A Shout Out to the Old School Way
 

Been thinking on this since yesterday. It seems that the old school way of looking at mechanical issues is rapidly going away. Or maybe that is just the opinion of an old guy. Case in point, I have had a chattering clutch for quite some time. Did the Porsche Motorsports clutch assembly and it has just not been right for some time. Went to Jack at Stuttgart SW in Tempe.

Jack and I spent an enjoyable, if very warm couple of hours looking at things. His knowledge of the way things work is phenomenal and his ability to see the issues clearly and work through to a logical solution is just great. He put a bit more bow in the clutch line, adjusted it more than one to fit my style, looked carefully at the motor mounts and found one that needed a shim. $75 later I have a brand new car. The easy answer and one that would get him more money is replace that with a Sachs and we can get on with it. Not Jack, let's look at the under lying issues and think through what might be happening. I am sure there are others just as committed.

Let's go out of our way to find these guys that really take care in what they do and just don't replace a part. My hope is there are lots out there. Before I moved to Phoenix, I had found Paul Overstreet in Gordonsville, VA. Another mechanic of the true sort.

Support your local mechanic, not parts replacers

just one man's opinion

I do not know of either mechanic you mention, but if very much get what you mean. I would nominate Ed Mayo, Mayo Performance in DFW as the Dean of this August body of Porsche Gurus.
I, and many others have seen Ed calmly attend to a wide range of early Porsche difficulties, on the road, with a carry kit of tools & parts. One of the best.

edit: let's don't even speak of the wonderful cars he has built in his shop over the years.

Technology killed the mechanic. My X5's tranny went out at 2500, yes 2500, miles. They plugged the car to the computer and BMW replaced the entire transmission.

No one opened the transmission, just followed computer. I think that it was 10k or so for the job.

There is still demand for skilled techs to maintain & repair lots of pre-OBD cars. You really do not want to trust the dealerships with these early cars.

Not to hi-jack the thread but I met Paul Overstreet a few years back working at a small BMW / Porsche shop in Charlottsville, Va. He knew the owner. We had a great conversation and his reputation preceded him, even in that 1-horse town. Nice guy.

My thought exactly. Jack solved my problem thru a magic combination if knowing a bend was needed in the clutch cable (the touch being how much), the pre load, the spring at the transmission and a slightly loose motor mount. It takes passion and know how.

Let's celebrate everyone if these artists

Every one of... Freaking spell check

There's an app for that.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

That's the guy. Apparently ex-Joest Racing mechanic

Maybe, but is there a stupid app?

Jack really knows his stuff. I needed to rebuild my rusty old pedal cluster that had completely seized up on me. I couldn't get the rusty pin out and it was in especially bad shape. I took it down to Jack and for $20 he soaked it in penetrating oil for a few days then pressed it out. He then recommended me APC to do the sandblasting, who also did a great job.

Another shout out would be to Tom Conway and the rest of the crew at Carquip in Boulder, CO.

Relax, gunslinger.

"everyone" is spelled correctly and so is "if".
Spell Check would have OK'd them.
.
BTW, "spell check" is spelled Spell Check.

You're welcome. :cool:

So you met Paul, working at Ed Berlin's shop? You are talking about people I know, and we travel in the same circles, well not Ed.

BMW replaced the entire transmission in my friend's new car at similar mileage 30 years ago, way before OBD. I didn't think it was a bad thing.

Powerhaus here in Wellington. Our man Ruben and boss man Ruben are like that. They have seen it all before and are masters at the black art of getting a 911 just singing along :)

Rick, not Ed's shop, Blue Ridge Motor Works...........

Herman and Curtice, I worked for them for a few years until I could no longer deal with Wanda's crap. One of my cats came from there, she was a shop kitty that needed a home.

HA!! No *****!! :eek: I sent you a PM

Jack is a fantastic technician in the old school way of doing things (and looking at things). Great to talk to and generous with his time - he's got to be thinking of retirement and that is going to be a huge loss.

Talk about old school I spent an afternoon in a hotel parking lot with the guy from Performance Oriented learning how to tune webers with a 'colortune'.

Love people like that. Guys that want to understand the how and why, not just look up the fix.