2qwik4u

to euro specs, I'd like to have it professionally done. Whats the going rate or hours for this job?

thanks, leo

ricster

I would not only lower it...but I would align and corner balance it as well. I think you should upgrade the suspension while your at it...22mm front bars with 28mm or 29mm rear torsion bars, turbo tie rods,new ball joints, and a set of matching bilstein hd front, sport rear shocks. 5k investment..but it will make the most improvement you would would ever want....ask me how I know

2qwik4u

only 5k!! Wow let me go ask the wife...she said definetly anything u want!
No seriously, all I want to do is lower it.

ricster

$400.00

tlarocque

Yeah, probably no more than $400 to have it just lowered. You'll at the very least want to have it aligned again, however.

rusnak

I've seen really good shops botch the job and end up scratching the paint inside the rear wheel well. There is a trick to indexing the bars. The hardest part of the job IMO is removal of stuck torsion bars. If the car has been serviced by someone really knowledgeable, then he would have lubed the torsion bars so that they come out easily. If not......

If you're near me, we can have it done in less than a weekend. A good alignment might be between one and two hunnerd bucks.

911vet

I paid $400 but the guy totally botched the lowering and the alignment. He was supposedly a good Porsche mechanic, advertises in our newsletter, and came recommended by others in the club. What he didn't tell me was he was going to take the car to some local tire shop to get the alignment done. What a disaster.

I had to pay $300 to get a real mechanic (Dave Wenger) to undo the damage, including fixing the messed up lowering job.

Be sure you use someone who knows what they are doing. I thought I was doing that but I was wrong. Ask a lot of questions, get a recommendation from someone in your club. Make sure you use a shop that will give you a computer print out of the alignment (and corner balancing if you do that). You should probably spec what you want for camber, toe, etc.

2qwik4u

rusnak, unfortunately you couldn't be any further from me(NYC). I really appreciate it though! I actually would attempt it with someone who has done this before, but I dont trust myself alone.

race911

Yeah, in a perfect world.

But as the newest of these things are 20 years old, you're dealing with iffy (at best) bushings that cause all kinds of havoc.

Just on the numbers, I always used to bill about 6 hours to lower, corner balance and align a torsion bar 911. That was to diligently do it: remove the rockers, at least swap the spring plates side to side, test drive it a little, back on the rack with the scales, and take care setting up the alignment machine. Sometimes you'd get lucky and get through a bit quicker, but often not..........

rusnak

2quik, you might want to take a look at the rear spring plates. If they are off-center or if you have metal to metal contact, then you might be looking at replacement of the rear bushing rubber. This is not a big job, but does add a few more hours to the total.

ricster

I had mine done recently with all of the above work done in my other post. Why do you just want to lower it? I rather save some cash up and improve the whole dynamics of the car rather than just go for a "look"

2qwik4u

Im more of a "keeping a car original/stock kind of guy". I figured just lowering it would improve the handling and at the same time look a little sleeker and still remain original.

Edward

Actually, it is a very straight-forward DIY job. Takes a jack, jackstands, common hand tools, and good instructions (e.g. 101-Projects book). If you have done other DIY work on your car and are fairly comfortable turning a wrench, just go step-by step and you'll be fine. If you don't own them already, check the size of the bolts on the swing plate and pick those up ...though you may want a magnetic angle-finder thingie which is < $20 IIRC at sears of home depot and saves you time.

It takes a few attempts to obtain the height you want at the rear as it is a trial-error thing (the magnetic angle doohickie gets you in the ballpark, and is good for incremental referencing). Adjusting the front is ridiculously easy ...which is a darn good thing since the rear will consume your time/energy.

Once you're done, drive carefully to a trusted shop that knows how to align 911s. Overall, you'll not only save a bunch of dough, you'll gain a better understanding of what's going on, especially at the rear.

Edward

theiceman

2 qwik I commend your aproach , don't be having guys have you drop big dollars into the car if you just want to enjoy itas a nice weekend driver with no track time and just improve the looks a little.
That said you do need to understand they will have to reindex the rear torsion bars ( try looking up what's involved) and that would be the time to redo the bushings IF it is needed. But that said Ken's post is right on the money .. you want a guy who will align , take it down , drive it around and then put it back up and measure and tweak , . Not a guy who will put it up align it then hand you a bill without testing or verifying and this will cost you a little more.

Ed Hughes

That's a bold assumption on your part. There is nothing wrong with someone wanting to lower the car and keep the springs/shocks stock. Not everyone wants a track beast or canyon carver.

Now, on to my .02 worth:
Having said the above regarding springs and shocks, I'd say it is mandatory to refresh the bushings. Assuming they are originals, it is a safe bet they are toast. Replacing could literally make this feel like a new car.