1986 Porsche 928 restoration

[Buchanan Automotive]

Thought we may share a few pictures of a Porsche 928 we are currently doing a restoration on. The original motor has just over 300,000kms on it but had a few oil leaks. Weeping from almost every seal. It was also due for a cam belt the decision was made to pull the engine and give her a birthday. Upon dismantle the bores were like new, actually every mechanical or moving part was basically perfect. new seals, tensioner pads and chains and away we go. As you can see there was a lot of prep work for the plating and a lot of cleaning

Regards

Sean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Before picture. A bit of a sad state but nothing that couldn't be rectified 

 

[81SC]

Nice work Sean, engine looks better than new.

Care to share who your plater is, I need to get some plating done for my resto. Can you recommend a plater?

[red clubbie]

Nice work Sean....although it must be one on the very early models, being a 1896.....

 

Cheers,

Geoff.

[Buchanan Automotive]

Nice work Sean, engine looks better than new.

Care to share who your plater is, I need to get some plating done for my resto. Can you recommend a plater?

We have a friend that does it in his spare time after work, We prep all the work and take it to him and i help him out acid dip the parts before we get ready for the yellow/gold zinc plating. Its really more just a hobby him, and us in our spare time

Nice work Sean....although it must be one on the very early models, being a 1896.....

 

Cheers,

Geoff.

first prototype Geoff, fixed that one

[Diamond911]

That is really impressive. Nice work!  What is the approximate cost for an overhaul like that as a point of reference please?

[ANF]

Nice work, looks great

Is this the one that you have put the S4 heads on?

[tazzieman]

Beautiful work. 2016 is the Year Of The Shark 

[Airhead]

Tis a thing of beauty. Wonder if I could one of those under the bonnet of the 944

[tazzieman]

Tis a thing of beauty. Wonder if I could one of those under the bonnet of the 944

It don't fit. 

[ANF]

Apparently someone in the US put a 928 V8 into a 944, via a tube frame front end... kinda defeats the purpose.....

[Buchanan Automotive]

There is no aprox cost , because its not an overhaul , its mainly just a reseal and some unusual things to do , so as a cost reference point it would be completely useless

With 300,000kms ( probably more because I know of a two year period that the odometer on this car didn't work ) , like all 1960's , 1970's , 1980's  Porsche's , be it a 911 , 944 , 928 , the odometer stops ( plastic gear/s ) but the speedo still works so it may take some time for the owner to even notice & even longer to pay to get it fixed .

Internally the engine had no wear at all , no bore wear , not even a small lip at top of bores ( nothing ) even the old piston rings , when checked to see if the gaps had widened , meaning some wear , the ring gaps were still in the new spec , no camshaft lobe wear & no crankshaft thrust bearing wear, the old big end bearings ( conrod ) were like new , with the old cylinder heads there was a tiny exhaust valve guide wear , but so little it was still just within spec ,  no inlet guide wear at all , even the old twin cam timing chains and tensioner pads were still OK ish , but this the one area that these little bits Must be replaced , meaning the inexpensive little timing chains & the nylon tens pads must be replaced , so apart from gasket & new rings & big end bearing shells just for the hell of it , it received new timing chains X 2 & nylon tens guide kits X 2 ( very inexpensive )

It could of gone back together with the original rings & bigend bearings , but why would you when the standard size conrod bearing shells & rings are so inexpensive

Note } the reason why there was so little engine wear was this engine has always been on a high oil film strength engine oil since new , meaning a 20w-50 with decent levels on ZDDP 

Now for the cylinder heads , this was the big change , in this case we are using a pair of 2nd hand 928S4 cylinder heads & with their different combustion chamber design and shape this allowed a rise in compression ratio for this engine = more performance in the least expensive way , meaning we could of reused the old heads , but to get the higher comp ratio we would have to use custom made high compression pistons , which is fine , but in this case not needed because we had the 2nd hand 928S4 heads in stock 

Apart from the cosmetics , meaning HPC ( High Performance Coatings ) treatment of the magnesium alloy inlet manifolds & twin cam cam covers & the HPC  treatment of the standard 928S4 exhaust manifolds in the HP1 exhaust treatment ,  the yellow gold zinc plating of all the ( once yellow chromate ) nuts , bolts , washers , fuel rails , brackets etc  , we are also using new to the market Bosch 4 pintel ( 4 hole ) electronic fuel injectors , this alone makes a noticeable difference( engine smoothness & extra power) as opposed to the 1980's / 1990's pencil Bosch injectors , plus we are fabrication a new injection harness , because after 30 years the old fuel injection harness is crumbling in many areas, along with the 30 year old Bosch multi plug connectors & protective boots , all this is fairly standard stuff you do to a 30 year old engine that has done probably thousands + of hours stuck in heavy Sydney grid lock traffic ( high engine bay heat cycles )over 30 years

So its an interesting engine refresh , but as we can see it could of gotten away with NO cosmetics ( still look like shit ) , but new engine gaskets and seals ( nice ) & no rings & no bearings & no yellow gold zinc plating , still leave it low compression ( very ordinary performance ) and no upgrade in injectors & no preventative wiring harness repairs , just two new little timing chains & nylon pads & new engine gasket set

It would still look like crap & probably even drive like crap , but boy it would be a VERY small parts invoice

Regards
Bruce Buchanan
Buchanan Automotive

 

[Blue964]

great work!

