924Board.org

[brian19600]

Good one!
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78 924

[jacobroufa]

Intentions for 2018:

* Rear shocks and front strut inserts all need replaced
* Front strut tower bushes while I'm at it
* Rear wheel cylinders (both are weeping slightly as of when I changed the brakes last year) and brake hoses all around while the system is emptied for the cylinders.
* Install the plugs/wires/cap that I picked up at the end of last year
* Hatch seal (mine is falling apart)
* Steering wheel -- probably going with a Momo

At some point I should probably find a new radiator and early coolant expansion tank that is not cracked at the dimple. I need to also replace the speedo gear per earlier in this thread. I would also like to clean out the injectors and replace any if needed. After I did the fuel filter last year there was still some hesitation. If it is still there after I update the plugs/wires/cap I will probably do this.

Basically now I just have to wait until after Tuesday to find out how big my tax bill is going to be this year, in order to budget all this stuff. I still have lots to do on my '71 Westfalia as well, so that might take higher priority than the 924 yet again. TBD!

Dan, when are you going to be out of winter hibernation and starting 924 Fridays again this year?

[ted von Kampen]

Thanks for the posting. Your 924 looks identical to mine. I have a 1981 924 that I have been rebuilding. Been working on it for about 2 years. Many, many issues to be solved. Mine has the same wheels even. I have gotten it running now and am working on the interior. Mine was torn up pretty bad so had to recover door cards, rebuild one seat cover, clean, clean and more cleaning. I am now recovering my dash. I did it once and it was not happy so am about to have an upholstery shop do the recover. Got the material for seats, door cards and dash from ebay. They have a very good match for the tan. on the seat centers and the door cards.

MY carpet was also faded and was faded to green. I tried re-dying but could not get it to set. I found that using steam did set the dye but a real pain to do. The carpet had some worn spots so I found the Home
Depot has a carpet that is almost a match to the one in the car. I can send you pn from home depot if you are interested.

I do have a spare steering wheel and also a passenger door window motor. I will have to check that but I think it is for the right side. If interested PM and I will check it out. I have some other parts.

I found a source for used 924 parts that is in New Hampshire. Prices are pretty good. I found them on ebay. If interested let me know and I will sent to you.

I have yet to drive mine. Maybe this summer I will get it on the road. Almost done. Glad you enjoy your car. That gives me hope.
Ted

[ted von Kampen]

I pulled my dash and instrument cluster. Cluster is easy, two screws at top of opening. Remove and pull the cluster out and disconnect. Been about a year since I did this but I think that was all I needed to do. Removing the dash is not too hard either.
Ted

[ted von Kampen]

I pulled my dash and instrument cluster. Cluster is easy, two screws at top of opening. Remove and pull the cluster out and disconnect. Been about a year since I did this but I think that was all I needed to do. Removing the dash is not too hard either.
Ted

[jacobroufa]

Very cool, Ted! I'm happy to see that there are several Weissach Editions on this forum. It's nice to have a reference and camaraderie!

I'll take a pass on the HD carpet though -- I'm intending to keep mine as original as possible. I might try my hand at dying the carpet at some point this year though!

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So I did everything I set out to do for last year.

Steering wheel got replaced with a cheapie white leather wrapped vintage sport wheel I found at a VW swap in April instead of a Momo. It'll probably stay that way until I can re-stitch the stock wheel.

I did not get a new radiator or expansion tank, but I did rig up a switch in the cabin to turn on the radiator fan... I will probably find a new radiator this year and install the colder switch I have. It's not a huge priority, but if that doesn't happen at least I will wire up a relay for the fan instead of a switch so it's less likely to fail and will have shorter wire runs.

I also did plugs/wires/cap/rotor and replaced all of the smallest diameter vacuum line with the quality German braided hose. I still need to replace the tees and connectors but only one of them was really bad. I also need to replace the larger diameter hose. Sometime before the season starts that'll get done...

I did the speedo gear as well, and replaced every interior bulb with LED, but the speedo gear stopped working within 20 miles. I will be pulling it again and using a dab of super glue. I hope that works, because I don't feel like sticking my hand in the death trap dashboard any more!

