Mikelly

Samco boost hose diy!!! Start removing the bumper by removing it from the side shelf below the fender's edge (It's flexible) and allow it to hang to the side of the innercoolers. Pick up the bumper off the rear and unhook the rear backup light/ license plate light harness and make sure to clear the bumperette mounts... I sat the cover on the back of my truck's bed cover. Now you can get down to the meat of the project... I started with the lower hoses at the turbo to intercooler... Unsnap each clasp with a small flat blade screw driver, taking note of the orientation of these... Remember, BOTH sides need to be in place (That second SNAP) in order to retain the intercooler side's hose... Take a pic of it if you need to for reference when putting it back in place... Once off, remove the hose clamp and o-ring from each hose and install them on the new hoses... Install the hoses, matching them per side (Each hose is different from every other hose in the kit, so match them up!). Once you have the oring and hose clamp on, reinstal the new hose as the old one was oriented. Make sure the hose clamp is connected properly on the inner rim of the turbo. This hose connection dislodged all the time... Search here for confirmation... Get it right, or you'll be left with a tow bill in the not so distant future! Next, move to the engine bay/intake... Remove each clamp and slide it onto the instake and intercooler port. Remove the hose and replace the o-ringes onto the new hoses. Instal the hoses as oriented in the engine bay. MAKE SURE they seat properly... Again, TAKE BEFORE PICS if you aren't sure of getting them seated properly. As you work the spring clamp back into place, hold the hose FIRMLY into the port of the intake or Intercooler, while manipulating (Huhu huhu, he said manipulating) the spring clamp back around the seat of the hose/pipe. Remember to make them snap TWICE!! Once you get them on and TUG on them to try and unseat them, if they hold, you've DONE IT!!! Now start putting everything back on... Start by placing the bumper cover around the body of the car with the sizes resting against the intercoolers. Seat the rear cover over th exhaust tips, feeding the bumperette mounts thru their holes and the upper shelf over the deck lid mount area. Reconnect the backup/license plate light plug, and reseat the sides into their stock locations. Start reinstalling the bumperettes, the screws for the bumper cover, then the inner fenderwell covers (Thanks again OAK!!!). You're done...With the first FOUR!!! The Fpipe install link is below and posted from Stephen's site at Imagine... My car is officially fixed, and it truly feels faster. Not sure if I had a hose failing or what, but it truly faster, and building max boost quicker than before... MUCH quicker than before!!! Final installed pipes... MIke

996TT Grill Screen DIY I managed to damage my turbo splitter, so I figured since i needed to epoxy together some inner fender liner plastics (until my new bumper cover I bought last year is painted), I figured I'd go ahead and do my own gumper grill screens... Here are some pics in order of installation... Remember, you must remove the following: Splitter (which I managed to remove by clipping it pulling into a grassy area to park at my Sisters) The inner fender liners The bumper cover... The exposed bellows for the three radiators - this is the Driver's side unit. Starting with the center unit, I punch the first hole in the center of the bellow top lip: Installing a Ziptie Starting it thru the mesh: Triming a bit of the material to fit the grill opening! Center Bellows without screen installed... Finished material behind the grill with the bumper back in place! It's cake to install these gang. Installing them in the rubber bellows is so easy, takes about two hours, and $50 in materials, along with another $30 in tools... Mike

*This mod should be done along with your software upgrade - Coordinate with your tunere first before installing! 5Bar FPR - DIY The key is to follow these simple instructions: HAVE A MANGET HANDY, YOU WILL DROP STUFF. Have a DECENT LIGHT HANDY. You'll need it to see the stuff you drop! Unbolt the metal clip that holds the oil filler neck and rotate the neck counter clockwise and slide it up and out of the metal bracket. You can see a groove in the air pump bracket on the left side that that groove is where the filler neck must clear to release! Next you'll see the air pump: You want to remove the electrical connectors and these two bolts: The trick is to rotate that pump completely out of the way to give you the space NORMAL HANDS REQUIRE... DO THIS AND YOU'RE GOLDEN: Slide the pump completely as far right as humanly possible, beyond those lines and you'll expose the fpr and clip. Without doing that, you can't get your hands under the clip to pop it out. Once you get the FPR exposed, disconnet the vacuum line and get a screw driver or long needlenose plyer under the edge of the housing, between the clip and housing and pop it out... Once you pop it out, you'll want a rag handy to get the gas up... DO THIS REMOVAL WITH THE MOTOR COLD. No heat, or you'll have a nice car-B-Que! When you install the FPR it will undoubtedly be a *****... I used the clip to pop it into place once I got the new FPR in the hole... Once the clip was used to "pop" it in, I was good to go. Reassembly is 10 minutes, assuming you werent' like me and dropped a couple items that required finding! It really is an easy 1 hour job. Mike

