Porsche 924 Turbo durability

[helpme]

A friend and I picked up a 924 Turbo for about 500$ a few months ago. Needs some work (blown strut, primary fuel pump shot, burning some coolant), but the inside and outside are in great condition.

It has around 60k miles, a reciently replaced turbo (not new), replaced CIS and a few other odds and ends. Car is not severly down on power, but we're not driving it now due to the white smoke 🙂

We're about to replace the head gasket and fix the fuel pump, but what we use it for after that we're not sure. We're still in the hunt for a LeMons car, but the durability of the 924T motor/turbo under extended track use is questionable.

Should we just keep it as a street car? Or would it survive the intense battle of LeMons? From what a couple 944 owners have told me, the 924T was not nearly as durable as the 944 motor...

 

[Zenmervolt]

The 944 owners are smoking something. Aside from an oil-cooled turbo that tended to die early (60,000-ish miles) if abused, the 924 Turbo is a pretty reliable car. A turbo does introduce other issues and it's unlikely to really be worth huge amounts of money, but it will be a lot of fun through the twisties and it's not an unreliable car as long as the proper care is taken with the oil-cooled turbo (let the car idle for at least 60 seconds before shutting off the engine, don't get behind on oil changes, etc).

A regular 924 I might be tempted to use in the 24 Hours of LeMons, but I think that if you're reasonably competent and the car really does have a clean body and interior then it should be worth around $5,000 if you can bring it up to pristine condition. Even in just plain good condition you're looking at $3,000 to $4,000.

NADA low retail value on a 1981 924 Turbo is $5,750 and they describe the Low condition as follows:

Low Retail Value
This vehicle would be in mechanically functional condition, needing only minor reconditioning. The exterior paint, trim, and interior would show normal wear, needing only minor reconditioning. May also be a deteriorated restoration or a very poor amateur restoration. Most usable "as-is".

NADA tends to be a little high, but if you do your own work this could be a profitable little car for you. I'd look for something else as a LeMons vehicle and fix this one for a profit.

ZV

 

[helpme]

Thanks for the info!

The 944 people that I spoke with at the track were worried about getting enough air flow to to the turbo for cooling during the multi-hour stints on track. The hood has a tiny scoop that tries to get some air to the turbo that is in a bit of a tight spot. Of course, some custom modifications to that tiny hoodscoop could help with that...

Yeah, we were leaning towards cleaning it up and reselling it. The inside and outside are nice enough that it feels like a shame to prepare it for the LeMons race. We're going to replace the head gasket and fuel pump soon, then go from there. After a few more minor fixes, we'll see what the market is like.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: helpme
Thanks for the info!

The 944 people that I spoke with at the track were worried about getting enough air flow to to the turbo for cooling during the multi-hour stints on track. The hood has a tiny scoop that tries to get some air to the turbo that is in a bit of a tight spot. Of course, some custom modifications to that tiny hoodscoop could help with that...

Yeah, we were leaning towards cleaning it up and reselling it. The inside and outside are nice enough that it feels like a shame to prepare it for the LeMons race. We're going to replace the head gasket and fuel pump soon, then go from there. After a few more minor fixes, we'll see what the market is like.

Airflow to the turbo is a new one on me. The turbo is cooled by the oil going through it, not by air. If you're really worried, add a $60 oil cooler. Just use good oil and you're golden. The duct is simply to help keep air moving through the engine compartment, not really for the turbo itself.

The NACA duct is actually very efficient and at the stock power levels of the 924 Turbo should be more than sufficient.

If you do decide to run it, at the very least save the panel between the headlights (the one with the 4 vents in it). I would be interested in buying that part for use in my 951 to improve airflow to the intercooler. (They are not easy to come by.)

Overall though my gut says that it's too nice a car to put through LeMons and risk it getting crushed. There's enough of a community around these cars that the panels and interior bits are still in at least a bit of demand.

ZV

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: helpme
Thanks for the info!

The 944 people that I spoke with at the track were worried about getting enough air flow to to the turbo for cooling during the multi-hour stints on track. The hood has a tiny scoop that tries to get some air to the turbo that is in a bit of a tight spot. Of course, some custom modifications to that tiny hoodscoop could help with that...

Yeah, we were leaning towards cleaning it up and reselling it. The inside and outside are nice enough that it feels like a shame to prepare it for the LeMons race. We're going to replace the head gasket and fuel pump soon, then go from there. After a few more minor fixes, we'll see what the market is like.

Airflow to the turbo is a new one on me. The turbo is cooled by the oil going through it, not by air. If you're really worried, add a $60 oil cooler. Just use good oil and you're golden. The duct is simply to help keep air moving through the engine compartment, not really for the turbo itself.

The NACA duct is actually very efficient and at the stock power levels of the 924 Turbo should be more than sufficient.

