History Repeats.. gifted 928

I vowed... I ****ing vowed I would never have another 928. Money pits. German GT. Pain in the *** to maintain.

And yet. Here I am.

The problem is doesn't run and prior technician ****ed up the engine removing tubing and various things..
Car was gifted to me by my friend Bob for 1$. Get it running and working as it should.
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Correct. A 79.

 

Correct. Early and a 5-speed.

**** me.

 

Interior is the usual after sitting for 4 years in the hot sun with occasional water leak from thunderstorms. Center console is delaminated. Rear seas have the water holes degraded leather in the lower seats. Main seats have lost the padding but have had enough leather care on them that I think will be OK.

Plan is to 1) get running, 2) replace any running gear issues Including the radiator and steering rack 3) Have fun with the interior replacing read seats and center console with leather if possible with new carpeting. Once it's running the fun begins with the interior which is the IMHO weak spot in the early cars.

I will keep everyone updated as the project progresses. And for the record.. I have been here before. The rub with my other 928 is I should have had the income to keep her in proper condition. I didn't then.. but I do now. Goal is condition like it drove off the lot in 1979.

 

So for today’s adventure, there is a protocol that one must follow when restoring a car that has been sitting. You must… must drain the old fuel. This car would not start and the “tech” had disassembled the vacuum system in the engine to find the cause for not starting.

The car has a half tank of old gas. When I disconnected the fuel pump to drain the tank.. what is wrong with the following picture for those who have worked on eighties porsches and European cars? ( answer in next post)
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the answer is no fuel is pouring out of the tank pump. It’s gummed up. Gotta replace it either with another pump or a strainer. So.. off to order some parts and drain the tank of the old gas. FYI.. removing the tank fuel sender unit is a great way of pumping out the old gas. A 944 sender supposedly works identically.

 

Let me answer this indirectly.

For those here who watch the movie where they find the old truck that has been sitting for year, get the keys and it sjust starts up.... or that thought that you had looking at that 944 in an overgrown back yard "ran when parked" years ago. Let me just say. No.

No.. it will not just start when you throw in the battery that you brought with you. This one was sitting for 3 years and you can see the in tank pump is toasted and gutted with rust.

donv... I drained the tank and today wiped down the inside with rags on a pole. It going to be a staged process. First, I bought a 30 dollar external pump on ebay for $40 and an in tank strained in lieu of internal pump for $60. A new fuel pump in the fender will be installed as well. First, get the car running and address the issues that I WILL have with the engine getting it to stay running. Then, replace with a proper in tank fuel pump and better german bosch fuel pump.
Fuel tank wasn't that bad with particulates, but all the old gas is gone.


Old pumps here:
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SO the first thought was to replace the in-tank pump with a screen to filter all teh crap out and then replace it with an in tank pump later... but the strainer didn't fit.

So I ordered the in tank pump for $1000 (!!!!! not made anymore by porsche) and installed it. With the in tank pump I also ordered a fuel filter. Not my first rodeo.

When I installed both, I noticed that there was no fuel pouring out of the line from the fuel filter to the engine. Interesting. So the line had been opened in the past and the fuel drained. Any new fuel will be filtered before it gets to the engine.

So I got 4 gallons of gas and put it in the tank. No leaks. Ready for the next phase... .

 

I put a fresh charged battery in the car and gave her a crank. The pumps whined!

I then took some gas and put it in the CIS air intake...

She ran for a few seconds! So spark and timing are good. I rechecked the timing and it was good as well. At least teh last tech did sonething right!!!

A few more cranks and she was running on 2 cylinders! Pressing on the gas resulted in a faster engine.

So now my job is to determine if its the injectors or the ignition. I suspect the injectors are clogged with rust. So I'm going to pull one and replace it with a spare I have around the house. If it runs better.. I know its the injectors. Cracking the fuel lines at the distributor and at the injectors tells me the fuel lines aren't rusted 100% shut. I'll Prob replace the plugs as well.

Once the car is running well and driving.. I'm going to backtrace and replace the fuel accumulator and fuel filter. It was rusted and I don't want a pressure leak and fire hazard. First things first... running smoothly.

 

Having the car run.. even on 2 cylinders is sooo encouraging. it was a pain to get here.. but when you see that non-runner on facebook marketplace for $700... start from the basics and move forward. You're going to have to know the car and recognize when a prior tech and ham fisted shade tree mechanic have messed up and that needs to be corrected. the techs problem (at a well renowned racing shop BTW) if he presumed the pumps were good. And I spoke with the prior owner today, the car was falt bedded to the shop. Prob not run in a good 5 to 8 years.

 

So an update to the adventure. Modern cars are so easy to fix. On the boxster or the 360, you remove 2 10mm bolts or somme hex bolts, and all the injectors just wiggle out.

The CIS K-jetronic fuel injection cars are different. You have to repair them like a mechanic fixing a panzer tank. The 928 is no different. You have to pull the injectors out of the rubber and metal fixture in the engine, and then rotate out the metal cap that holds in into the air intake.

I first tried it in the car. That didn't work. So I actually removed the air intake pieces, and then removed them outside of the car with a drill and a 12mm deep socket. If you rotate the metal injectors while pulling.. they just pop out.

Then, I used a 12 mm hex to turn off the metal caps. In three.. the metal cap rounded off. So I had to get a pip wrench and twist the cap off. Once its off the old rubber injector seal inside can be removed and a new one put in. 8 new injectors arrived in the mail. I pushed them into the rubber injectors and screwed them hand tight onto the air intake, now reinstalled on the car. The key is no air is sucked into the air intake around the injector.

In the interim though..
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While waiting for parts from ebay or the parts guys..

The interior can be refurbished. The back seats in 928's are always shabby. So I removed all of them and the center box. Using black glove leather stock from ebay.. I re wrapped some sections like the rear glove box from vinyl into black leather and cleaned the rear seats. with lexol and detergent. Sepcifically here on the rear glovebox, I did the glovebox lid and the part with the cigarette tray. The key is getting an even pull with the leather when you spray it with adhesive and get the leather cut so it pulls around the curves of the plastic.

I love the smell of a leather interior. Nothing beats the old german leather interiors. Reminds me of my dads BMW's (320i and 733i).

 

Including my last one its on the passenger side lower seat, top hatch seal leaks and water gets onto the leather. You see it on facebook marketplace 928's..