924Board.org

[mjn]

hello everyone I've owned a few porsches so my nephew asked me to help him find a 924. I'm new to these "water pumpers" so I'm not quite sure on some of the more subtle nuances of these cars. (I haven't driven a front engine in a long time-968-5years ago, and have never driven a 924 before we started looking. We test drove a 931 the other day that had some very noticeible issues and I was hoping for some expert input.
1) very loud turbo whine
2) clutch seemed very light
3) engine fan wouldn't turn on
4) very slight steaming from radiator after test drive
5) battery pan was rusted and repaired with fiberglass
6) minor eletrical issues (windows & headlight motors inop)
7) very heavy/difficult steering
from reading though past post none of this looks too major (or does it?) any help on what it might take to rectify. Is it worth it to get the blower or should I look for a n/a (cost-complexity) asking price is $2300 any Idea on what to offer. sorry for the extended post. any help would be great, thnks in advance.
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1958 356 (sold)
1962 356b t-6 super (sold)
1989 speedster (sold)
1995 cab (stolen)
1994 mustang cobra
2001 ducati 748s r-mod track bike
2001 mv agusta f4s

[Druman]

Welcome to the board!

$2300 sounds like a lot to me, for the problems it seems to have. You can probably find one much cheaper, and in better condition.


7osh
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87' 924S non-sunroof (Red) 45K miles
85' 944 "early" NA (Red) 130K miles

PORSCHE pisses excellence...

[Ozzie]

Run
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Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance

[924RACR]

Welcome! In response to your points:

1) that's part of the fun!! I hate it when I can't hear the turbo.
2) I wouldn't categorize these clutches as particularly heavy. Still wouldn't hurt to check hydraulics for leaks, etc.
3) Easy enough to fix, that's just wiring or even just the switch. It can be turned on manually using the AC switch, if the relays are working.
4) That's a bit of a concern, though not unfixable. Worst case, might need a new radiator (unless that was rain or condensation steaming off)... not horribly complicated
5) This is a no-go, in my book. Find one with a good body - unless you look forward to spending 1k or so having that fixed properly.
6) Learn to love your voltmeter... electrical problems, starting with bad grounds, are not uncommon on these cars. The added electrics in the 931 only make it worse (till you fix them).
7) You do know these don't have power steering, right?

In my experience, Turbos cost around $3k+ for a decent running driveable one. You know the drill, sounds like; for every penny on that you save on purchase price, expect to spend it in parts. I just got a pristine non-runner locally off of Ebay for $700. I finally got it running yesterday, and that's at the cost of about $1000 worth of parts. And the windows still don't work (haven't even tried the headlights yet). Figure a price of $5-6kUSD if cosmetics are nice.

The turbos definitely are more complex to work on - much more like a 911, it would seem (can't speak for sure, haven't dealt with any 911's myself to be true)... NAs in contrast are about as tricky as a same-vintage VW - IOW, not that much.

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

[924guy]

ive heard allot of complaints about heavy steering in the early cars, but never found it a problem myself. the 931 is actually very nimble if everything is working correctly, except at very slow speed. it gets progressively quicker the faster you go. tire size can also play a part as well. id say if your making a turn at a rolling speed and still having issues, theres a problem, but any turn under ten mph will take a bit of effort.
slight overheating could easily be from an improper air bleed of the coolant system, there a bit tricky sometimes to get the bubbles out completely.
rusted battery tray is common, and its a pita to fix properly. im yanking my engine and dash to improve my access to take care of mine, though im doing other stuff as well , its not just to fix the battery tray.

i agree that price is a bit steep, but if its a car that you still want to play with, and have the ability to get in order yourself, it might be a decent deal if you can get it under $1500 or so, it will require at the very least another $1500 to bring up to par, probably twice that. if the cash is available, find a better specimen..
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Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

[mjn]

thanks for the replys. the steering on this car was very difficult you almost had to pull the wheel from side to side tug of war style. I am pretty formilar with manual rack porsches just not ones with the engine sitting on top of the rack (356's are zero effort at anything above a dead stop). I'm not too concerned about the batt box it's what might have rusted out under the tray (once again 356's most common rust area but nothing but asphalt underneath).I don't mind the turbo whine just worried it might be exessive (wornout?).ditto for clutch, near wornout, is it a big deal to change a clutch out? thanks again
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1958 356 (sold)
1962 356b t-6 super (sold)
1989 speedster (sold)
1995 cab (stolen)
1994 mustang cobra
2001 ducati 748s r-mod track bike
2001 mv agusta f4s

[Lizard]

the 931 clutch is abit of a PITA but isnt tooo too bad.

the turbo is probably not in tip top shape and plan on a rebuild soon regardless of the 931 you buy.
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3 928s,

[Chris71]

Hmm, might even be worth importing them over here. I think a good turbo is about £3000 - best part of $6000
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(ex) 1988 924S