My love of difficult (i.e., German) cars

Figured I'd make a thread to track my progress on my latest life choice. But, let's start at the beginning. Well, the beginning is my 3 series race car, which is for sale. It's fast, it's sexy, it handles great, but it's a modern BMW and I don't enjoy working on them. And, well...

Moving on, I bought a 1986 Porsche 944 about a year ago. I've wanted one since I was 18. It was a cool car with peak 1980s styling, and mine came with some awesome and rare Etoile wheels. I liked the wheels so much I managed to find a second set, seen here in this photo. 16X9 and 16X10, so honestly pretty beefy for an NA 944. But after refinishing the centers in the body color, damn they looked good.

I did a lot of work on this car, replaced half of the interior and the entire fuel system and a bunch more. Started fixing the paint. While I can appreciate a momentum car, this one was just never for me. Stomp the gas pedal and you're met with 144 mediocre horses, and I've learned I'm more of a horsepower guy.

Well, being an author has been nice to me and I needed a safe daily driver, so I found a good deal on a 2008 Cayenne GTS. I've always loved the 957 generation, and this one is great. 405 horsepower, air suspension, alcantara sport seats, the works. I put some lowering links on it and dropped it about an inch. I love this thing, as long as we don't talk about gas mileage.

So, I traded the 944 about two weeks ago for a 1981 Porsche 928 with a 5 speed. I was born in 1981 so of course I leaped at it, even though the 928 was in much worse shape than my 944. A lopsided deal, but that's okay. I'm much happier with the car. Now, I despise the factory phone dial wheels, so the very first thing I did was remove them and put my spare Etoile wheels on the 928. Looks great, fits nicely in the back with a spacer but the fronts stick out too much, so it's not entirely safe to drive. 

Honestly, if I can find some Etoile wheels in a 928 offset (which is like ET60 for the fronts) I'll probably jump at it. Otherwise I might try to find some old BBS wheels. Anything other than the ugly stock ones.

So, the 928. 2nd gear grinds, it has a small fuel leak at the tank. It was a single owner car until the guy died, then it sat for a decade until someone else bought it and passed it on to a young kid that just got started in real estate and spawned a love of old Porsches. He bought it and replaced the timing belt and a few other things, but ultimately doesn't have the time for this car so we traded.

So, now that I had two Porsches and was an Official Porsche Guy™ I decided to show the world the proper way. By getting a Porsche flag in front of my house.

Armed with two difficult cars and a 100-year-old house that also needs fixing, I set out to conquer the world. But hey, these are German cars. Nothing is ever simple, right?

The factory steering wheel on the 928 was in pretty bad shape.

And to be honest, it's just plain ugly. Nardi to the rescue. Yeah it's a fake one, but it's fine for now until I decide what I really want. Leaning toward a Prototipo.

The 928 is almost completely original, including the tape deck. It didn't work, and that bummed me. I like tapes. I have a lot of good memories jamming ...And Justice for All on cassette in high school. So I got a new tape deck and put it in.

It was a bit of a pain to get to in order to install, but overall went well. I turned on my car and...nothing. A slight crackle from the driver's side rear speaker and nothing else. Damn. Mine came with the factory amp, so today I replaced that.

Sorry for the sideways picture. Anyways, after hooking up the brand new amp, I turned the car on and...nothing. A bit more crackling. I still need to go through all the fuses and sort out the electronics on this beast, which will take a while. But let's shift gears a bit.

This is my fiance's 2012 Fiat 500, which she calls the Italian Fury.

A little beat up but mechanically sound. It weighs nothing and is quite fun to drive, but Cleveland roads had taken their toll on the steel wheels, and they weren't round anymore. Plus the rear end wanted to jump out every time we hit a bump. And the tires were bald. So, I got her a little surprise:

wrapped in 195/50R15. Night and day difference. She's a car chick so she cried when she saw it, she was so happy. And the car drove better as well, although the rear end was still wobbly. I poked around and saw the rear upper shock mounts were toast. So I put poly ones in. Incredibly easy with this car.

New vs old. Yeah, made a big difference.

