bruce7

Your Dream Garage

I want to let those who live in Los Angeles know about a business that can be a great resource for DIY car enthusiasts.
Your Dream Garage (www.urdreamgarage.com) provides a rent-a-lift workshop located in Baldwin Hills.
I did an oil change there on my 993 yesterday and everything went great.

Previously I’ve done the oil change on the ground using jack stands, or I had hired it out to the dealer
or an independent shop. Lately and for various reasons I’ve been unable to change it myself.
Mainly due to concerns of property owners over liability in case of a mishap. Thankfully, this is a non-issue
with Your Dream Garage. You simply sign a document that they are not responsible.

The other big pluses are: getting to use a lift, working indoors in a clean and well lit shop, tools if you
need them (I didn’t - I brought my own), a restroom, electricity if you need it and disposal of waste fluids and trash.

One other big plus I didn’t mention is the use of an oil drain tank to catch the oil. This is one tool I did
not bring nor do I own one. It makes draining oil and disposing of it so much easier than carrying it
off to someplace like Jiffy Lube.

Here is a shot of my car on the lift. You can see the oil drain tank there.






I’m already planning my next DIY project and will use Your Dream Garage again.
I need to change my transmission fluid and do the SAI port clean-out.


I tried a couple of things new this time that might be of interest to some.

For loosening and tightening the drain plugs I used the Stahlwille 730/10 with a 15 mm ring
insert tool (732/10-15). There are 2 things about this that make it really cool.

1) Due to the limited distance between the crankcase drain plug and the heat exchanger, I was never able
to use a socket on a torque wrench with a ratchet head like my old Hazet. I tried a torque adapter but didn’t like it.
Another option, which I’m sure many use, is to just use a long handle box end wrench.
In fact on my old BMW that’s all I ever did and it never leaked. But I really prefer a controlled tightening process
and wanted a better solution, The ring insert tool is the perfect solution.

2) One of the neat things about the Stahlwille design is that it can be used to loosen the drain plug
as well. You simply turn the wrench over and use it to loosen the drain plug. Stahlwille says the
cut-out mechanism is not placed under load during this process.

Here’s 3 pictures of the tool.












The other thing I did different this time was to use a torque wrench to tighten the oil filters.
Maybe I never did this before because I have never seen a torque specification. But on the Mahle
filters that an independent shop installed last, I noticed they were marked to apply 20 Nm torque.
So I decided to try it out and we’ll see next oil change how that works out.

My old procedure had been to tighten by hand and then 1/2 turn more with the oil filter wrench.
I suppose the 20 Nm is not far from that, maybe a tad bit tighter. In any case, the oil filters came
off easily enough, but then I don’t know if they were tightened to that spec or not.

Here’s a couple of pictures of that tool.










Cheers,

-bruce7

bruce7

Updated my oil change procedure for use on a lift.

-bruce7

P-daddy

Thanks for the info. I've always tighten the filter according to the directions on the filter, no torque wrench involved.

993c4_Toronto

Wow - thanks for sharing the step-by-step

JB 911

There was a similar business here but they didn't make it. On a local car forum there was some discussion on it (and disappointment they went out of business) some of the thoughts were a lot of guys diying are doing it primarily to save money (unlike us who do it because we are sick AND want to save money) and that could be a waste to them. Then within the group who diy because they enjoy it - it only works for smaller jobs since leaving it there for multiple days or weeks is probably not an option price or shop policy wise. So what starts as a niche business gets even smaller when you lose those potential groups. Hopefully Dream Garage have a better fate - it is a good idea.

Quadcammer

that waiver likely won't hold up in court, so they will definitely get sued.

decent idea, but these businesses hardly ever make it.

Van1

Those of us in the military have access to the same concept as just about every Air Force Base, Army Post, and Naval Air Station has an auto hobby shop complete with frame lifts, drive on lifts, tools, compressors, parts cleaning stations, sand blast booths, presses, machine shops, etc. Always wondered if there was anything like it in the civilian world.

Having said that, never used an auto hobby shop for my 993. Floor jacks and my own garage floor worked fine for changing oil, brakes, suspension (twice), and dropping the engine and transmission to replace the clutch.

bruce7

I've always used the Porsche branded oil filters, which I believe are made
by Mann, and they don't have any torque specs marked on them. But I
noticed that the Mahle filters do. I neglected to get a photo of the used
oil filters that show the torque spec. As I mentioned above I decided to
use the torque wrench to tighten the Porsche filters to the same spec.
Later I tried to find an image online of the Mahle filter showing the torque
spec and surprisingly could not.

I found this one but the marking is not clearly visible.




However, I called Mahle and tech support was kind enough to snap a couple
of photos of both filters clearly showing the torque spec in step 3.

Mahle OC 213




Mahle OC 229



Just wanted to clearly document that.

-bruce7

bart1

I have a 3/8 drive stahlwille torque wrench like that. They are awesome wrenches, but unfortunately mine is a fixed head, so I don't have the option to use those inserts. I have a set of crowsfeet I can use similarly though. Also have a hazet filter wrench I use that is very nice.

I always tighten my filters 3/4 a turn past contact or a but more (probably over tightened a bit). Didn't tighten enough once on the second filter and had a leak. Ended up making a mess getting that fixed.

bruce7

Hey Bart1, yes they are awesome wrenches. I wonder if it's possible to convert
a fixed head to the insert tool carrier head? I started to look into this for my
old Hazet wrenches but ultimately just replaced them. But it looked like there
was a pin held by a circlip that secured the fixed head in place and if it were
removed, then an insert tool carrier could be fitted. It might be worth checking
into.

I haven't had a leak that I caused yet, but the dealer created a leak one time
just like you described. The next oil change I had an independent do it and
they had a lot of trouble getting it off. He thought they over-tightened it.
When the mechanic came out to tell me he had oil all over him.

-bruce7

bruce7

Returned back to the Dream Garage today and did an oil change.
Really loving those BendPak 2-post lifts. Going to get spoiled I think.

So last time I tried something new which was to torque the filters to
20 Nm and was curious to see how removing them would be on the
next change. I'm happy to report that they removed very easily
and there was no leaks or difficulty at all.

I made one minor change to my fill procedure and I'm attaching my
latest oil change checklist with the update. Previously, after the 8
quart initial pour I then poured 2-1/2 quarts while running. I reduced
the 2-1/2 to just 2 and like that better.

I also removed the side skirt before going to the shop and put
it back on after returning home. That saved lots of billed time since I can
then go right up and leave right after finishing. I'm thinking it would be
nice to have an oil drain access panel like the RS skirt has to simplify
the procedure.

I'll be returning to the Dream Garage soon to do a transmission oil change
and to ream out the SAI air passages again.

-bruce

Ed Hughes

The shop/lift I use always has plenty of cold beer on hand.

This tool is fantastic for taking the drain plugs out. Simply loosen as you normally would, and the magnet and two "blades" on a flexible shaft take the hot plug off without bathing one's hand/arm in oil, or dropping it in the catch pan.

bruce7

Thanks for the tip Ed! I'll take a look at that tool for future use.

BradB

Very cool! Any idea who manufactures that tool?

deekay911

OTC 5911 on Amazon, $10..