DogtorM

Hey guys, I am working on coordinating a 928 restoration for a client turned friend turned "adoptive grandmother" of mine. Her late husband bought her the car new and she wants to be able to enjoy it and after being neglected and stolen once needs some loving. Anyways we live in an area where no one knows 928s or cares about them. After a lot of research I have learned these cars are definitely special and I want to get the car done quick (and quicker than someone with zero 928 experience can figure out the electrical system and gremlins on) and reached out to a few shops about tackling some of this project. That got me to thinking about putting together a list of shops that are experienced with 928 work from interior, paint, and mechanical work. I did a little searching and found a few shops that I reached out to but figured something like that could be beneficial to the forum members (especially those new to 928s) to have a compiled list. We have pages like that in several other car forums I am in and is always a great resource. So if you guys have any shops you have used who know 928s or provided solid work please list them below and I will compile them for everyone!

Thanks,
Spencer

Landseer

Where are you located and where did you decide to take the vehicle (and what year is it)?

We already know where the shops are pretty much, and who specializes in what work. Some of the best are informal acquaintances or enthusiasts that probably dont want to be listed.

linderpat

Welcome to the board Spencer. would love to see pictures of the car, and its year.

Also, add where you are from, and consider joining (less than $20/yr) since you get additional benefits as a member (addict), including a full sig line.

As to shops, that list does exist, and is in the 928 Owner's Club website. Lots of info there too.

GT6ixer

Welcome. So what is your definition of "quick"? The best 928 mechanics are all flush with work. And doing a 928 correctly is never "quick" with respect to most peoples definition of the word. Best to set your expectation early so your not disappointed in the time frame. As far as location, it may not matter depending on your budget. A lot of owners ship their cars to their 928 mechanic of choice. I'd be willing to bet that if we took a poll of the 928 mechanics on RL that they would say that near 50%, or more, of their clients are not "local".

vanster

It's interesting to see just how many 928's are in Greg Brown's shop that come from all over the country.

DogtorM

Thanks guys! I'll gladly join already gotten well more than $20 worth of knowledge from here!

1987 928 S4, Guards Red, Linen interior, one owner, 70k miles on the dash. I am located in Mississippi but have no problem sending the car wherever.

I reached out to Greg at Precision Motorworks in Cali (he is still reviewing the super long summary and I know he is a very busy man and time is a but of a factor in this build and I'm sure he has a stack of cars already he's working on so been anxiously awaiting a red light/green light from him if he can squeeze it in) and Richard at Garage 928 in Atlanta (he was the closest shop I found to Mississippi that focuses on 928s) as far as handling the mechanical/electrical work.

I emailed Classic 9 leather and another about shipping all the interior to

I talked with Kiln_Red from the forum here as far as paint/bodywork. Have to email him pics and more info today.


I'll get some pics and info posted about the car tonight!

I've been building custom cars/motorcycles since I was 14 (I'm 32 now) so I know what kind of time it takes and I've built everything from antique Broncos to brand new exotics. I am a veterinarian by trade an own an emergency vet clinic and build vehicles on the side for fun. By quick I mean somewhere it's not going to sit 80% of the time on the back burner and take 6 months to get back on the mechanical/electrical side for a running/driving vehicle. Really needs a suspension/brake refresh, steering and A/C has already just been gone through, electrical gremlins repaired, intake refresh, CV boots, wheel bearings, engine seals, tranny fluid/filter, vacuum lines, all maintenance parts (coils, caps, rotors, plugs, wires, filters, etc.), X-pipe/RMB install/possibly headers as well (owner loves the sound of a good exhaust she sits outside anytime I come guessing which car I'm in by the exhaust note), any other mild performance upgrades that won't have any significant effect on reliability or stress anything (maybe intake upgrade, ditch the air pump, already has electric fan conversion), etc. Interior needs full restoration, dash is cracked, interior panels warped, glove box warped, carpet needs replacing, seats in pretty good shape but gonna just do a full interior refresh, and then of course paint. Body is super straight, has a crappy respray paint job owner didn't even know about. They just sprayed right over factory paint and didn't even tape off things well as there is overspray on muffler, front splitter, bumper beading, etc. and has runs in it. I've got about $8k worth of parts sitting in my garage for it and another $5k in my cart lol.

I'm fully prepared that this will cost way more than the car is worth. It has tremendous sentimental value to her. I told her I'm no Porsche expert but I threw a range at her with some big numbers and her words were "Spend what you need to, I want to be proud of it again and want to be able to drive it to my beach house a time or two and not worry about getting stuck on the side of the road. I can't take my money with me when I go but I sure as hell an enjoy my "red babe" until that time comes". (87 Guards Red S4 and her nickname for it is her "red babe" haha)

Spencer

linderpat

Whoa - BE VERY CAREFUL of Richard and Garage 928 in Atlanta - do a search. There have been some very bad outcomes!