This Fiat has 169K miles on it and just keeps trucking. And while these cars aren't known for their performance or collectibility or anything, she's owned it since it was new and loves the car. So we've agreed to turn it into an autocross machine while getting her something a little better as a daily driver. The wheels help, the bushing helps. It needs new shocks, and in order to be legal to autocross we have to lower it due to the higher center of gravity. It's all fun. Hmmm, maybe we should get a name for the car? Like a windshield banner that says "The Italian Fury" or something goofy like that. Oh, I know! "Bullethole Racing!" Why? Well, because the other night, she was caught in a drive-by. Ah, good ol' Cleveland.

So my fiance owns a house in a E36 M3ty part of town, because it's cheap. She's renting it to some friends now, as she's moving in with me. She went over to get some things the other night, hears a pop pop pop as she's walking to her car! A bullet struck about 3 feet away from her, right in the door.

Honestly the damage isn't that bad and it affects nothing. Buuuuuuut, these stories are never easy, right? So after the bullet exited the door, it dented the chassis inside the door.

And that's the problem. Repairing that is expensive, and this is an 11-year-old Fiat 500. It's not worth much. So, this was enough to total the car. We're in the process of buying it back right now, actually. It'll have a salvage title but eh, big deal. It's just going to be a fun car. I've almost convinced her to turn it into a 2000-challenge car, using the buyback cost as the price of the car (because it will be transferred into my name, so I'm essentially buying it for that price). So, if anyone has any good Fiat 500 parts, lemme know!

Oh, forgot to mention, there's a small dent in the other door of the Fiat from a previous drive by. Yeah, Cleveland. I'm glad to get her out of that neighborhood, needless to say.

Back to the Porsches.

My Cayenne had a small coolant leak. Mechanic told me it was my steam vent hose, so I bought one and put off fixing it because it was a slow leak. The other day, the fiance called me and said the car was dumping water and nearly overheated. I told her to fill it with water and come home, as she was only a couple miles away. I figured that hose finally just let go, as they often do. So now I had to fix it. I felt a bit bad about putting it off, but in my defense the weather has been crap so far until like 3 days ago. 

Now, because Porsche likes to package things neatly, this coolant hose is beneath the intake manifold. Yeah. It's an intimidating engine to work on, but I found it was actually pretty easy.

So there, I yanked the intake manifold off. I was hoping I could do it that way, but I had to remove the fuel rail as well. That's always a touch annoying. But ultimately it wasn't hard, and I got a good look at the engine. The castings on the cylinder heads were pretty rough, and I found myself wondering how hard it would be to buy some spare heads, port them a bit, and install. Surely there's a few horsepower lurking in there.

Finally got the job done. It really wasn't that bad. I poured distilled water in the car (just in case, so I wasn't wasting coolant) and my heart sank as I saw water immediately dripping out. I went ahead and turned it on, and water was absolutely spraying from the front of the engine, in time with engine rotation. I believe the water pump E36 M3 the bed. Well, I was taking it into a shop anyways, so I'll let the pros do that.

Why am I taking it to a shop? Well, because I install secondary cat delete pipes not too long ago. It was a bear of a job, mostly because the bolts were solid rust. But my stock flexpipes were in very bad shape as well. And I've been getting a CEL from a bad cat, so I bought some new aftermarket ones and right now the Cayenne is at a Porsche mechanic, getting cats installed, a new thermostat, and a new water pump. I absolutely love the car, but I know that's going to be a hefty bill. And honestly? Worth every penny. No way am I going to attempt to remove the stock cats. Far too cramped.

Back to the 928.

Can you tell which air filter is the old one and which is the new one? I know, it's tough. Maybe I'll post a poll so we can all take guesses.

I'm slowly going through and replacing things. I've ordered all new fuses and I'm going to start checking relays as well. Most of the gauges don't work, due to a common 928 problem. That's going to be a tough fix, but I have the parts.

I've driven it a few times, and I love it. The dogleg 5 speed is a real joy. The driver's side window doesn't roll down and the HVAC doesn't work so it gets toasty in there, but I'll eventually get it all fixed. Even with only 219 horsepower, the engine is smooth and torquey. I avoid bumps, but the tires hit the wheel arches a few times. Right now it's sitting on ramps until I get better wheels for it. Well, not better as I absolutely love these. But something that fits better.