[TINGY]

That's lovely

[Ozvino]

That is sensational Bruce, you guys do fantastic work, here is mine

 

[Buchanan Automotive]

Hi Ozvino , that looks very nice 

Regards
BB

[Peter M]

 

 

Beautiful work with this engine guys!

 

Just an aside:

What really struck me about this particular photo is the height the oil pump has to suck the engine oil from the pickup.

I imagine in race conditions it wouldn't help the problem of oil aeration.  Do the 944's have the oil pump up high too?

Thanks for the photos.

[Timm]

What really struck me about this particular photo is the height the oil pump has to suck the engine oil from the pickup.

I imagine in race conditions it wouldn't help the problem of oil aeration.  Do the 944's have the oil pump up high too?

On the 944 the oil pump slips over the crankshaft nose, so the pump sits a lot lower.

That engine has come up absolutely gorgeous, Sean and Bruce. I have been following the pics on face book with much appreciation, and I am very tempted to go and get all my little parts plated as well. It really makes the engine look brand new. I love it.

I also think it's very impressive how little internal wear these engines show. With proper maintenance and running the right oils, I think it will be common to see 928's in the future with half a million or more km's on unopened engines.

 

[Buchanan Automotive]

Actually the 944 oil pump & the 928 oil pump are in the same height in relation to the crankshaft , if we wants to split hairs , one could argue that because the 928 oil pump is much much bigger ( dia & depth ) than the 944 oil pump , this larger dia means the lower section of the oil pump sits a fraction of a mm lower down than the 944 one , but its academic because the oil pump could be mounted even higher up with no issue , but there is no need ,  hence its there because that's the perfect position , particularly in regards to the removal of the oil pump , you do not need to remove the engine sump , like would do in a conventional last century car engine , you just remove the timing covers & cam belt & there it is , 3 bolts and its out ( incredible piece of design )

Like the 944 , the 928 engine has no issues with oiling / oil pressure at the track with "R" spec tyres , providing one does NOT use low oil film strength / Low Oil viscosity this century engine oils , we have never ever had a single issue with 928 & 944 engines at track ( club Supersprint ) events on "R" spec tyres so long as we use very high Oil Film strength oils & in this I mean a Minimum Viscosity of 25w-60( THIS IS MINIMUM ) & the conrod bearing shells are not already worn because some twit had been running ( the said ) 928 or 944 engine on a 5w-40 engine oil which will guarantee low oil pressure ( hot ) to no 2 & no 6 conrod bearings at high RPM

However the old age issue for ANY engine ( 911 , 944 , 928 , ) for " Club Superprint Events " is } How Old are the conrods ? , we are seeing more & more 25 + year old Porsche engines being destroyed at the track because of METAL FATIGUE of the 25+ year old conrods ( they have had enough & that is that )

But for the road , those 25 year old conrods will go on for decades

Regards
Bruce Buchanan
Buchanan Automotive

[Timm]

Oops, I am completely retarded and mistook the 928's water pump for the oil pump.

By the way, did you guys use Molnar rods for this build? I think I saw the box in one of the pics. I bought them for my 951, and it's reassuring to see others using them. I found a lot of good feedback on the Molnars, and saw that Tony G and others were using them, so thought they would be a safe bet. I was originally looking at PPM's here in Australia, but came across more negative feedback than positive.

[Buchanan Automotive]

Hi Timm , no those con- rods are for another engine we are doing ( 2.5 951 ) with custom oversize Wossner pistons ( bored over- size )

The 5.0L  32v  928S  engine in the pictures is just a road car & it retains its standard 30 year old con-rods .

Regards
Bruce Buchanan
Buchanan Automotive

[Peter M]

Thanks Bruce for those comments.

[XLR8]

Sean and Bruce, being a recent entrant into P-car ownership, it's great to see that some Aussies are giving the love (and improving) the great cars. Especially the transaxles.

You mentioned ZDDP oils as being a key contributor to low engine wear. Having owned a 80 series diesel Landcruiser that had the bejusus flogged out of it (heavy towing in 45deg, lots of offroad rock crawling, drive like a sports car, etc), but always ran the best quality high zinc oil. I know the importance. I replaced the big end bearings on that vehicle at 340k kms (as a precaution), and needn't - they were like new (but had been replaced under warranty at 170k km).

I am a (lowly) 924 owner. Would you recommend the same oil spec for the Audi derived 2.0l engine? Thanks for the advice.

[Buchanan Automotive]

Hi XLR8 , the 924 like the air cooled 911 & the water cooled 928 , 944 , 951 , 968 engines are all deep LAST century engines & must have a high oil film strength engine oil , as the owners manual that came with these cars state that from minus 10 deg Celsius to unlimited high ambient temps  } 20w-50 engine oil

Regards
Bruce Buchanan

[XLR8]

Thanks, will do. Advice very much appreciated.

[tazzieman]

 

I am a (lowly) 924 owner.

Don't denigrate yourself or the 924. It's a tough little bugger and the cars are worry free. The cost for the amount of smiles is minimal. I'm already missing mine.