H. D. Smith

I am going to need to do some repair to the suspension/steering for my 911. I need to ship it to Germany and I am sure the inspection will be pretty thourough, and I think my tie rod ends, wheel bearings, and bushings probably need replaced...to include tires. Does anyone have a good price I should expect to pay for the repair not including tires? Just looking ahead and attempting to budget for it.

Jeff Curtis

H.D. that is certainly a cost that is highly subjective. As far as parts, it sounds like you're in for about $200 worth of parts with tie rod ends (turbo, of course) being about $120? and bushings, plastic upgrades or factory being about $30? and wheel bearings about $50.

***The cost "guestimates" were strictly from memory!!***

As far as labor, hmmmmm, I'm thinking around 6hrs?? Maybe more, but not much less. So, for another "guestimate" plan for at least $300 labor.

In summary, I would think you could get everything "tip top" as far as the front end/steering components go for around $500, again, just a "guestimate".

Adrian

Dear HD,
Seeing as I live on this side of the pond I have to ask why do you want to send stuff to Germany to get repaired. Believe me you will not get any better job done in Germany. There is a huge amount of expertise in the USA why not use it. There are facilities in the USA that were setup by Porsche or supported by Porsche.
Yes you have to shop around a bit but I cannot see any case for sending this kind of work over here to be done.
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

turbocarrera.

I *think* he is having his car shipped to Germany and wants to have it all repaired before it gets there, so it will pass the German inspections. There was another time I thought something but I can't remember.

H. D. Smith

Tony is correct.
I am moving to Germany for a long time and will be shipping my car this July, so I may have it there in Aug-Sep. After looking at the web-site for the local area, they show the vehicles inspection and it looks pretty tough. The car need the work done soon, so I am just looking for a little advice. I would love to be the handy repair man and do the work myself, but I am not willing to spend and aditional $100 for a tool to simply remove the tie-rod end...damn it sucks being a poor pcar owner!
Thanks for the reply everyone.

Adrian

Dear H.D,
Can´t you keep your 911 registered in the USA. I see many long term US citizens in Germany and their Porsches are registered in the USA.
Registering a 1975 911 on the normal register might be a bit tough. I sincerely recommend that you contact the PCA-GR via the PCA main web site. They will be able to help you directly. Just tell them I told you to contact them. I am a PCA member myself and part of this region. If you have any problems just let me know via email and I will forward your post to people who can help you.
Ciao,
Adrian
911C4

H. D. Smith

Thanks Adrian,
The car is in outstanding condition and the only area that has any fault is what I listed above. The car is still emmissions legal here in New Mexico and I feel very comfortable with the reliability of the car (it's my daily driver). I will take a look at the PCA site and see what I can find. Thanks,

Smitty

Chris Martin

I just did a similar front end job to my car last spring, I wish it was only $500!

Things I learned:

No one, at least at the time, had rubber replacement control arm bushings, so you need new arms. Not cheap. There is always the debate about plastic bushings on the street; they are not my choice.

New ball joints, while it's apart.

Might as well install new struts "while your in there". Backs too, for balance.

I got a turbo tie rod kit from Vertex for ~$115.

Wheel bearings were no big deal, but you might want to replace rotors/pads while its all apart.

The top spring mounts in my car were bad too, I think Pelican sells them now, but they were Porsche only part. Check the rubber for wear, mine basically were falling apart.

Then an alignment, might as well corner balance, right?

I dont want to be negative, but things can snowball. I suggest figuring out up front exactly what your limit is.

Best of luck in your efforts!

Laurent

Hi there HD,

I suggest you look into something... when I imported my car from the US to Canada, I knew I was going to have to pass an inspection, but for 25 year old cars (considered antiques), it was a very quick an easy inspection : nothing loose, blinkers & lights work... at the time I had minor fuel leaks and they didn't care.

You never know, Germany might have similar rules, regulations and such. -Altough have a perfect, brand new, running car is always fun, some of us can't afford it!
Gook luck!

H. D. Smith

Thanks all...
I am probably going to go with the the minimum repairs need here (Tie rods - ends) and the wheel bearings. There are a couple good shops here in the area that I trust.

Thanks again, <img src="graemlins/wave.gif" border="0" alt="[byebye]" />