924Board.org

[timstar92404]

i live in the vancouver , BC area and i'm looking for a 931 that is running and in very good mechanical and body condition. I don't know how long it will take to find a 931 like that but it seems like its pretty hard. I always check the buy and sell and buy sell website listing but in like a years time i have seen 4 931s for sale and 2 of them were in bad conditon and needed alot of work and one was going for 6 grand. I'm thinking 3000 to 3500 for a 931 i don't care if the paint is bad or if the interior needs fixing, like ripped seats or cracked dash but the body has to be good , no rust, bondo and electricals and mechancals have to work.

I don't really trust ebay or buying a car i have never seen in person.

There are tons of 944s for sale but i the maintenance is stopping me from getting one i don't really feel like going to a porsche shop and paying tons of money to tune up the engine plus it isn' t very convenient cus i don't have a porsche shop in my city.

Someone on this site also mentioned that turbos don't last long so how will i know if the turbo will fail after 5000 km of owning it or very soon?
And how much does it cost to fix the turbo or rebuild it?

Also what are the best years for the 931.

Also how does performance compare to a 944 n/a? i heard they are quicker.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[timstar92404]

do the pre 81 931s also have rust issues like the 924? cus my 78 has rust on the roof parts and i really don't want a car with any rust on it.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[PORSCHEV]

You can't judge a cars rust by the year of the car...it has ALOT more to do with the cars maintanance, was it stored, driven on salty roads in winter. For example..my car is 76 model, I stripped my entire car down due to paint build up and only found 2 rust holes the size of a quarter on the nose piece.

Now that you know where these cars are known for rust, you can inspect your next candidate. I have to comment on something......I read some of your previous posts about fixing your current 924 and it sounds like your throwing in the towel on that one because of rust hole near the sunroof. Any and all cars will need repairs at some point...why do you get discouraged so quick?
_________________
1976 924
5 lug conversion, 17'C2 wheels,custom body work,327 vette engine.

1978-#53 "D" track racer.

[timstar92404]

^^ cus the rust on the interior side of the roof alot of places between 2 gaps where 2 metal pieces overlap each other there is rust and there is no way i can sand in there and pretty hard to applya product except maybe spraying something but i doubt that would permenantly stop it.

I could get the por15 prodcuct and try and brush it there but i i can't clean in there or sadn the possible primer off then i don't know if it would od anything to stop it.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[timstar92404]

if the rust was on the exterior that would be no prop I would just sand it completely of and re prime and paint it. bt the interior rust will eventually eat throught the roof and wher the metal is welded together.
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[WA924-77.5]

I a no expert, but I improvise "without preconception", so in 1993 I get this 924 1977 and I had the same problem and feeling you have. The previous owner let the inner (body side) gasket of the sunroof go bad and the water infiltrated inside the headliner. 1-I took all the headliner off wherever I was not absolutely sure there was no problem 2-I sprayed the roof areas inside the car where there was some rust with "Extend" rust inhibitor (the affected metal was not the galvanized steel part) and basically kept putting Extend for a month(probably more) until I assumed it must have gone everywhere the water might have gone. Of course I eliminated any water leak. Then I watched the results...and the data is :up to 2004 the roof initial rust has not progressed Still have not replaced the headliner...but from where I see when I drive I am not seeing it...I have decided a long time ago that the 924 was to enjoy the "raw driving feel" not the perfection of the interior. But anyway since the rust looks like it is indeed inhibited or inert now, it would likely be OK to put back the headliner....I know, it sounds strange..a little.

[Lizard]

Tim,
a good 931 like you are asking for up here will go for $5k or MORE. the turbos last roughly 30k miles you can get more out of it if you treat them right, before turn off idle for about 2-3 min DONT turn it right off. and if you have a turbo timer and also do frequent oil changes. also with your mechanical ability I STRONGLY recommend that you stick with the 924, and if you think the 924 is a dog off the line well the 931 is even worse off the line as it has lower compression and less bottom end, once you hit boost in second gear that is when it begins to accelerate, the 931 will loose to a 944NA off the line and a US spec 931 will loose to a 944 overall, in stock form, the euro will catch up and pass it alittle due to higher boost. the 931 is easier to modify to gain more horse than a 944 as you can crank up the boost but then you have to worry about detonation, but to lower the intake temps and lessen the chance of detonation you would need to have an IC installed but due to the placement of the 931 fuel dizzy it is VERY hard to do so unless you go with an air water IC but then they are prone to heat soak in city traffic.

as per rust the 1980 and later cars are much better as they have fully galvinized bodies. but as pointed out how the PO took care of them makes a huge difference and the 924/931 are prone to rust in the fender behind the front wheels as they dont have a splash shield in there to keep the mud out. so without constant cleaning that will rot out. I also dont think you will be estatic about any porsches off the line performance except for the newer (993 +) turbos as they have low boost kick in and are quick, all the others are 6 sec 0-60 cars which is slow compaired to alot of the new cars. heck even the 928 was a dog off the line until you hit the power curve as they have track gearing and economy gearing.

So I stand by what I have said in the past STAY with the 924 until you learn ALOT about mechanics and can dive into ANY job on it. or wait till you have a VERY VERY deep pocket.

if you want a quick off the line car that is fun to drive get a 3rd gen Z28 chevy camaro with a 5 speed, lots of performance parts and you have a 350 V8 under the hood and short gearing to launch you into your seat, and then you will be able to take cars off the line.
_________________
3 928s,

[WA924-77.5]

I would think that most people on the site know, but just in case, this web site http://www.clarks-garage.com has been ultra helpful to me in "sorting out" my 944 (since April 2003..not taking any credit for actually doing much of anything though -I enrolled a team of experts for that!!). It would have been even better if I had known about it before buying one...

[WA924-77.5]

I just remembered AutoAtlanta has a 924 Turbo 1980 for sale $2000 looks like a good driver, would have to restore interior, see http://autoatlanta.com/carsales/924/93A0151848/93a0151848.html
(not personally connected to AA, even though I feel I owe them after bothering them with questions on the phone so much in the past)

[timstar92404]

thanks for the info.

i have seen 931a supposidly in good condition for 3500 or 4000

depends on the seller i think, there was a 77 924 for 6500 in the paper recently it said in excellent condition but i don't think anyone would pay that much even if it was mint
_________________
78 924 sold.
85.5 944

[PORSCHEV]

$6500.....if it was mint..wouldn't that be better then getting it for $4500 and dumping $$ into to make it mint??? Plus if your looking in a canadian paper .....take into consideration the exchange on the dollar..most guys are talking USD on this board.
_________________
1976 924
5 lug conversion, 17'C2 wheels,custom body work,327 vette engine.

1978-#53 "D" track racer.