Porsche 928

[A10]

The 928 was originally scheduled to replace the 911, until the plan was changed by Peter Schultz, who was born in Germany in 1930, and emigrated to America in 1939 when his Jewish parents left to avoid the Nazi's. Very interesting fellow, ran Caterpillar for a while among other accomplishments, and became CEO of Porsche in 1981. Here's his recollection (from Wikipedia) of the meeting that saved the 911:

The decision to keep the 911 in the product line occurred one afternoon in the office of Dr. Helmuth Bott [de], the Porsche operating board member responsible for all engineering and development. I noticed a chart on the wall of Professor Bott's office. It depicted the ongoing development schedules for the three primary Porsche product lines: 944, 928 and 911. Two of them stretched far into the future, but the 911 program stopped at the end of 1981. I remember rising from my chair, walking over to the chart, taking a black marker pen, and extending the 911 program bar clean off the chart. I am sure I heard a silent cheer from Professor Bott, and I knew I had done the right thing. The Porsche 911, the company icon, had been saved, and I believe the company was saved with it.[18]

If they had depended on the 944 and 928 they surely would have sunk....

 

[BC38]

I had a friend who put one in a Corvair. Problem was, he ended up with four speeds in reverse and one forward because the engine ran in the opposite direction.

OOPS! Minor design oversight!

I had a buddy in high school who put a 327 small block in a Vega coupe. He also put wheelie bars on it - because it NEEDED them to keep from dragging the rear bumper every time the front wheels came off the ground.

Something that happened with almost alarming frequency...

 

[BC38]

The 928 was the only Porche I thought looked good. The 911s do nothing for me.

LOL, I feel just the opposite.

The 911 shape always looked great to me - from the original long-nose version right up to the whale-tail Targas.

The 928? Meh. My wife described what they looked like from the the rear as resembling "a woman who's hips are too wide".

I actually thought the 924/944 was more attractive than the 928.

JMO and YMMV...

 

[hannstv]

I bought a new one in 1984. Loved the car...until it became summer in Dallas. None of the European cars knew how to build an ac unit for hot weather. Finally sold it in 1988, took a beating. There was no market for used 928s.

 

[MelvinWalker]

OOPS! Minor design oversight!

I had a buddy in high school who put a 327 small block in a Vega coupe. He also put wheelie bars on it - because it NEEDED them to keep from dragging the rear bumper every time the front wheels came off the ground.

Something that happened with almost alarming frequency...

Happened oten in rural Tennessee...I had a 72 Vega and a 76 vega...A now deceased acquaintance put an Oldsmobile 350 Rocket in a 1973 Vega...i would barely clear a speed bump at 2mph without scraping, but it ran well...I remember the price he wanted for the car was $400

 

[G-Mac]

Folks have done some small block Chev swaps into them, eliminating a bunch of issues.....still not going to be buying one. Cool Looking cars though...

A friend of mine LS swapped his 944. He's a retired automotive professor.

 

[Bullet Bob]

"If they had depended on the 944 and 928 they surely would have sunk...."

They almost went bankrupt anyway, it doesn't matter how good or desirable your product may be, if you're not making a profit you won't stay in business. Porsche had to get some help from the Japanese production experts:

https://theageqld.wixsite.com/autot...n line,streamlined every aspect of production.

It's a good article with lessons for any company.

"The 928? Meh. My wife described what they looked like from the the rear as resembling "a woman who's hips are too wide"."

Not possible.

 

[45Smashemflat]

As a proud owner of a 1500 Spit, I can honestly say British cars need you, more than you need them.

 

[BC38]

"The 928? Meh. My wife described what they looked like from the the rear as resembling "a woman who's hips are too wide"."

Not possible.

So you like 'em "wide abeam" eh?

 

[LVSteve]

A friend of mine LS swapped his 944. He's a retired automotive professor.

Regrettably, I can understand this. IIRC the 944 and the 928 both used aluminum blocks with some fancy coating to create the wear surfaces in the bores. Once that coating went south, the motor was toast. The name Nikasil springs to mind.

Loved the looks of the 944 and its successor, the 968. They were less fussy than the 928 and not as bulky.

 

[Grayfox]

Waaaaay above my pay grade.

 

[BC38]

Regrettably, I can understand this. IIRC the 944 and the 928 both used aluminum blocks with some fancy coating to create the wear surfaces in the bores. Once that coating went south, the motor was toast. The name Nikasil springs to mind.

Loved the looks of the 944 and its successor, the 968. They were less fussy than the 928 and not as bulky.

You are 100% correct about the name of the coating.

Nikasil was an "atomized" nickel-silicon spray coating applied to the inside of aluminum cylinder bores of Porsche engines - in order to make the wear-surfaces of the cylinders harder and more durable than plain, un-treated aluminum cylinder blocks (like the early Vega/Pinto engines).

