81 911SC Targa

Well I've never done much work on my cars so I decided to get some experience with my 91 Toyota Camry. Attempted to replace the torn CV joint boot on the passenger side. My wonderful Haynes (piece of crap) manual failed to mention one crucial point. To drive the CV joint into the clip next to the transaxle. It all worked great till the joint slipped out. Stranded on the road and had it towed to my favorite local wrench.

Bottom line, should I be discouraged or should I still learn to work on my 911. Any other horror stories to success?

Well, it has been my experience with Japanese cars and trucks that they are designed for rapid assembly at the factory and any mechanic that has to do any work later on be damned!

Porsche's design philosophy for the 911 was an entirely different matter, they WERE designed to be maintained by an owner/driver/mechanic, hence an extremely well-detailed owner's manual, with plenty of pictures, procedures and diagrams!

As far as the CV-joints go, do a search in the Pelican archives and you will find a few problems with getting them off, putting the bearings & races together ... none about them falling off or coming loose, though! My suggestion would be to get a Bentley manual for the SC's when it comes out in December. Oh, yeah ... no reason to be discouraged about your 911, the Toyota is a different matter! Good luck!

------------------
Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Thanks for the encouragement. I have got a copy of the workshop manuals on fiche. Should I consider getting the Bentley manual also as a supplement to the workshop manuals?

Well, the factory manuals are good in some areas, weak in others, but they were designed to be a REFERENCE for a factory-trained technician, not a training course or how-to manual for a beginner! So, with that caveat, it is understandable why some people are a bit mystified by them at times!

So, yes, I would say to go ahead and get the Bentley manual ... it will help you get started doing your own work, and you will have the factory info on fiche for backup info. The factory 'spec' book, and one of the '74-'89 parts books is also a good idea.

------------------
Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Um, yes, highly recommended to work on your 911. It saves a lot of dough, since the wrenches out there get anywhere from $50/hr on up.

I had never worked on cars much before buying my 911. On my old Escort I changed the oil occasionally and even swapped out the sparkplugs and wires a couple of times. But on the 911, it's so easy to work on - I can't recount for you the stuff I've done on it. And if you screw something up (like I did my valve adjustment) - just take it to the wrench, ask him what you did wrong, and go from there.

------------------
Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2