 | Panel Alignment - Typically one of the quickest ways of determining
previous serious body damage is to observe the gap between the body
panels. However, the mix of panels used on the 928 and the way they were designed
to fit together creates a car with less than optimum body work. Typically
high end and luxury cars have very tight and consistent tolerances. While
this was improved on the later model cars, the fit on pre 1987 models can vary
greatly from car to car.
Still the hood, rear deck and doors should close smoothly and fit without too
great a variation. Doors that hang crooked or spaces that are too small
for the panel are a tip off of a previous bad repair.
Turn on and off the head lights and observe if the headlights come up
smoothly without hitting against the fender. When the head lights are down
they should be centered in the holes.
(Deduct 10 points for each panel
that does not fit correctly)
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| Hinges and Latches- The hinges on the hood can corrode and stick. This
can cause the bolts that anchor the hinges to the body to pull out and
bend. Just lubricating the hinges will not make the hood close
correctly. The doors have stops that keep the doors open and prevent them
from closing on your leg. If the doors do not stay open then the stops
have to be replaced. The hood and deck lid have has gas pistons that hold
them up. The hood pistons should be checked when the engine is cold as
marginal pistons can be revived with the engine heat. Both the hood and
the rear lid should be able to be positioned at almost any angle. The rear
latch has a plastic catch that wears down over time. The plastic is a
replacement part and can be replaced separate from the latch. The latch is
also made of cast metal that can break again causing the rear lid to not close
correctly. The latches on the door can also wear over time and cause the
door to rattle or not close correctly. The outside door handles are made
of cast metal and can come loose and shortly there after break, The hood
release handle has a plastic mount. It is not uncommon to see the hood
release separated from the housing completely.
(Deduct 3 points for each
latch, hinge and piston pair that are bad)
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| Plastic Bumpers - The plastic bumper covers are held in place by a set
of bolts that are accessed from under the fenders. A plastic trim piece is
used as a gasket to make up for irregularities and the seal the bumper.
Sometimes to save time repair shops will not remove the bumpers and will end up
damaging the gaskets by sanding them. Others will remove the bumper covers
and then not use all of the bolts to reattach them. Some of the bolts can
be very difficult to access and some require that other parts be removed and
replaced in order. This will leave gaps between the body and the bumper
cover. The plastic bumpers are designed to take a small impact like those
when parking by brail without any damage. When the bumpers are repainted
they should be stripped of old paint, primed and the new paint mixed with a flex
agent. Often these steps will be skipped and the bumpers can get a build
up of paint that cracks easily. If there are crack marks on the bumper it
is an indication that it has been improperly repainted. The bumper covers
are backed up by a high impact an aluminum bumper that is mounted on a pair of
shock absorbers. The shocks are designed to fail after the first
impact. If by reaching under the plastic bumper cover the aluminum bumper
can be moved back and forth freely then the shock is bad and needs to be
replaced. The rear bumpers on the U.S. model has two black rubber
bumpers that can tear or be gouged.
(Deduct 15 points for each repair needed to
the bumpers. Deduct an additional 15 points for each cover that is damaged
and needs to be replaced)
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| Glass - Porsche used tinted glass in the windows.
Typically either bronze or green tint was used depending on the color of the
car. A white card can be used to see the tint. All windows should
have the same tint. Windshields also had the option of a shading at the
top. Many times to save money replacement windshields will be substituted
with clear glass. Check the windshield for rock chips. These are
common. The easiest way to do this is to clean the outside of the
windshield. The rear view mirror is glued onto the windshield and can
either break off or crack the windshield.
On models after 84 before the small outside antenna was put on
the roof, the windshield had an antenna imbedded. this can be seen on the
passenger side only as a thin wire running through the glass. The cars
with the embedded antenna also came wired for an external power antenna on the
left rear fender. The rear window has an embedded heater. The
connections to this heater can be broken easily. Often the rear windows
are tinted with a film. Removing the film improperly can damage the rear window
heater. Body shops when sanding a car can hit the windows with a
sander. This will leave swirl marks and is often an indication that the
car has had significant body work.
(Deduct 15 points for each broken or
damaged window. Deduct an additional 15 points for a broken windshield
with an embedded antenna)
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