H1 Restoration

Good afternoon gentlemen.......I am located in Cairo, Egypt. I am in the process of buying two 1996 H1s, both with the 6.5l diesel engine and automatic transmission. Both H1s have been heavily used.
I would like to restore both H1s to the factory condition, mechanically as well as the exterior and interior, maybe also add some upgrades.
I would like to send both H1s back to the US for the complete restoration. Can you refer me to a reliable workshop or authorized service who can perform this restoration.
 
Thank you and best regards,
 
Tarek

I cant really help much but I can refer you to some people,3HUMMERS his department is anything involving an H1 and it shouldnt be hard to find a good shop because it doesnt seem like money is a big problem for you, post some pics of the hummers

quote:

ORIGINAL: vilim12

I cant really help much but I can refer you to some people,3HUMMERS his department is anything involving an H1 and it shouldnt be hard to find a good shop because it doesnt seem like money is a big problem for you, post some pics of the hummers

Thanks........who's 3HUMMERS?

Here are a couple of pictures of the 2 H1s. Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, they were taken by my phone and at night. I will post better pictures soon.


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Hes a member around here very cool guy and knows alot about the H1`s, He also has 2 he has a 1997 and 2006 alpha, hes usually on daily

quote:

ORIGINAL: vilim12

Hes a member around here very cool guy and knows alot about the H1`s, He also has 2 he has a 1997 and 2006 alpha, hes usually on daily

 
Thanks again..........I look forward to his input.

your welcome, and good looking H1`s im guessing the second one is the one parked in front of the one in the first picture?

quote:

ORIGINAL: vilim12

your welcome, and good looking H1`s im guessing the second one is the one parked in front of the one in the first picture?

 
Yep.......these are the two.

looks good looks good

If you dont mind spending money I'd suggest Lynch. They are actually a Hummer Dealership but great prices! Although I have never dealt with the service department just the parts. I have heard nothing but good from other H1 owners.
http://www.lynchhummer.com/
 

btw Welcome to the Forum.
Also If you want a cheaper method but just as good there is a guy in Toronto, Ontario. CANADA.
He does GREAT WORK! I goto him all the time and never have been upset. He will be able to totally restore your H1's as well, he works on basically all the H1's in Southern Ontario. And I might even be able to take some pictures for you during the process if I happen to stop in during their stay. If your interested in him pm me and I will get you his contact information.

oh yea forgot to mention Injunfarian hes really good with the H1`s also

Not knowing exactly what your trucks need complicates things a little. Guessing that you want a total mechanical and cosmetic restoration the best H1 mechanic in the country in the opinion of many is Mike Sabrese at Tustin Hummer in Tustin, CA.( 714-669-3699 ) Lynch Hummer is the largest H1 dealer in the world. ( 636-777-7600 ) I know they do a lot of repair and mechanical work on H1s but they have never serviced or repaired a truck for me. Probably the largest, but not cheapest source for parts is Kascar ( 864-422-0370 ) There is also a private H1 shop in Huntington Beach, Ca called Hummer Solutions. I don't have that number with me at the moment but Mike Sabrese can give that to you also.
I assume that you want this all done fairly quickly which means not spending a lot of time searching for the best price on parts. I have bought a lot of H1 parts off of Ebay but you never know what is going to be up for auction. For example I just bought a turbo unit complete with wastegate for $400.00 on Ebay. It is a $1200.00 part if you have to buy it when you need it instead of when you can get a deal on it.
I am sure there are other places that can do the work but these are among the best. If you can put together a list of what you want done it will help them give you a better estimate. Given that these trucks are in Egypt any pricing you get will be an estimate. There are always things that come up that weren't anticipated.
If you have more questions re-post or PM me and I will do what I can to get you better answers.

Mike Sabrese would be a great place to start. People ship their hummers to Mike from all over the country for work to be done on them. Lynch is also a good choice. You could send it to Travis at Rubberduck4x4, but he would turn it into a gnarly wheeling machine -- far from stock.

ron b

TKF 430,,,,,,,,,,,,,IF MONEY ISNT THE OBJECT. I WOULD BUY A FEW NEW ONES AND HAVE THEM SHIPPED TO YOU. WHAT THE HECK,,,,,,,,,,
WELLCOME TO THE FORUM, AND GOOD LUCK,WHATEVER YOU DECIDE,,,,,,,,

quote:

ORIGINAL: 3hummers

Not knowing exactly what your trucks need complicates things a little. Guessing that you want a total mechanical and cosmetic restoration the best H1 mechanic in the country in the opinion of many is Mike Sabrese at Tustin Hummer in Tustin, CA.( 714-669-3699 ) Lynch Hummer is the largest H1 dealer in the world. ( 636-777-7600 ) I know they do a lot of repair and mechanical work on H1s but they have never serviced or repaired a truck for me. Probably the largest, but not cheapest source for parts is Kascar ( 864-422-0370 ) There is also a private H1 shop in Huntington Beach, Ca called Hummer Solutions. I don't have that number with me at the moment but Mike Sabrese can give that to you also.
I assume that you want this all done fairly quickly which means not spending a lot of time searching for the best price on parts. I have bought a lot of H1 parts off of Ebay but you never know what is going to be up for auction. For example I just bought a turbo unit complete with wastegate for $400.00 on Ebay. It is a $1200.00 part if you have to buy it when you need it instead of when you can get a deal on it.
I am sure there are other places that can do the work but these are among the best. If you can put together a list of what you want done it will help them give you a better estimate. Given that these trucks are in Egypt any pricing you get will be an estimate. There are always things that come up that weren't anticipated.
If you have more questions re-post or PM me and I will do what I can to get you better answers.

