For your consideration, Porsche 924.

[Power Tryp]

Allow me to tell you about something near and dear to my heart. Porsche 924. Salvation for Porsche in the 70s came at the hands of a small front engined RWD coupe originally slated to wear a VW badge. Planning had the 924 as a replacement for the 914 in Porsches lineup and would have taken the slot of the much loved Sirocco for VW. However due to VW changing their mind and going with the aforementioned Sirocco, Porsche made a quick decision to buy VWs half of the 924 for less than VW had spent in development costs.



When released in 1976, the 924 was very much maligned for its lack of power. While Porsche had done what it does best (take VW parts and turn them into something more than the sum total of them) the Audi sourced EA831 engine left something to be desired. Enter the turbo charger. Thanks to a successful adaptation of a turbo to their 911 model Porsche developed the 924 engine to handle some boost. In a nod to their internal code 930 for the 911 turbo the turbo 924 received the code 931. High hopes for something so unlike anything the company had made before.



And if the 931 code wasnt enough to show people that Porsche was excited about the 924 a race development version was built. The 924 Carrera GT. Long before the mid-engine supercar graced the walls of young boys, the name was given to another. It was released with no fanfare and surprised many in the auto industry at the time. Since then the 924 Carrera GT has become a full blown addiction to enthusiast and collectors alike.



What truly set the 924 Carrera GT apart from other cars though was its versatility and adaptability. Very few cars are built to run full tilt at LeMans against Ferraris were also developed into Audi and Datsun fighting rally machines. Predeceasing the awesome Porsche 953 and 959 the first Carrera GT was an honest and somewhat successful foray into the world of rally.



Awesome car pretty well right from the get go. Thats an abbreviated history on these cars. Ill talk about my personal connection and machines in my next post.

[Power Tryp]

So, I should probably start my tale with a preface. Historically I’m a big three kinda guy with a focus on Ford albeit with a twist. I’ve always preferred the blue oval’s European product. I sell parts for a Ford dealer and love my job because parts and product knowledge are just something that gets me excited. But that begs the question, why does a guy who likes his Fords own a maligned and generally forgotten Porsche? 

Luck, really dumb interesting luck.

My Porsche 924 Turbo (hence forth referred to as 931) was owned by a family friend (who I will call Dr.B) since the mid 90’s and had sat for most of the 2000’s with the last registration tag being 2006, really only getting driven a handful of times before that. So I was at work like most days but this time I get a call from my old man to tell me that he was talking with Dr.B and that he had struck a deal with him on the 931. The deal involved an exchange of goods rather than money, but more on that later. So younger me being uneducated and a little stupid was elated to go get myself a “Porsche”. Everything went smoothly and we got the little guy home.

















At the time it didn’t run but Dr.B provided the part necessary to fix the issue. Oh man, I was in love. It didn’t sound like any other car I knew of, and they do sort of sound like a tug boat from the front. The sleek shape and RWD! Oh I wanted a car that was RWD. I was dreaming of making this car a complete bad ass as young men usually do when faced with their first performance car. It didn’t take too long for reality to sink in. But before it did I got out and drove that car as it was meant to both on the street and in Auto X.











A year later I bought my own house. Shit… Good bye you large chunk of my disposable income, it was nice knowing you, I’ll rest comfortably knowing later in life I should be more secure than people my age still renting. Maybe. Oh and the 931 crapped out on me and I got super depressed not knowing what was causing the issue so it sat in storage for a while…



Anyway, I still own it and thanks to the support of my GF this spring I purchased another! This one it currently with an empty engine bay (it’s in my garage) and will be due to its already mostly stripped body getting converted to race/auto X duty. Leaving me with one original car and one modified. As that was a huge dilemma for me.

You see, the 931 is a fairly rare car with just under 12,000 of them produced over its four year run. Add to the fact that I own two of the four I know about in Alberta and what we have is me being the guy for Porsche 924 turbo in the whole province. So modifying the stock example that I have just seems criminal and I went back and forth on it for years! It really stalled me on doing anything to it including driving… Anyway that problem is solved, now to get all the pieces together and start driving again.

I could talk about these things at length, if you have any questions just ask! I’ll be happy to answer.

[Power Tryp]

One of the joys of classic car ownership is the fact that you get the opportunity to become intimate with the car in a way people can’t in their modern appliance vehicle. The downside to this is the fact that when it breaks you’ve got some difficult choices to make. If you’re lucky and have a more popular vehicle you can track down a specialist on your make or even model if it’s really loved. On the other hand if you’re mechanically minded and capable, you can get your hands dirty and dig in and take care of it yourself. Since I don’t think any mechanic in North America would admit to being a 931 specialist and I enjoy fixing my own problems I have to get to work.



