[Grant]

As some of you have seen from my post on the old forum, my timing belt went out on me last week, almost certainly because the balance shaft belt started acting up first in the middle of nowhere. In hindsight, I noticed a lot of vibration at idle when I got the car back from the shop recently, but I suspected that they had installed new motor mounts incorrectly. It just didn't occur to me they'd screwed up a simple retensioning/inspection of a 15,000 mile belt.

I'm in northern San Diego county, but I'm looking for a shop in Orange County, specifically because I want someone who has no relationship with Dieter's, the shop in San Diego who just completed 3 months worth of work in 7 months time. (Suffice to say, we now have a bad relationship.) There's a well-recommended shop down here - Black Forest - that just finished rebuilding the top of a 968 engine, but I know they cooperate with Dieter's on some jobs. (BTW, was that somebody here? Jeff told me it was a recent purchase of a 1994 with low mileage and belts that had never been replaced... Believe me when I say I feel their pain. Even doing everything I thought I needed to ensure the longevity of my own engine, this happened.)



So I'm looking for someone specifically who is good with the top end of the engine. But on top of that, I need someone who will be meticulous about tracking down and documenting what happened. I may even want to be on hand to take photos as they open the front of the engine up. Obviously that's a level of cooperation that not all shops are open to.



If there's anything concrete to point to this San Diego shop - like something being reassembled incorrectly - I do have some recourse. The San Diego shop is AAA certified, and that requires them to go along with AAA's disposition of any complaint, so I'm already working that process with the AAA rep.



Thanks in advance for you recommendations.

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[SANDOVAL]

I can't recommend any shops down in So.Cal anymore seems like they have all burned me on one or more occassion. I have used Speed Force Racing, Anderson Motorworks, Vision, & Hergesheimers. I had my car in over at at Zeil motorsports in Torrance where Alberto from Puerto Rico had his 968 for a year. Their work is excellent I just think they have so many of their own things going on that you do not get the attention. Andial(http://www.andial.com) is supposed to be one of the best engine shops in the country I would definatley hit them up but they are not cheap either. I don't have experience with them but I have heard they do amazing work.

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[SANDOVAL]

I can't recommend any shops down in So.Cal anymore seems like they have all burned me on one or more occassion. I have used Speed Force Racing, Anderson Motorworks, Vision, & Hergesheimers. I had my car in over at at Zeil motorsports in Torrance where Alberto from Puerto Rico had his 968 for a year. Their work is excellent I just think they have so many of their own things going on that you do not get the attention. Andial(http://www.andial.com) is supposed to be one of the best engine shops in the country I would definatley hit them up but they are not cheap either. I don't have experience with them but I have heard they do amazing work.

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[Grant]

[quote name='SANDOVAL' date='Jun 23 2005, 09:42 AM']I can't recommend any shops down in So.Cal anymore seems like they have all burned me on one or more occassion. I have used Speed Force Racing, Anderson Motorworks, Vision, & Hergesheimers. I had my car in over at at Zeil motorsports in Torrance where Alberto from Puerto Rico had his 968 for a year. Their work is excellent I just think they have so  many of their own things going on that you do not get the attention. Andial(http://www.andial.com) is supposed to be one of the best engine shops in the country I would definatley hit them up but they are not cheap either. I don't have experience with them but I have heard they do amazing work.

[right][post="6256"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]





ARGGHH! Well, thanks for weighing in, anyway. I thought both Vision and Hergesheimers looked pretty impressive from their Websites, but feared the true speed shops would be more 911-intensive than anything else.

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[SANDOVAL]

Vision built the 968 Turbo in last months Excellence. They know the car well. I have heard some first hand stories that would make you shake your head in disbelief. I can't elaborate on the web but my experience was pretty scary too. For Herge... they over billed me for services I did not approve, Dinged two of my newly re-finished wheels and would not take responsibility. I detailed the car the day before and I know they were not chipped when the car was dropped off. They also could not fix a problem that I told them exactly what was wrong. I took back to Speed Force Racing and it was fixed in 5 min. Herg. charged me 5 hours labor to diagnose something they never fixed. I have received emails from others asking me for more info on Herg. because the person sending the emails had similar experiences. The most recent email was last month from a post I made on rennlist over 2 years ago.

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[red94coupe]

Call Frank Hanrahan at Haus of Performance in Costa Mesa (next to airport) 714-545-2755. He just had my car in his shop 5/31/05. He knows the 968, and I highly recommend him. He has done work on my 944 turbo, my frinds 944 S2, and he works on another red 968 from the area too.



Bob

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[Grant]

Bob-



Sounds worth looking into and I head up that way pretty often, anyway, so I'll swing by to eyeball the place first.



Thanks.



Grant

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[andfar]

Any follow-up, Grant?



How's Haus of Performance in Costa Mesa? Please share your experience or new findings. Thxs!http://www.968forums.com/style_images/silverimag/folder_post_icons/icon1.gif

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