Minneapolis Porsche Engine Rebuilders

tarrz111 · 12-12-2013, 06:40 PM

I bought my first Porsche - 1980 SC911 Targa and the engine is in need of a rebuild. I bought and read Wayne's book and will do some of the work myself but need a reputable shop that can do all the machine work. Anyone know of a good shop around the Minneapolis area?

tharbert · tharbert's Garage

Welcome, fellow fly-over state resident. I'm going through the process of rebuilding my 72 2.4. Finding a machine shop is kinda like selecting a doctor for surgery. You want the doctor that does hundreds of your procedures a year, not 7. In this case, you want the machine shop that specializes in air-cooled engines. That means UPS is your friend.

If you keep using the search button and read Wayne's rebuilding book, you'll come to find that if you use Ollie's in Lake Havasu City, AZ, you can't go wrong. I packed up my case and shipped it last week for $85. I sent my heads to Anchor Atlantic in New Jersey. Mr. Hirst received them yesterday. The heads will come back looking like works of art.

So, I suggest you keep searching and reading here. Get some names and dial them up. Ask all the questions you can then pull the trigger.

jhg41977 · jhg41977's Garage

I can say with unfortunate experience, tharbert is right. Do not bring anything, (really, do not bring ANYTHING) to the local machine shop. So far, two local shops have ruined a set of cylinders and a set of cam towers.

tharbert · tharbert's Garage

I'm not sure I'd go that far. For normal stuff that machine shops see every day, a quality local shop in your area is PROBABLY fine. Stuff like polishing and balancing cranks, refurbishing/balancing rods or replacing rocker bushings and polishing rocker cam followers is well in the wheelhouse of a good local shop.

For case, P/C or head work where these things are specific to Porsche, you need to find the shop that see lots of this stuff and that ain't in Minnesota.

A couple machine shops that regularly get mentioned:
Ollie's
"Competition Engineering - Expert Porsche machining for 46 years"
Kudo's to a Porsche Cylinder Head Repair Shop
Align Bore or Not?

Again, Search is your friend in this forum!

Vintage914Racer · 12-13-2013, 10:20 AM

I had my race engine rebuilt two winters ago and sent all my stuff to Ollie's in Arizona for machining. My engine builders machinist who was knowledgable about these engines put in the towel. I have no regrets paying the shipping and sending the parts down south. Ollie's does enough Porsche work that they could do it in their sleep.

jhg41977 · jhg41977's Garage

One shop overdrillerld the hole when removing a snapped screw on my cam towers, one on each side. Didnt say anything to me, noticed it when I picked them up. The other shop assured me they could properly deglaze my cylinders amd ended up going through the nikasil coating they claimed to be very familiar with. Both shops were recommended by friends who use them and claim they have a great reputation.

KTL · 12-13-2013, 11:36 AM

Send a private message or PM to BGCarrera32. He's in your area and knows of a Porsche specialty shop that can point you to the machinists they use (or do it in-house).

black_falcon · black_falcon's Garage

Flax Six in Bloomington, Jeppesen Imports in Chanhassen, Auto Edge in Mahtomedi, or Courtney Truck Service in Eden Prairie, all know their way around 911's.

I'd recommend checking with Flat Six and Jeppesen first. Both are extremely knowledgeable.

KTL · 12-13-2013, 02:32 PM

Flat Six is the place BG mentioned & spoke very highly of them.

tarrz111 · 01-06-2014, 02:14 PM

Thanks for all the references. I hope to start after this big deep freeze is over.

wrxnofx · wrxnofx's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by black_falcon

Flax Six in Bloomington, Jeppesen Imports in Chanhassen, Auto Edge in Mahtomedi, or Courtney Truck Service in Eden Prairie, all know their way around 911's.

I'd recommend checking with Flat Six and Jeppesen first. Both are extremely knowledgeable.

+1 on either of these guys. Joe at Jeppesen Imports used to do the maintenance on my Jetta and is one of the only certified RUF guys in the country. That should tell you something. He is a really good guy.

Aaron at Flat Six has done the stuff I'm not comfortable with on my 911. Busy guy, though, even at this time of the year with all the project cars he's doing. One of his project cars is going to be in an upcoming article in Excellence. Email is the best way to get hold of him.

BTW, welcome to the forum, fellow cold weather friend!