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Thread: Porsche 968 story

  1. #1
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    Default Porsche 968 story

    So I've purchased a gorgeous 1992 Porsche 968 to race in ITR. Many folks questioned the wisdom of this project due to cost of Porsche parts and the rarity of the 968. Haven't gutted it yet.

    I find a 1993 968 with 91K miles, 6 speed on Craig's list. Asking price is $3k. The car is in a collapsed shed on a farm in Massachusetts and has a broken rear hatch window. It's been parked for 8 years, not started in three years. negotiate the seller down to $1200 over a couple of months. Pics of the exterior show a rough looking car. The owner abandon it and moved to California. No title. I figure I can sell parts I don't need off it for more $1200.

    I arrive at the farmhouse and I must cross a private bridge with no guardrails covered in ice, 15 feet over a rushing river. Judgement is telling me - no way - rednecks tell me go ahead, logging trucks cross that bridge (maybe in summer).

    Long story short, trailer slides off bridge and is suspended above the river held in place by a tiny tree. If I had gone one more foot the whole rig would have been in the drink. Turns out some rocks collapsed as I crossed. It was 60% off the bridge and I figured not only the trailer but my whole rig was going into the drink, environmental disaster fines, crane fees all fill my mind.

    They call the local wrecker. I call a crane company who sends out a disaster recovery vehicle. Local wrecker guy shows up with rusty crap old tow truck at the same time a tractor trailer recovery vehicle shows up. This dude was amazing and had my entire rig back on the bridge in about 30 minutes - NOT A SCRATCH. I was figuring both axels were bent - no damage.

    I have to drive across the bridge - success. Get to the top of the farmhouse and these assh*les knew the rig was 50 feet bumper to bumper - no way to turn around. I make them shovel a path for me to turn around. Snow was 1 foot deep with ice on top you could stand on. They do it while I watch. I'm not so happy.

    Get the rig back across the bridge with additional heart pounding terror of slewing around again and the tire track showed that there was less than an inch before the rig would have pitched over the other side. At this point I figure heroin is about the only thing that will calm me down.

    Now these gentlemen have known I've been coming for about a week and you'd think they'd have at least pulled the car out of the shed. Nope. We need to drag the car out with another 4x4, car nearly rolls into the 4x4 - a quick sprint and ebrake pull saved it with about 1 foot to spare.

    My vengeance was making one of these guys sit in the 968 while the other towed him across the bridge - this grown man was nearly reduced to tears, got in and out of the car about 3 times but finally did get the car across.

    They ended up being good guys when they said OK - we'll take $500.

    So I get the car into my shop last night, clean it up and guess what? It looks like a decent car - from what I can see all clean but there is certainly something lurking.

    I'm going to drain the gas, change the plugs, get some injector cleaner and clean fuel, change the oil and fire this puppy up. It's so nice I can't see making it a parts donor but we'll need to see if it's got a healthy motor first. It's still full of oil. Trans, brakes clutch all appear to function.

    If anybody has some hints on firing up a car that's been sitting, let me know!
    Last edited by benspeed; 01-22-2009 at 05:03 PM.
    BenSpeed
    #33 ITR Porsche 968
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  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by benspeed View Post
    So I've purchased a gorgeous 1992 Porsche 968 to race in ITR.
    I've renamed the disease. Every good disease deserves a pronoun; you know, Crohn, Gehrig, etc.

    Heretofore, AADD (Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder) shall be known as Phillips' Disease.



    Good luck, man! Don't turn over the engine yet. Pull the spark plugs, spray the S**T out of the cylinders with a low-weight oil (get it around in there real good) and let it sit for a week or so. Change the oil and filter and coolant. Drain all the old fuel out and purge the lines with air, change the fuel filter, refill with fresh. Once the cylinders are oiled up and have sat, turn it over by hand a few times. Once you're sure everything is free, use a tool to prime the oil pump; at worst disable the ignition and turn it over with the starter to prime the oiling system.

    It also might not hurt to do the timing belt in advance (it's belt,-driven, right?); if that thing's sat as long as you describe the belt could be cracked.

    Have fun!

  3. #3
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    Ben, did you get any pictures of all this? What a story!
    Dave Gran
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    I hope the owner doesn't come back to claim the car.:~)

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    At least it moved on its wheels!

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    Quote Originally Posted by dj10 View Post
    I hope the owner doesn't come back to claim the car.:~)
    delete this thread/post and just start a build thread without these early details.

    but you have our undying admiration!
    1985 CRX Si competed in Solo II: AS, CS, DS, GS
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by benspeed View Post
    If anybody has some hints on firing up a car that's been sitting, let me know!
    You should be able to pull the main relay or similar and the car should crank to get oil pressure. Plug in whatever you un-plugged and fire it up.

  8. #8
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    Good lord man, that is something I would do.