You can see the fronts stick out too much. And that's only a 225 wide tire. I think the front wheels are ET42, while I need something more like ET60. I've been spending way too much time on eBay looking for wheels, seeing what I like. I think the stock phone dials and manhole covers are crimes against humanity. Seriously, Porsche had some ugly rims back in the 80s. The Cup 2 wheels are nice and 17", but everyone has them and they feel a tad boring to me. I love my Etoiles. If I can find some with a better backspacing I'll probably get them. I've seen a few of these with 16" BBS wheels, and I love those as well. And the fiance loves both the Etoiles and the BBS wheels. I really want to get a set of those 16" BBS wheels but they're like $4 grand per set, and for that much money I can practically buy a brand new set of BBS LMs. In a perfect world, I'll be able to get 17" BBS wheels for this car—I've been talking to a guy in Canada about it. Some 16" BBS centers also fit 17" barrels, and you can pick and choose barrels and lips to get the right offset. That would be a great option for a period correct-looking wheel with good tire size options, but again we're probably looking at 4 grand. My other option, I've considered sending my front Etoile wheels off to a company to have custom barrels made. I've also been told they'll fit early kenesis wheels with 40 bolts and a few more. Who knows, but I'd love some feedback from some of yous guys about this sort of thing. I just want cool wheels! And preferably 17s.

Got an S4 spoiler in the mail today, and I'm waiting on all new fuses and some other tidbits. I should hopefully update this regularly.

Forgot to mention, my plans for the 928: Get it back to stock, obviously. It needs a lot of electrical ninnies taken care of. Get the tape deck working. Get proper-fitting wheels. Then, it needs all new shocks and brakes front and rear. Then, the fun stuff.

I'm going to try to learn how to lay carbon fiber and make a few parts myself. I know a guy that does it and he's helping me with it. I also want to get 85-86 exhaust manifolds on here, then build my own exhaust. Ditch the junky old cat and air pump, build my own Y-pipe and a single 3" exhaust into a resonator and lightweight muffler. From my understanding, doing that can get me as much as 20 horsepower and drop 30+ pounds. The factory front seats are gone and the previous owner installed some Corbeaus, so that helps shed another 50+ pounds as well. Looks like I have a lightweight 928.

    One thing that might help some with the 928, I found on E-bay some large laminated wiring diagrams, several large pages. Very handy.

     Also you will want to get the factory books, several binders.

    I had a 928 years ago and recently picked up a replacement.  It needs a lot of small things, like zero maintenance was ever done.

    They are great cars.

In reply to TED_fiestaHP :

Fortunately a guy from Rennlist sent me several gigabytes of pics, pdfs of shop manuals, entire wiring diagrams, etc. I have basically everything, I just need to find the time to sort through it all, and some of it is a bit over my head. These cars are wonderful, but complex.

17" BBS wheels on this 928 would be absolutely perfect. Problem is, the 16s are rare enough and cost $4 grand. 18s are out there, but I won't do that with Cleveland roads. 17s are basically non-existant and require custom barrels to step up a 16".

Buuuuuuuut

Since no one is buying my E90 track car, I just contacted a company about having the BBS RC090s on it fill and redrilled to 5X130. I can then buy custom barrels and lips for a little over a grand to make essentially any size and backspacing I want. I think this might be the best option.

     I have a Cayenne GTS, great for towing the race car.

         The after market CATS might not eliminate the code for cats.  I tried two different sets of aftermarket cats, both would give CAT codes.   I actually added a second CAT to the front CAT assembly and moved the aft O2 sensor behind the added CAT.  Not much room to work with.  Removing the 5 nuts holding the front CAT on, not easy.  One nut, I could only see using a bore scope type camera, used that to watch the socket on about 2 foot of extension.

         The 3 studs on the after cat, rust away, but are made of something that is almost impossible to drill, thankfully the 5 studs holding the forward CAT are much better, all those nuts came off easily and the studs are fine to use again.

      The water pump is actually a easy job, might be the only easy repair.

      The cayenne is great for long trips, long term you will enjoy it.