When applied by the factory to an OEM-built engine, the Nikasil cylinder coatings were great. Unfortunately, the coating was nearly impossible to reproduce outside the factory, which meant that rebuilding an aluminum-blocked engine that relied on the Nikasil coating process, was an exercise in futility. Because they wouldn't hold up long-term after being rebuilt.

So basically, they were a great "one off" solution to the problems inherent in building an all-aluminum (light weight) engine. IIRC, Porsche eventually offered replacement steel cylinder "jugs" for the engines with aluminum Nikasil cylinders.

FWIW, a similar solution was eventually implemented to make the Vega/Pinto aluminum-block engines rebuildable. The solution was to install thin, steel, cylinder "sleeves" into the aluminum engine blocks.

With steel cylinder sleeves the Porsche, Vega, and Pinto motors became both reliable and rebuildable.

 

[LVSteve]

So basically, they were a great "one off" solution to the problems inherent in building an all-aluminum (light weight) engine. IIRC, Porsche eventually offered replacement steel cylinder "jugs" for the engines with aluminum Nikasil cylinders.

FWIW, a similar solution was eventually implemented to make the Vega/Pinto aluminum-block engines rebuildable. The solution was to install thin, steel, cylinder "sleeves" into the aluminum engine blocks.

With steel cylinder sleeves the Porsche, Vega, and Pinto motors became both reliable and rebuildable.

A quick search on the Internet revealed alloy block motors with no mention of liners on today's market. I guess most, if not all, those engines are not considered suitable for rebuild, unless there is some clever way of getting liners in there..

 

[CH4]

People put small block Chevies in everything, including motorcycles, lawn mowers, snow blowers and even chain saws

… and Fords.

 

[WR Moore]

I had a friend who put one in a Corvair. Problem was, he ended up with four speeds in reverse and one forward because the engine ran in the opposite direction.

At one time sticking a Corvair engine in a Karman Ghia was a thing. IIRC, one had to flop the ring gear to the other side of the differential casing to get it to work. Possibly custom ring & pinion.

I always found those old Triumph pushrod motors quite robust in its variants up to 1300cc. I have no experience of the 1500cc motor with its long stroke, nor the emission hobbled US version. Many of my generation in England learned in Triumph Heralds and owned them and Spitfires later. If we couldn't kill them, nobody could. Now, synchronizing the twin carbs could be a game for the impatient, but I had an airflow measuring gadget that made it dead easy.

The problem with those carbs (can't recall the brand) was the steel throttle plate rods in a pot metal body. The rod bores wore unevenly and made fussing with the carbs almost a weekly thing to do. Then I ran across an ad for a kit with a drill bit and 4 brass bushings for $10 that solved the problem-with a wee dab of Loc-Tite.

 

[LVSteve]

The problem with those carbs (can't recall the brand) was the steel throttle plate rods in a pot metal body. The rod bores wore unevenly and made fussing with the carbs almost a weekly thing to do. Then I ran across an ad for a kit with a drill bit and 4 brass bushings for $10 that solved the problem-with a wee dab of Loc-Tite.

Triumph used Stromberg carbs, which were SU carbs with added complications, maybe to avoid patent infringement. The SU is the Kalashnikov of carburetors for me. No accelerator pumps, vacuum driven secondaries or other frippery.

 

[MelvinWalker]

Triumph used Stromberg carbs, which were SU carbs with added complications, maybe to avoid patent infringement. The SU is the Kalashnikov of carburetors for me. No accelerator pumps, vacuum driven secondaries or other frippery.

That reminds me of a carb I had on a 1970 HD XLCH....It had a huge rubber mount and the carb was made by "Mikuni"...I think it was a gravity downdraft style carb.....It actually worked really well until the rubber mount split and allowed air behind the carb. This was due to the standard HD vibration of the time.

 

[BC38]

A quick search on the Internet revealed alloy block motors with no mention of liners on today's market. I guess most, if not all, those engines are not considered suitable for rebuild, unless there is some clever way of getting liners in there..

Yeah, I should have been more specific.
Ford and Chevy didn't sleeve them, but some aftermarket rebuilders did back in the 1970's

 

[Hair Trigger]

People put small block Chevies in everything....

Sho enuf, they do:

 

[WR Moore]

Triumph used Stromberg carbs, which were SU carbs with added complications, maybe to avoid patent infringement. The SU is the Kalashnikov of carburetors for me. No accelerator pumps, vacuum driven secondaries or other frippery.

SU!!!!!! Well, I thought the vacuum controlled fuel metering rods were strange. Weird to watch the cap on the carb go up and down as you exercised the throttle. Setting the distributor advance was also, ah, different.