With the EA831 engine preceding the 924 by a few years that makes it old tech even by the standards of the day. Flat tappet cams were commonly used and this engine is no exception. Lately there has been a lot of debate about oil and zinc content which I may be a victim of or I could have just had a lifter fall out of proper lash clearance.

\

WOAH! Hold the phone! “But PowerTryp, these engines are overhead cam aren’t they? Why didn’t you just swap out the cam and offending tappet?”. Well, you’re right about it being overhead cam and that would make a cam swap fairly simple but… Being the good classic vehicle owner I am, I have amassed a reasonable collection of spare parts. Among these parts is a fully rebuild head with a new cam, tappets and the cleanest valves you’ve ever seen. Seeing as how I have assumed a lack of power I figured this was a good time to take a look inside and swap my good as new head on.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I will try to get more pictures when I put it back together but I can’t make any promises as I get wrapped up in the work and forget to stop and snap a shot.

[Power Tryp]

You know the saying “In a crowd of people there is always an a-hole. If you can’t find that person you’re the a-hole”. Well, right now I’m pretty sure I’m the a-hole.

Cyl.1


Cyl.2


Cyl.3


Cyl.4


Here we can see that all of the followers are actually indented where the cam was slapping due to incorrect clearance (too big a gap). This incorrect clearance also leads to a lack of lubrication because when the cam slaps the follower it splashes the oil away and leads to the spalling you see very clearly on the Intake follower in cylinder 3 there.

So there we have it. Catastrophe averted, albeit it’s my fault and now I’m looking for a new cam and followers but lucky me I’m not out of my 931 for too long thanks to that spare head

[Power Tryp]

Hot damn. This refreshed head is gorgeous. far cry better than the old one. I just need to mount a couple things to it and a couple things to the engine block and it can finally go on. 

Cyl. 1


Cyl. 2


Cyl. 3


Cyl. 4


I also took the time to install some fresh hardware and mount the exhaust manifold. Look at how pretty those new studs are.


However, in a case of damned if you do. I pulled the impeller housing off the turbo originally on the engine and the vanes are a little chewed up. on something like this it would have to go to a rebuilder to either be ground smooth and rebalanced or possibly find a replacement impeller and it would still have to rebalance.



You can see the chipping on the vanes there. Not good. Luckily in a parts pickup this March I also got a turbo from a friend in BC and that thing is in much better shape. I just have to replace a stud and index the housing then voila! Turbo time. 



If I can get the turbo mounted this weekend I should be able to get the head back on early in the week. Then it's just small things to button up and I should be able to turn the key next weekend.

[Power Tryp]

 

 

Did the new head have any headwork? I've heard there is a bit to be gained if carefully performed........

 

No head work done by me or a machinist I trust. Sadly these cars are notoriously difficult to squeeze more power from. It is fairly well documented throughout the years that these engines don't respond to simple bolt on or classic hot rod power tricks. 

 

http://eturbo924.webstarts.com/uploa..._Bonanza_1.htm

 

http://eturbo924.webstarts.com/uploa..._Bonanza_2.htm

 

There are two articles to read in order on the hardships involved with squeezing more power out of a naturally aspirated 924. Sorry they are in such poor condition readability wise. If I get a chance I should copy and re host them somewhere because being ripped off an old Geocities page has not been good to them.

 

Lucky for me, the most effective way of making more power from the EA831 engine is with turbocharging. Since the car I've been working on is going to remain stock (I mean it!) I have no need for power addition on this one. Once I have it set up and am driving it again, I will start to crack into the more exciting track version which will be a longer term project. 

 

[Power Tryp]

Well, not a whole lot of news as of today. A baby shower screwed up the better part of my Saturday and Sunday I had to run some errands but I did manage to get the turbo back together and indexed properly. Now I just have to hang it back on the block and the head goes on. 



The end of May approaches and my goal of having it running in May is going to be missed unfortunately. I'm headed south to the States this coming weekend and there are a couple pieces I had sent there that I will bring back to finish up. New goal, June 11th at the latest. That gives me this week to put everything I have back together and then do finishing work next week.

[Power Tryp]

I am Jacks complete lack of progress. A while ago I got the turbo hung on the block and the head installed. I promptly came down with a real shit kicker of a cold that actually still somewhat persists to this day. Anyway, I am better enough to resume work and since I've completely blown past my last "deadline" I am setting the 1st of July as my new deadline. This gives me a week of evenings to put it back together.

