islaTurbine

Indulge me. Has anyone here ever utilized the services of Porsche Classics with work on your 928? Porsche North America is about 30 min away from me and I'm considering having them do some work in the not-too-distant future.

Speedtoys

Doubtful they will take it in.

HQ...you have to have a special thing to get in there, and there's enough demand that they vote on who gets in. That facility is not the same story at a dealer classics shop.

Normal dealer classic locations will however, but...what really do you need done that you would pay $200+/hr for?

islaTurbine

I've already spoken to them and they'll take it. They said they'd even be ok with me pulling the transmission myself and handing it to them for the rebuild. For me it's a bit of a matter of convenience: shipping the trans all the way to Greg in CA or just driving up the road and letting Porsche NA take care of it. They claim to be versed in the 928 and that they do work on them, though obviously not as much as 911's. Supposedly they've got some "old timers" in house who worked on the 928 when it was still in production.....

ammonman

I would be sure to ask if their rebuild will utilize all the current, superseded Mercedes part numbers for the trans like Greg does in his rebuilds. Would be a shame to pay that kind of scratch and not get the latest iteration of the innards.

Speedtoys

Wow..thats a shift. They were doing a fluid change on an auto that an employee owned while my kid went to school there..but that was a special thing. I guess congrats on getting _in_...

But hey, if you needed a new case machined, they can do it!

They are versed in things, but..I'd bet greg has a many dozens more transmissions in the last 5yrs than porsche in-house has had in the last 15yrs combined that were not outsourced, nationwide. Plus gotchas not in the WSM. Greg can be more specific on what he can/cant do that Porsche can/cant do maybe..even on brand new 0mile gearboxes.

A few short $ for shipping via uship.com freight in a 99qt wal-mart cooler (fits like it was MADE for it) and you cant go wrong...I would say, no offense to the HQ guys, but way less wrong.

Curious what they said it would cost...

islaTurbine

Yeah I hate to say it, but could I actually trust Porsche for the rebuild?...

drooman

Last week I met a guy from the service shop at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta..in his late 50s early 60s.. He was quite interested in #1 and we talked a lot about 928s and how he has embraced these cars since the beginning, and has become the "go to" guy for 928s for many years at Porsche.He owns one that he drives the hell out of with many (many) miles.There's not that many guys in the service shop, you'll find him.

hacker-pschorr

The 5-speed in my 80 was rebuilt by Zimbrick Porsche in Madison, WI by the previous owner, shifts like butter.

NelaK

Some day I want to see a blank cheque back to bare metal restoration of a 928GTS or equivalent by Porsche Classic. I know they've happened for pretty much every other classic flagship model.

Where are the 928 owning mega millionaires? Make it happen already!

928cs

I know at least one. Except the engine, one of his 928s was restored by his own shop. Much more convenient than using Porsche Classic's services.
And the engine was restored by a 928 specialised shop in Germany.

islaTurbine

That's good to hear. I suspect this is probably the same gentleman that they were referring to when they told me that they had a 928 specialist in house. It feels a bit arrogant to question whether Porsche, of all places, could be trusted with a rebuild like this. But I know they've somewhat neglected the 928 for so many years and it makes me wonder how much institutional knowledge for the 928 remains within their ranks.


Excellent. Thanks!

I thought the OB's were the flagships.

islaTurbine

FWIW, this article says the labor rate for Classics at PCNA is $155/hour.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...ic-on-the-road

Speedtoys

A manual trans is pretty much in the wheelhouse, however.

hacker-pschorr

What exactly does that mean? Seriously, you lost me. Maybe I'm low on coffee this morning.

khalloudy