924Board.org

[kgalle]

I have always felt compelled to own a Porsche, however, it had been my understanding that these vehicles were reserved for the more affluent citizens. I have only recently found this 1982 Porsche 924 selling in my price range. My concerns are basic: Do 924's suffer from any particular catastrophic failures after 75,000 miles of service; are there any specific "red flag" items I should be asking the seller; can a fairly skilled "shade tree" mechanic handle regular maintainance, service and the more involved repairs; if not, do I really have to rely on Volker, the local Deutschessautofixerman to do the work?

I appreciate all of the expertise that may rain down on me.

[924RACR]

A) is it a Turbo or no? Certainly an 82 will be one of the nicest
2) what prior experience do you have working on cars (or other machinery)? Have you a mis-spent youth of playing with VW's behind you, or do you struggle to swap sparkplugs without siezing the engine?

As long as the body's solid, the engine/drivetrain are all pretty simple, VW/Audi-based... it's only when you get to the Turbos that things get Porsche-like and troubling...

An indication of where you're at would be helpful too... maintaining these cars yourself can mean different things if you're in London, or Alabama, or Russia...
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[seanski44]

[seanski44]

Hey Racer, guess we were typing at the same time, but great minds think alike huh!
_________________
1998 BMW Z3 2.8 arctic silver & red

1981 168HP 931 S2 blue/tan leather - SOLD
1985 121HP 924 2.0l na modded - SOLD!
1992 968 lux SOLD
1989 944 2.7 lux SOLD

[924RACR]

Yep!
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[kgalle]

This is fantastic information and is exactly what I was digging for. This 1982 924 is not turboed, so far as I can tell. Currently located in Swarthmore, PA (Southeastern PA), it had spend the bulk of its existence in central Texas. The gentleman selling the car claims an overflow of toys (new boat and Jaguar) as his reason for selling.

cut and paste:
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/car/182602421.html

..for a few photos and a terribly brief description. All of the work listed on this site has been done by a shop specializing in Porsche autos.

I have a bit of experience working with autos; tune-ups, suspension rehabs, brake rebuilds, engine component replacement and so on. I have never done any machining, but I have removed and reinstalled various heads and manifolds that were treated by professionals.

Please believe that I am absorbing and hanging on your every suggestion.

Thanks.

[Chrenan]

Alright, a couple of comments on the car now that there are pics.

The rims are 4-bolt spider web, a fairly rare option. However, they are still 4-bolt which means the car has front disc rear drum. The 5-bolt all wheel disc is most desireable. That being said, I have disc/drum setup and it works fine.

The steering wheel is also a nice item, there was a 2-spoke, 3 spoke and 4-spoke wheel at various times and option levels, the 4 spoke is the best looking I think, but it can make the manual steering heavier as it is the smallest diameter.

The arm-rest cassette holder is a nice touch. I can't remember if it was an option on the late 924. If not, it has likely been taken from an early 944.

The Porsche script door panels are another nice option not seen very often.

Looks like a nice dash board with no cap covering it? The dash is very prone to cracking in the sun. If it lived in Texas and has an original dash with no cracks it would have been very loved.

Seat covers are a pet peeve of mine. Are the protecting perfect seats or covering crappy seats?

Now for the only thing that sticks out as strange to me. There should be a lip spoiler around the bottom of the hatch glass. I'm pretty sure by 1982 the spoiler was a standard item. The glass could have been broken at one time and replaced with an earlier non-spoiler glass. Maybe the original owner ordered a spoiler delete option, but I'm not sure if this was possible. You might want to ask if the car has ever been hit from behind - explaining the possible replacement glass and the transmission rebuild (the transmission is in the rear of the 924).

Ask for pictures of the engine bay as well.
_________________
1987 951 - M193 Version for Japan

[gohim]

The photos are a bit brief, and don't show much of the important details. The car does look nice in the limited photos.

Looks to me like there is a dashboard cap (probably hiding a badly cracked dashboard). Very common for 924 cars.

The wheels are 1981 Special Edition Wheels which would not have been available from Porsche on the car new in 1982. So, they have been replaced at some point.

The rear hatch spoiler was never standard equipment, and was only added to the Option List after the 1981 model year.

The car appears to have rear wheel mud flaps. These were generally not available on standard edition cars, as they were 931 standard equipment and not available as an option until after the 1981 model year.

It apears to me that this car has been upgraded by an Owner by installing some of the upgraded parts from a 1981 Weissach Special Edition 924, which could explain the wheels and the mud flaps.

The center console was an option, and not standard equipment.

I didn't see anything about how many miles are on the car. Did you email the Seller and ask?

Where did you get the 75K mile figure from?

If the car only has 75K miles on it, I would be concerned about why the transmission and alternator were rebuilt or replaced at such a low number of miles.

[kgalle]

I intend to visit the car tomorrow (Friday) evening. I will bring my camera along for some photos of the concerns you fine folks have presented. I also intend to aquire a CarFax report once I discover the vin number.

I am currently scouring this forum for more information regard the "option code sticker". If anyone could direct me I would be thankful.

...more so...

[D Hook]

I was under the impression that carfax doesn't go back past '86 but I could be wrong.

