85’ 911 Transmission & Clutch costs

[85-911-Targa]

Hi all,

New guy here to the forum. I’ve got an 85’ 911 Targa. I love her, apart from when she doesn’t give me much love back which right now is happening a little.

I’ve had some issues with the trans (original 915), it’s getting tough to move into first unless I am at a dead stop, tough from first to second, and second to third can also be tough. Shifting down from second to first is, at times, painfully nasty and the dreaded grind and third to second can also be tough. Synchro on first is shot and second also is pretty bad, as well as the dog teeth on first and second, and while we’re at it third too. Also while I’m at it, as it has 100k miles I figured it (kind of) made sense to do the clutch whilst doing the work on the trans.

I’ve taken it into a reputable shop in SoCal who we’ve used for newer 911’s and they’ve had it for a few days, driven it around, flushed the trans fluid and taken a good look around and given me a price of $6-6.5k to do the work (Inc clutch), which is for me to drop her off and pick her up fully done, all parts and labor for close to a full rebuild as bearings also may need doing. I won’t be dropping it myself and removing the trans so I know that can add a few hours labor onto it (I see a lot of people say 3-4hr on the forums).

I did do some searching of the forum to see if anyone had any recent prices on what they’d expect to pay to do the similar job, and I know it’s impossible to give an exact price until you’d open it up properly and look in there but I couldn’t see anyone discussing it since around 2015 and I know, especially in todays world, part prices are up and labor is up. I did see a great post from Matt Monson back in 2008 who suggested that a quoted price back then of $5.7k wasn’t overly unreasonable if it was more than just a synchro switch and also included the clutch.

So if this is what it costs then this is what it costs but from other classics I’ve owned I’ve been burnt before (like I’m sure a few of you have too!). I like to think they are good guys but in this world, you never know.

Would love any comments from anyone who’s had similar work done recently. I’m not a super savvy mechanical guy so I know I have to pay the price for things when I need them but just interested to get the views of the experts in here, to name it doesn’t seem overly toppy on price but always good to ask the experts.

Thanks in advance and happy to be a part of this community!