           The 928 window switches are a normal failure, get a new set, and the windows should work.  One odd thing on the 928, lots of stuff like the window switches, come with about 2 foot of wire, so you have to remove stuff to find the connector, that is not near the switch.  It is tricky to snap the new switch in, one trick, is to remove the switch cover, snap the switch in, then snap the cover back on.

     The vent fan motor, is a common failure, what fails is the bearing.  There are articles describing how to replace the bearing, typically the fan motor will be fine with a new bearing.  The bearing will get wet and seize.

Does your 957 already have the metal coolant pipes in the valley?  My 955 also cracked the coolant reservoir, so keep an eye on that...

In reply to TED_fiestaHP :

Thank you so much for the helpful reply! I installed the secondary cat delete pipes and yeah, those studs were tough. Took an angle grinder to get that off. Once I saw my flex pipes were done I looked up where the five cat bolts were and said nope, not even gonna try it. I'll let the professionals handle that. I could definitely do the water pump but I figured it was already at the shop so I'd let them handle it.

Thanks for the tips on the 928. I'll order some window switches since both of mine seem to be bad. I'll check the bearing as well—that makes sense, when I turn the vent fan on I hear a noise that could definitely be described as a bad bearing.

Also, a Cayenne GTS towing a 928! A man after my own heart.

In reply to docwyte :

Fortunately mine has the metal pipe update there, so I should be good.

     While the water pump is easy, the thermostat is under the water pump.  The thermostat is plastic with some o-rings, and it is stuck, very difficult to pull out.  You will be glad you didn't do that!

     Most stuff on the 928 isn't to difficult, but always plan plenty of time, and work slowly.  Don't rush something and risk damaging anything, that can be expensive.

     The 2 items on the 928 that are special, front spoiler and the brake master.  Front spoiler almost impossible to find, and the brake master is expensive.

      If the gauges don't work, the gauge pod has 3 connectors, it's possible one of them is connected basically flipped around.  Try flipping the bottom right one over.  When I recently replaced the ignition switch, I connected that one wrong and the gauges didn't do anything.  The gauge pod does have a plastic foil thing that connects everything, that might need cleaning, it could be damaged.

      When we loaded up the 928, the guy asked, so what is this light trailer rated for, "about 100 lbs less than we just put on it"  a 928 is not light.  It is also wide, no extra room on either side, but we got it loaded up, and I got it home safe.

     The Cayenne is great for long trips, and is great for towing.  I had a BMW X3, the Cayenne is much better.    Check to make sure all 4 tires are the same, same wear, if not the transfer case will wear out faster.

In reply to TED_fiestaHP :

Yeah I love my Cayenne. Other than the gas mileage, it's arguably the best vehicle I've ever owned. I'm just happy every time I own it. And with aftermarket air filters and the secondary delete pipes, it's a touch rowdier and probably closer to 420 horsepower. Next, I want to get some new wheels. My 21s still have snow tires on them. I want to go to 20s, since Cleveland roads are rough, and a touch wider, like a 305, for that big meaty look that I love.

Thanks for the tip on the gauges. Mine indeed don't work except for the speedo and temperature gauge. Guy I traded it for said it needed a circuitboard, which I purchased, but I haven't dived into it yet. I'll check those connectors—can you describe them for me, where they are and how to get to them? I'm not new to Porsches, but completely new to 928s.

I think next month I'm going to try to pick up some 85/86 factory exhaust manifolds so I can start welding together a new exhaust system. With a bit of luck I'll delete the air pump this week. With some carefully selected mods, I'm hoping to get it up to around 300 horsepower and drop about 200 pounds. I think it's definitely doable. 

     Under the gauge pod, there is a plastic cover, held on with I think 2 screws, remove that.  Now you can see two of the connectors.

     Recently when I replaced the ignition switch, I reconnected one of those connectors wrong.  The gauges worked before, found I had flipped the lower right one.  That might not be your problem.  Maybe one of the connectors isn't working well, or the foil sheet is not working properly.

     With the lower cover off, you will find a couple silver allen head bolts, those hold the pod on.  Remove those the the pod will come off.  3 connectors, two on the bottom, one at the back of the pod.  Not much actually holds those connectors on, so maybe they are not making good connection.