DIY Install of Thrust Bushings I bought adjustable thrust bushings and did a search on how to instal them... Nowhere did I find one...so... OEM Bushing, ERP Bushing and Stock Control arm: The tools I used to press out my bushings: You also need 18 and 21MM wrenchg/socket tools. Heat the bushing steel sleeve (the part the rubber resides in) for about 45 seconds to a minute... Then take the hammer and the seal driver and drive the bushing up... Installed Bushing: It's pretty simple to align the new bushings and have them ready to install the thrust rod onto the control arms. These units help in re-aligning the caster when you adjust for much more camber for track use. Otherwise there is no caster adjustment from the factory! Mike

997SSK in a 996TT - DIY!! SunCoast Porsche - 997 Short Shift Kit Instal on 996TT Before I get to the meat of this DIY, I want to first publically thank the guys at Suncoast for everything they've done to this point in assisting me when I need parts. I can call them on short notice (and have) and I've always gotten stellar support. When I sent Eric a request for price on this Kit, he inquired about me doing a DIY on this setup, and I was like "SURE THING"!!! These guys have done so much to help me with excellent service, support and general conversation, that I was happy to do this write-up. If you want OEM FACTORY Parts at a very competitive price, give the guys at Suncoast a call or email... They will not let you down. Now on to the DIY: First thing to do is Pull the e-brake lever up and remove all "junk" from the center console compartments. Remove the rubber mats in both the storage areas. See those torx screws in the base of the console storage areas? Remove those first… Now remove the coin holder in the console area. There's another torx screw hiding under it! Remove the Window switch panel and disconnect the wire connectors… Just pull them off… nothing "special" that I could tell… Remove the torx screw below the window switch panel Remove the "Batwing" Seat heater switch from the lower stack, unplugging the wire connectors the same as you did the window switches. Remove the carpet and leather side panels from the lower centerstack. Pull the leather panels from the rear forward with minimal force. Remove the shifter boot surround and pull the boot up over the shift knob, exposing the bolt that secures the shifter to the handle. Loosen the bolt and slide the assembly off the shaft of the shifter. Remove the front torx screw that was hidden under the shifter surround. Now you are ready to remove the console, sort of…There are two different tasks you need to do. Follow closely… There is a wire connecting to the microswitch that monitors the lock on the console. Carefully disconnect that and be mindful not to break the wire because it limits your range of movement on the console. Next, remove the side panel that sits between the console and the e-brake handle. Pull the console from the back slowly and rotate the piece to the passenger seat so it clears the e-brake mechanism. See that pile of parts? Big pile isn't it? Took me 1.5 hours total from start to finish this last time and only 2 hours the first time, so don't panic. Now comes the fun part... Now, you have exposed the shifter housing, cables and are ready to move on to removing the shifter… Remove the shifter cable cover that sits above the rear of the shifter/cable base. Remove the 4 6mm nuts (10mm socket) from the shifter base but do NOT remove the shifter base. Next, you want to take a moment, take a pee, get a drink, your reading glasses and a permanent marker. If you don't use reading glasses, borrow some. You want to get this one right: Where your cables are right now, in the bases (the blue and grey connection housings ) of the shifter cable linkages is where they must be in the new shifter, EXACTLY, if you want to have proper shifting. Seriously, don't screw this up or you'll be kicking yourself. Put your glasses on and count the threads on each cable as it sits in the existing linkage. I also used a permanent marker (the black marks on my cables) to mark the cable against the base of the linkage. Also use your cell phone camera to take pics so you can triple check yourself. The linkages are spring loaded. You must push them back and rotate them counter-clockwise to unlock the cables from the linkages. Now remove the right cable, then the left from the cable linkages. Remove the cable clips from the cable housing base at the rear of the shifter base. Squeeze the tabs on the shifter cables and pull the shifter cable out of each slot. Now you can remove your shifter from the car. Notice the new shifter has a green fixed piece in place holding the shifter in position. It's the proper position of the shifter, so do not remove the plastic holder. That holder should NEVER be thrown away. It's actually a "tool" that you would have to buy, if Porsche didn't include it in their shifter kits. Put it in