Greg D.

Having just recovered from a severe attack of Wiedeking allergy, Bozo almost decided to go back to the roots of "all that was good and pure" about Porsche and ditch his 993 for a nice old 356... He still might add one to the stable, mind you (since he foolishly sold his 65 to get a mini cooper)



But the allergy attack has passed, 993s are way too pretty to be dismissed so easily... Plus, the bearing ordered from Johnson bearings had just arrived, and Bozo can never resist a project where he has a chance to hurt himself, especially a carefully planed one, with 2 bearings, just in case he screwed one up ;-)

Porsche in their infinite wisdom decided that the spoiler gearbox unit, a flimsy affair including 2 gears, one screw and one cable shrouded in plastic, shall be sold for over $220, while in fact there are about $20 of parts in there, tops. Kinda like the margins on the boxster/996 that the Stuttgart board of director boasts about all the time (Hey morons, we have the best margins of all automakers, you overpaid, ha ha)... The old bearing was squeaky and while rotating freely, probably had contributed to the premature demise of the spoiler motor, so after fitting a replacement it was only fair to fix the squeaky mechanism as well. The bearings, as indicated in the excellent DIY on P-car.com cost more in shipping that in unit price - total $10 for 2 delivered! Google " Johnson bearings" for a US source...

Armed with $30 of new tools (2 clamps, a stanley boxcutter, a punch, and a mini Vice that attaches to any desk), Bozo went to work.
Opening the mechanism is no fun, and thoughts of slippage and stitches were on Bozo's mind, but thankfully the damn thing eventually separated fairly easily. The innards were coated with rust colored grease, probably from the failing bearing...




Even though Bozo had read directions, he improvised a bearing removal technique of his own that failed miseably and scattered the exploding old bearing all over the circus floor, and left just the inner portion of it solidly jammed on the "infinite screw". An appropriate name, this, as that is just how Bozo felt...

The punch method advertised in the DIY did the job very well, but removing the old bearing was no fun. It eventually accepted to depart when threatened to be reused on a Cayenne V6 ! Once removed, the unit splits up some more all over the floor and reinserting the new bearing finally makes sense. Just follow the directions ! Really! Bozo just squeezed the assembly back using the vice, no copper tubes, it's probably a rough method but it worked fine.



A couple of clamps and superglued left hands later, the gear unit was ready to go in again, and was noticeably quieter...



Now all Bozo needs is one of those spiffy RUF Spoiler control boxes to raise the limit of spoiler activation to 68 mph.... Why 68 ? 'cause it's well knows that when they reach 69 without a wing, Porsches spin ;-)

All in all, a pretty easy job. If you have the tools, a $5 part beats a $220 replacement unit ! One Bozo's scale (1 being watching Kim convince a newbie to mod his recently acquired 993, 10 being finding one as nice as John D for less money), this is a 3. Easy but intimidating. Great DIY though....

chris walrod

I am glad Bozo is back. Its been awhile since I have read any of his adventures. Love the line about gluing his two left hands together LOL!

David in Chicago

Hysterrical. Well done, Greg.

Regards to all.

maurice97C2S

Well done, Greg! You are an example to us all...

I think I've spotted the reason for some of your adventures - in one pic appears a Workmate - patently you need a BozoMate (TM) !

Now that you've done several DiYs (all hilarious, thank you for that) its time for 'le grand projet' - I have just the thing, very Porsche related, but not ....

http://www.kraftwerkz.net/

It will also cure your 356 blues -

Cheers, Maurice

Greg D.

Now that is just evil !

Have you totaled the prices on the rightmost column for that 917? Wow !
Still cheaper than the real thing ! Great website, thanks !

That's all I needed, a new project ! As if eventually buying a 59 356A, building a replica 550 Spyder with a 911 engine, owning an early 70s 911 and turn it into an RS clone, and making my 993 into an RS wasn't enough to ensure my financial ruin ! Well at least the day I win the lottery (a tax on the mathematically stupid - but I still play) I have my shopping list ready!

Not to mention I'd probably lose a body part or 2 before 1/2 of those projects are complete !


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ca993twin

Greg,

I love reading the trials and tribulations of someone as incompetant as myself. Please don't ever sell that 993... we need your DIY wisdom and advice. Maybe the rest of us could pool our resources (after xmas, of course) and just buy you that damned 356.

maurice97C2S

Its only Australian Dollars, Greg ...... not like real money!

I can't help wondering how they managed it - I certainly never saw any 917s over there - just a 911T on the racetrack - in saloons too!

Cheers, Maurice

ecobb993

Looks like a fancy dune buggy.