Posted on here back in October when I had an unfortunate problem with my centre diff planet gear disintegrating! There is a very long thread somewhere with pictures of the damage, Sean at Two Counties did a fabulous job of diagnosing the problem.
Anyway, after finding the parts from Porsche were £1200 I found a G64 gearbox on fleabay for the same figure. Sean had the car for the last few weeks and has done a top end rebuild, new sound pad, some oil pipes, etc etc.
I am now no longer a 911 virgin and have had my first big bill! Picked her up a week or so ago and had a lovely drive back to London from the Suffolk countryside beaming all the way and the car purring like a lion.
It was a lovely day on Monday so I decided to give the old girl a proper wash and brush up, loads of soapy suds followed by a proper wax and polish, she looks beautiful. I couldn't bear to put her back in the garage without a little spin round the block.
Imagine my total horror when I found that at low speeds when you back off the throttle she jumps out of second. So poor Sean has got to take it all out again and rebuild second gear (not his fault as the gearbox was advertised as good, I doubt if I'll get much joy from the seller now it was bought in November last year).
So tomorrow will be making the trek back up to Rushall to get the work done.
Looking at the costs so far, I could've bought a 996 but you know what I don't care because once it's all fixed I will know I've got a well sorted car and I never wanted a newer one. I guess the pain goes with the pleasure and I'm just lucky that I have such a beautiful machine. I'm just really glad it's happened while the weather's still crap.
Let you know when it's finally fixed and then I really will be grinning like a cheshire cat!

 

link to the original thread

 

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Hope you get it sorted soon so you can fully enjoy the car when the weather changes.

 

Yup, that's a kick in the pants. Hope the rebuild isn't too painful on the wallet.

 

"when you back off the throttle she jumps out of second."
Well then , don't ever back off .
All GO , no slow !

 

996s break too and cost just as much. Plus they have that nasty ditch pump that cycles water through the engine.

I think a slight case of monetary amnesia can be required for these cars. After that the car is completely sensible.

 

klr10, sorry to hear your woes. I would be very interested to know what turns out to be the fix for the 2nd gear issue. Mine does the same thing, but only on over-run from high revs in 2nd and only when I have changed down from 3rd to 2nd. i.e. heel-toe from 3rd to second, hard through the corner, onto the next corner still thrashing 2nd and as I come off the throttle into teh bend, the gear pops out. Annoying on twisty B roads, as most of it is 2nd/3rd gear when blatting along.

PS I was feebly hoping that play in the transmission/engine mounts was causing it, but I have changed those now and still the same. Was leaving it to investigate until the next engine drop.

 

Thanks to all for the words of support. I'm pholosophical about it, glad I managed to do a shedload of overtime recently (did I really say that?). Adam I'll let you know what the damage is, your problem is exactly the same as mine. I nearly came to grief belting out of a roundabout suddenly cruising so I really can't leave it how it is. Sean says he'll need to rebuild second and reckons about £400, (we'll see!).
I'll let you know what he finds and the final cost. Worst thing is I was feeling so smug because the engine now sounds gorgeous. If this is the worst thing I need to worry about at the moment I consider myself very lucky..

 

Call Joel Reiser, he may be able to piece together a C4 trans that will work for you. He has a number of spare parts.

 

Thanks Geoffrey but I fear the cost of shipping to UK would be prohibitive. Sean used to work for the Hongkong race team and based on his work so far I'm confident I'm in capable hands. Feel sorry for him as he was so pleased to hand the car over to me sounding so sweet. The problem was definitely not immediately apparent and is in its early stages but can only get worse, I just want this machine to be 'right' (I never ever thought I'd really be lucky enough to own one). Love this forum it's worth more than its weight in gold (or silicon!)

 

Thanks, it would be good to know a rough number of £s and what the problem was exactly. It was a bit of a whooaaa moment when it first happened, but I am driving around it now I know it is there. Not ideal, but will get round to having it fixed.

 

Don't panic m8! I'm sure Sean will be happy for more work. Taking her back tomorrow he knows what he's doing I'll let you know the cost!

 

HEY, I read all the C4 articles and believe that since you have the G64 apart you should see if you can shorten 3rd gear. I am not sure this was just a USA problem but even for street driving I find a gap between 2nd and 3rd. Somebody else can hopefully chime in?
Steve

 

LiveFree: It's tough to change ratios on the 964 G64, because the pinion shaft was a unique inner/outer setup. The gears are mounted on a hollow shaft, which rides on bearings outside of the actual pinion shaft. Bobby Hart (CMS) may have gears for it, but they won't be cheap. Also note that the stock G64 2nd & 3rd ratios are different from the 2wd G50 ones.

Klr10 / Geoffrey - 400 GBP for a second gear shifting problem sounds great to me, though I'm not clear what is included in the estimate. Remove/rebuild/reinstall transmission _plus_ 2nd gear parts? Or all in? I have a few core G64's, but I believe klr10 is right, shipping to the UK would likely be prohibitive. Also these two are worn out on the front drive disc packs.

 

WooHoo! looks like a knackered gearbox mount was causing the problem. Sean has swapped it with the one from my old box.

...Now started to get the odd 'Christmas Tree' lights, so have asked him to replace the HT coils as well. The joys of classic car ownership....