If you do decide to run it, at the very least save the panel between the headlights (the one with the 4 vents in it). I would be interested in buying that part for use in my 951 to improve airflow to the intercooler. (They are not easy to come by.)

Overall though my gut says that it's too nice a car to put through LeMons and risk it getting crushed. There's enough of a community around these cars that the panels and interior bits are still in at least a bit of demand.

ZV

It's not uncommon for air to be directed to turbochargers for extra cooling. My Impreza hood scoop had a (factory) diffuser that directed some of the airflow toward the snail and not the intercooler. That car also had an oil cooled blower.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: helpme
Thanks for the info!

The 944 people that I spoke with at the track were worried about getting enough air flow to to the turbo for cooling during the multi-hour stints on track. The hood has a tiny scoop that tries to get some air to the turbo that is in a bit of a tight spot. Of course, some custom modifications to that tiny hoodscoop could help with that...

Yeah, we were leaning towards cleaning it up and reselling it. The inside and outside are nice enough that it feels like a shame to prepare it for the LeMons race. We're going to replace the head gasket and fuel pump soon, then go from there. After a few more minor fixes, we'll see what the market is like.

Airflow to the turbo is a new one on me. The turbo is cooled by the oil going through it, not by air. If you're really worried, add a $60 oil cooler. Just use good oil and you're golden. The duct is simply to help keep air moving through the engine compartment, not really for the turbo itself.

The NACA duct is actually very efficient and at the stock power levels of the 924 Turbo should be more than sufficient.

If you do decide to run it, at the very least save the panel between the headlights (the one with the 4 vents in it). I would be interested in buying that part for use in my 951 to improve airflow to the intercooler. (They are not easy to come by.)

Overall though my gut says that it's too nice a car to put through LeMons and risk it getting crushed. There's enough of a community around these cars that the panels and interior bits are still in at least a bit of demand.

ZV

It's not uncommon for air to be directed to turbochargers for extra cooling. My Impreza hood scoop had a (factory) diffuser that directed some of the airflow toward the snail and not the intercooler. That car also had an oil cooled blower.

The airflow isn't to cool the turbo itself. It's to provide flow-through ventilation to keep air moving under the hood so that the exhaust manifold and the headers don't heat soak from the extra heat generated by the turbo.

Take a look at a turbo. They aren't finned. If they were even partially relying on airflow to cool them, they would be finned for greater heat dissipation.

ZV

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: helpme
Thanks for the info!

The 944 people that I spoke with at the track were worried about getting enough air flow to to the turbo for cooling during the multi-hour stints on track. The hood has a tiny scoop that tries to get some air to the turbo that is in a bit of a tight spot. Of course, some custom modifications to that tiny hoodscoop could help with that...

Yeah, we were leaning towards cleaning it up and reselling it. The inside and outside are nice enough that it feels like a shame to prepare it for the LeMons race. We're going to replace the head gasket and fuel pump soon, then go from there. After a few more minor fixes, we'll see what the market is like.

Airflow to the turbo is a new one on me. The turbo is cooled by the oil going through it, not by air. If you're really worried, add a $60 oil cooler. Just use good oil and you're golden. The duct is simply to help keep air moving through the engine compartment, not really for the turbo itself.

The NACA duct is actually very efficient and at the stock power levels of the 924 Turbo should be more than sufficient.

If you do decide to run it, at the very least save the panel between the headlights (the one with the 4 vents in it). I would be interested in buying that part for use in my 951 to improve airflow to the intercooler. (They are not easy to come by.)

Overall though my gut says that it's too nice a car to put through LeMons and risk it getting crushed. There's enough of a community around these cars that the panels and interior bits are still in at least a bit of demand.

ZV

It's not uncommon for air to be directed to turbochargers for extra cooling. My Impreza hood scoop had a (factory) diffuser that directed some of the airflow toward the snail and not the intercooler. That car also had an oil cooled blower.

The airflow isn't to cool the turbo itself. It's to provide flow-through ventilation to keep air moving under the hood so that the exhaust manifold and the headers don't heat soak from the extra heat generated by the turbo.

Take a look at a turbo. They aren't finned. If they were even partially relying on airflow to cool them, they would be finned for greater heat dissipation.

ZV

Come on, man, do you really have to assume the dumbest interpretation of my post?

It's just a shame I didn't take a pic of the underside of the scoop to show you what I'm talking about. I'm FULLY AWARE of how turbos are cooled, in the case of the one I pictured above, which was mine, it was oil cooled, has a heat shield on it to prevent the thing from boiling the brake fluid in the reservoir nearby, but ALSO has a diffuser that directs SOME of the airflow, destined for the air to air IC, toward it.

I'm not claiming, nor did I ever claim, that a turbo is 'air cooled'.

Edit: Here is a pic of it, the cross hatched hole on the left.

Edit 2: Bolded the part of my OP you missed.