I seem to have inadvertantly sparked what has turned out to be a pretty interesting moral discussion. I hear what you guys are all saying, and now that the prospective buyer has informed me that he is going to pass on the car as a result of all the unexpected work it needs, I'm less concerned about talking about the PPI results. My concern was over the fact that I don't really consider the information about the car that was uncoverd as a result of the PPI to be "mine," because I never would have known about the issues had the prospective buyer not shelled out the $200 for the PPI.
Be that all as it may, I've obviously been doing a lot of thinking about what I should do now. My inclination is that since many of the issues with the car involve major labor, but minimal skill (I fit those requirements to a tee <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> ), I think I will take the insurance off the car, and start tearing into the stuff I think I can fix myself. I'll start by yanking the clutch and flywheel, and then replacing the rear main seal, which is leaking pretty badly, which I knew before the PPI. I'm very curious as to what it is about the wear pattern of the clutch may have contributed to the break in the firewall, and I'll take the flywheel to the shop that did the PPI to have it inspected/tested as well. If it's OK, I'll re-use it. If not, I'll probably end up getting a single-mass one from RS Barn, as I hear new DMF's are very scarce, and cost a small fortune, although I worry about the impact of the rattle on resale. Hopefully my DMF is OK...
Then I'll pull the oil pan and replace the gasket, and next replace the lower balance shaft rear seal. This will cover pretty much all the oil leaks. A ton of labor, obviously, but it will be nice to have all the leaks gone.
Except for the power steering. Also on the list is re-sealing the power steering pump and steering rack, and replacing the high pressure line.
In parallel, I'll take care of the fuel lines, which are apparently loose at their fittings. The feed line is out of stock worldwide, so I suppose I'll have to have some made. Any advice on who can do this would be appreciated. I'll post more info on my fuel lines once I get them off. I'll start a separate thread for this.
Then there's the power seat, which the shop says is probably the switch, which matches what I've read on the forum. So, I'll pull the seat and replace the switch(es). I know there's lots of good information on how to do this on the forum.
As far as the Guard LSD, the shop thinks the clutches are worn, resulting in weak lock-up. They think their wear may have been accelerated by possibly having the wrong type of fluid in the transaxle. The shop says the diff can be accessed without removing the transaxle, so I'll do some research into to it, and if it looks doable, I may even venture into the clutch replacement myself, which would save me over $600. I've never worked on a differential before, and don't even know exactly how an LSD works, so I have a lot of research to do before considering delving into this. The differential works fine, it's just not functioning very well as an LSD, apparently. I think I'll contact Guard to see what they think. This is definitely something else I'm going to eventually start a thread about. Does anybody else know of any instances where Guard LSDs have failed? They seem to have a solid reputation.
When I'm done with all this stuff, I'll take the car to the shop to fix the firewall. As far as the AC, I may leave it alone, and just explain to any future prospective buyers that it works fine, but it has a small leak. The shop recommends converting it back to R12, but I worry about the future availability of that stuff (I thought it was supposed to be long gone by now). This is something I'll just talk over with the prospective buyer. And the above plans may change depending on the interest of any future prospective buyers, as not everyone necessarily cares about every item.
The good news from the PPI is that there are an awful lot right with the car. The compression is 185 psi in three cylinders, and 190 in the fourth, all suspensions components are in great shape, as are the wheel bearings, CV joints, CV boots, syncros, shift mechanism, etc., etc. And it's cosmetically very nice inside and out. So, one the PPI discoveries are gone through, it will be one outstanding specimen of a 968. Sadly, I'm sure all this work and expense won't add a dime to its resale value, although it might allow it to sell a little quicker. My experience is probably pretty typical, as the value of things like cars declines as they get older, and the cost to repair them increases, leaving very little net revenue from a sale. I guess I was dreaming when I thought I could use the proceeds from the sale of the 968 to fund building a track car. I hear two kidneys are totally unnecessary...
