaning), but it's much better. Once it's had a full service, I'd love to get a CIS tester on there to properly tune.

I put in a parts order with Rockauto for the brake, cooling, belts (timing belt kit included), and remaining ignition parts, should be here in a few days. Also working with a forum member to get some suspension bits, so she should be coming together nicely over the next couple of weeks.

I haven't taken another shot at getting the injectors out for a cleaning and testing, but that will be soon.

She was finally able to drive under her own power into the yard for a proper bath. Looking at the previous owners records and receipts, I don't think this car's been driven in almost 10 years. The tires on it are Goodyear Aquatreds, which seem to be basically new, though starting to dry rot between the treads, so no good. I think with a 2004 date stamp. They will be replaced soon... Here's a shot before her bath... It was dark by the time I finished...


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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[kuhdad17]

Looking good after the bath! I have the same goodyear aquatreads from 2004 (strange) that are doing the same thing. Interesting... I'll be on the hunt for new tires soon as well. Just got a new thermoswitch, thermostat, and a 944 reservoir tank that will be going in. Trying to get my fan functional again (thermoswitch will fix that) and figured while I'm at it to replace some other items.
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'78 924 N/A

[Johnny_Haywire]

Thanks, Kuhdad! That was actually before the bath But to be fair, it was washed the day I picked it up and has been in a garage for 10 months, I just needed to knock the dust off her.

Hilarious that you also have the venerable Aquatreds! Must have been one of the few tires available in that size at the time? I've found several in the 195/60/14 size that are pretty affordable, though it is going down a bit smaller in size (which will make it quicker ; ). Will be pulling the trigger on those in the next two weeks. I'll definitely let you know what I go with. I had some quotes last week when getting tires on another car and there was an option I liked at around $350 all in (Firestone, I think).
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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[Johnny_Haywire]

Made a little progress over the last week. I started with the easy stuff... got the dome light working again. Just needed some contact cleaning and a new bulb. Cleaned the hell out of the windshield wiper switch but it still won't shut off in the off position. For now I've pulled the fuse. I'm pretty sure it's an issue with the switch contacts but I've only had the lower cover off so far. Perhaps when it's Momo time I'll get a closer look.

I also got my passenger seat lower cover back from repair and we installed it today. Very happy with how it came out. Wasn't too rough to reinstall with two people, though you will need a set of hog ring pliers and some hog rings. I also needed to replace the perimeter wire around the bottom (18 or 20 gauge baling wire) and we used bicycle spokes for the rods to hold the cover down between the bolsters (you'll know what I'm talking about when you get one apart). I'll take more pics when we put the driver's seat back together. Definitely helped to do one at a time so we had something complete to look at when we weren't sure about where or how certain bits were attached.

Here's the finished product. We pulled the driver's lower seat cover today for repair, should be back in a week.



And a somewhat closer look. The passenger seat bottom only had a split on the left side. You can see that the vinyl looks a bit newer on that side.



Instead of just wrapping the seam and stitching that together, the panel (bottom left side bolster cover in the photo) that had a rip at the seam was entirely replaced.

One cool thing I found were the spacers or risers to elevate the driver's seat a bit. They fit between the rail and the seat bottom. Likely an aftermarket mod from the '80s?



I've got a pile of parts to get started on this week (timing belt and tensioner, alt/WP belt, brake pads/shoes, water pump, coolant hoses, etc.



I also finally was able to get the injectors loose from the compression fittings on the fuel lines. Took a bit of disassembly of nearby components and the use if a crow's foot, but they can be removed now. The only thing I need to figure out is how exactly to get the rail/fuel lines up high enough to get some jars under the injectors for testing, but I I'll make a separate post for that.
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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[Johnny_Haywire]

A little more progress this weekend, despite getting a few incorrect parts from Pelican Parts and Rockauto.

I did the timing belt (but the new tensioner's mounting hole was too small, so old tensioner went back on :/), the alt belt, the upper radiator hose (lower was incorrect, so that's on hold), and the water pump.

Everything seems to be holding up fine, though my lights dim a bit at idle, so I think I should have the alternator tested. They brighten up when you give it some gas. Belt is tight and new.

I also picked up a rear bumper from a guy nearby who is parting out a 924 turbo. While I was there, I also picked up a Momo Monte Carlo!