Kiln_Red

Good to hear from you and get the backstory of the car today, Spencer. Looking forward to seeing the..

THIS..

rbrtmchl

thread...

hlee96

welcome to the forum!
some big names:
Greg brown, Seat Ratts, Stan Kolen, Colin Jensen but many more around the country I am sure
by the way,

IS USELESS.....

DogtorM

Lol I get it I get it. This thread is useless (without pics??) and probably useless to anyone but me regardless haha. Sorry guys. But thank you for the advice and recommendations/feedback to start.

Pics coming in an hour. Was going to get good HD pics today but it was raining so here are some with it in the garage (don't judge the mess I have a bunch of projects and shop is full and I was in the middle of two motorcycle builds but had to make room for the 928 so it looks like a bomb went off in there right now)

Here is a big summary about the owner/condition of car/etc. This is what I sent to some of the shops I reached out to. Pardon that it is a bit all over the place and may be repetitive. I sat down and typed for like an hour and went back several times tweaking things as things have changed:

I have a 1987 928 S4, Guards Red, Linen/white interior with red stitching, 70k original miles, one owner car. This will be a driver car not a concourse showroom car, but the owner wants it as pristine as possible. Pardon the legit short novel I typed out. Just want you to give the full rundown on everything.

1987 928 S4
C02 - 49 state US market
M28.42 - engine serial # range 81H 05001>10000
A28.12 - transmission serial # range 16 H 00001>05000
M018 - Sport steering wheel with elevated hub 30mm
I158 - Blaupunkt radio Reno SQR46 - 87-89
M220 - Limited Slip Differential, 40%
I302 - Type designated on rear end
M347 - Forged wheels Platinum anodized rim 7x16 tire 225/50 VR 16
M490 - Hi-Fi sound system (8 speakers, 1987-88)
M494 - 87-88 Additional amp Blaupunkt BQA 80
I513 - Lumbar support - right seat
M533 - Alarm
I537 - Left seat with positrol and lumbar
I538 - Right seat with positrol and lumbar
I586 - Lumbar support - left seat (12 way seat, includes lumbar memory if I537 (positrol) also present)
M650 - Sunroof



I took this project on a month ago. The owner is a client of mine, turned friend, and now she calls me her "grandson". I am a veterinarian and have a house call business and take care of her cat and we have become good friends and she has been a great business mentor and now she claims my girlfriend and I as her grandson/granddaughter haha. The car has TREMENDOUS sentimental value to her. ​​​Now this is not meant to be a sob story, but I feel it always helps to really know the car, the owner, the goals, and the priorities. Her husband bought her the car new and she calls it her “red babe”. They used to go on dates in it and all and was her pride and joy. He had a red 911 and she had her red 928. Her and her husband were in a bad wreck around 7 years ago. They were hit by a driver who fell asleep at wheel and crossed the median on the highway and hit them head on doing 70mph. She lost one lung and had a bunch of other injuries that still cause chronic pain. Her husband lost a kidney and had tons of broken bones. His other kidney shut down a little later from all the damage and trauma to it from the wreck and he was on dialysis for quite some time and passed away a few years ago due to long term complications from the wreck. She has no other living relatives, she has a best friend she calls her little brother, and she now calls me her “grandson” and my girlfriend her “granddaughter”. Her cat was her “only real family left” until she started claiming us. He unfortunately has a terminal heart condition and his time is very limited (he’s only 6 and is already living way past. his life expectancy with his condition). With her only having one lung she is on crazy strict quarantine by her doctors since COVID started so she is pretty much stuck at home all the time as she can’t be out in public places around people. She pretty much has just buried herself in work to keep her sane and this is all done from home so she rarely gets to get out of the house now. (She built and ran numerous businesses and has been on the board of several universities business departments and now is considered one of those rockstar business consultants that helps business owners all over the country whether legal/finance/marketing etc.) All that being said, she NEEDS the happiness and excitement from this car and the thought of this car being back to where she can enjoy it is one of the few things she has to look forward to. When I told her I would take it on it brought her to tears.

Now back to the car and the work needed/goals: The car was stolen temporarily a few years ago and the front splitter was busted up and she said they messed up the battery wiring and ditched it (probably died from the electrical drains and they couldn’t get it to start lol). It has pretty much been sitting since. She said it has had a slow electrical drain for as far back as she can remember but no shop has really tried hard to find it. After their wreck (right after it was stolen) it got moved to a storage unit while they had a bunch of at home nurses there and sat untouched until she decided she wanted to bring it back and sent it to a few local shops to try to have some stuff done. She has had it in a few shops over the last year trying to get it back to where it can be enjoyed and has gotten taken advantage of and not much has been accomplished. Took over it while it was at a shop having A/C and steering worked on. I didn't even know the car existed until one day when she was admiring my Lotus Evora 400 and started telling me about it and how much she missed it and then started going into detail on it and I could quickly see in her eyes how much this car means to her. That's when I told her I would take over bringing it back to life as she doesn't know much about mechanical stuff with cars and she has been getting nowhere at all with it (has been almost a year and very little has been accomplished).


