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So i recently found somebody near me with about 7-9 nonworking 928s in their backyard. I was going to try and buy some up and make functioning car. He has 2 manual ones in pretty rough shape, I wanted to go for his nicer one which would run me $1200 (car will need wheels interior doesn't have intake manifold forward to air tubes on it and i just would really rather go the worse one that was wrecked for 300 in the same condition minus a bad passenger fender and suspension (the wheel is collapsed so im guessing a control arm or tie rod as it is turned pretty far out.) my worry is that the damage extends to that front frame rail. The car looks straight at the body lines and. i was worried at first about both headlights being out of place at first till i learned they were connected by a rod. Right now without pictures id like advice for what to look at to see if its got a bent frame if anyone might know also any components that lie behind that fender. i will try to get pics later but for now i have made some pretty terrible paint images to try and represent it. Also no worries to tell me it isnt really salvageable ill just grab. the other frame, and if anyone wants me to search for some parts in those cars let me know. (all the interiors are terrible though.) cars are pre 1985 models although i don't have specifics.
Last edited by Jacob Hallenbeck; 12-19-2017 at 06:26 PM.
The best thing to do in a case like this is make your cross measurements under the hood. I would pick a spot at the side base of the windshield, and the rear bolt of the top cross brace. measure from left to right, and then make the same measurement going the opposite way(like an X) and compare the two measurements. This will give you the best idea if the front truss area has been affected. There's also twist to consider, but that's much harder to measure.
Update: went back to get pictures and take a second look after moving away some of the brush and found the lower control arm had pulled the frame out and there was more damage than i remembered, as such i wont be using that one. here are some pictures of the one i will be getting instead, no apparent rust in any wheel wells or any of the normal places but there is some on the roof and passenger quarter as the pictures will show. i don't plan on using the engine from this car, my other question being will a 1984 year engine fit into a 78/79? (not sure which yet but it has the 10 digit VIN so it cant be newer than those i believe.) project will be a full strip overhaul, timeline 2-3 years hopefully or atleast till street use. does anyone see anything in the pictures that worries them as far as body and frame goes? picture of rust with white paint is at the hatch, car doesnt show much signs of water leaking in anywhere but i dont have hopes for the interior anyways.
Like docmirror says. take measurements...If you have the Dimensions & Specs. booklet, that lists 'landmarks' to measure from. I'll see if I can find my file on it & post it for you.. Another dimension to check is the distance between the front a-arm/tow hook mount inner bolts in front.
Like docmirror says. take measurements...If you have the Dimensions & Specs. booklet, that lists 'landmarks' to measure from. I'll see if I can find my file on it & post it for you.. Another dimension to check is the distance between the front a-arm/tow hook mount inner bolts in front.
I checked the frame on the damaged one today and saw alot of damage on the underside i didnt want to deal with this one is straight, he was planning on restoring it but ended up deciding to sell alot of his vehicles instead. the chassis pictures is the "better one" he is asking 1200 for. but if bad measurments are a more common thing from age then i may measure just in case if you find that file. other than that im just worried about finding something nasty hidden under all that uhhh *patina* yeah thats what ill call it.
Step back for a minute and build a list of what that car will need to get it wherever you think it will need to end up. Then look at some of the offerings in the "928's for sale" thread. It won't take more than the top of the first page on your list to decide that the one you are looking at now has negative value. There are driving cars in the market at sub-$5k. The one you are looking at is $10-15k away from that just looking at the pictures. I'm sure there's more to that than what's in those pics, more to buy and do that is. Unless you can get him up to $10k or more and feel comfortable cashing his check, I strongly recommend that you continue shopping.
