Need service in So Cal. Anybody use...

[I Beast]

William E. Benoit?

I bought my first 911 ('83 SC) about 9 months ago but I've never really driven it. It was last registered in 1991 and I have NO records but it was a deal I couldn't pass up. I had a friend who owns a auto shop get it running and in drivable condition but it needs 10 minutes of warm-up or it drives real rough. I recently found out it wouldn't pass CA smog.

I took it to William E. Benoit in Marina Del Rey and he checked the car out and said overall it's in great shape but needs a major servicing which would be $750-$1200. There are vacuum leaks all over. Also, if the airbox is cracked then he'd need to pull the engine and I'm looking at around $2000-$2500 all in. Is it worth pulling the air box? He said I could get away without doing it initially.

Does this sound right? Anybody here use him? It's a small shop and he's a great car guy, we talked for over an hour. I know cars and have done full frame off restorations but as I stated earlier this is my 1st porsche and I know nothing about them. I'm also interested in recommendations for other shops and the best place to get some minor suspension work done (new bushings, turbo tie rods, euro ride height). Thanks for your help.

[porwolf]

Great looking car, congratulations! We all know that having a garage do work on a Porsche can be very expensive and you get what you pay for. You can cut costs considerably if you do al lot of work on the car yourself. Your problems don't sound insurmountable. If you suspect a CIS vacuum leak a thorough leak test should be done. There are numerous threads about this here on Pelican. If you do need to change the air box because of an irreparable leak that also can be done without dropping the engine though it is not that easy and a shop may not want to do it because of the time it may take.

Here is a link to someone who removed the air box without dropping the engine:

Removing CIS with engine in the car - the writeup

And here another link to the topic:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/689763-blown-air box-replace-prevent-while-im-there.html

Good luck!

[edgemar]

you might want to get a 2nd opinion at

TLG Auto Porsche Service in North Hollywood, CA
TRE Motorsports

[porwolf]

Originally Posted by edgemar

you might want to get a 2nd opinion at

TLG Auto Porsche Service in North Hollywood, CA
TRE Motorsports

Then there is:

Marc Bixen at Red Line Service; 310-280-0700. He's just off the 10 at Robertson; 3387 Livonia Ave; L.A. 90034. Only game in town!

According to Peter Zimmerman.

[dmark9]

I like Stuttcarservice in Pasadena, CA. Mechanics name is Peter.

I had a similar issue, but on a 1992. My throttle was not fully returning and not engaging the microswitch for cold idle. Good luck.

[Bob Kontak]

Pretty car.

I am thinking $1,000-ish is about right for a shop to do a major service + identify CIS issues. Frankly, if you got a nice deal on the car and you are not into suffering the CIS learning curve, the guy will kill your vacuum leaks correctly. He has better equipment than starting fluid, soap bubbles and shop vacs to find the leaks.

He will also adjust the valves and dial in your warm up regulator specs and AF mixture properly along with tune up parts and an oil change.

Air box replacement for an added $1,000 "seems" steep. However, I have not priced an airbox lately. If they are $500+ with new injector and sleeve seals, intake runner rubber thingies and clamps (and related gaskets), it's in the ball park. Later CIS air boxes are harder than earlier ones, time wise. Suspect 5 hours @ $90 is reasonable and a good P wrench is worth that. I charge $18 but I don't have a waiting room. Oh yeah, You want it when?

Three metrics on a project - you can only ever have two:

Cost
Quality
Schedule

You will receive quality work in a timely fashion. It will sting a bit $ wise.

Do it yourself and you will save big and do a pretty good job and three weeks later you will have a finished product. But then, one or two things won't be just right. Three more hours researching on the web, some additional tools purchased and another week or so you may be in business....... But, you have a statistical mass of one car to compare your car against.

You think you got it right? Well, do ya, Punk?



I like fiddling with my 81, a lot. You don't have to. Also, if it ain't right after a pro fix, you can take it back. :-)

Edit: BS on pulling the engine. Not required. Talk to some other places these guys recommend.

[yelcab1]

those prices are not outrageous.

[I Beast]

Thanks for all the replies.

Originally Posted by porwolf

Great looking car, congratulations! We all know that having a garage do work on a Porsche can be very expensive and you get what you pay for. You can cut costs considerably if you do al lot of work on the car yourself.

Good luck!

Thanks. The car looks better in pics but it's not bad at 15ft! Don't plan on doing any of the work myself on this one. I've got a frame off 1971 Bronco that I need to finish so I really just want to take it somewhere then enjoy.

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Pretty car.