With COVID still an issue and her having one lung there is always that concern that her time may be limited so just want to play it safer on that side to make sure she can enjoy it. There is no one around our area who cares or wants to mess with it and won’t botch it. The local Porsche/Mercedes dealership charged her $4k and took 2 months just to get the rear taillights working and got grease all over the white linen carpet at the same time. Originally she just wanted it reliable and safe and looking decent so she could drive it down to her beach house a time or two and cruise the coast in it a little, however as of a few days ago she said she wants to bring it back to it’s original glory and make it as nice as possible. With everything I have learned and her wanting to step it up significantly build wise I decided it may be best to hand it off to someone who really knows 928s. I have built custom cars and motorcycles since I was 14 but haven’t done much with Porsche’s. Quickly realized time wise would be best to get it to an expert instead of trying to figure out the whole electrical system and all the quirks and unique engineering from scratch.

My friend owns the top body shop here and they do some super high end restorations for his private collection (mainly all American muscle cars but they do a little of everything) so I can have paint and body work done here if needed . Just want to coordinate getting this thing as nice as I can as quick as I can. So really time would be a factor on this one, not to the point it has to be a rush job/half-assed or done in a few weeks or anything lol, but as in regards to some things such as interior and whatnot may need to be delayed or I can handle stripping it and shipping it all off (to wherever you recommend or you can strip it and ship it off).

Mechanical: Cranks every time, engine runs good- transmission shifts good, brakes are good, suspension feels tight, there is some popping in front left on turns/bumps which I think may be the sway bar binding but have entire new front suspension regardless, has electric fan conversion done a year ago. R12 conversion, A/C was just gone through and system works but fans are not blowing air into cabin when air is on (have full new wiring kit/box/bypass). Owner loves cars and the sound of a good exhaust. She sits out on her porch every time I’m coming over to hear my exhaust and guess what car or motorcycle I’m in and sits outside as I drive off to hear me punch it lol. I already got a new RMB setup for her but even with the factory muffler off right now not a whole lot of sound still. Would be nice to push a little more power out of it as well. She has a heavy foot and always joking about how disappointing it is when she “guns it” in her Lexus. I have a new RMB for it but an X-pipe and maybe headers too, intake upgrades if you think beneficial, air pump delete, tune (can send it somewhere for this if needed), and whatever else you think will wake it up a bit. It won’t ever be raced but want it to put a grin on her face and give her an adrenaline rush when she punches it. We have some absolutely awful streets here so want suspension fully gone through and sorted. I want something reliable that won’t shorten lifespan of anything major mechanical but packs more punch and has enough of a roar to put a smile on her face when she gets behind the wheel. Any of the stuff I already have that you think should be swapped with something different let me know and I will return or sell it on the forums. If you say the Sachs/Boge shocks suck spend the money for Bilstein’s or whatever you like then do it. Like I said, you build it how you think you think it should be for the goals. Initially the plan was mild restoration to have it to be driveable and reliable but that has changed. Would like the engine, trans, diff, etc. checked over well and anything you think needs rebuilt/replaced so that it won’t need anything major in the future can be done. It runs well as is but I know that with that many years all the seals, hoses, etc. and such will need replacing and I’m sure there are plenty of things that should be replaced as preventative measures.



Rear taillight wiring was just redone by local Mercedes/Porsche shop at the insane sum of $4k. New rebuilt steering rack (have the original that I can send you can rebuild if the rebuilt unit doesn't seem done right), solid steering rack mounts, tie rod ends installed 2 weeks ago. Headlights work well. Fog lights don’t turn on. Wiring looks great at the housings but haven’t checked relays or anything yet. Switch feels a little sloppy so may be the culprit. Power windows and sunroof all work. A/C was not working. A local body shop that does a lot of restorations just fully went through A/C and while the A/C side they said is all great now the car will not blow on A/C in the cabin. Blows fine on heat. I'm friends with the owner and the shop managers, they have built tons of award winning Mopar cars but don't deal with Porsche's on the restoration side so they are having to try to learn and wanted me to run it back by when I pulled the dash for them to check everything there to try and find the problem and said may be the electric fan/A/C bypass box- Derale unit looks like the kit 928 Motorsports sells). Have another full new in box wiring kit/box on hand from 928 motorsports sitting here. May be an easy fix. Factory manhole cover wheels with relatively new tires on them in good shape. Brakes and all can be gone through as well. They were all rebuilt around 60k miles/10 years ago so work fine but want to go ahead and go through all that. Want everything done mechanically for it to be reliable as hell and drive like it should and not have to worry about anything.