There's a lot of info in the "new visitor" thread stickied at the top of the first forum page. I am aware that 928's are moving up in the market these days, but there's still a large number of them that fall into the "Used Car" and "Running Projects" categories. Not saying that yard-find project cars aren't fun, just suggesting that you'll save bundles with a running car that needs work vs the one you've located in that guy's back yard. Some comparison shopping will add some valuable perspective.
bob i understand that that particular car is in about the worst state possible, my plan for working on this is to take it down to a shell first and build it back from there, i want to get this particular one because its a manual so i wont have to do any swapping, i will package this with another parts car where the engine is in much better condition than whats in this one now which i doubt i could ever get running. included with those 2 cars he has multiple others back there that i would also be able to pull parts from for very cheap. the honest fact is that i want to build the car myself in a sense. i have no means of keeping it close to authentic and would rather take multiple bad cars that would normally go to the crusher and revive them than buying good cars others would enjoy and turning them into my own thing. i also need a long term project as my boxster is a daily and my Saturn is getting a bit to expensive to modify (wanna talk about a money pit, invest 6 thousand into a Saturn) so a restoration project in my eyes meets those two in the middle. in my head i had already allotted myself about 4-5 thousand in just getting this to a regular running state assuming the engine and transmission are both in fixable states and don't need to be replaced. for all the other cars he has i have posted in the pictures thread and would rather not clutter this one with a big photos post. im still open to opinions and dont mind discussing it and i am by no means thinking ill come out on top in value. i do all my work myself as well if that changes anything not just mechanical but upholstery and paint body.
this will be the engine i will be using, although i plan on replacing all the hoses etc like normal.
Oh my goodness. The hard parts in a 928 are rarely what bleeds you dry. Blocks, cranks, gears, etc. are very sturdy. Anything rubber, plastic, or a wear part, though, are brutally expensive. And having a couple of junkyard cars, you're still going to need to replace all the plastic and rubber under the hood and elsewhere. And who knows what the state of ANY of those cars's wiring harnesses are, and there is a lot of wiring in a 928.
Spend some time with the PET parts list from Porsche Classic, and just use Sunset's online catalog to get an order of magnitude cost that you're looking at.
I would find a running/driving 928 and use that as a base for a rebuild. You should be able to find one for less than $3K and your bank account will thank you for it. These cars you posted are non runners and therefor you'll have no idea what condition the engine and the drivetrain are in. Use them ONLY for parts. 928s even in good condition are not worth nowhere near what a 911 does so when rebuilding one, the margin of profit is, at best, extremely small so start with something that's financially worth saving. These cars are not worth saving.....at least not yet.
Listen to these guys as they aren't steering you wrong. Those cars you are looking at need tons of money thrown at them. Spending $5000 on something that runs and looks decent will pay dividends later.
Hmm, ive gone a looked over prices on the hoses etc and can see what you guys are saying as far as that's where it bleeds you dry, in recent time i have not seen any for sale in my area unfortunately i am limited to how far i can go from home and would rather not buy a car without seeing it. does anyone know where one of these $5000 cars can be had in the lower east coast area? on another note what would you guys pay for those two cars if you had to buy all out under these assumed circumstances: the black one basically has nothing to offer but having 78-79 5 speed trans no sunroof and other than that basically being a chassis, and the burgundy one being a 84 auto that is there engine as you see it above and the fact that the dash forward looks to be pretty much all there and undamaged (rear is fine but interior is thrashed) in my mind he is high balling or doesn't know these cars worth (i was thinking they were worth 10k in needs work condition so im glad i was corrected) in my mind im thinking $1000 on both cars? im sure they would be worth more parted out but i doubt anyone wants to pull those parts instead of buy new. also any input on how the autos drive? i really enjoy stick as i can enjoy it more are the autos sloppy or are they pretty responsive and i would be able to enjoy the car with them? common maintenance differences?
They are not worth $1K. Since your can't test the engine or the transmission you should assume they are garbage. The rest of the car has hardly any value since most of it is too far gone. At most, these cars worth their scrap metal value and not much more. Think about it for a second, if the car wasn't in an accident then why was it parked? I would much prefer to buy a car that was in a collision, at least it was running when parked. Looking at the background in those pictures, looks to me this seller is a hoarder that thinks he is sitting on gold.
Buy a running car from anywhere with good paint and have it shipped. You can get something cross country for abut $1500 shipping. I saw a decent 86.5 5 speed on Facebook a couple months ago for $6500. You would be so much farther ahead with a car like that. You just have to be picky, but prepared to pull to trigger quickly when something like that pops up.
12-18-2017, 11:46 PM
Possible frame damage on purchase.
