Mongo

Damnit. I don't think I can wait till next Saturday to see it.

The paint is a little beat up on it based on the pix, but I will polish it up before assessing what really needs to be done.

On a side note, this is only my 4th impulse buy and this car is considered a barn find.

chadcorn

Definitely gonna need updates on this one. Sounds like a good story

Mongo

Kind of worried. There is no information on chain tensioner pads being done on this car. Records show the water pump and timing belt were replaced 2 years ago by the original owner.

Car has 98,000 miles. Should I drive it back feather-footing it 10 hours to SF?

Gator_86_951

Intercity would be under $2k right? I would be inclined to intercity that car, even if it is in a little rough shape. Open transport would be cheaper too.

curtisr

A quick cover-off look-see should put your mind at ease, no? Perhaps with an inspection camera? Could you arrange for a local Pcar person to do what ever you need?

My wish would be to drive it home...

jeff968

IMHO, I think you would be fine to drive it back "as is" since the belts were recently done.

951Dreams

Maybe I'm just tired, been fighting drum brakes for 6 hours. (Don't ask).

Chain pads.... Timing belt??? If it's not a timing chain that runs on the chain pads... What is it?

Sorry, might make more sense in the AM...

FRporscheman

The 968 has a timing belt running the exhaust camshaft (like the 944/951 timing belt), and a timing chain connecting the two camshafts together. The chain tensioner has plastic pads which are wear items.

PorscheG96

You should be fine driving it as-is. Only the most avid 968 owners change those pads and having them break isn't a guarantee. You just hear of it happening occasionally.

951Dreams

Sooo.... the 968 has a timing chain... AND a timing belt?? Wow! That seems.. convoluted. Forgive my lack of knowledge here, I've mainly focused on the N/A's so Turbo's, S's, S2's and 968's are still a bit of a mystery to me on some things. I had thought the S's and/or S2's (16v in other words) had timing chains instead of timing belts. Did they go back to a belt on the 968's? Or am I just tripping?

Maybe it's just this connecting chain I've heard tell about, and assumed it had replaced the belt.

I know Ian with 944online has a thread about the pads breaking, for a while he was getting several people a month who had lost the chain due to the pads. I had gathered it was as big a deal as the belts, abet with a much longer change interval.

But from what I gather, Jeff is a guy in the know on these cars. So if he says it's good, I'd personally be prone to trust that. And get it done myself ASAP. I'm a big fan of Zero Time parts. That way you never have to wonder!

jpk

All of the 16v heads use both a belt and a chain. This may also be true for the 16v 928's, but I don't know for sure.
The belt turns the front of the exhaust cam from the crank. The chain runs between the exhaust and intake cam in the middle of the head.
In the 968's, Porsche introduced "variocam" to vary the intake valve timing relative to the exhaust; they did this by putting a hydraulic tensioner (operated by engine oil pressure and controled by an electric solenoid) that could adjust slack in the timing chain; push up on the chain loop and the upper loop gets longer which would retard the intake cam, push down and the lower loop gets longer which advances the intake cam. (I might have that backwards, but that's the basic idea...)

BoulderGeek

This is awesome. I love the "small world" vibe of true enthusiasts.

I signed to do a fly & drive on my new-to-me Cayman, too, next weekend.

It will be sad to say goodbye to my lovely 944, but 295BHP before mods will really be nice.

Mongo

16v 928s have a timing belt only and are single overhead cam.

Trip is delayed due to title transfer issues

However, the car is de facto sold.

951Dreams

Sorry to hear of the delays..... I know that must be driving you crazy!!

Thanks guys for the info. I know much more about these cars than I did yesterday, so WIN WIN!!!

mytrplseven

Zero time parts?? Exactly the philosophy I cling to on the restoration of my barn find 951. One less thing to put you off to the side of the road, right? Good luck on the car.