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This upcoming year though! 2019! I'm stoked.

On Wednesday next week I'll be taking the car to my mechanic's shop to live for the rest of the winter. He is an independent mechanic that specializes in older German cars -- he prefers working on MK1-2 watercooled VW and so has intimate knowledge of the CIS fuel system. He will be going through the fuel system from back to front, and maybe a couple other things while he's in there. Since it will be at his shop and I will have access to his lift, I am also planning to replace the clutch with his help. And since the exhaust has to be dropped to drop the torque tube I will put in new exhaust gaskets as well, and hopefully confirm and weld a minor exhaust leak. There's a rabbit hole here somewhere...

While it's at the shop too, I would like to remove the main battery -> alternator -> starter harness, take measurements, and make a quality replacement a-la the famed Iceshark kits (search Rennlist to see what I'm talking about). If this succeeds, I might be amenable to doing a limited run of cables or on a request basis. Since it's going to be an investment regardless (the crimper is a couple hundred bucks, and the actual materials for a single harness run about the same), I might as well offer that service to the community if it turns out well!

I may attempt to make a relayed headlight harness in preparation for H4s as well, so stay tuned for that...

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Goals for 2019:

* Fully cleaned fuel system
* No exhaust leaks
* New clutch (and related bearings, refreshed shift linkage while in there)
* No vacuum leaks -- I will be replacing intake and throttle body gaskets, the rest of the vacuum lines
* Cam oiler elbow (I have to take the intake off for gaskets; might as well just inspect and replace that at the same time)
* Battery cable

[ted von Kampen]

Jaco, Thanks for the update. I too have made a lot of progress in 2018. I got the new carpet installed, had the dash recovered, fixed the heater fan, installed a radio with electric antenna, reinstalled seats and actually drove it a little. The car had a new paint job when I got it (albeit 15yrs old but kept inside). I managed to drop a cover off the garage door opener and dinged the new paint and left a small dent. Once I got it going I got it licensed and insured so I could drive to a body shop and get it fixed. Did a nice job.

When I came back from the body shop I the car burped antifreeze all over the floor. Since I had this problem once when working on it, I pulled the radiator and had it checked. It did not leak and the guy said it would hold 22 lbs without leaking. So.... I put in a new waterpump and some hoses buttoned it up and it did it again. It looked like one of the hoses was leaking. Finally tracked the problem back to the radiator cap. Someone had put a 7lb cap on the car and that did not allow it to build pressure so it would boil and leak past the overflow. Finally got a 16lb cap and it worked fine after that. My heater valve would not work so I got a new one and installed that and some small hoses on the back of the engine. Finally got those in.

Also put a new speedo cable in. That also took awhile.

I finally installed the NOS front valance that I had painted to match the car and to replace the mangled one. Looks pretty good. Got a used black grill to install and that adds to the look.

During the course of all this work, I drove it several times. There was a lot of noise. When I had it apart I had changed the front wheel bearings but not the back as they seemed okay. However when I drove it they really sounded noisy. There were several noises so I put up on blocks and ran the engine and rear wheels. Good grief it sounded like there was gravel in the bearings. So I ordered some new ones and that is the next install over the holiday week. Never ending. When I get this all sorted out I want to check the AC out and see if it is worth salvaging. Maybe this next year I can actually drive it on the highway.

You said something about cleaning your fuel system. That was one of the first things I had to do. My pumps were solid varnish and the tank was full of it. So I pulled the tank to get it cleaned. Wow what a job.. had to remove the transaxle to get the tank out. I just put the one external pump back in as the in-tank pump was beyond salvage and they cost as much as I paid for the car. It seems to run okay with one pump. I bought a 944 in-tank strainer to replace the in-tank pump. The whole fuel CIS system was full of varnish. I diassembled and cleaned. I need to recheck the fuel flow through the injectors to see if they have equaled out. During this past year I put about 10 gal of no-alcohol premium in the tank and about 3 cans of Techron cleaner. I ran the engine a lot of times during the year so I hope the Techron cleaned up the last of the CIS varnish. If not, then I will have to rebuild the CIS.

