Tmistry

Hi Guys,
I’m working through some maintenance on my 1983 sc. the bills I’ve paid so far are already nauseating, but I’m at the final stage.

what’s fair for carerra chain tensioners to be installed? I’ve already bought the kit, through the shop. So, just the labor to install, I’m being quoted $2,800. So, this is in addition to the $1200 or so, I’ve paid for the kit.

does this seem high? Let me know what you guys think, I’m already at 15k for what seemed like not a tremendous amount of work, so I’m hesitant to get this done, if the estimate seems high. Let me know, I could use a second opinion!

thx

theiceman

i have no idea as i have never taken my car to a shop in the 18 years i have owned it ..
oh i lie, i had an alignment once.
But from what i have heard, the labour rates to have these cars serviced is becoming eye watering as specialists are getting fewer and fewer.

jfischet

i had an 82 SC for 18 years.

we used something like these:
https://www.fvd.net/us-en/150901560/...1965-1983.html

no need to add the carrera oil tensioners, imho.

theiceman

The OP i believe is asking about the labour cost to install it, not the merits of pressure fed tensioners versus collars.

Whether collars or hydraulic red tensioners.. the labour i would imagine would be the same .. instilling a collar could arguably be considered more work as you even have to take the tensioner apart.

edit .. oh no . i remember now, the collar goes on the outside, its the spacer on the inside of the pressure fed one that would be more work. The reason i remember is i have done a couple of builds where the collar has failed and its lying in the bottom on the case.

Dr. 914

A good kit is 490 and labor eight labor units x what the shop charges

theiceman

that sounds about right . so even if its 200 an hour , which seems high , that would be 1600 plus incidentals.

Tmistry

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. I’ll talk to the shop, I reviewed the estimate and they’re charging 8 hrs @ their rate of $180. Plus a bunch of small things that I’ll wave off and handle myself.

@theiceman i wish I could say my car was never at a shop and I handled all the work! I aspire to that level of technical ability.

kind regards all,

theiceman

no worries, You will get there if you are interested and have mechanical aptitude,, helps to work with someone who knows this stuff...

I cant speak for everyone, but i do find these cars very simple to work on and a lot of things can be done on your own.

I guarantee you if someone sat and did this job with you , you would be like ,,, " why am i paying so much for that ??

Good Luck

AG81

The job is very doable in 8 solid hours. I am stating that under the assumption you know Porsche engines very well. If you don't it will take much longer.

Spyerx

if you have a hot rod engine, Even with the hydraulic tensioners you should modify them to prevent collapse. When we built my engine, while on the dyno one of the brand new porsche tensioners collapsed. Luckily it didn't skip timing and destroy the engine. The fix (this is documented in the Wayne book I believe or if not there is a link out there on pelican) to open the tensioner and put a sleeve in it to prevent full drop.

Retrofitting tensioners is ~6 hours likely. It's one of those things you'd probably do while doing other work.

Mark Salvetti

I think upgrading the stock tensioners to hydraulic was the first mechanical job other than an oil change that I did to my 911 when I bought it. It really isn't that hard, but if you are not confident I can understand having someone else do it. If I recall, the hardest part was removing the muffler to improve access. You don't need to drop the engine or even jack up the car.

At least you have the new idler arms with the wider base and bushings. If you were pre-1980, you would need to spend a few hundred more dollars to update those too.

Mark