I am thinking $1,000-ish is about right for a shop to do a major service + identify CIS issues. Frankly, if you got a nice deal on the car and you are not into suffering the CIS learning curve, the guy will kill your vacuum leaks correctly. He has better equipment than starting fluid, soap bubbles and shop vacs to find the leaks.

He will also adjust the valves and dial in your warm up regulator specs and AF mixture properly along with tune up parts and an oil change.

Air box replacement for an added $1,000 "seems" steep. However, I have not priced an airbox lately. If they are $500+ with new injector and sleeve seals, intake runner rubber thingies and clamps (and related gaskets), it's in the ball park. Later CIS air boxes are harder than earlier ones, time wise. Suspect 5 hours @ $90 is reasonable and a good P wrench is worth that. I charge $18 but I don't have a waiting room. Oh yeah, You want it when?

Three metrics on a project - you can only ever have two:

Cost
Quality
Schedule

You will receive quality work in a timely fashion. It will sting a bit $ wise.

Do it yourself and you will save big and do a pretty good job and three weeks later you will have a finished product. But then, one or two things won't be just right. Three more hours researching on the web, some additional tools purchased and another week or so you may be in business....... But, you have a statistical mass of one car to compare your car against.

I like fiddling with my 81, a lot. You don't have to. Also, if it ain't right after a pro fix, you can take it back. :-)

Edit: BS on pulling the engine. Not required. Talk to some other places these guys recommend.

Thanks. My problem is time otherwise I would do it myself. I had the car listed for sale but I didn't have time to show/sell it (nor did I really need to). The only reason I was selling it was because I have other car projects that I'm doing myself and I barely have time for those.

In terms of the trifecta, cost and quality are what i'm looking for in this one. I'm in NO rush.

This car is in good enough shape that I just want to take it to a shop, spend a couple grand getting it dialed in and have something fun.

[I Beast]

Originally Posted by yelcab1

those prices are not outrageous.

The price doesn't bother if it's the going rate for service. I just don't wan't to take it somewhere that's going to do a less than GREAT job.

[I Beast]

Originally Posted by porwolf

Then there is:

Marc Bixen at Red Line Service; 310-280-0700. He's just off the 10 at Robertson; 3387 Livonia Ave; L.A. 90034. Only game in town!

According to Peter Zimmerman.

This is close to me... Now, who's Peter Zimmerman?!?

[edgemar]

Originally Posted by I Beast

This is close to me... Now, who's Peter Zimmerman?!?

He had a well respected shop in Santa Monica called Redline for many years. The shop closed down due to redevelopment and he retired and moved to Bakersfield. He's also the author of the Used 911 Story which is a great reference book

Marc worked with him at Redline. He opened a shop in Long Beach for a while but it looks like he's reopened closer to the westside. He's good people too.

I bought my 911 from TRE brokered by Dave for an elderly owner. He never steered me the wrong way.

[Bob Kontak]

Peter is one of about 5 members here that know more than most of us combined.

He does not make mistakes. He may not nail the problem first time based on info given, but he will never lead astray.

Plus he is an overall gentleman, Most of the Gods here are. Either they take their meds daily or they got their stuff together. I vote the latter. :-)

[I Beast]

Originally Posted by edgemar

He had a well respected shop in Santa Monica called Redline for many years. The shop closed down due to redevelopment and he retired and moved to Bakersfield. He's also the author of the Used 911 Story which is a great reference book

Ah yes, Redline. He actually gave me a completely stripped rolling early 911 shell when he was closing down. I was into Cal Look VW's at the time and wanted the Fuch's. I ended up giving it away once I realized I was in over my head

I'll be calling Marc in the AM. Thanks!

Btw, I've heard nothing but good things about TRE. But I'm afraid I'll end up doing something crazy (like a lightweight backdate) if I start talking to them. Trying to keep this simple which I have a hard time with.

[pc100porsche]

+ 1 TLG.
Tony & Marco are a father son team in The Valley.
TLG Auto Porsche Service in North Hollywood, CA

[CaryPhotography]

Originally Posted by pc100porsche

+ 1 TLG.
Tony & Marco are a father son team in The Valley.
TLG Auto Porsche Service in North Hollywood, CA

My vote is for TLG as well. They've been a massive support and will be helping with my 3.2L swap in the very near future.

[edgemar]

Originally Posted by I Beast

Btw, I've heard nothing but good things about TRE. But I'm afraid I'll end up doing something crazy (like a lightweight backdate) if I start talking to them. Trying to keep this simple which I have a hard time with.

I know exactly what you're talking about. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I visit TRE


Cool car btw

[I Beast]

TLG is also on the list.

Thanks again guys.