DanG

As far as my wiring question goes, I just soldered the black/blue 968 wires to individual white/brown stripe 951 wires. I should't have the same problem on the other side, as there's unique wire colors on both ends.

I didn't connect a battery to check it yet, but if there's any problems I'll know where to start.

Robby

Go to the hardware store & find all of the stuff that Keith said to get & do the job right... I swear that part's easy.... i'm an idiot w/stuff like this & even I had no problem finding everything at the local Home Depot- I DID buy a few extra washers like the ones Keith mentioned, &, was lucky I did... I bent the hell out of several of them, to the point that they were unuseable for this purpose... These things HAVE to have different tension from mirror spring to mirror spring... I know a guy who is not very strong at all & he got his to snap together correctly, by force, but, there is NO WAY someone could have forced my mirrors together... I'm a fairly strong guy & I realize that holding things right makes all the dif in the world & I did everything I could & each time I got anywhere near close, I swear the plastic mirror housing was about to break- I mean, seriously, I had that thing flexing like you would not believe... Was also worried about damaging paint, since I had just paid for that... Only took a few mintues w/the special tool Keith tells how to make....

testarossa_td

This is at least the second time I have seen a post where sunset has sent someone the 928 wires.....maybe they are low on the 68 wires...

14mm allen for the big spring bolt IIRC

icat

Just so there is no confusion - you can disassemble the mirror halves and put them back together without the "special tool" I have listed in the upgrade. But as Robby said, why risk the mirrors. The total cost of the parts at Home Depot is like $5 or less. With the tool you can do this over and over and over (not that you'd want to) again and NOT break the mirror housing or damage the paint.

My first set was off a donor 968 and they were a lot easier to manipulate than the new ones. I suppose the springs loose some of their tension after several years. But man oh man, the brand new ones! Yikes! Those babies are STIFF!

Anyone else notice we’re answering questions from several years ago.

Robby

Keith- Yes, I knew it could be done, but, it's not worth the effort & possible consequences... The guy i knew who did it was actually fixing a broken 951 flag mirror & I'm sure he re-used the old spring- makes it easier- of course, there are variances in any production part, so, I still think it's entirely possible that some springs are stiffer than otheres... Either way, the tool you designed was EXTREMELY HELPFUL! If it weren't for you, I'd have to have paid a Porsche mechanic to do it... hmmmmmm.... Now that I think about it.... MAYBE I'd then have working door locks... BTW- did you ever find any more pics showing that tiny part, microswtich, or any of the other tiny little intricate parts of the lock cylinder??? Funny thing- BEFORE the other day, I could always lock/unlock driver side & unlock passenger side, but, could not always lock passenger side... NOW I cannot lock driver side at all, EVER, (I CAN unlock driver side), &, I can always lock & unlock passenger side... I never messed w/the passenger side either... But, THIS time, I was able to get that little plastic arm hooked onto the ball-ends at both ends instead of just one... Not sure how this would affect anything, but...

Anyway, Keith, I'm about to e-mail you w/one quick question about this- trying not to sidetrack here... Although I did just check the date & the original post was a year old, like you said...

icat

I looked and there were no additional photos that would help in your situation. If I ever have the opportunity to do the upgrade again I'm going to investigate the possibilities of leaving the wiring for the locks in place or simply cutting the wire and resoldering it afterwards. The central locks are a bitch to get right once you've removed the wire.

Robby

that's cool... you can pretty much disregard my e-mail then... As for doing it w/out removing the wire- not sure about this, but, the cylinder definately has to be pulled apart doesn't it? I mean, unless you somehow cut the 944 handle off... this is the real bitch... otherwise, one could just slide the whole assembly out & back in to the new handle & be done... That's the most irritating part to me... all of my locking probs have been due to this one little design flaw...

icat

It's been a LONG time since I first did the handles, and the memories are no where near as fresh as they once were, but it seems to me that the reason for removing the wire was to get the handle off the car so you could work on it. I suppose one might be able to do all the swapping of parts while the lock was still connected to the car by the wire. You would now be "working in the air" so to speak, but if you had a small table or cart that you could place next to the car at just the right height, then you could swap the parts out while still connected to the car. Make sense?