    Greg's advice on restarting is spot on. We rebirthed a TR6 about a year ago, and did all of that except the over night sit because the motor turned over freely by hand.

    968 should be a good choice for R I think.
    NC Region
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  9. #9
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    YES! I have my own automotive disfuntion named after me. Although I have stayed on the P cars for a little bit and still have the ITS car......and I might buy a Tesla for the first electric class. See why Greg has assigned the name Phillips' disease

    Good news is that the owner knows this car was sold on his behalf and is trying to find the title for me so no worries about an unhappy owner turning up.

    I'm trying to get the digital pics of the trailer hanging WAAAAY out over this bridge and as you can imagine, every jamoke cop in town showed up to watch including a bunch of neighbors - several who walked more than a mile to come see in 12 degree weather. I'm sure the story will go, "remember that jackass from Jersey who almost flipped his trailer into the river???" One guy took some video of the massive disaster recovery vehicle getting the trailer righted. I didn't get to watch. I was instructed to have the truck in 4 wheel drive low, if I heard an air horn, gun it. Fortunately no air horn.

    Greg - thanks for some pointers on getting the motor ready to fire. It does turn smoothly - put it in gear while slowly rolling and no noise or binding - hope that didn't hurt it.

    When I get some pics I'll post.
    BenSpeed
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  10. #10
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    Jeeeez. When I first saw the thread title, I thought "Oh boy, here we go!..This oughta be good"...then as I read it, my eyes opened and I thought "Man, that's something Jeff Young would do!" Then I got to the part about the trailer and the river. Wow...you're lucky. It's everything I can do not to dent my trailer getting it out of my cluster of a driveway.

    I've looked hard at the ITR candidates, and the 968 is a good choice. The price is a steal.
    Jake Gulick


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  11. #11
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    [quote=benspeed;280812]So I've purchased a gorgeous 1992 Porsche 968 to race in ITR. quote]

    Oh boy! There goes the neighborhood....

    On a side note 3k down to $500....nice job pal.

    R
    Rob Breault
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    Andy Bettencourt
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    Always a story with Ben. You need to start writing a book!!


    I first was going to say, "why the hell didn't you call us if you were going through". Now I'm saying, "thank god you didn't!!"


    Sounds like a steal! Good job and good luck!
    Jeff L

    ITA Miata



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    Quote Originally Posted by JLawton View Post
    ...Sounds like a steal !
    Uh, yeah. I'm like, super-weird about stuff like this but I'd sure as heck do a carfax on this thing before I invested a bunch of dough in it.

    I opted out of a $500 MkIV Jetta this past summer because "the title got lost" turned out to be "I paid cash for it when I bought it from this other guy," who it seems didn't bother to let the bank carrying the note know he'd offloaded it...

    K

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    Jake, you mean...Then I got to the part about the trailer and the river and thought that's definately something that would happen to me.
    Dave Gran
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    The story needs some pyrotechnics to be complete - let's see if I can set it on fire while trying to start.

    Should I turn off the kerosene heater while draining the gas???????

    Still need to get those pics. Should have done some before and after shots.
    BenSpeed
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    Quote Originally Posted by gran racing View Post
    Jake, you mean...Then I got to the part about the trailer and the river and thought that's definately something that would happen to me.

    ha ha, only if the bridge had low clearance that was mismarked or something, LOL.
    Jake Gulick


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    BMW 2003 M3 cab, sun car.
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  18. #18
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    100% correct, although many states have a "BFP" rule (bona fide purchaser for value) that might get you clear of the lien. Still silly not to check, particularly on a newish car that might still have money owed on it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Knestis View Post
    Uh, yeah. I'm like, super-weird about stuff like this but I'd sure as heck do a carfax on this thing before I invested a bunch of dough in it.

    I opted out of a $500 MkIV Jetta this past summer because "the title got lost" turned out to be "I paid cash for it when I bought it from this other guy," who it seems didn't bother to let the bank carrying the note know he'd offloaded it...

    K
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    Last edited by benspeed; 01-15-2009 at 12:42 PM.
    BenSpeed
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  20. #20
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    Ben:

    With a story like that to get the adventure started, why screw around w/ what Greg says. Get out a big-ass battery and jumper it. By the time any fuel might get from the pump to the engine, it might have some oil moving. Besides you'll get that satisfaction of hearing it run so much faster. Any damage to the cylinders that the oil down the plug holes solves, you already did by bumping it in gear. Treat it like a $500 car. I did that w/ a parts car then re-built the motor. There was no evidence of damage from having started it after sitting for 3 years. Hell, it even ran well on the 3 year old fuel.

    As far as your Phillips Disease, I suspect you are much like many of us, summed up by a friend "I'm not in a place in my life I can go chase new pussy, but I can go get a another car!"

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