Interior:

Interior is fair for the age. Dash panel is cracked bad, glove box door a bit warped, Interior lights all are missing bulbs in the roof and doors. Radio turns on but doesn’t work. Have all pieces for it (amps and all). I can install any sound system stuff. Was thinking about swapping for newer modern components and just putting a Bluetooth receiver under the dash hidden and leaving factory radio to keep the look but if it’s not much work to get the factory system working that is fine too. Factory leather are dirty and there is a tear or two right on the side where the control switches are pretty solid otherwise. Drivers back center section is coming loose and needs to be restapled. It’s there but you can see it’s sagging out a little. All power seats work, drivers seat lumbar switch (or the farthest back one need to be replaced as it's cracked and catches- when I got in she said it didn’t move and when I connected battery heard a noise from that seat and found it was stuck and got that freed). Door panels, rear cargo panels, hoodliner, and hatch liner (the thing with the rear visors on the inside of rear hatch near third brake light) are warping at the top near the window, not sure if these can be heated/straightened or not. Glove box door is warped at the top. Interior can be lower priority if time is an issue short of anything electrical (interior lighting I can handle but really I mean as far as dash, A/C, fog light controls). The two overhead light assemblies are cracked and corroded and need to be replaced. Totally up for pulling interior out and shipping it to a top notch shop to be done right, new carpet, etc. I can do this if needed.



Body:

Body is straight, no dents, hood needs a little adjusting at rear (one side is a little high, one a little low), front bumper on lower left lip sits out a little farther than fender (she said this happened when it was stolen and they bottomed it out flying out of her driveway, busted the splitter up and a few of the tabs the splitter attaches to on the bumper are cracked so probably needs a new bumper cover, has a horrible repaint with runs and flaking. You can tell they didn’t prep it because factory paint with clear coat under it is still glossy lol. Looks as if they didn’t take anything off the car for repaint as there is overspray on the bumper beading, sunroof seals, muffler, splitter. Honestly looks as if the body is still as it came from factory or at least no panels have been removed in a long long. Have new front splitter and new install kit and new taillights. Wing is cracking a little I was going to fill the cracks with epoxy to solidify it and then use a little filler on it, can be replaced if needed. Figured it's just plastic so shouldn't be hard to patch and make pretty but since we went to wanting it perfect can order a replacement. There are just some very shallow surface cracks on the top. Found it is missing two of the screws where the hinges attach to it when trying to figure out why it rattles so much, have those on the way. Shouldn’t need much if any bodywork short of adjusting the hood and adjusting or replacing front bumper cover and sanding down the crap repaint. It’s a super straight car and no wonky panels and not a dent anywhere on it or any rust issues. If I need to have paint done here if you are backed up with other projects I can have that done for sure. Windshield is cracked and needs replaced and door window seals need replacing and the lower quarter bottom trim pieces are a little warped or either the rubber gave and sticking out some so figured might as well pull the quarter windows and replace all seals and trim as well as sunroof seals, bumper beading, and whatever else. Have a brand new splitter, bumper. beading, sunroof seals, splitter mount kit, etc. and will get a new windshield and trim and all for it.



Recent work:

New rebuilt steering rack (Fine to rebuild original rack if that one doesn’t look done right which is totally fine), solid steering rack mount bushings (I think from 928, believe aluminum), new tie rods. That was done a few weeks ago. When I got the rundown and took over it was at my friends body shop (she knows them as well). Electric fan conversion with Derale electric fan conversion kit/bypass from 928 motorsports installed a year ago. A/C was not working. My friends body shop just fully went through A/C compressor and whatnot they haven’t touched anything inside the car and while they said it is working the fans not blow on A/C in the cabin but do on heat and he thinks is a wiring or relay issue was going to check it out once I pulled the dash. Have another full new in box wiring kit/box on hand from 928 motorsports. May be an easy fix figured a relay bad somewhere or A/C switch or something. Heat works.


I have a giant stack of parts for it (entire front suspension, new splitter/mounts, new tail lights, etc. etc. ) and another $8k worth of parts in my shopping carts. Stopped buying when I decided to hand it off to someone who really knows 928s and let them guide the purchase list.


Pics coming...

DogtorM

DogtorM

DogtorM

And I'm now a paid member

awilli6

Monte In Desoto Ms is skilled. 662-429-1846. He used to work for Memphis Motor Werks but left years ago to open his own shop. He specializes in Porsche’s and was their only skilled mechanic for 928s. Desoto car care center