Robby

Actually, I'm a little lost on this one, but, that doesn't really matter- you know this subject as well as anyone probably & much better than I. As I remember it, the cylinder has to be seperated to come out of the handles... the front (part the key goes in) has to come out (& would go back in through) the FRONT side of the 944 handle where the back section would come out the back. On the 968 handles, the whole lock cylinder can slide into the backside... I was playing around w/this when I got the new handle a few weeks ago- was wondering, while looking at the old 944 handle & the new 968 one, why the hell I EVER took the lock cylinder apart... it hit me when I pulled the whole thing out the back, &, then, just for the hell of it, tried to stuff it all back into the backside of the 944 handle to seee if it would go... it did not... Anyway, when you pull the lock cylinder apart, all of the stuff comes loose, so, I think that's it...? I might be wrong, or, missing something, or, not remembering something right, but, I've been so confused w/it all for such a long time, I'm really trying to simplify things by just listening to what you just e-mailed me & trying to go from there to fix it... the 968 that I checked tonight felt perfect- my locks don't even have tension on the key at all when locked or unlocked, whereas they will snap back into middle position when on correctly... Mine was dead feeling- very loose... Something is not right... Thanks for the help...

Also, sorry for the tangent on this thread...

icat

Yes, the locks on the 944 handles need to be "split" to be removed - BUT, there is no reason (that I can think of) to not do this "in the air". You need to be more careful so you don't loose anything, but the only reason I recall for removing the wire was to allow the handle to be taken completely off the car and taken to the workbench. My suggestion now is to simply move the "workbench" to the car and leave the wire attached. It will still split as before, but half the lock will be dangling from the wire. Since the part that dangles is not the tumblers, there should be no problem. Then, reinsert the tumblers into the lock and attach to the 968 handles. As such, the factories central lock settings are maintained and a huge headache is avoided.

Robby

Ok, somewhere in here, I'm not remembering this as well as you are keith, but, IF the wire you're etalking about is the one in the pic you sent me- the thicker one that is clamped in- the one on that flat piece that has the mocroswitch where the valley is supposed to line up, etc.... I never removed this wire... I'm not sure how I got to the point where I found it unneccessary, but, I just haad that little square tab hanging there by that wire that's probably ~10 - 12G & did not remove that... Somehow, I still managed to mess it all up- but, it made sense b/c you said the valley & pin had to line up & seat correctly.. i don't think mine did....

icat

My suggest is to not remove the small flat phillips screw that holds the microswitch to the top of the lock cylinder. As such, the lock will dangle from the wire.

Robby

yes, but, either way, the cylinder has come apart & has to go back together... this, the piece that needs to be seated correctly in that "valley," etc... I MAY very well be mincing terms here... that could be why I'm confused... But, you said "....the only reason I recall for removing the wire was to allow the handle to be taken completely off the car..." I never removed any wire that I'm aware of... I thought the only wire was the one clamped into that square shaped micrswitch you sent the pics of...? It's white, etc....? Anyway, doesn't much matter to my personal situation b/c I am where I am.... in a BAD place...

RDL

Does anyone have the full installation instructions with pictures, from the old 951mortorsports web site, that can be e-mailed?
TIA

Robby

Icat (Keith Foster), post above mine- had two great write-ups. I have copies somewhere- have been digging, but can't find on my comp or ext HD. I definitely have them printed out somewhere, but might be quicker to find & mail than to find & scan. Would love for someone to scan them somewhere, though, if they are not already, as they are an invaluable rescource for these mods. Keith did the work & documented, w/pics, & if not for him, I could never have completed mine... PM me if you can't find anywhere (or if no one else chimes in) & I'll do my best to get them to you, somehow, relatively quickly. It seems his links no longer work & I think he sold his car long ago, unfortunately.