She still has trouble holding idle after starting. Takes about two tries and if I don't bring it up with my foot to over 1,000 RPM, she'll sputter and chug until warm. Once warm, it idles fine and pretty smoothly. Coolant temp gauge is still not working.

I gave a closer look at the connections for the coolant temp sensor. What a horrible place to put them. The connectors/wires are both intact. I was able to get one connector off and cleaned the connector, but the other one is going to be tricky. I can't even reach the thermo time switch to clean the connections, but I suspect something is not working back there. It's also covered with oil, as though there is a leak or seepage back there. Any ideas?

I'm going to test the cold start injector soon, but it's supposed to be hot this week, so I might have to wait until it cools down.

Anyway, here's a shot of the Momo after I cleaned it up and installed it.


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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[kuhdad17]

Really nice job on the seat! I like the steering wheel, gives me ideas ($$$) for the future. I've found out as it seems you have that whenever you order a part you ought to cross your fingers that it's the right one...
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'78 924 N/A

[musicalannette]

the rough running may be the cold start warm up valve or possibly the spray pattern of the injectors. also be sure you dont have any air leaks on your inlet system.

just a note, i tried to ultrasonically clean 3 sets of injectors for the k-jet. some were brass, others steel, but basically the fuel wears the injector, so if they dont have a nice mist or leak slightly, im afraid there a replacement only job. dont waste your time trying to rebuild or clean them. all the internet rebuild ideas are crap.

the only other option is fitting an electronic fuel injection.

with the injectors be sure to get the right part, the k jet injectors have different springs in for different fuel deliveries. so a vw golf injector although looking similar, may not deliver the fuel in the same proportions as a 924 injector.

i would also check the gasket on the distributor when you finally get it running and are happy with it. they weap and there not easy to spot if the cars old. another thing that might help are replacing the wires from the battery down to the starter/alternator with ptfe insulated wires, i had them go and it destroyed an alternator and the loom (i think there are 4 or 5 wires in a heat protective cover).

good luck
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I KNEW white wall tyres were invented by Americans .....just not at Boeing.... to be fitted on the 737.....

[ideola]

[Johnny_Haywire]

@ Kuhdad: Thanks, man! My friend did the work on replacing the split sections and then we put them back together. Definitely a two-person job, or at least it'll cut the time in half.

If he's up for it, I was considering trying to offer the service in the future. Send out the seat bottom entirely for the repair, but he's just getting started, so...that probably won't be for a while.

@ Musicalannette: Many thanks for the tips and suggestions. I think you are spot on with the cold start valve. When I tested the injectors, they seemed to spray well and with a consistent volume for the group, but I've only gone so far as to clean the connector for the cold start valve.

I tightened up the connection on the coolant temp sensor, but couldn't reach the thermo time switch, which I fear is the culprit. I will try to get at it from below when I turn the car around, but from the top, I couldn't reach it.

Thanks for the tip on the distributor gasket. I suspect that's it. There is a lot of oil down the side of the block and head there, and it is coming from higher than where the head meets the block, so I think that is probably it.

I ordered a voltage regulator and am picking it up tomorrow. I'm still going to replace the harness from the batt to the starter to the alt, but first I'm going to see what happens when I change that voltage regulator. Fingers crossed...

@ Ideola: I couldn't agree more. It's nice to deal with someone who knows what you are working with. When I was filing a claim with Rockauto about the multiple incorrect parts they sent me, the guy kept telling me that he was not a tech, which was really not reassuring. I also noticed tonight that they sent me one set of front brake pads that will work, and another set that is about 1/2" too wide. They were on clearance, but what the heck. They should both fit. The funniest part - the set that doesn't fit actually has writing on the box that says "Porc pads too thick." Ha-ha. Ah, well, another claim to file...

When you have a chance, give me a ring, as I'd like to order some SS brake lines and also shocks and struts from you. The struts feel okay, but the driver's side looked a bit wet near the top. The rear shocks I think are toast, as it bounces a few times on rebound.

Thanks again to everyone for all your help, tips, suggestions and encouragement. I am really enjoying this project and you guys have really made it so much easier on me. Cheers!
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1981 924 N/A 5-speed

[kuhdad17]