your tool box when you're done. Place the shifter on the studs on the trans tunnel. Secure the shifter with the four 6mm nuts. Snap the cable housing bases into the shifter body at the rear of the shifter, and attach the metal clips Now align the linkages with the cables. Count the threads on the cables, and connect the cables in the appropriate position. Before you continue with re-installing everything else, Start the car, and make sure you can engage every single gear and feel the car move under its load. Make sure every gear is engaged before you start buttoning it all up, or you'll have to take it all back apart again to troubleshoot why you can't get the car into gear… You don't want that, now do you? Now that you're done with the test shifting, you can put it all back together. Reverse order of the above instructions should do you fine. Mike

DIY for Clutch Accumulator W/Pics... So After Gunther drove my car and stated "it feels just like when My accumulator went bad, you know the one YOU replaced?", I started thinking... Bet that thing went bad when it was backing out at the track last September. I've swapped these for several other 6speeders, and swapped my own, along with the slave (search here for that back last spring). So I called up Ryan at Suncoast, ordered an accumulator and a Mastercylinder and waited. They came in Yesterday, so Today I swapped them out... Here's what you need, in order to do the job without making a mess or getting bent over at the squeeler/dealer! Supplies: Porsche 2001-2005 Clutch Accumulator http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/me...ode=996tttrans http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=P&Product_Code=99731416600&Category_Code=996tttrans' rel="external nofollow"> Pentson CHF202 - ONE container 1 Gallon Freeser Bags - Cheaper the better LONG Zip Ties - 2 each... Shop towel to wipe up spills Ignore the slave Cylinder this accumulator is attached to... I did that to stave off leaking fluid getting on the shop matt. Tools needed: Sears CHEAPie 27MM wrench that you will need to cut down (in half). Motiv Bleeder and Catch bottle 11MM wrench for bleed screw (7/16 will work) 10MM socket with extension and ratchet wire snips to cut zip ties off when done Position the rear of the car up in the air and have PLENTY of light on hand. Pop the bonnet and remove the cover for the driver's side cowl, exposing the pentosin reservoir for the clutch master. Pump the clutch pedal 25 times... It'll get harder as you pump it... Get under the car and pull the water lines that cross over the drivers rear axle from the bracket that supports them and keeps them from rubbing that axle... Unbolt the bracket with the 10mm socket/extension/ratchet and lay it aside...Take note of how the notch on the bottom fits in the fin of the differential side cover! This will come in handy when you're starring at it for 5 minutes trying to re-orient it... Cell phone cameras are so handy now days! Take those long zip ties and tie the two water lines to the hard lines tucked up against the subframe of the car... The tighet you get them to the frame, the better the room to work within! Now you can see the black ball that is the accumulator, attached to the ear of the slave cylinder! Now grab a freezer bag and place it overtop of the whole assembly, including the back side of the slave "ear"... Use the wrench on the boss of the accumulator and remember that you're upside down. Rightie Tightie, Leftie Loosie, but again, you're upside down, so don't forget! Here's why those bags come in handy... Sometime even though you do as you're supposed to and PUMP the pedal 25 times BEFORE loosening the accumulator, you CAN get significant spray from the system when you loosen it up. Pentosin is extremely bad on rubber. It'll eat those nice water lines you're trying hard to protect by zip tying out of the way. Usding that freezer bag works very well in keeping that stuff OFF the car/lines/components. Below is the minimal amount of fluid that dripped out, and that was after the accumulator was removed... Slave exposed after unit is removed: Wipe up the drippings from the pentosin, and instal the new Accumulator: Make darned sure you have it tight enough! If you aren't, get a cheater bar (steel stock, pipe, whatever) and make sure to get that last 1/8th of a turn on it to tighten it... Mine backed out at the track, which is why I'm redoing it in this DIY!!! Now attach the catch bottle to the bleeder on the slave: And attach your motiv bleeder to the reservoir, and pump it to no more than 10PSI: When you crack the bleeder, be mindful of the fact that you have a small amount of fluid that is held in the system. I count to 20 slowly, then tighten the bleeder and check the level in the reservoir. Do NOT let the system run dry or you will NOT be happy... Top off, and repeat the bleed process after pumping the Motiv again to no more than 10PSI! Once done, no more bubbles showing in the catch can, tighten up the bleeder, put the cap on the bleeder valve, and cut the zip ties... Reinstall the bracket that hold the water lines in place, and install the water lines in the bracket. Now, start the car and let it idle for 25 seconds. Shut if off and check the level of the fluid in the power steering reservoir. Top off if needed. Lower the car and you, my friend are done. This job took my less than an hour, because I've done at least 5 of them... You will probably take about 2 hours your first time, but you'll have the satesfaction of knowing you did it right... if you didn't you'll be able to look the mechanic in the eyes (*in the mirror) and give him what-fer! Mike

