1987 Porsche 924S project

So for more than a year now a friend of mine has been sending me ads for various Porsche 944’s and 924’s as I had one years ago and after seeing his expressed I would love to get another someday.
 

Well a couple weeks ago he discussed a 1987 924S that was for sale in the small town of Union Oregon near where I lived. The car in question was a guards red on black cloth and leather interior with the Porsche script on the seats. This car was identical to the very first Porsche I had ever been in more than 30 years ago. That car was owned by my father and it was a surprise when he got it.
 

With my wife’s blessing we went and looked at the car. While it needs a good deal of work it does run and drive well. My boys immediately fell in love with it and we decided to take the car on as a family project.
 

Below are the images from the advertisement for the car. I will of course add more of my own later.
 

So what all needs fixed on the 924S? The car is 37 years old and it is showing its age especially when it comes to the cosmetics. So here is the list..

• The paint show every year of its age with faded spots, pealing clear coat and chips
• Seals. Pretty much every body seal needs replaced, sunroof, doors, door handles, mirrors and the hatch
• The sunroof panel has several chips and a crack so it will need to be replaced 
• Rear spoiler is starting to show some deterioration
• Front lower valance has been curbed
• Wheels show curb damage
• Carpet on the passenger side is pulling away and it is worn and the carpet in the trunk is cooked so will replace all carpet. 
• Front seats are splitting and and cracked. Eventually I want to completely restore the seats but in the mean time I may get some Sparco GT seats for the front
• Driver side sunroof clip has grenaded
• Switch for passenger side window on drivers door not working
• Mirror adjustment joystick not working
• Speaker in drivers door not working
• Speedometer is bouncing
• Fuel gauge is temperamental and not showing accurate even when tank is full
• Sunroof does not raise to full height and does not block out being able to lower bars to remove panel when engine is running
• Driver side lock missing cap
• Dash cracked 
• Center console lid hinge broken or bent
• Rear hatch cover is broken and missing both end caps
• Rear defroster contact wire broken at connector 
• Clock not working
• Small section of headliner pulled away at sunroof edge
• Intermittent setting on wipers not working
• AC not working (system was rebuilt but needs charged)
• Parking brake is loose needs adjustment 
• Engine is running a little rich
• 3rd gear synchro is rough and will make noise if you shift hard
• Sounds like there is a brake slightly dragging 
• Headlights are aftermarket and wired directly to battery 
• Stereo head unit is a Kenwood CD player that while it works it just does not look right in the car
• Tires are old and showing some cracking on one. 
• There is a chameleon sticker on the driver side and another sticker inside the rear hatch
• Suspension is starting to show wear

So as you can see there is PLENTY that needs done to the car but honestly most of it is the cosmetics and not as much with the mechanical side of things. The engine runs like a top and starts right away and there is no slipping with the clutch. 
 

Well with the bad weather moving in and the Porsche living outside at the moment I started on replacing the seals that I know are bad. 

First up is the sunroof outer seal. I placed an order with Pelican Parts and shipping was fast and prices good. Got the old seal off which was heavily compressed,cracked and had a few tears. Upon cleaning up the edges after removing the seal I found a couple chips and a crack about 2 inches long at one corner. More than likely I will probably need to figure out how to repair the fiberglass or just outright replace the panel. 

Helpful tip when putting the new seal on, when you go around the corners twist the seal outwards so that it will seat easier. There will be a bit of overlap so you will need to trim the end. Be careful and cut the end so you end up with about 1mm extra, this will ensure you have a tight fit for no leaks. Once you get it on and fit take it back off and put a small bead of silicone sealant in the track so it seals up nicely and place the seal back in place being careful to place it the same as you had it the first time. 

Getting the roof back on the car was a bit of a pain as the new seals were MUCH thicker than the old worn out ones. You pretty much have to push the panel down starting at one front corner then work your way around and may need and extra set of hands to keep pressure on the side you put down first. Once you get the bars set in place holding the roof down don’t raise the roof for a week or two allowing the new seals to set up. 

I did have a front clip grenade so I will need to replace that one. It got dark before I could get some pics so I will take some tomorrow. 

Next up: the door handle seals!

So took the 924 out tonight,as I have not been able to drive for a couple weeks due to a back injury and having emergency oral surgery , and I wanted to get a couple more drives in before the snow flies. Well we decided to go out to dinner and meet my mom at the local Japanese place (yum!) and I mentioned to my wife I wanted to take the car even though I knew we would not all fit. She agreed and took the baby in the Suburban and the boys rode with me, they can’t get enough of the Porsche. Anyway after dinner we took the long way home which included a stretch I could open it up a bit and get up above 55mph. Well once I got there I noticed a little bit of a sway from the rear end I had not noticed before. I am HOPING it is just the product of the crap tires, one of which has a crack (I know I know). And maybe they lost some pressure due to the colder temps we have been having as it was mid 30s this evening. 

Anyway looks like new tires are a priority and who knows could be the rear shocks as well or maybe some bushings I have yet to discover at bad. It will take a bit of digging. 

