mbintx

Thanks, everyone, for your valued feedback. Car in question has been sold to another party who was willing to take a larger financial gamble than I was.
The search continues...

race911

Flashback time: don't you love how the comeback you get is that the owner will blame "Porsh" and the POS (redacted) (redacted) car.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Yep,...that does happen once in awhile, but less frequently now that I carefully vet people regarding transmissions.

I've learned to take the time to show people the differences between a new operating sleeve, syncro, stop block, dog ring, etc and a beat up one. Once people can actually see what happens when they yank on the shifter and the associated costs, they usually have the epiphany. The exceptions are the racers who simply don't care.

awhenry

I learned transmissions racing Mazda RX-3's. Breaking trannies were so common that we could swap a trans at the track in less than an hour HOT. Everything was designed including the exhaust to help facilitate the swap. Once I met a good trans man who explained the issues(but also could build season lasting trans), we quit having those problems.
Mike's number one rule was keep your hand off the shift lever unless you were shifting; number two was shift with your fingers, not your elbow and number three was if you feel resistance, dont force it and apply rule #2 again. I started getting two seasons between rebuilds. When I sold the car and moved on to another class, I got a call from the buyer who broke two trans on his first test day. He was doing everything wrong including using the trans as a brake going into turn One at Roebling Road. After going over the rules, I told him to call Mike.

JCP911S

With the new PDK, Porsche has taken the "if" out of shift.

I embrace, and applaud new technology, but IMHO, what that leaves you with is sh*t.

JCP911S

Don't give up. IMHO, these are great cars, and if you are looking for a long-term car, buy one you like, I wouldn't quibble about a couple of thousand dollars.

mbintx

Still looking. Actually have my heart set on a 964, but they are almost impossible to find. I just kinda stumbled onto the '88, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Ed Hughes

Wait, what? A G50 with a problem?? I thought they were the ultimates...and worth a premium? I've been had!

Droops83

Ha, even the strongest manual gearbox in the world cannot stand up to the abuse that some people are capable of dishing out. We have rebuilt a number of 10-20K mile 993 6 speed G50 and G64 boxes for this very reason.

And yes 915 parts are getting crazy expensive!

race911

Any specifics? I didn't have many, but there were a few, near new 964s that I had in my customer base, but was only taking those boxes apart to upgrade track cars to steel synchros. And a couple of 4:1 R&Ps. (I was out of the business by the time the 993 came along.)

Overall, I can't say I've seen one resale car now 15-(nearly) 25 years later where we hear of old records indicating transmission work was done when the cars were new/newish.

Amber Gramps

I learned "shift with your fingers" almost 40 hears ago when my grandfather took us driving in his 18 wheelers. I don't think my palm has ever touched the ***. ....at least not THAT ***.

Droops83

Hi Ken,

The 1-2 shift fork is a weak point in the 993 boxes, oftentimes from a habitual heavy hand resting on the shifter when it shouldn't be (we repaired this on a 12K mile 993 once!).

The 3-4 fork can also be a problem, though this is more prevalent on track cars with ham-fisted shifting. Guard Transmission offers billet shift forks for this reason.

Just last year we had to do the trans on a pristine 20K mile 993TT that the son drove just once . . . . 2nd gear synchro completely wasted, 3-4 shift sleeve damaged as well.

Like I said, doesn't matter what transmission it is, there are people out there capable of rapidly damaging them!

awhenry

there is always someone who lacks "mechanical sympathy" and can tear up an anvil.