 
Thanks for the suggestions. Things which I will require doing on the H1s are probably complete engine rebuilds of the 6.5l diesels. Adding a turbo to the engine (is that possible?). Rebuilding the automatic transmissions or completely replacing them with new transmissions. Rebuilding/servicing of the transfer case, differentials/lockers and swivels. Replacing all the suspension components and bushings. Replacing all driveshaft U-joints,....,etc. Rebuild the Central Tire Inflation System. And ofcourse anything else which can come up.
As far as the interior is concerened, I will need a complete new interior with new dash and instruments. The exterior will require a complete body paint, inside and out as well as the engine bay. New tires, lamps, lights,..., etc.
 
A lot of work......would you have a rough estimate what the above would cost. Based on the above requirements, would you think Mike Sabrese or Lynch would be more suitable for the job.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Injunfarian

btw Welcome to the Forum.
Also If you want a cheaper method but just as good there is a guy in Toronto, Ontario. CANADA.
He does GREAT WORK! I goto him all the time and never have been upset. He will be able to totally restore your H1's as well, he works on basically all the H1's in Southern Ontario. And I might even be able to take some pictures for you during the process if I happen to stop in during their stay. If your interested in him pm me and I will get you his contact information.

 
Thank you very much for the suggestion. In my above post I have stated a lot of the work which needs to be done on the H1s. Will the guy in Toronto manage all the requirements? You mentioned that he could be a cheaper solution.......any idea what it would approximately cost me to perform all the work needed.
 
Thank you and best regards,
 
Tarek

TKF,
 
I spoke with Rob at Tustin Hummer. They can do all of the mechanical and interior work. They send the trucks out for apint and boby work. I have had them do some paint work for me and was very satisfied. Call Rob/Mike at Tustin Hummer and go through in detail what you need done. Mike Sabrese is one of the best, if not the best H1 mechanic in the country. If you checked with AM General they would tell you the same thing.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 3hummers

TKF,

I spoke with Rob at Tustin Hummer. They can do all of the mechanical and interior work. They send the trucks out for apint and boby work. I have had them do some paint work for me and was very satisfied. Call Rob/Mike at Tustin Hummer and go through in detail what you need done. Mike Sabrese is one of the best, if not the best H1 mechanic in the country. If you checked with AM General they would tell you the same thing.

 
Many thanks........I will give Rob and Mike a call. I will let you know what they suggested.
 
Kind regards,
 
Tarek

Ok. keep us posted on what you decide to do and how it goes.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 3hummers

Ok. keep us posted on what you decide to do and how it goes.

 
Thank you very much David.......I just hung up with Mike. Very friendly man and knows his business. He also knows you quite well. I told him that you recommended him to me. He is happy to do all the work needed on both H1s. He also suggested keeping the 6.5l NA engines and not replacing them with turbo charged engines as the NA engines were far more reliable and would handle any abuse. He can increase the engine HP a bit by using a different fuel pump. He also suggested upgrading the automatic transmission to a sort of clutchless manual system......the same system they use on their own racing H1. The stock automatic transmission apparently suffers from many electronic problems.
I'll send him an email with some interior and exterior pictures and he'll send me an estimate for all the work needed.
 
Are there any engine upgrades I can do to the stock 6.5l engine to increase HP apart from a different fuel pump?
 
I will keep you all posted of the progress.
 
Thanks again to all of you. Kind regards,
 
Tarek

Tarek we are glad to kelp. I don't have the NA engines but I will see what I can come up with on upgrades. Obviously you want to do upgrades that will not have a negative impact on the performance or longevity of the motor. There are things like PCM upgrades that you might want to look into. Talk to Mike about that. I was looking into a PCM upgrade for my H1 Alpha and after hearing what it did to the shift pattern and the extra heat generated by the performance enhancement of the upgrade I decided against it. Some are better than others.

Thanks David. I would appreciate it if you or anyone can assist me in knowing the maximum output I can get from the 6.5l NA diesel engine and how to obtain it without reducing and compromising engine reliability.

here's a link to the hummer race truck Mike built/races so you know he's serious (he talks it down and is very modest):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebrWiO33gJE

sounds like a serious amount of work that needs to be done. I was going to suggest keeping the 6.5 without the turbo as well but Mike beat me to it -- Mike has said in the past that almost all the hummers that are towed into him have computer-related issues. If I was ever in the market again I'd definately buy an older truck with no computer (as close to the humvee's simplicity as possible...maybe a nice 93/94/95 na diesel). I'd miss the good a/c though.

rb

For only a few thousand bucks you could upgrade the AC. I think I am with you on the older H1s Ron. Simpler=cheaper. besides we really don't need great AC hear in Socal anyway ( unless you want to go to the desert, high desert, mountains, etc in the summer )

quote:

ORIGINAL: ronb

here's a link to the hummer race truck Mike built/races so you know he's serious (he talks it down and is very modest):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebrWiO33gJE

sounds like a serious amount of work that needs to be done. I was going to suggest keeping the 6.5 without the turbo as well but Mike beat me to it -- Mike has said in the past that almost all the hummers that are towed into him have computer-related issues. If I was ever in the market again I'd definately buy an older truck with no computer (as close to the humvee's simplicity as possible...maybe a nice 93/94/95 na diesel). I'd miss the good a/c though.

rb

 
Thanks for the link Ron......serious truck. So you all recommend keeping the 6.5 Liter NA engine and not going for any turbo upgrades or Duramax conversions. According to Mike Sabbarese the the 6.5 L-NA motor could deliver 250-270 horse power after minor rebuild of the engine and injection pump. Is that a better option than going with a 360 HP standard Duramax LBZ engine conversion?