Chicago area restoration shop suggestions

[Roger 911]

After 20+ years of ownership, I am finally ready to get the battery acid damage repaired correctly in the front trunk on my '72 911. When I bought the car, there was evidence that a half-assed patch job had been done. I would like to get it done right, with a new front pan installed, etc. I'm familiar with some of the Porsche mechanical shops, such as Perfect Power, Midwest Eurosport, etc. But I'm not sure who specializes in restoration/body work, especially on early cars. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

[Showdown]

I had mechanical work done on my car by BTR in Northbrook and they were great- don’t know if they do full body work but I’d suspect so as I saw a whole lot of shells and body’s in various states of repair.

I’ve also heard good things about Midwest Performance in the west loop. The owner’s brother is a client of mine and was relaying that they did a full restomod of his BMW 2002...

Of course, neither are cheap but such is Pcar life.

[GG Allin]

Try O'Hare Auto Body on Irving Park Rd in Bensenville. I've never used them but for years there have always been Porsches parked in front being worked on. I suspect they're familiar with 911's.

[velvet jones]

When I used to live in the Chicago area, I used to bring my E30 M3 to the Werk Shop in Libertyville for service. They also perform restorations (mainly BMW), but based on their registry of restorations, they have done a handful of Porsches.

https://www.thewerkshop.com/?page_id=72

Best regards,
Aaron

[175K911]

Originally Posted by GG Allin

Try O'Hare Auto Body on Irving Park Rd in Bensenville. I've never used them but for years there have always been Porsches parked in front being worked on. I suspect they're familiar with 911's.

Sadly I've had to use O'Hare Auto Body for a couple of my vehicles. I say sadly because of minor collision work.
They did $10k of body work to a BMW X5 4.8is I used to have when a kid on a cell phone ran a red light and t-boned me. The replacement of 2 doors and their paint work on the metallic blue was perfection! Even a year later you could not tell what they had done. More recently on my previous red metallic Jeep Grand Cherokee they did $4k of work on the right rear of the vehicle when at the dealer for service their porter backed into my Jeep with their dealer shuttle van. Once again the work was perfection. And I've known several Porsche people who have had "incidents" on the track where OAB repaired nicely. And my current 911, when it was still the stock '86 body (pre-turbo body), I had them spray my new fiberglass Ruf style front and rear bumpers, they matched the 20 year old paint beautifully.

[70SWT]

If none of those places work out, contact Kurt at:

Kurt's German Autowerks ::: Porsche & Audi Service Located in Homer Glen, IL southwest of Chicago

He is not a restoration shop, as he just does regular repairs and maintenance; however, he may have some recommendations. Just a great guy all around. Wish I had someone like him around here!

[Roger 911]

Originally Posted by 175K911

Sadly I've had to use O'Hare Auto Body for a couple of my vehicles. I say sadly because of minor collision work.
They did $10k of body work to a BMW X5 4.8is I used to have when a kid on a cell phone ran a red light and t-boned me. The replacement of 2 doors and their paint work on the metallic blue was perfection! Even a year later you could not tell what they had done. More recently on my previous red metallic Jeep Grand Cherokee they did $4k of work on the right rear of the vehicle when at the dealer for service their porter backed into my Jeep with their dealer shuttle van. Once again the work was perfection. And I've known several Porsche people who have had "incidents" on the track where OAB repaired nicely. And my current 911, when it was still the stock '86 body (pre-turbo body), I had them spray my new fiberglass Ruf style front and rear bumpers, they matched the 20 year old paint beautifully.

I think I may have used O'Hare Auto Body many years abo for something, but I can't remember what it was. And it was probably 15-20 years ago. I'm guessing it wasn't a bad experience, since I can't remember

Anyone have any experience with Olsen Motorsports, Downers Grove? www.olsenmotorsports.net

[GG Allin]

When I was at Olsen a year or so ago the least interesting cars there were the 993 GT2 or possibly the pair of Flying Lizard 997 RSR's. I was busy looking at the '67 911R, the 934 & the '73 911 RS.

[shoooo32]

If you're willing to drag it up to Madison, Kelly-Moss has a metal shop with a Celette bench and all the fixtures. They're not cheap, but the work is beyond solid.

[Otter74]

I'm having Mancuso Auto Body do some windshield-channel rust repair and windshield and dash replacement on my SC. They're in Glenview, on Lake Ave. west of I-94. I'm not dropping the car off with them until next week but they came recommended by, I think, somebody on the forum and based on my interactions with them so far I trust them. They do collision work but also resto work on old cars, and what I can see of it is good. I'll report more once it's done.