993 Door Check Strap Repair
10-05-2023, 10:03 PM
#46
Three Wheelin'
Just reviving this thread in the hope of finding a shop in Los Angeles to do this repair since its a common issue on these cars. Hopefully this will help others too if some good shops are mentioned.
So I created my own post about this recently but nobody had any suggestions other than a private message and I know some guys personally who suggested a few other shops but no luck. Seems odd that nobody else here has a suggested shop in Los Angeles that knows how to do this (or is willing to do this) without either wanting to remove the front fender or by cutting out a big section of the A-pillar that includes the mounting point of the check strap.
I can see from some of the OPs' pictures on this thread that some of the shops took the approach of cutting out a section of A-pillar and that is simply total overkill in my opinion (or at least for my car). The way that Marv does it in the YouTube video Nathan produced for PCA seems to me to be the right way if the whole check strap mount hasn't obliterated the A-pillar in that area and pulled the strap and mount all the way through on the door hinge side. Others are welcome to disagree but less is more IMO (and I'm not talking about just welding a bit on the door hinge side alone as a solution).
I also recently corresponded with Nathan about this to see if he may know of a local shop when my own thread here didn't yield many responses but unfortunately Nathan didn't know any shops around here. He shared his thoughts basically saying that a less invasive approach is probably a preferable way to go about this repair with the caveat being a car with a really messed up A-pillar which is really a totally different story. So I guess we are like minded about the repair if its not too far gone.
So my hunt for a competent shop in LA continues. Nobody posted anything about a body shop in the Los Angeles area on this thread either but I know there has to be one that is capable and willing to consider the approach shown in Nathan's video. I'm not at all happy with shops that basically tell me its their way or the highway with their approach to the repair. I'm not a welder but I certainly know enough about this now from studying posts on the subject here from many of you who understand this issue pretty well, Nathan's video and just looking at my own car has me convinced that Marv's approach should work for me. Door off with proper Porsche tool, protect paint and interior, go at it from the back side of A-piller adding material, clean it up, prime correctly, repaint and put it back together. Maybe willing to consider other options besides grinding the check strap bump to prevent recurrence of damage but thats about it. Not sure why finding competent open-minded body shops for P-cars seems so hard in the world's capital for 911s but it is what it is!
So I created my own post about this recently but nobody had any suggestions other than a private message and I know some guys personally who suggested a few other shops but no luck. Seems odd that nobody else here has a suggested shop in Los Angeles that knows how to do this (or is willing to do this) without either wanting to remove the front fender or by cutting out a big section of the A-pillar that includes the mounting point of the check strap.
I can see from some of the OPs' pictures on this thread that some of the shops took the approach of cutting out a section of A-pillar and that is simply total overkill in my opinion (or at least for my car). The way that Marv does it in the YouTube video Nathan produced for PCA seems to me to be the right way if the whole check strap mount hasn't obliterated the A-pillar in that area and pulled the strap and mount all the way through on the door hinge side. Others are welcome to disagree but less is more IMO (and I'm not talking about just welding a bit on the door hinge side alone as a solution).
I also recently corresponded with Nathan about this to see if he may know of a local shop when my own thread here didn't yield many responses but unfortunately Nathan didn't know any shops around here. He shared his thoughts basically saying that a less invasive approach is probably a preferable way to go about this repair with the caveat being a car with a really messed up A-pillar which is really a totally different story. So I guess we are like minded about the repair if its not too far gone.
So my hunt for a competent shop in LA continues. Nobody posted anything about a body shop in the Los Angeles area on this thread either but I know there has to be one that is capable and willing to consider the approach shown in Nathan's video. I'm not at all happy with shops that basically tell me its their way or the highway with their approach to the repair. I'm not a welder but I certainly know enough about this now from studying posts on the subject here from many of you who understand this issue pretty well, Nathan's video and just looking at my own car has me convinced that Marv's approach should work for me. Door off with proper Porsche tool, protect paint and interior, go at it from the back side of A-piller adding material, clean it up, prime correctly, repaint and put it back together. Maybe willing to consider other options besides grinding the check strap bump to prevent recurrence of damage but thats about it. Not sure why finding competent open-minded body shops for P-cars seems so hard in the world's capital for 911s but it is what it is!
10-05-2023, 11:51 PM
#47
Rennlist Member
Most shops will not attempt this repair. One of my buddies is having a hell of a time trying to find a competent shop that actually wants to tackle the proper way to repair it.
10-06-2023, 12:48 AM
#48
Three Wheelin'
I’m subscribed. Please do let all of us know if that buddy of yours finds a shop by posting here. Thx
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Gbos1 (10-09-2023)
01-06-2024, 11:00 AM
#51
This might help some people:
I started developing some clicking on my driver door - I took it to a Porsche guy who recommended a repair involving taking off the fender and door.
When I took the pin out, there seemed to be no movement at the pillar.
I ground down the humps on the check strap, put a new OEM pin in, and tightened the 2 bolts at the door.
The noise is now gone - problem solved for now.
I started developing some clicking on my driver door - I took it to a Porsche guy who recommended a repair involving taking off the fender and door.
When I took the pin out, there seemed to be no movement at the pillar.
I ground down the humps on the check strap, put a new OEM pin in, and tightened the 2 bolts at the door.
The noise is now gone - problem solved for now.
01-17-2024, 09:29 AM
#53
Rennlist Member
Depends on the shop and amount of work they have in pipeline and expertise. Varies. Mine took over a month to be repaired and I was friends with the owner!
03-13-2024, 02:00 PM
#54
Three Wheelin'
Anyone have an update on shops in Los Angeles they may have found that can handle this job without disassembling the front fender or cutting half of the A-pillar apart?