Nearly 6 months into my ownership and I thought it would be a good time to do an update on progress.
Some jobs I've tackled myself but the more complicated stuff has been left with Northway Porsche near Reading as we've known Ray for nearly 30 years and have never had an issue with their work.
The simple stuff was to get the wash wipe system up and running, getting the passenger door mirror to work on all 4 axis, tightening up both door mirrors, tracing a small water leak around the rear hatch and a few cosmetic fixes. The wash/wipe system was basically blocked non return valves and a washer bottle full of crud which was fixed after a couple of hours dismantling the pipe work, replacing the valves and flushing the whole system through several times.
The mirrors were fixed by a loose wire and a few turns of the internal retaining nuts and the main culprit letting water in the hatch was the lock mechanism which was solved with some butyl tape. I think there may still be a few dribbles getting in through the drivers side rear quarter light so that'll need to be looked at in the near future.
The car is in incredibly good condition for its age and it seems that the previous owners (I'm No. 12) have generally looked after it quite well which is really good news. Having said that it's definitely had paint on pretty much every panel but it doesn't appear to have been in any major catastrophes since all the front and rear structure is original and apart from a bit of dirt and some surface rust the underneath is really clean.
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Mechanically the good news continues, from an abundance of caution it's just had a major service including a new water pump and most of the issues identified from the pre-purchase inspection have also been rectified. The small oil leak from the gearbox turned out to be a diff seal and the CV boots were starting to perish so those were all done at the same time since the exhaust and drive shafts were coming off anyway.
The leak from the high pressure hose on the power steering turned out to be the washers where the union connects to the rack which it seems were the wrong size so that was a quick (and cheap) fix and the hopefully the weeping sump just needed a little tightening of the bolts. If not that'll be a job for next time as it wasn't too bad before and I know it's a pretty lengthy job to fix it.
I also wanted the odometer fixed. I know this is a common problem for older Porsches but the 928 seems to be more complicated than 993s etc. and it seems that was the case with mine. However while the dash pod was out it also gave us the opportunity to fix a couple of electrical gremlins so I now have dash lights and we think a heated rear screen but I've yet to test the later in anger so we will see.
The next jobs are in the main cosmetic and nice to haves apart from needing to fix the excitement circuit as the alternator only kicks in once you've blipped the throttle. We thought this might have been down to the feed from the dash but it's now looking like it might be the voltage regulator and I can live with that for a while.
Cosmetically, while the bodywork is solid the paint needs to be sorted out. Currently it's what I would call a 10 foot car but any closer and you can start to see some of the issues so it's booked in for a full detail which I hope will help.
The air intake tubes are looking a little worse for wear and I gather these can be replaced with the later versions but at around Ā£300 for the pair and that they seem to be doing their job this is not a priority at the moment. In addition, the foam on the bonnet is missing but that's further down the priority list as well.
The interior is generally in good condition but needs a few things done. The door cards have delaminated and the seat squabs need restitching as the material has started to separate and the leather needs a refresh but all of these will get done over the next few months. There's also an annoying rattle coming from behind the drivers seat which I think might be the rear passenger seatback hinges being loose but will find out more when we get the front seats out for repair.
I also have a few nice to haves on my list which include replacing the stereo with something a bit more in keeping with the car like maybe a Blaupunkt Frankfurt and I'm a bit disappointed with the noise from the exhaust so will look at potentially an x pipe conversion or maybe a rear box delete so if anyone has any experience with these it would be great to hear about them and perhaps any recommendations.
So after 6 months what are my thoughts. Most peoples initial reaction when I told them I'd bought the car were a little shocked and the words "brave" and "daft" (other similar words were used as well) were heard many times. But I really like it, like driving it and so far feel really happy that I've taken the plunge. I know its not going to be cheap to run and I know that it will likely let us down at some point in the future but I feel lucky that the car is in incredibly good nick, that the previous owners have really looked after it and that hopefully by fixing all the known issues now and keeping on top of maintenance it will give us a great deal of pleasure while we've got it.
Thanks to 2 previous owners, Dave and Kevin for doing a good job at keeping it up together and I'll hopefully see some of you at a few events this year.