Admins, Can we get a brake tech swap sticky going? There is a lot of "mis-information" out there about what will and won't work with the 996TT and it would be nice to have all the info in one thread... For instance: Front Brake Issues GT2/3 Calipers - Direct bolt on GT2/3 Rotors - NOT a direct bolt on. To be able to use the GT2/3 Rotor, which is a different offset than the AWD Turbo Rotor Hat, you would need to replace your suspension upright (The part the strut and hub/axle and balljoints/Tie rod connect at) would have to be replaced. This is a DIY that could be done, but an alignment would be needed and these suspension uprights are not cheap. Alternatives for the OEM wheel? Unless you have a custom brake hat made, the only alternative is to run the 997Turbo brake Rotor with the GT2/3 caliper. The 997 Turbo rotor is 350MM and clears the OEM 18inch turbo wheel, as does the OEM GT2/3 caliper. What about the Performance Friction Option??? Nope. PFC does NOT offer a Turbo offset hat in their popular rotor setup. I'll add more to this thread later, but there is a host of mis-information concerning the brake systems, aftermarket kit wheel clearances, and other areas that need to be addressed, including brake lines and types of fluid, along with pad issues... UPDATE!!! OEM Options for plus sized brake systems... UMW - Kevin sells the complete 350MM front and rear OEM 997 rotor and the updated 997 Calipers in a kit. This kit is remarkable in several areas. First, all parts are OEM upgrades, so servicing the systems is a non-issue if you want to retain Porsche OEM parts. Second, the caliper redesign is impressive, especially on the 997T Rear caliper, which is slightly larger and has a new center bridge to aid in stopping caliper flex. The front calipers are standard GT2/3 fare, which is superior to other designs and fits under the OEM turbo wheel. Check with UMW for specials and availability, but this kit is truly the "whole" package and you won't save a dime putting it together yourself, trust me, I tried. Suncoast - Suncoast offers a front package of the 997T front 350MM rotor/gt3 6piston caliper. It's all Porsche OEM and a decent "start" of an upgrade. This kit will clear the OEM turbo wheel. Check with Suncoast for this kit... The price difference between the suncoast kit and the UMW kit doesn't save you anything if you eventually want to upgrade the rears as well. You'll spend more money in the longrun on the rear setup by purchasing it later. AFTERMARKET Options BREMBO big kit 355 MM brake kits. These kits are well made, massive calipers with additional bracing to fight caliper flex, and lighter two piece rotors. The issues with these kits revolve around wheel clearance (none of them clear the OEM wheel) and pad choices *(apparently there are few selections in compounds). Rotora Brake kits can be had in several plus sizes, including two different configurations for calipers, both four and six piston. The same warning as with the Brembo brake kit applies. Be careful of wheel fitment. Wilwood Brake company supplies some of the largest and most aggressive systems for raceteams world wide, and are used by many popular teams. They will put together a kit to suit your needs. Beware that their calipers are much bigger than the OEM stuff, and wheel clearance will again be an issue. For rear axle: If you won't care about retaining your emergency brake, you can swap your rear rotors to a two piece design as well, and plus them up. Otherwise your only plus sizing for the are the 997 Turbo rotor, and either using your 996 Caliper with a 12MM spacer and 997Turbo bolts, or going to the $1100 997Turbo calipers along with the 997Turbo rotor. Floating Vs. Fixed two piece rotor design: Our calipers are a "Fixed" calper design. Using a "fixed" rotor, which our OEM rotor is, adds stress to the overall braking system. It also adds more weight to the rotor. By going with a floating rotor, you will reduce weight, and allow for slight deflection in the rotor as the materials expand and contract under constant heating and cooling. The down side to the whole "floating" rotor design is the noise. On a road going car the noise of the rotor floating in the hat can be a tad bitt annoying. Rotor "ONLY" options: Coleman Racing ( www.colemanracing.com ), Stock Car Products ( www.stockcarproducts.com ), and a host of other race car fabrication companies will make you a rotor to your specified size. I've dealt with both companies over the years in a previous life making and selling suspension parts for another platform. Both companies are very much support the hobbie/grass roots guys with tight budgets. They can make you a rotor to your specific offset, thickness, size, and type: solid/slotted/drilled - You tell them what you want and they make it! This is a Coleman Racing