924Board.org

[PowerSet]

Hello everyone, been looking on the forum for awhile ever since I found a car that I've been in hard deliberation over for the past month or so.

To be honest I know I probably shouldn't get the car, especially considering my financial situation is almost non-existent, but to save it from going to a scrap yard, and to own my very own porsche, and even better a porsche I put the time and love into really makes it something I can't get off of my mind.

To start, here is the car

From everything I have been told it is a 1978 Porsche 924
The situation I've been told leads me to believe someone bought the car about 6 years ago as a project, but then family and life happened. Unfortunately I don't know how much faith I can put into someones words, but here is what I have been told.

About 5 and a half years ago the brakes and that whole system was redone, about 2 years ago the engine was completely rebuilt by a professional, and a brand new clutch was put in.

At that point the car was driven to the home, parked, and now they are trying to sell it.

The paint on it is utterly trash, the interior is completely destroyed, but when I went to check it out it still started right up(with a borrowed batter) and sounded pretty darn good, I expected a 4 cylinder to not sound anywhere near as beefy, but I suppose that could largely be in the exhaust.


It has a 4 speed manual in it, and the rear transaxle(although I believe those were in all of the 924's, but I know very little at this point)


The car seemed solid, but there are signs of rust around the top of the windshield, and around the sunroof, but the interior of the car all seemed dry,and it had rained a day or so before I went there, so I imagine if there are leaks they aren't terrible.

The underside of the car was caked in rust, but I couldn't find any signs of any holes or anything like that, and although the front seemed to have had some bondo work, the body does seem to be straight and solid(Then again, I know very little when it comes to cars so it could be horrible, but to me it looks good)


At this point it seems like he is about to get it towed to a scrap yard for a few hundred bucks just to get rid of it, so i want to try to make an offer of one or two hundred just to save it from the scrapyard and realize what i think would be many people dream of owning a porsche(albeit it isn't a 911, but I think the 924's, 944's etc were still a really cool car)


I don't have much experience with working on cars, but I am fairly handy, and I figure I could replace the seats with hopefully some secondhand ones, and I would attempt to refinish the dash as I've seen a few people do on here, and really just do my best to get everything running with the help of a mechanic friend and for now get it to run well, look like hell, and be roadworthy, and have it as a running project that I can slowly get to good condition how it deserves.


I don't have a budget at the moment, but I assume I'm getting into at least 1200-2000 of work on the car, but over a period of time, and since everyone here has alot more experience than myself, I figured I would ask my seniors of their opinion on whether I'm trying to get myself into a terrible mess, or if it seems like the price is right to try and attempt a timeless project.



I know it is especialy hard for anyone here to give me advice without seeing the condition of the car, so I hope my description is good enough, but as I said, aesthetically, the car is horrible and I can live with that being something done over time that I have the car, I assume that every panel and mat will need to be replaced or redone, and I know the car desperately needs to be painted, and that every hose and line underneath will probably also need to be replaced, and much more various things, as well as any seals and gaskets will possibly need to be replaced from sitting for two years, but honestly the big seller for me is the practically new engine and clutch.


Thanks for any advice, I look forward to hopefully being on here alot seeking advice, and sharing progress if this seems like a good plan to even some of you!

Anthony

[Khal]

[Jakkq]

If your going to do the work yourself and have the time. If your going to take it someplace when it has problems, your going to be paying a nice chunk for a "junker".
_________________
1979 Porsche 924- Snailshell
http://porsche924workblog.blogspot.com/

[PowerSet]

[Captain_Kirk]

Give it a try. What can it hurt? If it doesn't work out, you could sell the engine and get your money or more out of it. Offer the guy a little more than the wrecking yard will and let him know your going to try and save it. If the brakes and engine really are in good shape, then you have a good starting point. Hopefully you can get it inside to keep it dry. If you can't afford something, just wait, it'll come. I try and work on mine just a little each day or maybe a couple hours on the weeked. Sometimes I don't get around to doing anything for a couple of weeks. Instead of buying every coolant hose at once, I buy one or two a month, then one month I bought a new timing belt and tensioner. Soon I'll buy a water pump, then when I think I have everything, I'll redo everything on the front of the engine. It's much cheaper if the money dribbles into the car instead of alot all at once. Keeps the wife happy too.
_________________
1977 924na BlackSeaRD.com Torque Tube SuperBearings, Xenon air dam, 200# Weltmeister springs, Bursch header, 944 exhaust, Audi throttle body

[kcoyle]

This sounds like a tremendous headache, but everyone is different. I would call that car a parts car at best.
Personally, I can't buy a car that doesn't run and drive. It would make me nuts to looks at it every day just sitting there, but thats just me.

Buying a driver lets me;

1. decide if I even like the car and its worth keeping.
2. get some value out of it
3. find out what I can and can't live with in regards to repairs and prioritize them.

And call me a New Yorker, but I don't believe anything I'm told by a PO.
_________________
1982 931- Stock with MBC at 8psi

Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.

[PowerSet]

Well either way I plan on sitting on this decision for another week or so, but I have a feeling the excited kid in me will buy the car as cheap as I can get it, then the intelligent side will kick in, really dig in there to find out everything that needs doing, and if it's too much I'll just suck it up and part it out with a tear in my eye.

Who knows, maybe if I part it out I can up my budget a little and try to find something a little bit better.

But it would still be a really nice feeling someday to have turned what looks like a pile of junk into something really nice.

[PowerSet]

By the way, I grabbed the pics off the original ad, the interior is many many miles worse than what you can tell in the pictures, and he said he has the cover to the headlight in his garage somewhere(the lights do flip up by the way, tested that)





Actually now this is seeming to get me more and less hopeful, expanding my search a bit in an area not too far from here I see two cars, one 83 944 that is supposedly perfect(definitely looks great in pictures but pictures show very little) with a bent valve(still runs) for 900 obo, and one 87 924s that the timing belt snapped on but again the car at least in pictures looks fantastic for 750 obo, if either of those was as nice as it looks I could pick up the one I originally saw for a few hundred just to grab the engine and clutch out of as far as I think, or would that no longer be fesible at least for the 87 since I believe there was some big change in the 924's halfway through 85?

[Khal]

IMHO, unless you have epic dedication... and a budget to match... that car is scrap.
_________________
'80 924 Turbo

[emoore924]

Don't walk, RUN in the other direction. You could very easily spend $3k and have a $1k car that probably still doesnt run. This is not a sensible decision. There are much better choices.

[PowerSet]

At this point does anyone think it would even be worth picking up for a hundred or so for a good running engine as a backup if I got one of the actually good condition ones I've seen? I'm expecting that one with "a" bent valve(I'm guessing it could be more than one) and one with a snapped timing belt(so probably the same situation) might be easier to swap in an engine that hasn't been abused than to go through and replace valves, put on a new belt, time it, test compression, all that "fun" stuff.

[Khal]

[PowerSet]

[Khal]

[Khal]