Head mounted though!

[]2eDeYe]

Nice car, love them :cool: 

 

Thanks for sharing. :)

[paradime]

Glad I trip into your thread. I've got to be honest in saying I was never a fan of the 924, but god damned if your writing didn't pull me into your story. It's aways cool to see someone who's passionate about their ride. Well okay, maybe not the Camero guys, but... 

 

Best of luck on your build, and may the wind be at your back moving forward.

[Power Tryp]

Nice car, love them :cool:

 

Thanks for sharing. :)

 

Thank you for reading. Semi regular updates and a surprise to come. 

 

Glad I trip into your thread. I've got to be honest in saying I was never a fan of the 924, but god damned if your writing didn't pull me into your story. It's aways cool to see someone who's passionate about their ride. Well okay, maybe not the Camero guys, but... 

 

Best of luck on your build, and may the wind be at your back moving forward.

 

Thanks for the support. All cars have some reason to be appreciated at least by one person. I however love "bastard" cars and a Porsche designed for VW with an Audi engine to that ended up competing in LeMans and Rally fits the bill. I'm really excited to get it running and posting up the work has kept me motivated. 

[Power Tryp]

Well, things are coming together. It doesn’t look like it from the picture but I chalked up a huge win on Monday by getting the wastegate mounted. Oh that motherf*$&ing wastegate. It ended up becoming a story in itself.



So in order to get the head installed with the turbo hung in place I had to remove the J-pipe (#28) which isn’t an issue right? WRONG! Huge damn ordeal. The studs were rusted solid and so each of the four attaching the J-pipe snapped clean off. The parts blow up makes it look pretty straight forward but in practice it’s stuffed in behind the engine to the right of the bell housing and is partially covered by heat shielding. In order to keep this from becoming a rant/mental breakdown about the state of that part of the car I’ll just say, next time I do the job the car will damn well be on a hoist.

On top of the engine looks pretty well the same, just a couple more items affixed. I will take this moment to confess that this is the first time I’ve ever installed a distributor. It was incredibly straight forward. Everything else is situated so the next job is one that is critical to get right, the timing belt. These engines are an interference design so if I get it wrong, well I guess I’ll be playing mix n match with the head I pulled off in the first place.



Oh and before I get done here. If you look just above the water pump and to the right you’ll see a little black tube that wasn’t in the previous image. That little guy has to go on when the water pump does or else it cannot be installed. Humble pie eaten, next time I know. Friday is a holiday here and is going to be my big push to get this junk back together. If it runs, you’ll get a video.

Thanks for reading.

[]2eDeYe]

Just gotta power through adversity for the final prize :D

[Power Tryp]

Just gotta power through adversity for the final prize :D

 

Absolutely, I am completely done with pulling things off of the car in and around the engine bay and putting things back together should be relatively straight forward at this point. Stay tuned, it'll either be fired up or lit on fire this weekend. 

[Power Tryp]

Well, here we are. Monday July 4th. Happy Independence day to you my American reader(s). I really wish I could say that I got this thing fired like a firework display but sadly, no. I feel like I’ve let you guys down mostly because I feel let down. Everything is back together and I’ve got spark but no fuel. So either my pump is dead or I’ve got an electrical issue. I’ll test tonight and I believe I have a spare pump in good working order. Fingers crossed that tonight is the night.



That’s where I started Saturday. It looks practically complete but there is a lot left to do including setting the clearance on my lifters.



I finally grabbed a shot of the little jerkwad wastegate. Look at that smug little bastard, all cosy in its position. I shouldn’t have to touch another one of those for a while now.



There we have it, all together. Don’t mind the missing bit up front, that’s where the airbox goes. These cars came equipped with an Air/oil separator (known as a catch can these days) from factory and that line goes into the air box.

I will not stop until this car runs and drives and I can enjoy it again.

[Power Tryp]

Grumble, Grumble. Kicks dirt... Well the pump works, so it's not getting power. However that's not my biggest problem.



The feed line from the tank is completely deteriorated and leaking from two points... One week from Porsche and due to its tight corners I'd rather not run a longer line in a less similar fashion. 

I'll figure out the power issue and then next week when I get the hose, we should have fire. Catch you all then.