rotor made for another Rennlister that eventually sold the setup to me... I've tracked with it with great success and low rotor/pad wear so far. It used an 8inch 12 bolt rotor hat custom made of aluminum. Mine is a fixed rotor design, since I still drive the car on the street. The hats cost about $550 per pair and the rotor replacements are about $350 per pair plus hardware (12 rotor bolts each) and shipping. The rotor I use is directional vein vented and slotted. You could certainly get a 330MM stock sized vented rotor made up to replace the OEM 996 Turbo units, keeping the cost down, and run these with the proper pads and brake fluid and have a respectable performer in the brake department. Pad material choices can impact the life of your rotor. Do your research and talk to those who have experience with various types of pad material. Choosing the wrong pad will shorten the lifespan of your rotor, as the aggressive pad material will eat the rotor quicker. I prefer pagid yellows, and feel that if they're good for a 24 hour of LeMans race, they'll last me quite a while. Porsche uses these pads due to their rotor-friendly nature. Again, good enough for LeMans, Good enough for me! COOLING THESE BRAKES!!! One area the OEM brake system suffers in is boiled fluid. Below is a list of the more common performance fluids and their boiling points. Brand Wet Dry Castrol SRF 518°F 590°F Motul RBF600 420°F 593°F GS610 417°F 610°F AP-600 410°F 572°F Brembo LCF 600 399°F 601°F ATE-Super Blue 392°F 536°F Valvoline 333°F 513°F Castrol LMA 311°F 446°F Ford HD 290°F 550°F Wilwood 570 284°F 570°F PFC-Z rated 284°F 550°F AP-550 284°F 550°F Most race shops recommends Castrol SRF or Motul RBF600 or Brembo LCF 600 due to their high wet boiling points. All brake fluids absorb moisture, some faster than others (except silicone which is not recommended for anti-lock brake systems). Castrol SRF resists moisture contamination (non-hygroscopic) more than any other fluid tested, therefore change intervals can be greatly extended. This reduces the effective cost over a season of tracking. Many drivers say that they can run the same fluid all year long with only bleeding off the fluid in the calipers for each event. This way a can or two will last all year. Other fluids (hygroscopic type) require additional flushing of the system for each track event to maintain the lowest percentage of moisture and the highest boiling point. For cars over 3000 pounds on high speed road courses every race race engineer I've spoken with recommended brake fluids that do not fall below 400°F wet boiling point. I prefer to bleed my brakes before each weekend and I personally use Motul, due to the cost per bottle. I don't like to open a bottle of brake fluid and then re-use it 30 days later, because I'm concerned about the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid and the amount of moisture in the air. Once you open a container of fluid, it should be used and discarded. Others will argue this, but brake performance is one area I don't mess with... $20 worth of discarded fluid after a bleed is worth it to me... I use it over the course of a weekend and then chuck the unused remains. Brake cooling goes beyond fluid. You need cool air to duct into the area of the brake/wheel assembly to cool the rotor/caliper/pad/wheel bearings/balljoints... yup, your suspension benefits from cooler air... Next time you have a wheel off, notice the heat shields Porsche designed to help stave off heat soak... Fresh air helps all the way around... My DIY brake cooling ducts I originally used... These worked effectively but hung down to low and were dragged on speed bumps or other "stuff" that wasn't flat. I've since replaced that system with the GT3RS race cooling ducts made by Porsche. They also hang a little low, but will perform well and get more air into the wheel housing than the stock 996TT units without the hose/ducting route issues. Brake lines: A popular "upgrade" on many platforms is braded brake lines. I am not so sure that the OEM porsche brake lines need replacing. When I spoke with a couple of race shops, they adviced that the lines fromt he factory were more than sufficient and many left them alone... I bought some steel braded lines from Pelican Parts with the intention of installing them, but opted out after the several discussions with shops who had success without swapping... One area you must be aware of is pad wear. Do NOT let your pads drop below 1/4inch of thickness if you track your car. The amount of heat generated when tracking your car is more than the 1/4inch of pad material can protect your piston cups/seals from. Tools of the DE trade... I recommend bleeding your brake system before each event. A motiv pressure bleeder is an excellent "one man" tool to aid in bleeding in a very short period of time. Along with that, I use a catch bottle from CDOC and I bleed the circuit from right rear, inner bleed screw, to right outter bleed screw, then left rear inner to left outter, right front inner bleed screw to right front outter, then left front outter. I generally don't pressurize my Motiv beyond 14# and I never use the system to "add" fluid. I simply top it off at the end of the bleed. Mike