Front ender fixed wrong

I recently purchased our family car. This is a cis t with about 50k on the odometer. I thought the car was in immaculate shape until recently. On a spirited run up Skyline (out of Saratoga, Ca.) there was an incident....shade, wet leaves, spin, cry. This was my dear Dad's doing. Anyhow. Supposedly the car was fixed correctly. Wrong. Pulls to the left. Alignment shops say take it to a frame shop for inspections/fix.

Two issues. 1) Northern CA. (sac. area) Good shops? Where, etc. 2) General comments and suggestions.

Comments always appreciated.
Scott S.
73 911


[This message has been edited by ssinparadise (edited 12-19-2000).]

Scott,

When I was looking around for my '85 I was told to go to Bodystyle in San Jose (off Brokaw). Cecil (I believe he is the owner) wanted to replace EVERYTHING! HE quoted me $9k for some right rear damage (bent frame). I thought OH NO, the insurance compnay would total the car. ALthough, I was told he was the best.
I asked Cecil about others in the area, Cecil then told me about Del's Auto Body (I think that was name).

Del's was located just west of Downtown San Jose, I don't remember the street names though. Del seemed more "old-school". Meaning he seemed to know what these cars need, he has had the experience and expertise to complete whatever ails your car. He had a 356 and an early 911 on a rotational lift. He pointed out to me how he would set my '85s body up for straightening and what it takes to complete. He also showed me pitctures of his 74 Carerra that he picked up as a total and made it his daily driver. He has pictures of this as a before and after. I would be crying if that was my car. It had EXTENSIVE front end damage.

Unforutnately, he could not give me an estimate. He told me to talk to my insurance company and have the insurance agent talk to him.

Consequently I went to the Porsche dealer, Carlsen in Palo Alto. As they were able to give me a quote. And a time frame. I was not TOTALLY satisfied, but they did do a number of things I had asked of them. I came back and found the frame was still a little bent, they fixed. I found the deck lid was still a little crooked, they fixed. Some overspray, they fixed. It still seems the color does not quite match. But I think only me and some Auto Body guys can tell.

Good luck.
Nick
email me if you want more info
nhromyak@yahoo.com

I used Cecil at BodyStyle about 10 years ago and I still get comments on the great job he did. Beautiful work!

Same story -- he got over $7,500 out of the insurance company for a 3 mph fender bender that did a ton of damage (risks of driving a low car -- both fenders, hood, bumper, fronts of doors, both headlight rings, one horn grill, one front lens, alignment and front end paint). We got some appraisals to avoid having it totalled. Can you believe they wanted to total a nice "S" for $7,500?!? Looks and drives like new now (better than new actually). If BodyStyle is still around, I would recommend them 100%, even though they are VERY expensive.

I called Cecil to get a referral a few months ago and got "number disconnected." I can't find them anywhere. BTW, anyone know how to find them these days?

If you can't find Cecil, call Tom Amon at T&D Performance in Campbell and get a referral. He's trustworthy and well connected in high performance Porsche circles. 408-369-1911

The number I have for BodyStyle is 408-436-1616. With all the cars he had in there I am sure he is around somewhere

Good Luck
Nick

Where ever you decide to go, make sure that they have the special Porsche factory mount plates for their frame alignment table. These attach from the table onto the torsion bar/spring plate area. This is the appropriate point of reference for 911 frame alignment. I understand that the alignment is difficult to do well without these (maybe what happened to you?????) Assuming they have those special tools, I'm sure any good/competent shop could align accurately. I just went thru all this with the front of my 911. Have had it up to 130mph so far and its straight as an arrow, even before I took it in for wheel alignment.
Now thats good frame work!
Best of luck.
Nick.

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Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe

There are a couple of body n paint shops that advertise in "The Drifter" (local PCNA club mag). You can probably pick up a copy at Niello's in Sac. They usually have them available. Can't vouch for the rep of the shops but it might give you a starting place.

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Howie
79SC