82 SC Clutch and Gearbox overhaul cost range

[carelallen]

Hi Folks,

I am a long time lurker on the forum but I have gleaned a ton of helpful information searching prior posts. Certainly appreciate the wealth of experience.

Got my 82 SC out of storage this week and went for a spring shake down drive. Unfortunatly, I had a clutch failure. The cable not broken so something inside the housing broke. So I am looking to have a shop replace the clutch. While its out I should really have the gearbox gone through as well (1st syncro, difficult 2nd gear). Its got 90K miles so not a surprise.

Had it towed to a local garage I have previously used. $7200 for the clutch, and an additional $6200 for the gearbox overhaul. I am a bit stunned! Need to shop around.

I looking for some guidance on what I can expect a decent independent Porsche garage to charge for:
1) Cost range for clutch replacement
2) Cost range for gearbox overhaul which typically included replacing the clutch

I realize there are a lot of variables which is why I say a range. Location matters I suppose; I am in SE Michigan (Ann Arbor). The best help would be what someone actually paid for this kind of work in the last couple of years.

Thanks in advance. It is appreciated.

[garment]

$7,200 for a clutch is a bit pricey in my view. The parts on the high end are $1,200 and I look at shop labor as 3-4x the cost of parts when pricing a job.

I just spent about $7K for a very extensive gearbox rebuild. This included just about all new synchros and dog teeth, as well as a replacement taller 5th gear (my old and very serviceable 5th is available for sale). However. I dropped the engine and gearbox myself so maybe you should price that in as well, maybe 2 hours of labor at any qualified shop.

This was in Metro D.C.

[ChuckleBeast]

I pulled the engine myself in 2022 and brought the tranny to an indie that specializes in Porsche. All new dogteeth synchros and sleeves cost about $2,400. With the engine already out replacing the clutch is easy I think I spent somewhere around $500 on parts.

[icarp]

you are being raped !

total cost at $7200 trans and clutch, would be reasonable for a first class job.
I don't think the clutch is broken , you said the car was in storage .
I think the clutch disc is stuck to the flywheel and that acts like a broken clutch
please seek other help!!!!

[Funracer]

Originally Posted by icarp

you are being raped !

total cost at $7200 trans and clutch, would be reasonable for a first class job.
I don't think the clutch is broken , you said the car was in storage .
I think the clutch disc is stuck to the flywheel and that acts like a broken clutch
please seek other help!!!!

Excellent advise all around.

There are threads on here about how to identify and unstick a flywheel. Might be worth a look.

[carelallen]

Thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify, I was driving the car after being in storage for the winter when this happened. The clutch was not stuck from storage. Clutch was working then when BANG and the pedal dropped to the floor. At any rate, I know the shop quoted me an obscene price. I can't fault the labor cost but the parts cost are double retail pricing. They also included replacing everything they touch. Example: new flywheel instead of resurfacing the flywheel, $500 misc for the gearbox. Greedy instead of honestly doing what is needed.

Yes, As icarp said $7200 for gearbox and clutch would be OK. Still looking for the shop that does business that way.

[garment]

Check this thread, mine from 12 years ago (where did the time go?) https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/765171-bam-clutch-pedal-floor.html

[pmax]

I can speak to local pricing but something's amiss when a clutch job cost more than the gearbox rebuild.

Can you post the breakdown of the quotes ?

Originally Posted by carelallen

Thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify, I was driving the car after being in storage for the winter when this happened. The clutch was not stuck from storage. Clutch was working then when BANG and the pedal dropped to the floor. ...

Does it still disengage or it completely stopped working ?

[carelallen]

Originally Posted by garment

Check this thread, mine from 12 years ago (where did the time go?) https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/765171-bam-clutch-pedal-floor.html

Thanks for sharing this. Similar failure experience. The shop says the cable is not broken and the problem is inside the clutch housing; “possible broken fork.”

[yelcab1]

Ann Arbor MI, I got it. These are shops that work on American muscle cars, not Porsches. Here is what you should expect for a good Porsche Specialist.

4 hours to R&R the engine.
1 hour to replace the clutch and the RMS
$250 to machine the flywheel.
$300-$400 for oil, filter, gearbox oil, brake flush.
$1,000 for a clutch pack

At $200 an hour, that is about $2,500.

915 gearboxes can be expensive to rebuild, but ... why would you need a rebuild? Did anyone drive the car yet?

