E. J. - 993 Alumni

Music to my ears my friend.

Greg,

All of a sudden my 'relatively inexpensive' clutch job turned into a major to do. I would like to think I can do these things, but am not sure at this point. I am set on the LW flywheel and rs clutch though - that should be good for something.

Steve in SLO

E.J.
Although I'm not Viken, I can tell you that I bought mine from a U.K. wrecking yard for about $2500+shipping and import fees--probably cost me close to $3K to have it on my doorstep. Mine is a G50/21 (RWD) trans with approx 45K mi on it. Before I put it in, I will have it inspected to see if anything needs "freshening up". Look at Porsche and 911 World for ads, then start e-mailing your queries.

Viken: How many shop hours were you charged for the flywheel/clutch/trans swap?

E. J. - 993 Alumni

Thats great Steve, I really appreciate it.

NRK

Steve, I would definitely recommend having someone inspect the box before installing it. I went the same route you did and upon inspection discovered failed synchros in 1st and 2nd. Buyer beware, but it's worth it, especially on the non-vario cars.

Viken

For the C4, the total R&R of the engine/transmission is about 12 hours. The flywheel and clutch add another 1 hour to add.

If the car is a C2, the labor can be reduced by about 1.5 hours.

David T.

As far as I understand the fact that LWF on 96+ has less problems is the difference in the software not varioram. However I have a LWF with Andial's extra weight mod on my '95 with very good results.

Now on the more interesting (at least for me) subject. How did you put varioram on '95 car? Was it just a "bolt on" swap? Can you provide as much info as possible? Thanks!

David T.

Viken - as usual great informative post!

You are going to love it and 5th is actually very useful even at ThunderHill front straight. My passenger clocked speedo at 125MPH + yesterday at the end of the straight; ok with G50/20 4th gear (max 131MPH) but to much for 21 4th (max 118MPH).

Very interesting! This is about the same I've noticed with my LWF with extra weight.

P.S. From my experience there is one problem with shorter gears on the track, since engine is running on higher RPMs all the time, on a very hot day oil temperature is almost reaching the red zone (it is definitely past the forth mark)

Viken

That's interesting! I would have thought the difference in higher rpm's is not that dramatic not to mention the fact that one might be using the next higher gear now that it's more useful. We'll see what happens when I get back on the track.

Greg Fishman

When I went to close ratio gears (RS-spec) I noticed the oil temps increase because you stay in a higher rev range. Temps would get close to the 4th mark but never over. I wasn't in the desert but the Midwest gets pretty hot in August 90 degrees with 90%+ humidity.
Greg

David T.

If you look at the Gear Chart even upshifting at 6000 RPMs will always leave you above 4500 RPMs, not to mention the fact that at the track I always tend to get over-excited and use rev-limiter as a "shift light"

That is correct, if you take it little easier there should be no broblem.

Yesterday at THill was about 100 degrees and I'm sure humidity was pretty high too.

NRK

David T asked how I ended up with a varioram on my '95 car. I purchased an RS Varioram (from Joe Fabiani, BTW) which was an OBD I unit and chip supposedly from a German car. It was essentially a bolt-on modification, as the engine remained in place during the install. With minor rerouting of a vacuum line, it was a pretty straightforward job according to my mechanic. A minor isssue is that the non-vario cars have shorter aircon hoses that need to reach over/around the varioram unit; they still do but it's a tighter fit.

David T.

Thanks for the info! Can you, please, elaborate more i.e. horsepower gain, overall impression and cost (if you don't mind)

os993

Viken (and others who have switched gear boxes), what did you do with your old gearbox?

Additionally, price-wise, if you include the cost of the ROW gearbox, shipping from Europe, cracking it open to inspect (assuming everything is in order), how does this compare to re-gearing an existing gearbox? I guess if you can sell your old gear box and recover some costs......

Also, installing the ROW gearbox, doesn't that mess up VIN# match-ups, in other words, your tranny doesn't match your car VIN#.

I'm very interested in this, because most likely I will be looking into this myself, and for now, I'm more inclined to re-gear my existing gearbox, rather than importing a ROW gearbox. I guess if price difference is extreme, I might consider the ROW gearbox.

Lastly (sorry for so many Q's..)why didn't you re-gear your existing box? Was is soley due to price?

Thank you in advanced!

Viken

I still have it and might sell it at some point. It is a G64/20 (AWD-USA).

I was quoted anywhere from $5500 to $7000 for re-gearing my gearbox. In my case, I was lucky to find a gearbox with innards that were in excellent condition and the total cost was quite a bit less than $5000 and I still have my original gearbox. I guess if you have to buy a used gearbox and replace the internals in a substantial way, you might very well end-up spending more than $5000-$7000.

Good question. After doing some research, I discovered that the majority are mostly concerned about a matching engine number. The transmission number doesn't seem to be a concern. However, if I decide to keep my original gearbox, it will be for this reason.

In my case, I was considering the downtime for having the original gearbox re-geared. However, I lucked-out when the replacement was in top shape and the entire project cost me less than re-gearing.

Steve in SLO

Viken, et al,
Any comments on use of a Twin Turbo rather than an RS pressure plate with the ltwt FW setup? I have spoken to several who recommend the TT PP for the additional clamping power. Are there significant weight issues or other +/-'s to think about?
TIA,
Steve