User 52121

So I do most of my own work. Generally the only things I send out are things that I don't have the necessary equipment to do myself... or things I'm afraid of (like transmissions.)

So I took my car over to a local, well known, reputable indy, to have an alignment done in prep for DE tomorrow. Also wanted them to swap in new front wheel bearings since I kinda struggled to knock out the old races and didn't want to damage anything. While it was there, they discovered that the RF ball joint was about due for a replacement. They also discovered that my car actually has the wrong steering rack in it. Apparently I have D-shaped mounts and the rack is round, so when the PO replaced the rack he used the wrong one (?) Funny the last alignment I had done, no one said anything... but anyways...

So, in the interest of time, and knowing I wouldn't get it done any faster and the car was already there, I just choked it down and told them to take care of it.

$1,450 later for parts and labor, with 2/3 of that being labor......

Let this be a lesson to you n00b's out there and folks considering buying one of these cars. They will EAT YOU ALIVE financially if you plan to have someone do the work for you. Learn to work on your own stuff. This job was ~$500 in parts... and almost $1k in labor. Honestly I could have fixed the ball joint myself (either ordered a new arm from Lindsey or just the ball joints and followed JohnKoa's "how to" over on Reutterwerk) but didn't want to be in a mad rush prepping for the DE tomorrow. (I'm already running around picking up number plates, etc.)

A friend of mine (911 guy who I poked fun at in a prior post w/video) zing'd me back a little... "Doesn't matter where the engine is, you always take it in the rear with these cars..." Truer words have never been spoken.

pudges951

amen, Thank god with my recent drive shaft breakage I had an available lift to be able to do the whole swap myself. If I couldn't work on the car myself I would not own one.

Tedro951

Ouch! Not that it matters, but my original and replacement racks have been round. The bushings OD is D shaped to butt against the Xmember, and the ID is round to fit the rack, IIRC. Edit: One of the bushings is as described, the other is truly D shaped in and out. Again, my memory isn't all that.

Tedro951

I'm with Pudges. How someone can own one of these for more than a few months or a year and not do all the labor is beyond me. DIY'ers have stacks of receipts for $15K or more. Wonder what that equates to in professional repairs?

xupkid2

Its a shame you dont have an 87+ cause I have a set of control arms sitting in my trailer.

azbanks

How many of us could do our own work without RL, RW, or ClarksGarage to show us the way?
Thanks to all of you who have gone before me in working on these cars and sharing your knowledge!

I've got a block and head sitting at Jeremy Himsel's place waiting on the rest of the parts to build a new engine. If I had to pay for all the work he has helped me with(as if I could actually afford to), I could be the owner of a 996TT.

Dougs951

Yea I couldn't imagine if I had to pay for all the work that I have done to my car. I will like to see if the shop claims any of my steering parts are bad, considering I am replacing or rebuilding the entire system.

reno808

hence why i have lift at my house. good story

ChrisJ951

Well, I'm gonna be screwed then because I took my car into a shop here in Atlanta to have them install the mods I bought and they discovered a cracked block, so now we are replacing the block and most likely dry sleeving it and making it a 2.7L. Needless to say since I bought the car less than a year ago, I will be way too upside down to sell it for many years.....not that I was planning on doing that.

Tedro951

cjacob, I lost touch on your thread, keep us updated on your progress.

ChrisJ951

Ted- I will start a new thread when I decide which route I'm going, 2.5 or 2.7. I should get estimates this week or early next week. I think I may have to sell a kidney to pay for it

CDH-CTT

The joys of being a tech
..... The nOOB's could learn a lot if they just try doing stuff, but there is always a point to where you bite off more than you can chew....
I have worked on cars that are A LOT less tech friendly but if you take your time ANY job can be done.... just my .02

Darwantae951

The only thing I can think of is that the PO used two drivers side rack mounts. The shape of the rack on the drivers side is a D and the passenger side is circular. Both manual and power racks are the same.

Scott H

Annnnd fixed. The more I tear my car apart the more I want to just button it up on the cheap, sell the car, and let someone else deal with it.

I had planned on spending ~1000-1500... then I tacked on the "while I'm there" and stuff that I keep finding broke (**** YOU PREVIOUS OWNER) or should have been replaced years ago, or have been cheaply mended (my CV is one giant ball of JB Weld). The list is in excess of $6,000 now, in just parts and tools. Or for about $400 I can get the car back so it will run (better than it has ever since I've owned it) and sell it on for a loss of several grand just on what I spent on the car originally, let alone everything I've fixed since. Wow this got a lot longer than I intended, guess I needed to vent.

TexasRider

Yeah but .... rebuilding that engine top to bottom is not a do it yourself job unless you happen to own a complete machine shop for engine work and have some pretty solid Porsche re-build experience.

While it really sux to find that block it is so much better that you found it now. Before it lunched all you new work.