     If you are replacing the foil, might also replace the plastic odometer gear, if it hasn't failed it will.  Also replace all the little lights while you have it apart.

      If the gear shift is sloppy, there is a ball/socket on top of the drive shaft tube, forward of the gear shift.  The socket snaps onto the ball,  the old one might be fairly easy to remove.  Would be easy with the car removed from the drive tube.  Also a shift coupling at the back.  Both wear out.

     With the radio out, you should be able to see the window switch connectors, they are forward of the radio.

    There are exhaust headers available, but expensive.   Not much available for practical upgrades, although several have added a supercharger.  rennlist is a good place to find what others have done.  Some have built a stroker engine.

      On my last 928 I made a 3 inch exhaust, will do something similar for this one.  You can MIG weld stainless exhaust, while stainless is more difficult to work with, makes better exhaust.

I've seen the headers you're talking about. From what I've read they'll get you about 12-14 horsepower on an early 928, while going to an 85-86 manifold is good for about 10 at a much lower price point. My plan was to get some of those manifolds and make a 3 inch exhaust with a good resonator and a lightweight muffler. Dropping weight where I can is going to be a focus, without sacrificing comfort. Thanks again for all the helpful tips!

Okay, I inverted myself beneath the pod and saw the two screws you mentioned. I removed those and saw the two big white plastic connectors, I believe those are the ones you were referring to. They looked plugged in nice and snug, I didn't try reversing them yet. I removed those three allen head bolts with intentions of removing the pod, but it seems connected to something on the right side. It was hanging up and wouldn't budge, so I decided to just bolt everything back up and try another time. Tomorrow I might try unplugging one of those connectors and seeing if it needs to be flipped. 

Well, those three allen head bolts need to pass through a total of three metal plates that all have to line up. And there's no real comfortable way to get my hands in there to line them up. After ten minutes I just set them down and walked away. I'll get to it tomorrow. Also think I'm going to order a new steering wheel, I don't really care for this one.

     The later exhaust manifold will fit?  That I didn't know.  

      The 928 does have a huge battery, but it is a long way from the starter, so a smaller battery will lose a few amps with the long cable.   Smaller battery would save some weight.

      My fiesta race car, I actually used a lawn tractor battery.  The Honda uses a motorcycle battery.  But those are not used in the winter.   But I am sure a good smaller battery would work.

   I forgot a important 928 tip.   The front upper shock cross brace, don't remove that and jack the car up.  That can break the windshield.  I never did that, but I heard it can be done.

      Before removing the pod, remove the steering wheel, forgot about that.   Then remove the switch assembly under the steering wheel, loosen a clamping screw and it will wiggle and pull off the steering shaft assembly.  Then the pod should wiggle off, some stuff like the ignition switch will stay on a aluminum assembly, so it doesn't all come off with the pod.  Those round switches also stay on the aluminum part.  Once you get the pod off, it is actually easier to get it back on, you will get a better look at how it mounts with it off.   It's a little tricky, hard to see some stuff and not the best position to be in for some of it.

     I am not a fan of the original steering wheel, eventually will replace that.  To remove the steering wheel, give the big horn pad a good pull, and it will un snap.   Remove the big nut, the wheel should not require a puller, it should just come off.

    Trouble shooting can be tricky when you don't know the history.  Mine I knew all the gauges worked, before I replaced the ignition switch.  Turned out the old switch might have been fine, somebody added a toggle switch to the starter wire.  I removed the toggle switch, anti theft?  Figured since I had the new ignition switch, why not add the new one.  After I put it all back together, turn the key and the gauges did nothing, so I did something wrong.   With yours, hard to say what might be wrong to cause gauges to not work.  With the pod off, can check or replace the foil part, could be some bad connections, hard to say.

Thanks again for all the tips. This is invaluable. I also don't care for the stock steering wheel. It's just plain ugly. I have a fake Nardi on there right now, but I might go with a Momo Monte Carlo. I think that style would match the 928

The 85/86 exhaust manifolds will fit since they still have a 2-bolt flange where they bolt to the head. 87 and up won't fit as those use 3 bolts. I actually have the strut tower brace off right now as I'm repainting it. Glad you said that! It's on ramps so it should be okay.

