Porsche 924 shite - why have people taken bits off and lost them?

[N Dentressangle]

OSR wheel removed:

There's definitely been some tinkering:

That'll need tidying up and the right pipework re-installing.

[N Dentressangle]

I have moments when I look at this and it seems overwhelming. But then I guess you have to break the jobs down and see each one as manageable. And remember there are jobs you don't have - like rebuilding the engine or gearbox, or welding up tons of rust.

So let's start with the brakes. Here she is, ready for bleeding properly:

No, the yellow paint is NOT my fault.

I also want to sort the handbrake out. Someone seems to have completely deleted it! The parts you can see above are all I have - there's a cable sticking out from under the car, a long cable, a yoke of some kind and the lever assembly. The actuators on the drums look to be AWOL:

You can see the holes at the bottom of the backplate where I think they should be.

So, what I could do with now is an idea of what I'm missing. Hmmm...

I'll start bleeding things up and have a think.

[Matty]

Walk in the park this i should imagine, compared to what we usually see you doing!

[N Dentressangle]

37 minutes ago, Matty said:

Walk in the park this i should imagine, compared to what we usually see you doing!

Not sure about that! There are a few too many unknowns... Plan is to sort the bits I can do then get the pros round the corner to help with anything complex. Didn't pay much for this bus so I should be able to find something in the kitty.

[comfortablynumb]

A mate had a LHD 924, from Upper Heyford airbase, when that was a thing. He was traumatised by parts prices too.

Them he discovered that if he cross-referenced with Audi parts, it frequently brought up the same part at a fraction of the price 

That was years ago, don't know if it still works now

[N Dentressangle]

Probably does. Vast majority of it looks like VAG parts bin stuff - loads of Mk1 Golf things I recognise from when I had one when I was 18.

Brakes are sorted. Rear wheel cylinders look newish, so the bleed nipples opened and all bled up no problem.

Front calipers were a different story. Mr Gibbon had been at them in the past:

Bollocks. HTF am I supposed to bleed that? I can see why the previous owner left tons of air in now.

However, there are some moments when weird parts hoarding pays off, and this was one of them. The car came with a spare caliper, but with an equally bolloxed nipple. With mole grips and heat it came out, and I had something to match a spare nipple to. Somewhere in my stash were two ancient Mazda Bongo calipers someone gave me once - wonder if the nipples are the same?

Yup, identical thread and all that good stuff, but with the hex in perfect* usable condition!

Took precautions before fiddling with unfamiliar nipples:

Bled the fronts up and we now have a brake pedal.

Time to sort the handbrake now. Bit more of a puzzle.

[N Dentressangle]

Couldn't be bothered to do the handbrake so fixed the wipers instead. They were sticking right in my eyeline, and wouldn't work at all.

Hmm. Fuse looked a bit careworn, so I replaced that. There was another 8A fuse lying in the footwell, so I suspected I was not the first to go down this particular pathway. Didn't bode well.

Turned the wipers on and they did a sweep and parked. However, they wouldn't repeat the trick. WTF? Then I noticed something:

That's the crank for the wipers in the middle, just above that battery that's obviously too big for the car. You know, the one that's too long so the wiper crank hits it and stops. Making it look like the wipers don't work.

FFS. Ah well, easy fix I guess. Better order the right battery!

[Stinkwheel]

You now have a Nice big spare battery at least, and soon to be working wipers

[andy18s]

1 hour ago, comfortablynumb said:

A mate had a LHD 924, from Upper Heyford airbase, when that was a thing. He was traumatised by parts prices too.

Them he discovered that if he cross-referenced with Audi parts, it frequently brought up the same part at a fraction of the price 

That was years ago, don't know if it still works now

YouTuber Matt Armstrong is rebuilding a new-ish Murcialago(?) and he loves doing the part number searches.

His latest was a set of bonnet aero latches for the rear clamshell. 

£770 from Lamborghini but found the exact same items for sale in the UK for £70. 

Lamborghini didn't even bother changing the packaging,just slapped their own barcode on it.

[comfortablynumb]

And the next time someone says " why do you hoard parts?'...👍

[inconsistant]

I know this sounds unlikely but if you have a Porsche dealership close to you it’s worth trying them for spares, most mechanical stuff isn’t eye watering, and the dealers are usually cheaper than other spares places and almost always cheaper than ebay sellers, who just buy from the dealers and add a mark-up. 

[N Dentressangle]

15 minutes ago, inconsistant said:

I know this sounds unlikely but if you have a Porsche dealership close to you it’s worth trying them for spares, most mechanical stuff isn’t eye watering, and the dealers are usually cheaper than other spares places and almost always cheaper than ebay sellers, who just buy from the dealers and add a mark-up. 

Good point. I'm in Bristol often enough to just pop in to the one at Cribbs.

[jim89]

3 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

Couldn't be bothered to do the handbrake so fixed the wipers instead. They were sticking right in my eyeline, and wouldn't work at all.

Hmm. Fuse looked a bit careworn, so I replaced that. There was another 8A fuse lying in the footwell, so I suspected I was not the first to go down this particular pathway. Didn't bode well.

Turned the wipers on and they did a sweep and parked. However, they wouldn't repeat the trick. WTF? Then I noticed something:

That's the crank for the wipers in the middle, just above that battery that's obviously too big for the car. You know, the one that's too long so the wiper crank hits it and stops. Making it look like the wipers don't work.

