Recommendations for Porsche restoration shop in Atlanta.

"everyone" says they have enough money, and want a full restoration, until they see the price for the paint work alone, reaching 10,000 or more. then, they start rethinking, or price shopping to cut corners.

very few people have the means to want to fully restore an auto. then you take the time consideration, and you are missing that car for 2-4 years, while the shop fully restores it.

then once done, you are afraid to drive it.

30 years in the collision industry, I have just about saw it all. this car deserves it's due but, some people try to make shrines out of cars that just dont make sense. your results, may vary. Ski

 

Just rebuilt engine on one of this, pretty simple. Almost like clapped sv

 

Only slower.....ha ha.

Cavalinno Rampante...FTW!!!

 

Nut & bolt complete resto could cost $120K+ if done right.
Spend $30K and leave the original patina/battle scars.

If I had the readies, I'd probably go whole hog on it too though.

 

What color is it? Carrera or an SC?

 

The 3.0 cars are well-understood by people who work on them. I'd suggest that the owner join their local PCA, go to some meetups and hear about the owners experiences https://www.peachstatepca.org/

Subscribe: https://www.excellence-mag.com/

Read reviews before pulling the trigger:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-forums/
https://rennlist.com/forums/

 

For strictly mechanical stuff, I second the recommendation for Franz Blam https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Cars/Franz-Blam-Racing-99456113734/ ......cool old dude for sure.

We have provided him shop space for a LONG time. He is very tight with the owner of our company, who has recently purchased an old firestation as his "Car Shop", and has set Franz up over there, moving him from our production facility.

Former WERA racer Don works there, always wearing WERA GNF T-Shirts.

Here is a pic from a couple months back, Porsche club swap meet held in the lot where Franz used to be.

 

I have to echo some of the sentiment here and try not to go too crazy with something like a nut and bolt restoration.

Even if it's been sitting, you'd be amazed what can be "restored" to excellent condition without having to replace/repaint/refinish. Start with the mechanicals and address any electrical (luckily that era of 911 is still essentially "analog" so addressing issues in that regard is pretty straightforward for a competent shop) then do what you can to address the cosmetics. Some of the stuff they're doing with dry-ice blasting is incredible to bringing life back into a tired chassis without too much trouble.

Man, posts like these really have me missing my Dad's 1967 911.....I love the man to death but I'm not sure I'll every forgive him for selling that car without telling me.

 

She wants it to look decent, and be as reliable as it was when it was still being driven. Not 'showroom, collector quality' restored. She has a Toyota SUV and convertible, and wants to be driving a Porsche again. Not to pose, but just to enjoy driving one again.

It's a Carrera, and I can't remember the color. She want's to change the color to red, from whatever color it is now though, for some reason I can't recall. She's not at all looking for 'show,' just wanting it to be mechanically sound and functioning as it originally did.

I asked her her budget, and she says she'd not want to spend as much as it would cost her to buy a new Panamera, which she first considered, that led her down this path. So, X minus a few $k.

I believe this is in line with her thoughts of what constitutes a 'restoration.' She's not all that concerned about keeping her current vehicles immaculate, just safe to drive, and comfortable.
My thoughts are to connect her with a shop, and let them talk her out of changing the color

 

If she is not planning to compete at Amelia Island, that sounds like a very decent budget to repaint a car and make sure everything is mechanically sound.

 

Should recommend she drive one to see if she even enjoys driving something of that vintage now as it's a long way from a modern vehicle before dropping the money in it.

 

That's a great idea. My old 80 Porsche didn't drive nearly as well as a 2000 Porsche or even my old 95 M3.

 

She's driven it plenty, but 21 years ago. She wants to drive it, then leave it to her son who's been storing it for all these years as a legacy memory of his Dad.

Kind of like this:

 

Nobody wants a beat up old Porsche. No power steering or clutch, go cart suspension, probably even has a shitty radio.

I'll come down and take it off her hands. I'll even throw her a few grand to put toward that Panamera because she seems like a nice person.

 

Not knowing how or where this car has been stored all these years just the mechanical piece can cost $$$$
The C.I.S. fuel system can be reliable as a stone but stale varnished fuel will kill it. All of it.
All the injectors will be fouled as well as the fuel distributor, control pressure regulator, sensor plate, etc. Fuel injector seals will be hardened and the inserts will be brittle.
The tank sending unit- cork in a tube type will be stuck, the fuel pump may stall, etc. The fuel tank will likely need to be cleaned or replaced depending on how much fuel was in it.
Other problems that show up may be the cam chain tensionera may have collapsed- oil pressure fed tensioners we're added in 1984. The oil pressure sensor will begin leaking, the engine main seal may leak rendering the clutch as junk, and worst of all, the lower case studs may break after some heat cycles due to corrosion. That's an engine drop and top end tear down. There are updated parts to address these issues.
I was a Porsche factory trained premier tech for many years at the dealer level and worked on these cars extensively from new.
Have it thoroughly checked out mechanically and get it to a reliable driving level first.
Trouble is I don't think there are many of us left who are still at it from back in the day.
I have built many air cooled engines but it been awhile.
I don't have a facility or many of the factory tools access anymore but will happily advise.

 

Damn....that's some first hand knowledge. Too bad you don't do it any longer, because you probably are the perfect candidate to get that car running again.

 

Do you know Franz Blam?

 

I may have met him in Porsche tech school over the years.. where did he work?
I know a guy in Phoenix who is still at it at the dealer level. He may know someone who can help. Where is the car now?

 

Another common issue is cylinder studs breaking. I used ARP studs for rebuild. I know racer down in Florida who rebuilds this cars if anybody needs. He helped me with parts and advice on the one I did.