924Board.org

[staticsan]

Most of us have got gripes about previous owners. They go along the lines of "what idiot did that?" Well, pulling the doors apart to swap them with standards compliant ones, I found a new tranche of PO idiocy in mine, so I thought I'd open up a topic for anyone to vent: It is most annoying when you need three or four screwdrivers to pull all the screws off the door card because some clown working for a PO decided to rummage in their "spares" one day for screws. :-/ It's minor, I know, really. But still; it shows people didn't appreciate it.

I've ranted before about hoses patched instead of replaced, and intake ducting that barely worked because of splits when they obviously couldn't be arsed buying new rubber (since replaced). Or the welding of the seat rail to the floor when the hole tore instead of taking the time to do a decent repair (also done). Or the non-original rear struts which means the demister fuse blows (cabling disconnected until I reach that on the ToDo list).

Or get this: the patchwork respray leaving almost every panel a slightly different shade of red, none matching the original colour . And the original Guard's Red is easy to make more of. And it looks so much better than *any* of the colours currently on it... A closed-door respray from my local car-painting place is now firmly on the ToDo List.

At least my 924 has survived all these depridations and otherwise handles well and goes even more like the scalded cat it is now that the engine has had a proper service.

Wade.

[Rattlinbone]

Oh, man, the PO of MY car did some terrible things. I should have known just by looking that things were going to get bad. He had painted the block ORANGE. Well, the engine was not working well, if at all, and would blow smoke enough to kill every mosquito in Boise. So I had the engine taken apart is the mechanic said it appeared that the PO had tried to re-hone with a power drill. Not a drill press, a hand drill. That did not work so well, it appears and my mechanic had the cylinders bored out to 2nd oversize and sourced some custom pistons to repair the problem. And they painted the block black.

Oy
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Fred- 1979 924

[Rasta Monsta]

That is all part of the P.R.O.G.R.A.M.*

*prior retarded owner's grievous repair attempt miscalculation
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Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[SilverGhost]

The PO of my car was so tight he tried to patch the $3 plastic elbow in the camshaft oil feed with what looked like a piece of clock spring.

Rather than replace the faulty thermoswitch in the radiator, he "created" an arrangement (which didn't work) to control the fan using (I guess) something he found in his junk box, a relay and lots of wire.

Why fix the horn pushbutton (which was actually quite easy to do) when you can chop a hole in a difficult-to-reach-while-driving place in the dash and fit a big, ugly pushbutton?

His wiring modifications were a nightmare to decommission and remove.

He did many other really, really stupid things too. During the first few weeks I had the car, most of the time I spent on it was putting things back to the way they should be.
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"Priscilla" 1981 924 NA RoW auto, metallic blue

[staticsan]

I think too many people have seen "ooh! cheap Porsche!" without bothering to find out quite why they were a fraction of the price of a similar vintage 911. I suspect my immediate PO was like that, but had the good sense to sell it when it was more than he bargained for.

Wade.

[SlayerSST]

--

[Rasta Monsta]

One of my faves: our first Chump Car (an 83 944) had heater hose between the fuel tank and pump. That $15 molded piece is just too damn expensive!
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Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[brealytrent]

PO decided since the perfectly fine fan switch wasn't working right, he would just cut the wires and install a little switch on the center console. All he had to do was clean the contacts!
Also, the Turbo's wiring is pretty screwy, there's a regular thick appliance-type cable running behind the glovebox! The PO must have had some sort of crazy audio setup in the car...Also a random switch beneath the dash that doesn't appear to do anything.
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1977 Porsche 924 - sold
1980 Porsche 931 - sold
1984 Porsche 928 'S2' Euro - sold
2016 Ford Fiesta ST - sold
2009 Porsche Cayman

[fiat22turbo]

Hmm, PO used wheel spacers/bolt pattern adapters to widen the track and fit 5x130 pattern wheels to the stock 4x108 pattern. Yet, someone spent much money on huge Weltmeister adjustable sway bars for it and Carrera GT-style fiberglass bodywork.

Yeah, love those DPO's!
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Stefan
1979 924 Carrera GTS (clone-ish)
1988 944 Turbo S (Silver Rose)

[Slam]

Off the top of my head (most found in the 79 parts car we have):

Heater hose for snailshell shift bushings...
Home-made banjo bolts! Just take any old bolt that'll fit and get yer drill out!
How about cutting through the floor to get to those snail bushings - and crushing a brake line WYIT.
Spray foam is good dash sealer, and Home Depot junction boxes make great grounding harnesses.
Who needs new intake boots when clear silicone can be had anywhere.
More Bondo!
Princess Auto sells lots of toggle switches, and all you gotta do is drill holes in the dash to mount 'em!

There are more...
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'84 944 - kid blew motor
'83 944 - resting comfortably. For 12 years
'87 944 - sideswiped by trucker
'80 924 - gone
'78 924 - gone
'77 924 - rusting comfortably

[ideola]

On SONIC: more electrical hacks than you can shack a soldering iron at.
On the original UWB donor: paper-and-wire accordion-style hose from the intercooler to the throttle body (and a bunch of other red neck engineering)
On SPIKE: same heater switch hack listed above...and the rear shifter bushings were installed backward to boot.
On the original ClubSport donor: drilled a hole in the upper charge tube to mount something, then changed their mind and wrapped it with duct tape. Not to mention, there were no bolts holding the turbo bracket to the block, and over half of the exhaust manifold bolts, studs, and nuts were missing.
Even the 937 was not immune: Hack-job home-made alternator mounting bracket that was cock-eyed, not allowing the pulley to align correctly or proper tensioned to be maintained on the belt.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

[RC]

[ideola]

Ask and ye shall receive! Laugh away!

Original state of the UWB intercooler and charge pipe setup:




Bodged-up charge tube original to the Euro 931 (soon to be Club Sport):

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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made