Porsche or VW Mechanic??

All,

Just interested what your thoughts were for servicing your Speedsters...there's a wide variety of engines out there from Type 1-IV and even some with Porsche components in them. For those of you who DON'T work on your Speedsters, do you prefer a specific mechanic? Would seem many of you take yours to the VW mechanic...

ET

I recall having a 63 Porsche 356 Karman Coupe and replacing front tie rod ends. If you said they were for a Porsche they were 4x what the identical part was for a VW Bug. I suspect the per hourly mantenance charges suffer the same puffing up. The T1-TVI is a simple engine -- have the fun of having a sports car is tinkering with it. Heck we have Toyotas for daily driving when we have to be somewhere. Books like "How to Keep Your VW Alive" and Idiots guide to VW maintenance lay out the steps. Even though the range of mechanical ability here widely ranges frome thouse who "stick" built their cars to those who shelled out $30+k for a finished car -- normal maintenace is IMHO in the realm of all. This Forum is here to help too. I recall pulling the engine to replace a clutch on a '57 VW with 2 long 2x4"s in my girlfriend's Dad's garage. I knew zip about cars -- from ther I learned -- and saved lots of $ and harvested a lot of satisfaction in doing my own maintenance.

I agree with Greg, that most of the fun is in doing it yourself. But once I got into the fine tuning aspect, i needed to call on some more expierienced help.

I find the Porsche mechanics to be pricey and snobby. (and this guy is my friend! he painted my speedster for me)

I happen to be lucky to live near a great VW place (home of the "fastest Bug" 7.8 sec 1/4 mile @ 176mph)

www.fisherbuggies.com/funny.htm

so when it comes to something outside my realm, the car goes to them.

Rob

Thanks for the info guys. I consider myself pretty well inclined, but as you mentioned some work will require professional attention. Just was curoius on your preference...

ET

Find a good VW (air cooled) mechanic. If you go on the VW-air cooled forums and ask about a good service shop in your town/city, someone will steer you to the right shop.
Try:

www.shoptalkforums.com/

or

www.cal-look.com/index2.html

Ron