[]2eDeYe]

That looks leaky :lol: 

[Power Tryp]

Whoops, sorry guys. Next week turned into a few months didnt it? Anyway, I did get the little green blob running and drove it a little bit. Sadly, I wasnt able to do anything with it registration wise this summer so it basically sat around waiting and now that its snowing here its going to be put into storage for the winter. Have no fear though, next summer I get to just get in and fire it up.
In the meantime Ive had the opportunity to expand my collection. Rapidly. Enter the stereotype:



Just over a month ago another 924 enthusiast who lives in Vancouver gave me a call about a red car for sale in Edmonton and if I was in contact with the seller as he had gotten the old standby Ive got a bunch of calls coming in on this car line. Long story short, he bought the car sight unseen in another province, fourteen hours away from him. Except now he had a problem, the car runs but it smokes bad and who knows what the rest of the maintenance was like. So he waffled on driving it back or renting a trailer or plan after plan after plan until we decided that hes going to take some of the more expensive higher dollar value items from it and Ill buy the rolling chassis from him as I should have what I need to put it all back together and put it on the road again.



So I pulled a trailer up to Edmonton and after about six hours of wrenching and $700.00 later I was pulling an early anniversary present home for my girlfriend although, I was likely more excited about it than she was. So that put me up to three of these cars in my possession.
But I have a sickness in me now much like you see guys with AE86s get. I found a twin to my original car, it didnt live such a nice life:



Now, every car in every enthusiast group has its holy grail. These cars have a couple depending on who you talk to and I feel like I hit the jackpot in buying this car.



Back in the 80s plenty of cars were produced that had solid moveable or removable roof panels. This was seen from high end marques such as Ferrari and Porsche and was imitated by Mazda on its RX7 Targa edition. However the 80s also saw the rise in popularity of the glass sunroof which opened up a market for a company called Saratoga Sunroof corp. They made glass and lexan replacements for pretty well every Porsche, Ferrari and some other cars although it doesnt seem like anybody else cares as much as the 924/944 guys do.



That wasnt the only win for me though, the cam and followers look awesome and although there is significant carbon buildup on the chamber side of the head its nothing a cleaning cant take care of.



Suffice to say, this car is getting dismantled and its sacrifice will allow others to continue living. It did puke its guts out all over the shop floor and Im afraid at this point its terminal.



So thats my update, there will be more to come as Im not quite done telling the story of my parts car and there will be much news on the red car.
Cheers.

[Power Tryp]

Because my last post was fairly long winded, I cut it a little short but I want to share the somewhat beyond ordinary circumstances that lead me into possession of this most recent green car. It was October 13^th and I was sitting at work perusing Kijiji as I will when its less busy and decided to punch 924 into the search bar wholly expecting to see nothing new. Much to my surprise, there was an ad for this car, in it, a couple pictures that betrayed its rough exterior and a couple key statements.

Car does not roll

Will not part.

Open to reasonable offer.

Holy crap! So either special equipment or something more creative is required to get this gone and hes not willing to separate it on his own. Obviously, I message him and we go back and forth a couple times till I drop a sight unseen offer and a request to come see the thing. Of course, he doesnt answer till the next day! And even then he didnt acknowledge my offer, he just accepts the time to look at it. This brings us to Saturday, but because this is getting wordy heres a shop cat trapped because he was napping in the car while it was being lifted.



Saturday ended up being a full day before I added look at Porsche to the list but it was totally worth it. After picking up a vintage fridge and stove for free we roll up to the sellers house and instantly I know Im going to like the guy. Out front is a VW Type 3 fastback and inside his garage is a primer coated Type 2 bus. After chatting for a bit we came to an agreement of $100 more than my initial offer and I had to take it the next day.

So now I have work to do. My secret weapon is the fact that I have a complete four lug setup that will bolt on in place of the five lug stuff. Get all of that set up, borrow a friend for a few hours and like an episode of Roadkill we have a car.

Tuesday I made this happen https://vid.me/EN6F

And yesterday after a whole week of wrenching it looked like this,



Finally, how do we get rid of a car with no wheels, engine, suspension or basically anything else that makes it a car? Answer, skid steer.



Sound warning: https://vid.me/mseL

Thanks for reading, come back again for more at a later date as I have lots to do.

[]2eDeYe]

Nice scores all around. I need a skid steer in my life :)

[tr8er]

Nice find

[125 CSL]

German engineering, Simple is just not going to happen.

[Power Tryp]

Nice scores all around. I need a skid steer in my life :)

 

Thanks, Really looking forward to making them into some awesome drivers. I really need to insulate my garage so I can work in it during the winter. Also, a skid steer is endlessly useful, I highly recommend it to anyone. 

 

 

German engineering, Simple is just not going to happen.

 

That's basically the truth. My DD is an 03 TDI Jetta and it's also awkwardly complex in areas that rightfully doesn't require it. However I just did the timing belt on it and they've stupid proofed the process provided you have the correct tools.