Need to get a lot of stuff worked on car, any recommendations for shops familiar w 914. That dont charge an arm and leg, I have good shops but not looking to pay them their high hourly mechanic rate for electric work. Thanks

Personally I would pay more money for top rate electrical work than mechanical work...

Bolting things together is one thing... Stripping wires and knowing what does what and where is a whole other thing. A qualified mechanic who knows electrical really well will probably get work done much faster and better than a cheap mechanic. Saving you money now and in the long run.....


This from a guy who's rewired his whole car twice....

I couldn’t agree more in fact! Also looking for a top notch person to find an electrical problem would likely be booked up due to his abilities, high demand. Now on top of that living in the Bay Area where average homes can go for a million dollars. Remember our little cars are going on 50 years old wiring is most often brittle and cracking easily with people doing all kinds of modifications. In my past it seems wiring problems are often a bad ground or bad connection due to years of use age and neglect. I’d start by cleaning and reconnecting especially the ground strap. Good luck

I found a mechanic in Novato to do some electrical wizardry for me..... he was less expensive than typical.

I took the train to pick up the car...... it wouldn't start.

He worked on it again.....

I picked it up..... it failed after 15 miles.

There goes $1100.

...... Electrical is one the same level (for me) as paint. You want the best, or it might never be "right". But it won't be cheap.

Good luck with the search. It is becoming more difficult to find an air-cooled mechanic in the Bay Area.

That said.... I found a good, young, smart air-cooled mechanic in Santa Rosa. He runs a new, full-operation shop with some impressive stable of P-cars. And the shop is clean and organized. He has helped me to understand my electrical issues, and DIDN'T take my cash while we were discussing.

Call me if you want to know more. He's good people.

(707) 888-1857
Robert

Electrical on old stuff is not fun. Kind of an electrical knowitall - worked in the City on Double Decker buses - 24volt, rusting, corroding British stuff made of many different materials. Installed 12volt audio systems in 24volt buses, fun stuff there. Sorted out electrical shifting Voith auto transmissions too. Learned a lot - the main thing is that if you touch it, you buy it. Yes, I can fix a bunch of old stuff, but might cause other future failures down the line so if possible, I ran new wiring - faster/more reliable too.

I can fix my own old crap, wouldn't do someone else's - too much time that is worth way more to me.

So: If you are having funky electrical gremlins, it's a ground problem or something hot is hitting a ground, maybe time for a new harness. Check every single ground & connector - clean & use electrical grease - that's what takes all the time. If it straight up doesn't work, probably a fuse or broken (like a bulb or radio or wire or relay is open) - then find problem n fix old wire or fuse or electrical googah.

Favorite electrical tool besides a good DVM: Powerprobe https://www.tocber.com/w-case-circuit-resis...iagnostic-power Had people tell me they dont need such great tools, next time I see them, they're using a Powerprobe.