FFS. Ah well, easy fix I guess. Better order the right battery!

So... If they do a full sweep & back to park... how come they won't do it again?

Do they do it again after you've cycled the ignition?

[N Dentressangle]

5 minutes ago, jim89 said:

So... If they do a full sweep & back to park... how come they won't do it again?

Do they do it again after you've cycled the ignition?

Read it again and look at the pic - it was the wrong size battery physically obstructing the wiper crank from moving! Suspect that puzzled the previous owner 🤣

[jim89]

1 minute ago, N Dentressangle said:

Read it again and look at the pic - it was the wrong size battery physically obstructing the wiper crank from moving! Suspect that puzzled the previous owner 🤣

As you wish 

[2316cc]

Another 924 botherer checking in…

 

I had a persistent misfire and flat spot in the rev range when I got mine. Spent ages chasing K-jet stuff, did fuel pressure tests, replaced the injector o-rings, replaced the injectors, mucked about with the WUR and all that. Eventually gave up and handed it over the local Porsche Centre with strict instructions not do anything more than an hour or two’s diagnosis. They suggested I replace the HT leads, which I did and lo and behold it ran perfectly after that. 
 

So definitely go through the ignition stuff before delving into the murky world of k-jet. 

[N Dentressangle]

Bit the bullet and started on the handbrake.

Found a tied up cable which seemed to want to go to the OSR hub. Took the brake drum off - hubnut was not even finger tight 🤣 - and tried to imagine how the cable might go. It looks like it should hook onto where I'm pointing:

Is that it? No other parts needed?

The main, long handbrake cable which goes to the NSR wheel and the lever is a bit knackered. I suspect that's why the whole lot got pulled, especially when I checked out the cost of the cable:

https://www.heritagepartscentre.com/uk/92442414200-handbrake-cable-long.html

How much???

Who knew platinum handbrake cables were a thing? What a time to be alive.

[Surface Rust]

12 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

Bit the bullet and started on the handbrake.

Found a tied up cable which seemed to want to go to the OSR hub. Took the brake drum off - hubnut was not even finger tight 🤣 - and tried to imagine how the cable might go. It looks like it should hook onto where I'm pointing:

Is that it? No other parts needed?

The main, long handbrake cable which goes to the NSR wheel and the lever is a bit knackered. I suspect that's why the whole lot got pulled, especially when I checked out the cost of the cable:

https://www.heritagepartscentre.com/uk/92442414200-handbrake-cable-long.html

How much???

Who knew platinum handbrake cables were a thing? What a time to be alive.

Bit cheaper here:

TEILE.COM | Handbrake / parking brake cable, 1975mm / new / 924 / 701-05 Handbrake actuator / 92442414200 https://share.google/UrJrBOIWPnVhBKucw

 

[N Dentressangle]

As well as the long handbrake cable, I think I also need two guide tubes, number 19A in this diagram:

Looks like they're available under p/n 92442452400, at Porsche prices. Wonder what the VW equivalent is?

[DaveDorson]

A lot of the rear suspension and brake setup is very similar to the VW type 3 and late 1303 beetle btw.

[Cavcraft]

HANDBRAKE CABLE PAIR 902274 NK 2PCS NEW OE REPLACEMENT | eBay UK

[24vdiamond]

Love the yellow brake drums! You Just know it's been cared for 😁

[tooSavvy]

Cheaper.... 🤔

PART 92442452400 | PORSCHE GUIDE TUBE | EUROSPARES https://share.google/NokyQKaE5uJjoxxnh

🚙💨

[N Dentressangle]

1 hour ago, 24vdiamond said:

Love the yellow brake drums! You Just know it's been cared for 😁

I know, I know... 🤣

[N Dentressangle]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

HANDBRAKE CABLE PAIR 902274 NK 2PCS NEW OE REPLACEMENT | eBay UK

They're for a Ford Maverick, aren't they?

I mean, I've got a welder and can adapt stuff

[Cavcraft]

1 hour ago, N Dentressangle said:

They're for a Ford Maverick, aren't they?

I mean, I've got a welder and can adapt stuff

I Googled them and that came up, so assumed it was the same, sorry.

[Christine]

I googled Ridex handbrake cables , got sent to Autodoc ? 

 

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts/control-levers-cables-10735/porsche/924/924-1975/2974-2-0

[riek]

Ridex is autodoc's house 'cheap' brand 

[N Dentressangle]

Ta - I've joined the owners' club, so will see what advice and discounts can be had.

On another note, it seems the guide tubes I need are a bit weird. It looks like they bolt on, rather than just being a slide-in tube. Here is what my backplate looks like:

and here's the backplate of another car someone's breaking in the US, showing the guide tube bolted in using the bolt you can see below the handbrake cable in my pic above:

Never simple, is it? 🤣

The other missing bit appears to be the entire rear anti-roll bar assembly and brackets. I did wonder why the back end felt a bit wayward on the journey back. See if you agree:

I reckon this was taken off and put to one side when someone at some point in the past began to replace the long handbrake cable. Sadly it didn't come with the car. I'm hoping I can turn up a decent s/h one off the 924 forum once I have access to it, including all the brackets, drop links etc. Let's see...

[Rustybullethole]

Oh the joys of finding out what work had been carried out on a new old car. 

Really like these and good to see another has fallen into the hands of someone intent on doing it right.