Mine came with the extra large battery, the H8. That thing must have weighed a hundred pounds. I went with the H6, slightly smaller but still a stock size. Probably saved twenty pounds. I'd go with a lithium ion battery and save a ton, but those are like $800. That'll have to wait. But with some simple things, a lightweight battery, I already have lightweight seats, ditching the cat and air pump and building my own exhaust, I think a weight savings of a hundred pounds is not only possible, but easy. With some more careful mods, two hundred pounds. Beyond that it'll take some work and probably sacrifice streetability but I'd be happy with 3200 pounds.

[edit] some googling tells me a 1981 5-speed 928 weighs 3197 pounds. So 3100 will be my goal. 3000 would be nice, but I know that would be tough.

YTX12-BS High Performance Maintenance Free - Sealed AGM Motorcycle Battery | eBay

    This is the battery I use in the Honda, light and cheap.

     I wonder if two of these would be enough for the 928,  they are 235 cold cranking amps, so two in parallel would be 470.  Not a lot, of amp's might be enough unless the weather is really cold.  In harsh weather I would use the Cayenne anyhow.  The battery in the cayenne is under the drivers seat, and it is huge, really big.   Two of them would still be fairly cheap.  

     2 of them would only be 10 pounds.  Funny thing I have to add ballast to the Honda.

         There was a discussion on rennlist about reducing weight, a track car can be a lot lighter.  But there are limits to keeping it a nice street car.  The AC and ventilation system is heavy, also sound proofing.

Well, my sound proofing in the trunk area dried and cracked and basically flaked off by itself, so that saved a few pounds! Free weight reduction! I'm missing the spare tire cover, more weight reduction.

But seriously, I have corbeau seats instead of the factory ones. From what I've read, the factory power seats weigh close to a hundred pounds each, so I think a savings of 100lbs total is a reasonable assumption. That would put me around 3100 pounds, give or take. Little things like replacing the steering wheel will save a pound. The exhaust, 20-30. Since the sunroof is so tiny and doesn't work, I've had some thoughts of replacing it with a carbon fiber plug. That would save some weight up high and simplify the car a bit. I'm still considering that one, as I never really use sunroofs. Realistically, if I wind up with some 17X9 and 17X11 wheels, that's gonna add weight, so I'll have to be careful there. Deleting the air pump will drop a few pounds. I think with a bit of work, having a fun streetable car at 3000-3100lbs is realistic, especially since I have an early manual car.

I can just see the shock on the purists' faces at the thought of linking two motorcycle batteries together for this car. It would almost be worth it for that alone. An Antigravity H6 would shed about 40 pounds, and that costs $700. Nice thing about keeping with an H6 is I can keep things simple and use the factory battery hold down. 

Hey, exhaust question, and hopefully not a dumb one. I've noticed this car looks to have an O2 sensor right before the cat. Is that necessary? Is there a safe way to ditch that to make my exhaust simpler?

   The injection system is a older design, but it does actually use the 02 sensor.  It does use a CAT, but no after CAT sensor.  I think a new high flow 3 inch CAT would work, without harming performance.

       Adding a 02 bunge isn't to hard.   You can buy a batch of them on e-bay fairly cheap.

         The fuel injection uses a older injector design, so not many option there.  The injector connects with a short hose, instead of the fuel rail clamping down on the injector.

          Learning to MIG weld is fairly easy, and for exhaust work MIG will work fine.  There are a couple different stainless MIG filler wires.  ER308LSi McMaster has that.  The MIG welder I have, S-7 from AMAZON was cheap and works fine.

    Now I have not done this yet, but thought it might be easier to start with a Y pipe that is already made.   ISR Performance Exhaust Y-Pipe - for Nissan 370z / G37 (Non AWD X Models) | eBay   Not sure how much this would help or if it would worth the cost.   I would cut off the flange and use V-band clamps, once you start using those, never use another flange.

     I kind of like the original seats, but yes after market sport seats will be lighter.  

     If you want to work with carbon or fiberglass, take a look at the front spoiler, nobody makes those.   The old plastic will break, and there are no replacements.