I have a question for you...is the front end of your car complete? I mentioned that I put in a new valance and grill. But it still seems like something is missing up there. I wonder if there is another piece that fits below the bumper but above the valance. I wonder if you have any pictures of the front end taken down at ground level. If so let me know and I can send you a PM with an email to send them to.

Best of the holiday season to you and I hope that 2019 gets you 924 more completed. Regrds....Ted

[jacobroufa]

[jacobroufa]

Weissach is at my mechanic's shop as of last night... He will be going over the fuel system and possibly rebuilding the main battery-alternator-starter harness. I have requested if that happens under his care that I get dimensions and a mock for the purposes of sharing with the community. I have been tossing around the idea of getting the equipment to make some heavy duty harnesses a la the old Iceshark harnesses that once circulated Rennlist before that member passed... will see what my mechanic ends up doing.

Also while at his shop, he and I will do the clutch. Looking forward to that one!

Anyway, got the Turbo into the garage last night. Small successes in the winter months, ya know.

[jacobroufa]

I owe y'all a bump.

Picked this up on Tuesday from my mom's where I had it stored over winter. I really gotta get my act together on vehicle storage!

So last line in the story was that the 931 was taking the 924 place in the garage while 924 went to my mechanics. You all know where that ended up; that '80 931 is a hoot!!

So went to mechanics the Weissach did! Freshened up the battery harness and the fuel system, though it's not perfect it's a heck of a lot better than before it went there.

I still have a small start issue -- I gotta keep the revs up for the first 10 seconds or so before it'll idle out -- so I'll tackle that at some point. Otherwise, it's pretty bouncy compared to the 931. The car is lopey feeling; it's underwhelming until over 2000rpm when it comes on cam, and it really feels as though the engine mounts are worn, the way it idles.

Drives like a dream though -- it's soft and cushiony compared to the 931 and very much something I'd like to drive daily were it not for water ingress issues in the passenger footwell. It revs happily and once it's in the powerband it really doesn't mind getting out of its own way. So wild how different it is from the 931 though. The things I notice immediately on comparison are the seats and the grip. Oh sport seats how I love thee... nice and low and tight across the back; they really are ideal! But the wheels and the grip. Going from 7" and 8" wide 16s down to 6" wide 15s is WEIRD in this car. I will hold my tongue though until I've put decent rubber on it. Currently wearing aged Eagle GTs that may have plenty of miles left and are not dry rotted at all, but definitely feeling their age as grip is concerned.

On my immediate to do list are an oil change and to adjust the brake shoes in the rear. I also need to take a look at the hatch -- on the right side the latch isn't wanting to stay shut. The left side is holding well and the hatch rubber seal is fresh so it's more or less OK but I don't like the idea of it bouncing around too much. I will have to look this up and see what to do to adjust...

Home...

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1980 Porsche 931
1981 Porsche 924 Weissach

[jacobroufa]

Should have added that the clutch did not get done -- mechanic recommended against it to avoid the pain of dropping the torque tube. He thinks its fine and until it goes out completely (not just for the sake of doing it) recommends leaving it alone.
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1980 Porsche 931
1981 Porsche 924 Weissach

[Fasteddie313]

Sounds like a battery box project..
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80 Turbo - Slightly Modified

[jacobroufa]

[jacobroufa]

Changed the oil and adjusted the rear brakes, installed a fuzzy fitted dash cover and a vintage Leonard steering wheel. Drove a bunch...

Had some weird hesitation issues, mentioned here: http://www.924board.org/viewtopic.php?t=44607

Interior upgrades...



Closer shot of the wheel



It all matches pretty well, now my faded carpet and seats are really standing out! I am not sure how I feel about this wheel though. After my first drive with it, the leather is flaking off! It was not cracked or anything, just driving normally, and I look down and there's pieces of the thing. It looks nice for now; I'll just be gentle with it I guess.. I should just get my stock wheel restitched one of these days.
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1980 Porsche 931
1981 Porsche 924 Weissach

[Goldwolf]

It's amazing how well the Tweed held up. Almost every piece of plastic breaks or cracks. I have aspirations of redoing my entire interior. Can't do much about the fading
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1981 Weissach Edition #179