Motor Meister

[Orlanr]

Has anybody had any work done by Motor Meister in Southern Calif? I looking to have my gear box rebuilt.

[Mike Feinstein]

Take cover...quick!

[bob hodges]

Do a search on this.....there has been some bad experiences from some of the folks on this board.

[COLDBASS]

Orlandos,

Ditto with Bob's comments. I live 3 miles away from the MM shop, based on the feedback here, I would never do business with them. I don't care to gamble...

Good Luck
Bob

[emcon5]

Submitted without comment:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52202

There are a few "testimonials" in this thread.

Tom

[Joe Bob]

They suck.......

[speeder]

But strangely enough, there have been some reports of successful tranny rebuilds from them. I still wouldn't chance it, plus they just plain don't deserve the business.

[Wayne 962]

With the amount of questions that this board gets, I'm going to have to hire their marketing department!

-Wayne

[speeder]

Wayne, I think that it's a case of advertising$$ overcoming a horrible reputation, (and growing). I guess that there is no substitute for cubic advertising dollars.

[Wayne 962]

Odd though, I haven't seen their ads lately...

-Wayne

[cary]

I think Wayne's right in there with them. I get Pano, Excellence and GrassRoots. Seems I saw it in something else also, the non P-Car version.

Those full color pages aren't cheap.

I think MM gets the attention with price. There aren't that many engine rebuilders advertising. And NONE that include a menu with price.

No such thing as a free lunch ..............

You get what you pay for....................

[Wrecked944]

"You get what you pay for...................."

I agree. I don't know what kind of gearbox you have, but I just rebuilt the 915 tranny in my 1980 911SC and the replacement parts alone cost $1300. That included dog teeth, synchro rings, gaskets, hardware, bands and sliders for all five gears (fifth gear was, by far, the most expensive). So I am extremely skeptical of anyone who claims they can rebuild a Porsche transmission for less. I would assume they are cutting corners by replacing only those parts which are "obviously" worn out. For instance, most rebuilders will not replace the fifth gear synchros and slider on the theory that fifth gear rarely wears out. But during my rebuild, I learned that many 911 trannies have a tendency to get "stuck" in fifth gear. This is a relatively common problem in the 915 gearbox and my tranny was no exception. The parts for refreshing fifth gear alone cost over $400 (i.e. nearly 1/3 of the entire rebuild cost). So be sure to ask if they rebuild fifth gear. I suspect the discount places will say "no" and some day in the future you may find youself "stuck" in fifth gear and paying for another rebuild.

FWIW - If you are thinking of rebuilding your tranny yourself, I can offer this datapoint: I am a moron with a wrench and I managed to do it. So if I can do it, then truly anyone can.

Good Luck and Welcome to the Pelican BBS,

[Jim Sims]

Janus, The transmission parts are less expensive wholesale (versus retail) so that must be considered in the calculations of cost and which parts are likely to have been replaced. I too am skeptical of a 915 rebuild that costs less than $1500. Cheers, Jim