Are you going to get him to lower the price a little? That seems like a lot for what you're going to get compared to other 924's for sale that have less miles and are better equipped. JMHO.
_________________
'80 924 n/a SOLD

[Chrenan]

Online option decoder:

http://www.kindel.com/Porsche/options.asp

Your option sticker should be inder the carpet in the trunk I believe.

List of common interesting options (not all specific to 924):

024 Version for Greece
027 Version for California
030 Sport Group
031 Sport shock absorbers
034 Version for Italy
061 Version for Great Britain
062 Mud flap, rear (series equipment for Sweden)
062 Version for Sweden
113 Version for Canada
119 Version for Spain
124 Version for France
124 Yellow light (series equipment for France)
126 Stickers in French
130 Labelling in English
153 Engine parts belonging to a stipulated assembly for type 951
187 Asymmetric head lights
193 Version for Japan
197 Higher amperage battery
215 Version for Saudi Arabia
220 Locking differential
221 Porsche-locking differential
225 Version for Belgium
241 Shorter shifting travel
243 Shorter gear shift lever
258 Heating for outside mirror
261 Passenger side mirror - electric - plain
262 Outside mirror for passenger side, plain, manual
277 Version for Switzerland
302 Type designated on rear end
323 Sticker, without ESE-Regulations
325 Version for South Africa
346 Standard colour rims (silver)
347 Platinum anodized wheels
348 Forged wheels - Grand Prix White
393 Forged wheel 8J/9Jx16
394 Disk wheel, telephone styling 8J/9Jx16 Cast - Magnesium
395 Light metal wheels - forged
396 Disk wheel, telephone styling 8Jx15 rear
400 Pressure cast wheels
401 Light metal wheels
402 50 year anniversary car 1982
403 Pressure cast 17" wheels
405 Level control system
406 50 year anniversary car 1982
407 18-inch polished wheels
412 External oil cooler
414 Transmission oil cooler
415 Wider rear track
426 Special model World Champion 1976 1978
429 Special model "Sebring"
432 Sports steering wheel, leather 363mm (4 spokes)
439 Special model "Weissach" 1980
443 Tinted front and side glass, heated windshield
450 Light metal wheels
456 Sport shock absorbers and stabilizers
458 16" alloy wheels
462 Sekuriflex windshield
462 Special model "Weissach" 1982
463 Lateral glasses tinted, (Series Equipment for Australia)
467 Drivers side mirror, convex
470 Without spoilers, in conjunction with turbo look
471 Integrated rear spoiler
471 Sport group 1
472 Turbo with standard chassis 1980
473 With spoilers
474 Sport shock absorbers
475 License plate fastening (Series equipment Austria, Finland, Australia)
476 Brake pad with abrasive pad
479 Version for Australia
483 Right hand drive
485 Forged wheels - gold metallic
488 Stickers in German
489 Symbols and insignia in German
491 Turbo look
492 H4 headlights for left hand traffic
498 Without rear model designation
499 Version for West Germany
528 Passenger side mirror convex
529 Outside mirror - passenger side, convex, manual
553 Version for USA
560 Detachable roof
562 Airbag driver's side
563 Airbag passenger's side
567 Windshield green graduated tint
568 Tinted windshield and side glass
570 High output air conditioner
595 Rear spoiler painted to match body
596 Spoiler painted matte black
597 Heavy duty battery and starter
598 Insignia "16 ventiler"
602 Third brake light "High mount"
621 Differing parts for engine 924S
622 Differing parts for cars with 2 V-Engine
637 Sport Group
639 928 GT
666 Without lacquer preservation and chrome preservation
684 1 piece rear seat
685 Divided rear seat
701 Car-version Slant Nose
719 Special reconstruction
756 Special model 924S USA 1988
757 Special model 944 1988
758 Special model 944 Turbo 1988
900 Tourist delivery
912 Vehicle without identification plate
925 Version for high altitude areas in the US
C00 Eurospec emissions
C02 Equipped with catalytic converter
C03 California type car
R01 Touring Package (not Available w/Airbags)
R74 Touring Package
_________________
1987 951 - M193 Version for Japan

[kgalle]

The seller has posted on CraigsList several times offering more, or lessa the same info.

cut and paste:

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/search?areaID=17&subAreaID=&query=1982+924&catAbbreviation=sss

...for the entire selection of postings dating back to June 19th of this year.

I see conflicting opinions regarding the existence of a dash cover. I shall certainly turn a keen eye towards that as well as the covered seats. The seller claims that the seats are not in perfect condition. He seems to come off as a bit of a "drop it off at the shop" type of a fellow.

Many, many thanks to all of you.

[kgalle]

This is one of the best forums I have ever experienced. I can't respond fast enough.

Most other 924's I have seen are turboed and a few thousand dollars more than this one. Not to mention the "Arrest Me Red" color that seems so popular.

I am going to offer him $2,000.00 if I am satisfied with the vehicles overall condition.

I won't make a move without consulting the Sages residing within this marvelous Tabernacle.

[kgalle]

In reponse to CarFax's vintage limitations. I reviewed that a moment ago and it "bottoms out" at 1981.

[Min]