Otto's In Venice...

[Wayne 962]

For those of you who don't know about Otto's in Venice, I thought I would give you a little introduction. Tom Gould, whom with myself founded Pelican Parts, worked with John Williamson (owner of Otto's) for many years prior to Pelican's startup in 1997. John is a icon in the Porsche community and is well-respected by many as a Porsche mechanic, as well as an excellent driver. His years of experience are essential assets in diagnosing both common and not-so-common problems with aircooled Porsches.

John also has a large stock of used early 911 & 914 parts at his location in Venice, CA. Most people don't realize the vast swaths of parts that are hidden away in the upper levels of the shop.

In fact, we're probably going to be headed over there next week to have John replace a wheel bearing on Scott's 911E in preparation for the 911E summer gathering / rally to Colorado. My RS clone is popping and spitting these days, and I just don't have time to work on it either (too busy nursing these servers), so I'll probably give it to John to "work his magic" as well with the Webers.

Otto's is located at 707 South Hampton Drive in Venice. John just resigned a six-year lease, so he's there for the long haul. Phone number 1-888-901-OTTO. I would put Otto's on my short list of preferred LA area shops (along with TRE and Callas Rennsport).

-Wayne

[nostatic]

He is also very active with POC and works on a number of member's cars that run at the track.

[Jack Olsen]

He's the only human being who ever managed to boil the fluid in my car's brakes.

I attribute many of my gray hairs to my ridealong with Otto at LVMS.

[Grady Clay]

I’m pretty sure John did the pre-delivery on my then new 911 in 1968.

Yes, a ride will Otto-Matic get your adrenalin at full force. HeHe

Best,
Grady

[Redlineshftr]

Thanks for the posting Wayne. Im moving to Tustin at the end of July and was about to start searching for a good shop down there.

Mike

[randywebb]

so, who is or was Otto?

[Jack Olsen]

Otto = John. I think it goes back to an old joke involving the word 'automatic.'

But speaking from experience, lots of guys with the name John come up with an alternative.

[Wayne 962]

Tom Slick:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Slick_(cartoon)

-Wayne

[Grady Clay]

Here are John’s contact points:
http://www.914fan.net/ottos.html
(310) 399-3221
ottos@loop.com
John Williamson is one great guy and very talented.
He is to LA area what John Eisenbud (my first employed mechanic) is to Denver.

What is too bad is we are all getting old. The accumulated knowledge needs to be preserved for future generations. Go to Otto’s, listen to John.

Best,
Grady

[dd74]

Great guy, and yes, he has quite a treasure of parts. I used to work up the street from Otto's, and would hear those flat sixes roar all the way to the Rose Cafe. He also has a nicely-peppered dialect of select curse words that he uses with committed ease. Hmmm...he must've been an English major.

[dafischer]

He does some nice stuff with hard to find Bosch items. I just got a rebuilt MFI RPM Transducer from him @ $75 exchange. He also does other things like CDI boxes...give him a call.

[sixbanger]

So when and where is the 911E event?

[W Scott Shores]

Originally posted by sixbanger
So when and where is the 911E event?

Here are the details:

The 911E Registry Tour de Colorado

and here is a Pelican thread about it:

July 14-16 -- 231 mile Colorado mountain run

[glenncal1]

Guys-you are going to love that part of the state. Two things to watch out for 1. Animals, deer and elk in the early mornings and late evenings especially. 2. The local law enforcement, Colorado cops are generally not big fans of foreign cars (especially red ones, don't ask how I know that) going above the speed limit.

Have fun I wish I could head down there to join you. Be aware that the mountain passes down there are about 10,000 feet and if it is hot density altitude will be even higher.

Jim

[Zeke]

Originally posted by dd74
Cafe. He also has a nicely-peppered dialect of select curse words that he uses with committed ease. Hmmm...he must've been an English major.

And the gruff exterior to go along. Be prepared to be sized down a bit in his presence. However, here is a man who walks the walk, so I supposed he can talk the trash.

[Par911]

Yep, Otto (John) is the man!!

[88911coupe]

A good friend of mine used to live in Venice and I'd recommended he get his '88 930 serviced there based on comments by posters here. Although he said the service was excellent, Otto scared the crap out of him. :-)) Once when I was out there visiting we took his car by to have Otto/John look at something and I got into a long converstion with Otto. It was a blast...he's incredibly funny but he can be a bit gruff and does not tolerate BS. I'd love to live out there just to have someone like that work on my car.

[Jason Porter]

I used to wrench for Otto for about a year. He knows more than anyone I know when it comes to the air-cooled 911. He also has good taste in mechanics

[jbell959]

I haven't made it up there to meet him in person however I have spoken to him on the phone a few times. He had mentioned thinking about getting out of the business so it's great to hear that he will be around for a while. He's an asset to the Porsche community!

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Otto is a way cool guy. He used to let me go rummage in the top of his shop back in the day.

ditto what david said. You either catch Otto on a good or a bad day. Don't talk back to him, whatever you do.