Peter Zimmermann

Douglas: Whew, some ride, huh? Just remember, even executing a perfect entry into a corner your car will not stay with a decently driven 997. Those cars just have too much suspension and too much "stick." Be safe!

Ed Hughes

Doug, I'll throw in my .02.....tire pressures are very important, make sure you've got enough air in the back. If you're low, you'll lose grip. Secondly, not all tires are created equal. Since I used to DE on streets, I had the "opportunity" to sample all too many sets of tires. IMO, the bargain "high-performance" tires that are often lauded here and on Pelican are just that-bargain. I think you get what you pay for mostly.

Lastly, DE's!! The driving of a 911 "on the edge" is not for the faint of heart, or more precisely, the faint of right foot. A slight lift of the throttle at the wrong time will wreak havoc in your direction of travel. The best way to learn this is in the safety of a track with a good instructor. In time, it will become instinct that if the rear starts to break loose, throttle maintenance, and sometimes more throttle, are often your best friends. And, as you aptly pointed out, smoothness and fluidic motions are key, abruptness in steering, throttle or braking only upsets the car, and takes the optimum grip of 4 tires equally planted out of the equation.

I'm trying to get to SoCal as quick as I can, I need to develop a new circle of track buddies!

PS- Since SD County is going to be a long haul to Willow Spriings of other tracks, I'm looking at trailers and tow vehicles..

theiceman

BTW .. I have in fact hurtled down a road backwards.. , it was just a day when it all went bad .. what a strange feeling and i remember it clearly . it is quite a weird feeling having the country side rush FORWARD at about 70 mph. and I was on packed snow so there was no slowing me down either.. until I hit the lake ....
a real learning experienece.. and my company wasn't to impresssed what I did with my brand new one week old company car either. :-)

Peter Zimmermann

[QUOTE=Ed Hughes;4996941].

Lastly, DE's!! The driving of a 911 "on the edge" is not for the faint of heart, or more precisely, the faint of right foot. A slight lift of the throttle at the wrong time will wreak havoc in your direction of travel. The best way to learn this is in the safety of a track with a good instructor. In time, it will become instinct that if the rear starts to break loose, throttle maintenance, and sometimes more throttle, are often your best friends. And, as you aptly pointed out, smoothness and fluidic motions are key, abruptness in steering, throttle or braking only upsets the car, and takes the optimum grip of 4 tires equally planted out of the equation.

GREAT POST!

Amber Gramps

I think a lot of mistakes went into the causing of my spin. first I had already driven 250 miles and was tired. I had big heavy boots on. The seat was adjusted way back. I had been above 5,000 feet plus a full tank of gas and was now at 50 feet above sea level with a quarter tank. I was following a 997. My Toyo Proxis4's may not have been properly inflated. I have removed the weight of the A/C, cat, and most important........my wife has lost 51 pounds since I last took that turn with her in the car. the 997 easily made the turn, so I doubt the road was oily. any way...Ed, I'll hold your gas can anytime as long as you bi@tch slap me next time I take my baby on that wild a ride.

Ed Hughes

We still gotta get you addicted to the track Doug...

Amber Gramps

My track addiction is a BMX addiction. Reno just cost me $800. My nine year old girl is number three on the planet.

Amber Gramps

Ed, did you not read this thread? Are you nuts? I remember a guy recently that spent $9,000 on a rebuild after going to the track. I'd stay away from the track.

JayJ911T

Let me answer that. First, the DIY'er should pat him/herself on the back, and maybe enjoy a beer. This person has at least average mechanical abilities if they were able to get that far. Second, they should realize they're in a great position. Why you may ask? They have options now.

1. Decide screw it. This is too much. They can call around to shops and get quotes to do the work for them, and deliver the trans, happy about all the money they saved in labor on an engine drop.

2. Put it in their trunk, and take it over to a friend's house. Buy beer, and get the guys over who have done this before to help out (what I did).

3. Decide....hmmm....this looks possible. Then, take the time to get, and read, the proper documentation, and purchase/fabricate the necessary tools to get it done. DIY'ers aren't always looking to get it done within the "shop rate" time. Who cares if it takes a year? Maybe this is a learning experience for them.

My original post didn't have all the information in it to rebuild your trans. I'm certain this was obvious to most on Rennlist, as this seems like a generally intellegent crowd. There are posts on Pelican where knowledgable people, and reputable Porsche mechanics talk Pelicans through a trans rebuild. It can be done folks.

I'm not here to fight with you Pete. Heck, I hardly even visit this site. I just wanted to post my costs for doing something, and share experiences. There are people like iceman who seem interested in the possibility of refreshing their own trans, and they should know this isn't rocket surgery.

