924Board.org

jettingcoupe · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 7

I have come across a 81 924 turbo and im thinking of getting it. the car is partially disassembled becuase the guy was goin to do a restore but claims it has all the parts that came off of it. the car has been sitting for a while outside and i am wondering what are some key things i should look at when i go to see it.

I am plenty mechanicly inclined and not scared of much but rust is somethng i can argue with. are there any places that are prone to rust on these? the car has 66k miles on it but like i said its been sitting for a couple years outside so that could kill almost any car. it had a tarp over it but that can be worse becuase it would create a steam pot type affect.

anyways i'm new to the porsche scene and i'm sure you guys know everything i need to know. give me some not so obviouse questions to ask and things to look for please.

TIA
-Marc

Khal · Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 3:56 pm Post subject:

The '81 bodies were galvanized so they shouldn't rust. But, of course, if there has been some less than perfect crash repair there's a good chance you'll find rust where the repairs have been done. Also, the bottom of the front fender, in the bottom of the wheel well behind the front wheel, can gather junk and can rust.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and the battery tray rusts and allows water to leak into the cabin right onto the fusebox... check for corrosion there. Do a search in this forum for "battery tray".

These cars have a Bosch K-Jetronic (or C.I.S. -continuos injection system) mechanical fuel-injection system that doesn't seem to take kindly to not being used for years. I'd expect you're gonna hafta replace a few fuel system components and everything's gonna need a good clean after that amount of time sitting outside unused, if you want it to run well.

You'll need to do a "front end" service, which is replacing the timing belt and pulley. As well as a standard "major" service i.e. replace the fuel and oil filters, oil change, new spark plugs, new plug leads, etc...

It'll have some electrical gremlins, no doubt. Figure on long hours debugging crapped out wires and fuses and relays. The grounding points in particular can get corroded and cause really strange problems. Make sure one of your first tasks is to find them all and clean them

EDIT: And it's not uncommon for the odometer to stop working. It may have a lot more the 66k miles on it. The odometer clocks at 99,999 miles so you may be looking at ~166,000 miles or more.

Get yourself a Haynes manual or the Factory Workshop Manual. This'll make life a lot easier for you.

Others here will have more suggestions but y'know, look for the usual suspects as with any car

If it's not in too bad shape and you're pretty handy with the spanners, you probably won't find anything mind-blowingly complex about the car.

But some new parts can be expensive and/or hard to source...

By the way, before everyone asks, where are you located? Someone on here may be close and can give you a hand with general know-how, parts supply, recommend shops, etc...
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'80 924 Turbo

-nick · Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 2699 Location: Cambridge, MA

Khal has it summed up pretty well. Let us know where you are ("location" in your "profile") and a close-by member might be able to take a look at the car with you. There can be all sorts of hidden problems- especially with one that is partially disassembled.

Fuel system could be a nightmare if it has been sitting for a long time.

Why was the motor opened up to begin with? -I'm guessing headgasket.

From the description, this sounds like a $1k car; if the body is in above-average shape and the interior is decent and complete.

931's are amazing money pits- Good luck!

nick

jettingcoupe · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 7

you guys are awsome. i am a vw guy and im glad i found a place thats as friendly as most dub pople are to eachother (well these are kinda dubs anyway).

I live in westchester ny but the car is in boston, the body is in pretty good shape. its $500 it has the removable sunroof. somebody along the way decided to use the claw end of a hammer on the roof surrounding the pop-out twice. thats the extent of the damage i have seen so far. I am awaiting many more pics.

i dont think the motor is in pieces. the guy told me parts were removed that keep it from running. all parts should have been stored inside the car and are included in the purchase. I think he more meant the airbox/fuel distributor or something along that line have been disconnected.

there are some important questions i made assumptions about that i need to confirm before the purchase is even realistic i.e. title?

I have had some experience with cis on my freinds rabbit before it went cis-motronic and he has a good amount of dealings with it. he swears buy fuel distributors. i myself am a digifant dubber so i am all to familiar with the electrical gremlins. i have a harness in my trunk right now im going to fully rebuild and extend where necisary for the motor i have.

And just a little more background on my car history. i am about to turn 23 and i have been working on a fleet (about 22-24 cars) of crown vics and chevys(hate them im more of a ford guy as far as american goes) since i was 11. i have learned a lot through that. nothing gives you more experience than working on cars that get about 2000 miles a week and are driven by people with no respect for the automobiles. I have a 89 jetta coupe with jsut about everything replaced since i got it. i swear it was a car built from junk parts.

As far as long term plans for this go i dont know much about these cars but i know they have a lot of dub in them. i also started collecting parts to build a 2.0 16v turbo and am thinking it cant be too hard to make an adapter for the bell housing. that would be running mega squirt'n spark eventualy and then i have a wealth of ford sensors and such to keep it running right(best part is my dad owns the place so i get a nice discount).

i hope to get to know all you guys a lot better and thank you for responding so quickly and precisly to my questions. maybe you guys have more advice given what i have just said. let me have it. i want all the negativity now before im comited to this.

also how hard is it to find those gills in the fron part becuase the preveous owner glassed the holes over and i want them back if i get this.

Thanks again
-Marc

-nick · Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 2699 Location: Cambridge, MA

ouch, glassed the front holes over?

The price-tag sounds about right. These are just plain CIS with an o2, no more electronics than that. Sounds like you're already familiar.

I'm in Boston and would't mind taking a peak at the car sometime (if it ever stops raining...). In fact, I have most of my CIS from my 931 for sale (hint) cheap (hint) here in the FS section.

Throwing the 16v engine in probably wouldn't be worth it. Just stock the MS on the stock motor and add an intercooler for ~220hp+ range (maybe up to 270 on the stock turbo? who knows).

Good luck!
nick

numbbers · Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 9:40 am Post subject:

I would not buy any 924/931 that is particially disassembled, unless you have previous experience with these cars. The chances of you getting it back on the street are slim, and you will most likely spend a lot of money, not to mention time, trying. If the car is free, and you want to play around, go ahead. If you reach your pain or money threshold, you can always part it out.
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1980 924 Turbo

jettingcoupe · Joined: 24 May 2005 Posts: 7

the future is the future. i need to find out if this thing is worth while first.

I want to build the 16v no matter what. a guy on the dub forum has made over 500hp on stock internals. 320 is not hard either it just takes the money and the tuning. i still love my jetta and have some plans for it in the future but i would like to try something new.

As far as fearing the reassembly i see no reason. I'm only scared that my basis to start with will be damaged or incomplete. i know more now about what to look for and where. any insight as to which parts i really dont want to be missing. i've read around here a little and these seem to have some diffrent sensors and such and im not sure how hard certain things are to get.

I've dumped over 4g's into my vw and who knows how much in parts i just have because i couldnt pass them up. i haven't had this car that long either. i see no reason why i shouldnt do it to a porsche. this will just look better while eating my cash

any of you guys go to waterfest btw?