£6k budget - 928, 944 or 924?

[Richair]

GC8 said:

Wastegate shims? Replacement dual port wastegate?

The front bushes are no longer available in theory unless youre buying a whole new wishbone. Type911 have them listed but theyre extremely expensive for that they are. I had PU bushes fitted to match my 968 castor mounts, but theyre far harsher than Id have preferred.

Im enthusiastic about Dansk exhausts for normally aspirated cars, but Im not convinced about one for a Turbo yet. Id pick Janspeed given the choice, but whilst there are several people advertising them, Janspeed will only supply batches so getting one isn't as easy as it appears.

I'm undecided which way to go on the waste gate front yet, but I would like to do it properly and go the dual port route... More research is required on this however so I'm open to suggestions...

I was thinking polys for the fronts; I'm not normally a fan of these to be honest but if needs must. And as a weekend car I can live with some NVH, I'll just perhaps avoid the PF black series bushes. Or there's always the Elephant Racing rubber bushes which look good. First job will be to whip the wishbones off though to check the balljoints!

Thanks for the advice re. an exhaust; I've heard a few things against the Dansk for the turbo so I'll look in to this. I was under the impression Janspeed had stopped production for the 951 though?..

[GC8]

Theyre happy to make them and a few suppliers still list the part, but they have a minimum order level, so unless the dealer is prepared to buy ten or however many and then hold them in stock, theyre as good as unavailable. Simon at ESS used to do this I think, but Im not sure that he still does.

With regards to the wastegate: Id suggest buying a Tial off Jon Mitchell at JMG. The other alternative (other than a Tial from America which will need fettling) would be a 'Promax', which is really an over priced Lindsey Racing part. These are refurbed OEM wastegates and they work but theyre a bit of a lash up. Consider too that any damage to your exchange part means no refund and it gets very, very expensive for what it is.

The Tial is superior, its new and it can be used to replace a cracked original part.

[edh]

Richair said:

Yes I've spoken with Andy about the car via TIPEC, I'd exchanged a few messages with him before viewing which had me pretty excited about it tbh. Everything checked out well on the viewing and so far the car seems like a good buy.

The last owner, Olly (a PH'er) had to let it go after a very short time due to a divorce but not only had he had the belts, mounts and service done but she's also sporting a full set of new contisport boots.

The first jobs on the list are a new Dansk back box, 968 castor mounts, front bushes and probably Bilstein B6's all round. I'm also planning to fit a new HG prior to a few business end tweaks... I'm hoping this car will be a lot of fun!

It's a good one certainly - I didn't recognise it, looked grey in the pic.

Bilsteins sound a good idea - but the fronts will be inserts, and unless you have struts where the caps unscrew (not sure if early turbos did), you will need some machining work doing.

As for wastegates - I'd go for a Tial which you can run in single or dual port. A chip, DPW and boost controller gives you a big performance kick for not much money. After that I'd guess you start to be limited by the turbo. Check out http://www.augmentautomotive.co.uk/ as well.

[GC8]

Tom said that he could incorporate the functions of an electronic boost control into the Augment ECU, so this will mitigate the cost by quite a degree if you were going down that route.

[Richair]

Thanks for all of the advice guys! I certainly look into the tial options; I had a look at these at the weekend and they look like a very well made piece of kit. When I'm ready I'll get in touch with JMG; Jon really seems to know his stuff!

I aware of the front B6's being inserts, but this is no problem to me as can easily get hold of a set of mk2 golf struts to butcher and can weld. I don't fancy going down the coilover route as the car will mostly be used on the road with only occasional track use. Plus I'd like to retain as much originality as is practical.

[shoestring7]

A couple of points; if you're tall you might find the driving position of the 924s and early 944s difficult. For some reason known only to Porsche, the steering column is set very low so the wheel is down in your lap. It really affected the driving experience for me; the 85.5-on cars are much better.

Second, on a tight budget always buy the best you can afford. A 8v 2.7 that's been pampered is going to deliver a much better all-round ownership experience than an average S2, turbo or 968. Those can hit you for big bills for engine top-end repairs, a belt job is more expensive, there are problems with the 968 transaxles and the Brembo brakes need regular rebuilds as the callipers corrode, just for starters.

