Kudos To Dougherty Automotive

[The Beanster]

Kudos to Bill, Ryan, and Paul at Dougherty Automotive for doing an exceptional job on my 997 Turbo. Yeah, yeah... I know they're not in NoVA, DC, or MD. :D I called several places trying to find someone I could trust to drop my engine and...

Replace plastic coolant fittings with Sharkwerks fittings
Pin other coolant fittings
Install an EvoMS GT2 clutch slave conversion kit
Install new water pump
Install new coils and plugs
Replace coolant reservoir

Bill immediately recognized my passion for this car and understood how particular I am about any work done to it. He gave me a fair estimate on the work and stuck to that amount. Wow! During the time that Paul was working on car, Bill routinely emailed me progress reports. He even replied after business hours to my endless questions!

There were some unexpected parts that needed to be replaced but not once did I feel that I was being jerked around. They even obliged my request to drive up (90 minutes from home) to see the car with the engine out. At that time, Bill and Paul showed me much more about my engine than I ever expected. They made it worth the 3 hour total drive time and half-day out of work. It is clear that Paul has a focus on detail like no other technician I've ever met.

What an incredible opportunity to see my car with so many parts off the engine... but all organized along a line of tables. And yes, one of the coolant fittings just popped right off the manifold. Good old Mickey Mouse engineering there Porsche (but that's ok; we've come to expect it). One more track lap and I might have been very unhappy. When I got the car back, they gave me a box with the old parts including a huge stash of seals and o-rings that were replaced with OEM parts. I was just blown away by the quality of service. :rolleyes:

I took the car to the Zone 2 event at VIR two weeks ago and it ran like a dream. Seriously, these are good people and I wish I knew of them sooner.
_______________________________________

Also, a big thumbs down to Fabspeed for selling me parts they didn't have available. Morons! :grrr:

And last, a thank you to Alex at Sharkwerks for getting me the coolant fittings so quickly knowing that Fabspeed screwed me.

[Eric S]

Also, a big thumbs down to Fabspeed for selling me parts they didn't have available. Morons! :grrr:

And last, a thank you to Alex at Sharkwerks for getting me the coolant fittings so quickly knowing that Fabspeed screwed me.

Some things never change...

[onboost]

Dougherty Automotive has been in the Porsche game a long time.. good group of guys.

[The Beanster]

Here are some bits of what Paul wrote to me about the work he did...

"I'll admit that my way of doing things may be considered overkill sometimes. A wise man once told me 'Do it right, or do it twice.' Your components were not only cleaned, they were polished, degreased, scrubbed, scraped, glass beaded, steam washed, rinsed and blown dry. The pinning process went beyond using standard grade hardware; we used stainless steel high grade metric hardware which was bulkier (larger diameter) than what most shops use. In addition to high strength/heavy duty thread-locker, we also used factory specific Drei-Bond RTV sealant to encapsulate the finished/torqued pins to prevent any potential oxidation or seepage. The bolts were trimmed and thread chased to specific lengths to prevent any interruption in water flow depending on the casting thickness. The burrs and flashing from the drilling and tapping process were carefully removed. The holes for the pins were at a calculated length from the fitting flanges so that the bolt was centered between the slip portion of the fitting. The tube that lost its fitting due to adhesive failure was lightly glass beaded and given a good surface for the epoxy to bite into. All other fittings were masked, epoxied at the flanges and allowed to cure."

Here is a link to more pictures...
Picasa Web Albums - Joe Darooky - Turbo Engine ...@@AMEPARAM@@https://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/101431935015613114372/albumid/5995860201227738417?alt=rss@@AMEPARAM@@10143193501 5613114372@@AMEPARAM@@5995860201227738417

[Eric S]

Impressive approach and attention to detail. For some reason the link to picasa photos didn't appear for me, but I was able to copy the link below; most impressive. I would definitely consider having them pin mine when the time comes.

Here are some bits of what Paul wrote to me about the work he did...

"I'll admit that my way of doing things may be considered overkill sometimes. A wise man once told me 'Do it right, or do it twice.' Your components were not only cleaned, they were polished, degreased, scrubbed, scraped, glass beaded, steam washed, rinsed and blown dry. The pinning process went beyond using standard grade hardware; we used stainless steel high grade metric hardware which was bulkier (larger diameter) than what most shops use. In addition to high strength/heavy duty thread-locker, we also used factory specific Drei-Bond RTV sealant to encapsulate the finished/torqued pins to prevent any potential oxidation or seepage. The bolts were trimmed and thread chased to specific lengths to prevent any interruption in water flow depending on the casting thickness. The burrs and flashing from the drilling and tapping process were carefully removed. The holes for the pins were at a calculated length from the fitting flanges so that the bolt was centered between the slip portion of the fitting. The tube that lost its fitting due to adhesive failure was lightly glass beaded and given a good surface for the epoxy to bite into. All other fittings were masked, epoxied at the flanges and allowed to cure."

Picasa Web Albums - Joe Darooky - Turbo Engine ... (https://picasaweb.google.com/101431935015613114372/TurboEngineWorkAtDougherty?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPqGssLx8eT10wE&feat=directlink)

[Vicegrip]

Great attention to detail and yet the words and great detail was to simply re-glue and pin the fittings that is are common failure points. Clean and Tig weld and you are done, no flowery prose and fancy stainless bolts to not get along with the aluminum castings.

[The Beanster]

Great attention to detail and yet the glued fitting that is a common failure point was re-glued rather than being Tig welded as is SOP.

I should have figured there would be someone who had something negative to add.
Pinning and adhesive together is more than adequate. Especially when the fitting is abraded first. I spoke several shops about this and all said this option was equal to if not better than welding.

[Vicegrip]

I should have figured there would be someone who had something negative to add.
Pinning and adhesive together is more than adequate. Especially when the fitting is abraded first. I spoke several shops about this and all said this option was equal to if not better than welding.

Not trying to be negative. You posted a quote that was quite flowery in discription of pinning the fittings that pop apart. Had the discription not been so effusive I might not have gotten a chuckle at the time and effort spent on both the work and writeup. I have not seen any downsides reported with tig welding the fittings. Other than the shop not wanting to or having the cap to properly weld them up welding does not appear to have any downsides. I can attest that they weld up quite nicely with no further concerns about added holes, stress risers or dissimilar metals.

Please accept my apologies for raining on your thread.