Oh on a side note I AM getting it figured out how to shift into 3rd without causing any grinding at least on the way up. The way down that is still eluding me to the point I normally just slow down far enough I can skip third and jump to second if I need to. Someday I will get the rev matching down. I actually almost feel like the car spins up a little slower than my old 944 so I may check that out as well.

Alright I had forgotten to start my build page here! However I just copied everything over from the build blog for the car so you all are up to date now. 
 

build blog page is https://rebelgtp924s.wordpress.com 

Great find on the 924.  I will be following along.  

If you haven't seen it already, I have a big build thread in this section that starts out about my rally car but also has about 2 years worth of full rebuild of my 924s also. It should be right up near the top someplace. I will send you an exact link to where the 924s stuff starts but it was in approximately 2017 or 2018 on the thread timeline. Anyhow, I totally documented every little thing I did to the car which was pretty much everything, So hopefully it'll be of some help to you as you go through your projects!

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Nice I will look for it! That would be truely helpful for this car AND my son wants to find a 924 now to build as a rally car for his first car project so might get one inspiration there as well

I have a spare 944 trans taking up space in my shop right now that could be had for cheap if you need one.....

In reply to Crenshaw :

That could be tempting for the right price for sure. I need to build up a parts supply for the car. Currently my shop is still full of old GM and Mopar parts. 

rebelgtp said:

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Nice I will look for it! That would be truely helpful for this car AND my son wants to find a 924 now to build as a rally car for his first car project so might get one inspiration there as well

Here's a link to the full thread: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/mein-e30-mein-sammlungkreuz-baugewinde-my-318i-rallycross-build-thread/40440/page1/

The 924S build starts on page 79: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1985-bmw-318-stage-rally-build-1988-porsche-924s-s/40440/page79/

The rally car is a 1985 BMW e30, but there is some rally content with two Porsche 944s of guys I raced with (though I think both cars are mostly retired at this point...they are HARD to be successful with at rally unless you want to spend a lot of $$$$$$. So not sure what your son is looking to do - stage/forest rally (what I do), rallycross (what I also do), or just the "Rally Look" Porsche (which I definitely do not do lol). I wouldn't consider a 924 to be a good choice for the first. For the second, they *can* be good but need to be basically stripped down and ultra-light, and they still have issues. There's one 924S running SCCA rallycross in the US that I know of (Vaughn Micchie) but it's basically just a 924 shell and almost all of it is custom (and now has a VW 5-cylinder in it). I love my 924, but nothing about it makes me want to rally it, to be honest.

Anyhow, hopefully the thread will provide some ideas/insights/answers to both. Feel free to post in it with any questions and I usually answer pretty quick. Some pics for inspiration :)

I've been documenting my 1988 924s project here as well - https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/well-it-ran-and-drove-when-i-bought-it-a-porsche-924s-tale/216813/page1/

It's an ongoing adventure...

...and if you're still looking for tires, I went with the Vredstein Quatrac, 205-60/15, on the stock phone dials. A little "beefier" look than stock. They've been working out well for me and are pretty budget-friendly...

Very, very cool! I'll be following along. Maybe we can meet up next summer?

In reply to nlevine :

Ah nice glad to hear someone using those I was actually looking at those tires as an option. Was even looking in that exact size to get a little more beef than the 195s provide. 
 

I was actually reading through your build earlier today. 

In reply to DasAuto :

Always good to meet other car folk.  Where abouts are you?

Look up "Larts Parts" on facebook.  He's a guy who parts out 944/951's.  When I had mine he was a god send as far as getting me used OEM parts for good prices.

rebelgtp said:

In reply to DasAuto :

Always good to meet other car folk.  Where abouts are you?

Just north of the Columbia River on the Washington side. 

The 924 and 944 are great cars to learn on as they are very easy to wrench.  Also they are great cars to learn how to drive with momentum in mind. I love my 924, it has been my track day car for the past 12 years, and it always brings a smile to my face.

Might be time to clear some space in the shop this weekend

Have not had much time to work on the car other than doing a few little odds and ends but had to post this. 
 

I had rejoined the PCA and my kids got signed up as junior members. Got home today to packages for them waiting at the gate containing junior ID cards and a stuffed animal. Our 1 year old is loving it lol. 

I don't have a 924 but I watched this whole video because it thought it was so cool

Porsche 924 Bumper Snub Mod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIB9BqgDYC4

In reply to OjaiM5 :

Ah nice thanks for sharing I had not seen that one yet. Love that he fabbed up the new brackets most people I know just do what he mentioned at the beginning and drill out the shocks. It also reminded me I need to add checking the rear bumper mounts on my car as I was noticing the right rear corner looked slightly off. 
 

He is right though the US bumper overhang is HORRIBLE on these cars. I would love to find a set of Euro bumpers for it someday. Not only are they hanging out a mile they have those huge rubber pads.  I may need to go with this as a stop gap. I just get nervous considering my old 944 had gotten hit both front and rear