Early Restoring Compant Recomendations or Reviews

[SGTROCKETTE]

Anyone have input on trusted companies that do restoration?

[Greg D.]

Might want to fix the title typo, makes it hard to process...
Might want to specify a country, state, area to get good info...

[kenikh]

Where are you, good sir? Location is everything.

[Richardnew]

Location is nice but money is even more important. It's really easy to drop $200,000 on a restoration today. I think $100,000 is the starting point.

You really need a compelling reason to restore a car today. The days when restoration made financial sense are long gone. You really have to love the car to spend the money that's needed today.

You might start with Kevin Jeanette, then Road Scholars. Also Phil and Bruce at Klub Sport.

Get a copy of Porsche Unexpected before you go any further. It's an important restoration book.

Richard Newton
Techie Stuff

[DavidRees]

"Vintage Sportscar Restorations" (Freddie Hernandez), Phoenix, Oregon.

David

[petescoach]

A little self promotion never hurts. We are in Ohio.

www.petescustomcoachbuilding.com

[Bobs 67S]

What year?

If it is 901/911 one of the 232 cars from 1964:
in Germany Alois Ruf (he has completed at least 4),
Talk to Mark W., posts as IAA1963 here on the E911S Reg
Porsche AG, they are doing stellar work on 2 cars currently.

In The USA, East Coast, talk to Keith, he's in Virginia, has completed a perfect example and is now working on the second, GermanService.com
In Colorado you have to talk to Dave (he is our Colorado Region Advisor for the Early 911S Reg) Research car 300 133, which his shop completed and was show at "The Quail".
In California, talk to Henk, his company CarParcUSA does restoration only with proprietary interests, (booked for the next 2 years)
In Florida, Keven, Gunnar Racing.

Or are you in England or Spain? each has specialists with early 911 car history.

If country is no question contact me and I'll put you in touch with the top two in the world.
Estimate at least a 2 years turn around.

If your project is a prime example for 1965, thru 1968, (the short wheel based cars), and in the USA there are shops that now cater to those located from New England to Texas, to California. As well as shops that focus on the 1969 thru 1973 cars.
The key is do you wish a shop that will do a complete restoration, body work only, mechanical work only, Interior work only, Wheels only, Carburetors only, Ignition only, Brakes only. Each has
individuals who are part of this Registry and by necessity have specialized to do "correct" and "as new" work.

Give a little information and a much more defined answer can be made. Year, location, intent (which is a nice way to ask your Budget - are you looking for a full concours - "as it left the factory", a driver, or just to get your uncles car to start) ?.

[mshaver51]

I agree with kenikh that location is critical. Any restoration project needs to be visited regularly to observe progress and remind the shop that your project is important. I've seen a LOT of projects languish in the back of the shop simply because the project's owner wasn't paying attention.

I've also seen good shops get victimized by an owner who is constantly having cash problems. In this opposite case, the outcome is the same -- the project languishes -- but the problem does not lie with the shop. so, if you are contemplating a restoration project, have the courtesy to be prompt in supporting the cash flow.

The location of the shop tends to indicate what kind of work they commonly see and tends to shape their familiarity with the skills applicable to those needs. SoCal has lots of shops that do great work, especially if you are located in SoCal and your car is from SoCal. But a shop in the midwest is likely to be more comfortable with tasks like rust repair. So don't be surprised if the skills of the shop are common to the locale. For all of these reasons, it's a good idea to find a shop near you.

So, if you have a project in central Indiana, I have no hesitance in recommending Indianapolis Fabrications. Randy Domeck has deep Porsche experience, and the entire shop has extensive expertise in steel fabrication which are critical skills for rust repair. IndyFab is not the traditional auto body shop that thrives on crash repair. These guys literally fabricate public art and decorative steel for architectural project. When you can fabricate a 10' tall banana that looks completely edible, it's not that hard to fabricate a patch for a longitudinal.

Just my thoughts, honestly shared.

[frankc]

If your project is a prime example for 1965, thru 1968, (the short wheel based cars), and in the USA there are shops that now cater to those located from New England to Texas, to California. As well as shops that focus on the 1969 thru 1973 cars.

I'm curious - what shop were you thinking of in Texas? I may be looking for a shop to do the sheet metal work on my '73. I will definitely be looking for a shop for paint.