Hello. Have asked the question on the 997 turbo forum as well. But surely someone who can answer here as well.
How much work is it to disassemble the parts on the inside of the front bumper? The reason I ask is because the bumper itself is already off, and the dealer has to replace the AC condenser on warranty. I thought then it could be a good opportunity to repaint it due to a lot of stone chips. The dealer charges $ 650 for that job. I thought there were only a few screws and would take 10-15 min. Am I completely wrong here?

 

No you are correct. There are only a few screws and a little cable loop and it is a 10/15 min job tops to remove it, once you've done it. Very easy. There is a pictorial on here somewhere. Do a Google search. there is also a video.

 

are you saying they want 650 to repaint it

 

No. Just to get it ready. Disassemble lights and grill. The bumper is already off. I have received a separate price for the paint job.

 

The turbo bumper does have some pieces that would prob need to be removed prior to paint (grill surrounds on either side, as well as taking out the headlight washer(s), fog light surrounds, etc.
I'd say it could be an hour labor "by the book" to do this, tops, MAYBE 1.5 hrs including removal and reinstallation.

WHats the price for the "paint"? maybe some of the paint prep (sanding, maksing, etc.) is being including in the the $650 estimate.

 

Painting is an other company.

 

ridiculous process, and go to another shop

 

I would let Porsche finish the warranty work then take it to a quality paint shop finding one that is the hardest part of the equation. That body shop would give a price for the complete job including RR of your bumper at I bet reasonable price. I just had the front clip resprayed and yes the turbo's do need a few things taken of. The shop I used completely stripped the Bumper.







Also think about putting screens on while the bumper is off may save a radiator. Plus keep them clear of leaves and looks menacing. Luckily the shop doing my work owed me some CAMs on their lease and I let them paint the front clip on my car getting it ready to have a clear bra installed.


Since i have seen their work for the last 10 years I knew they project would be as quality as it gets they also had restored my 70 El Camino so I knew about their attention to the finer details


there is about a 100 hrs of prep in the bed alone this is way above factory new.

1st place in the Sacramento Autorama 2012

 

The Porsche dealer does not have its own paint shop, but uses an external one. These are absolutely top notch and do excellent work. But the paint shop will have the parts dismantled. Therefore, I wonder how much work it is to disassemble the parts on the inside of the bumper. Just thought there were a few screws and clips.

 

FWIIW: If they do a lot for the Porsche shop they may not want to step on their toes taking 650.00 out of their till knowing you have it in their shop, but 650.00 seem like an awful lot to strip the bumper!

 

I just stripped mine to swap it out for an Aerokit bumper. Re-assembly took longer than disassembly, but I would say to take the bumper off the car and strip it down probably took me about 2-3 hours tops, taking my time and being careful not to damage anything. I don't know what their hourly rate is but at $150 an hour, that's still less than you were quoted. If their quote includes re-assembly and re-installation on the car I'd say that's about fair.

I had a body shop quote me around $1k to do everything: Remove bumper, paint, install bumper. $450 was for just painting the bumper itself. I opted for the latter and did the rest myself with great results.

Reassembly is a pain. You have to snap a lot of pieces in, in a certain order. If you have headlight washers it is even more of a pain because the hose gets in the way of the grills snapping in place and you have to constantly move it to get the grills on. Then you have to install the turn signals and the sprayer nozzles and the air deflector etc. Not hard, but a pain and takes time.