[Dan J]

Get your car and yourself over to Claudio in Portage, Mi Excellent Porsche mechanic and excellent Human. import auto repair, Foreign Car Services Portage, MI About Us
Tell him I sent you. You won't be sorry

[carelallen]

To clarify a couple of things, this shop is an indy German car shop. They have a highly regarded air cooled mechanic that works there after he retired and closed his own shop. He did some fuel injection work on the car last year to get it running better.

The gearbox has the typical bad 1st gear syncro and very difficult to shift into 2nd. All the shifter bushings, coupler, short shifter, motor mounts have been replaced trying to get it shift "better."

However, I am mystified on the quoted cost, particularly parts. I realize that shops make money on parts but the pricing is a shocking amount over retail.

Tomorrow I am calling some other shops looking for an alternative. I am not going to belabor the details of what they quoted me since I will take the car elsewhere. However, since you asked, here is what they quoted overall.

Porsche Clutch Service
Labor: $3,462.20
R&R engine assembly. Inspect/confirm clutch components for failure. Install new clutch kit, flywheel, release bearing guide, release bearing fork, clutch return springs, transmission output seal, axle output shaft seals and engine crank seal. Drain old transmission fluid and fill with new. Install new clutch cable, clevis and dust bellow.
Parts: $3,742.03
Total: $7,204.23 +tax

Porsche Transmission Service w/Engine Overhaul or Clutch Service
Labor: $1,731.10 (after engine in out)
Drain transmission fluid. R&R transmission. Disassemble, inspect for needed components. Install new syncros, 1-2 slider, support bearings, differential carrier bearings, 1 and 2 dog gears with associated materials. Fill with new fluid.
Parts: $4,442.73
Total: $6,173.83 +tax

I will post another update after I talk to a couple other shops. Maybe I will get similar quotes. Hope not.

[carelallen]

Originally Posted by Dan J

Get your car and yourself over to Claudio in Portage, Mi Excellent Porsche mechanic and excellent Human. import auto repair, Foreign Car Services Portage, MI About Us
Tell him I sent you. You won't be sorry

Thanks for the info!

[dtwa]

Last winter I had a local Ann Arbor shop drop my engine/trans and we shipped the trans (915/68) to California Motorsports Sports for a complete rebuild. The local guys handled the clutch, pressure plate, release bearing, rear main seal, flywheel resurface plus R&R.

CMS is well respected and the trans rebuild was flat rate for labor plus parts. Mine needed some machining of the case and sleeves installed (loose bearings). All bearings, synchros, sliders were replaced. Came back looking like new and runs like a champ. No more of that “need to pause while shifting into second” stuff. Cost was more but not much different than what you were quoted for the rebuild.

For the clutch-related stuff and R&R, that sounds a little excessive, or at least considerably more than what I paid. But my clutch was working fine at the time (just pushing 100k miles).

Keep in mind that most shops mark up parts 100% to cover warranty costs. Worth it in my view for something like a clutch. Not so much for easily accessible parts.

PM me if you want more details.

—Dave


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[yelcab1]

The quoted Clutch service has a bunch of things you probably don't need. New flywheel, clutch cable, release bearing guides, fork, return spring (omega spring), and input / output flange seals. If he, a professional German aircool mechanic, takes more than 4 hours to R&R the SC engine, then he is not a professional. A bunch of us on this site can remove it in 2 hours in the driveway with two jacks and a dolly.

As for the 1st-2nd shift, you can do a 1-2 refresh for much less. Although, some people feel that once it is out, you might as well do the whole thing. That is up to you.

[creaturecat]

almost double the normal cost - clutch-wise. unreal.

[carelallen]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

The quoted Clutch service has a bunch of things you probably don't need. New flywheel, clutch cable, release bearing guides, fork, return spring (omega spring), and input / output flange seals. If he, a professional German aircool mechanic, takes more than 4 hours to R&R the SC engine, then he is not a professional. A bunch of us on this site can remove it in 2 hours in the driveway with two jacks and a dolly.

As for the 1st-2nd shift, you can do a 1-2 refresh for much less. Although, some people feel that once it is out, you might as well do the whole thing. That is up to you.

Agree. Thanks for another validation of what I was thinking. Waiting to hear back from two other shops.

[carelallen]

Originally Posted by creaturecat

almost double the normal cost - clutch-wise. unreal.

Agree. Thanks for another validation of what I was thinking. Waiting to hear back from two other shops.