Jim Richards

Jay, I enjoyed your posts very, very much. My own personal experience is that a few years ago, I "decided to screw it, and took my 915 to a local, respected indie Porsche shop for a rebuild." I have never been happy with the gearbox since then. I find that downshifting into third gear is a hit or miss proposition. Oh yes, they tell you to give it some time to break in. And I certainly could go back and have them re-do their work. I may rebuild my 915 one of these days, as I feel quite up to the challenge after rebuilding my 2.4E engine (to exact 2.7 RS-specs). Posts like yours and the incredible knowledge base in the Porsche community on the Internet serve as a valuable resource. Thanks and keep DiYing.

KLehmann

Sorry, but I have to chime in on this one too.

I'm one who helped Jay re-something his 915. This is my third 915 take-apart-and-put-back-together-with-some-new-parts i've been involved in, and I think we addressed the problems in a good way.

The key here is that we only replaced what we felt were problematic parts because we knew that if something else comes up in the future, we can do it again quite easily. Yes, the transaxle is a precise piece of machinery. But it's also quite simple to take apart and put back together.

I'd have to say that we used good judgment and didn't butcher anything, despite what laughs some people get from our tool selection:

-Custom crows foot socket cost nothing but some time spent thinking how to make our own tool. We knew all along that the torque spec would have to be adjusted because three enginerds with lifelong experience of shadetree wrenching on cars were working on this trans. And this tool has proven invaluable because it's been shared amongst our Porsche clan with at least 4 different people. Sharing is caring.

-Old clutch disc in a vise works like a snap to counterhold the input shaft. No need for specialty tool P250

-Want to know how we got the gear cluster off the shafts? Gravity. A few perpendicular drops of the shaft on a piece of soft alloy and off they come.......

-You'll rest easy knowing we removed and installed the dog teeth with the appropriate holding fixtures in a hydraulic press. This takes some time and patience to make sure you press the teeth in squarely and do not distort the teeth's circular hub.

-I used a socket of unknown size to reinstall the previously replaced (and seriously hacked) tailshaft/shift rod seal. I get the impression the previous replacer tried (and failed miserably) to do it with the trans. installed in the car.

-We do have the plastic shift fork jig for setting up the shift forks. Since we did not disturb the forks and their clearances checked well when installed on the slider sleeves, we felt no need to re-set the shift forks.

-Yes, Jay checked the shift detents to avoid the pitfall of selecting two gears at once.

All in all I think we did a solid job. The car performed excellent at the track events Jay attended this past year. He can now select 2nd gear at the necessary corners and get much more enjoyment out of the car with us on the track. Seems to me like a job well done.

cgarr

Jay, Here is the tool I (G2) made for that nut. Others that had to be made since Porsche does not offer them are fixtures for Line bore, twinplug, head facing, rocker arm r&r, shuffle pinning, piston squirter, bilstein strut r&r, etc.

Ed Hughes

Went to the track today, it was AWESOME. I'm still grinning 3 hours later, and it was only 49 degrees. The only way to truly enjoy a Porsche's performance and ability, IMO.

BTW, I now have a Seine System shifter mod on her.....it should help me avoid an mishaps. And, I must say, the $9K provided me with many hours of enjoyment, and probably one of the greatest feelings of satisfaction I've experienced in my life, maybe only superceded by building an airplane and flying it for the first time...

Jitters

Hey Ed,

Congrats! I got the track bug last year shortly after I bought my PCAR...I felt the same way. The experience was awesome. Did a total of 3 autox events last year. Looking forward to starting up again in June. And I agree, it is the only way to experience the limits of ones car in a safe and controlled invironment...

Looking forward to taking her to Willow Springs this year as well but won't to get a few more DE track days under my belt...

Just be careful not to get hung up on making a bunch of mods...enjoy the car and get to learn as much as you can before you get the Track Mod Bug....

I've only done one mod and that was to purchase a set of track tires...

Jitters

Ed Hughes

I've been averaging one "Major" mod per year for the last 5 or 6 years. Rebuilt suspension with Elephant mono ***** and bushings, ball joints, turbo tie rods one year. Next year it was headers. The next year it was all 4 piston 993 caliper and rotors all arouind. Then it was stripping off some weight, and adding rollbar and decent seats, then tires, then upgraded torsion bars to 22/29. Last year, it was a new engine. This year ANOTHER set (#6 in 6 years)of new 17" wheels and Advan A0408 tires.

So, you can see I've been down the slippery slop a ways, but I've paced myself and spread the projects out so that hopefully the car is out of service for 2 weekends, maybe 4 weekends max. You get to upgrade over time, spreading the cost around and you keep your car pretty active if you stay on top of it.