SS7

[blade7]

GC8 said:

With regards to the wastegate: Id suggest buying a Tial off Jon Mitchell at JMG. The other alternative (other than a Tial from America which will need fettling) would be a 'Promax', which is really an over priced Lindsey Racing part. These are refurbed OEM wastegates and they work but theyre a bit of a lash up. Consider too that any damage to your exchange part means no refund and it gets very, very expensive for what it is.

The Tial is superior, its new and it can be used to replace a cracked original part.

The Lindsey W/G is expensive but it fits straight on, works fine and I wouldn't call it a "lash up", I think JMG used to supply them a long time ago and He's said he reworks Tial and Lindsey both the same. I've read on Rennlist the adaptor plates for the Tial can be hard to source now.

[IMI A]

some good info on 944 turbo on this site. http://www.puppan.se/951vs930.htm

[rich888]

Seeker UK said:

I have managed to save £5k and want to buy a "high-days and holidays" car and something I can do some light tinkering and fettling on. However, for the £5k it has to buy it and keep a comfortable reserve for the invariable bork that will come along.

What I really want is a 928 but I don't think I'd get one with that budget. So that leaves a 944 Lux or S or a 924s or miley 944 S2. So, some questions:

How much should I spend on the car and how much should I keep back?

Are 924s / 944s relatively easy for a mechanical novice such as me to do some fixes on?

Yeah, I know the turbo / s2 are the fastest but this is more about a car that's fun to drive - do they fit the bill?

Doing reading on the web, the 2.7 lux seems the best / safest bet for a Porsche noob - do you agree?

Thanks in advance

Hi Seeker UK and it's great that you are considering buying a 928. Must say that the Porsche 928 has been seriously under-valued for a great many years but is now rising in value.

If the 928 is what you hanker for then stop mucking about and buy one before it is priced out of reach, I speak from experience when I held back on buying a Countach in the mid 1990s for £35,000 and am now kicking myself.

This is the second 928 I have owned, is the latest addition to the household, is an S4 so has the rumbling 5 litre V8 which sounds sensational whether pottering around town or going for a blast along a country lane or an unrestricted motorway, and I am thoroughly 100% chuffed to bits with it.

As regards mpg, well I average 21 no matter how I drive it - fast, slow, town, motorway, though I do know 3rd is good for 121 mph on the one occasion when I was younger when I left it in 3 instead of D.

Also worth noting is that in 1990 the fuel injection system was improved so might explain why some 1990 variants are more economical or worse than others. As a downside, the new version no longer offered the ability to enhance performance (and reduce the economy!) as easily by a little turning of a single knob.

Am sure the 924, 944 and 968 models may be cheaper to run, but there really is no substitute for what was once regarded as the flagship Porsche and might well have replaced the 911 if Porsche hadn't been so damn arrogant and off-hand with their loyal 911 customer base. And that V8 exhaust note is truly sensational.

I would recommend that you speak to the Porsche 928 guru Paul Anderson in Stroud, who specialises in servicing the 928 models whether it be an original 1977 928 or a late edition 1994/1995 928 GTS. He's very down to earth and knows these cars inside out. He may well know of a decent 928 model up for sale that may suit your budget.

Visit http://www.928.org.uk/ where there is a tremendous amount of information provided about the ownership of the Porsche 928.

Can honestly say that no other car I have owned has put such a smile on my face when I started her up or took her for a drive.

[ukkid35]

Why do you really want a 928?

It is a totally different car to the 4 cylinder Porsches, a really great Grand Tourer. However the thing that should really put you off are the fuel costs. If, as you say, you are prepared to do some spannering, then fuel will be your biggest cost of all. Over £100 to fill the tank and unless you are very light footed then you'll rarely see more than 300 miles on a tank.

My car is now used solely for intercontinental holidays, although I used to track it regularly. Recently a long weekend in Rouen cost over £200 in fuel, the last trip to Corsica via Zurich cost nearly two grand in fuel.

As well as the incredibly knowledgeable people on the 928.org.uk email list, there is the superb Rennlist community (mainly in the US) and the excellent US parts suppliers like 928sRUS and 928Intl, which helps keep maintenance costs quite manageable. Unfortunately there are some RHD parts that you can't source from the US that are eye wateringly expensive, check the cost of a new expansion tank for laugh.

I don't know how well other models fare regarding corrosion, but one of the reasons I bought mine was because the 928 has excellent corrosion protection, something to seriously consider when buying a 25-30 year old car.

Edited by ukkid35 on Wednesday 26th February 14:17