osugasman

OK. Last weekend, I did the SSK/Goldenrod upgrade for my C4S. FD Motorsports was also able to send me 4 new bushings that go between the clamshell and the tube. I had the small bushings for the shifter fork to the clamshell and the 2 that go on the goldenrod to the shifter fork.

Whole job took around 3+ hours and was relatively easy except in 2 areas: I needed to work a minijack under the car with a separate piece of metal to "jack" the cup onto the ball at the front of the torque tube--front shift rod, and I had to have my wife watch and help guide the gear shift lever through the rubber housing and safely into the passenger compartment while I used a mallet to drive the lever into the housing--per the instructions in both cases.

Feel is amazing!!! Really like the setup. More importantly, this project was started in hopes of eliminating a huge buzz that started at 2000RPM in the shifter ****. I had somewhere between 5-10mm of vertical movement in the gear shift lever before the job--I could push up and down on the clamshell. Even though the inserts looked fine (and cost $25/ea and are hard as heck to source), I changed those out with the other bushings. No more vertical movement at all. Still have a tiny buzz around 3-4000RPM which will need some of the thick black tar crap to eliminate at this point. I've tried silicon lube, dental floss, tape and rubber shims to try to eliminate it with no luck. I think it needs to be very thick--peanut butter thick, and STICKY to truly eliminate this last part.

Great performance upgrade. BTW: my cups for the front guide tube were pretty shot and might have left me stranded really soon had I not replaced them.

Mike J

Good progress! How about using some of that nasty sticky grease that Chris supplied with his bushings? That stuff is sticky as heck, and tenacious.

Cheers,

Mike

CarreraX

Brian, Congrats! My GR is on the way and I will be doing this soon. Looks like instead of me helping you it will need to be you helping me

osugasman

Mike J: I didn't get any... Will have to look at an auto parts store and bite the bullet on some nasty stuff.

Mark: absolutely. Would love to help. I think my 12 hours of labor last weekend could have been paired down to 6-7 the second time through. LMK when it comes in. GREAT mod.

RudyP

Brian - how much shorter are the throws with the goldenrod? Is it notchy at all? I have SSKs on my two other cars (which probably started with much shorter shifters than my 993) and the 993 definitely has loooong throws but it is so smooth - it just glides through that foot long travel! Combined with the old school feel, I can't really decide if I would want to go SSK.

You're in cincinnati right? I may be going down there sometime. If so, I'd love to try to meet up and compare silver C4S'.

Toto111

That is a great mod. How did you with the alteration to the tunnel cover where it had to be hit out?
On my C4 I have quite a large dent because the rubber boot kept rubbing underneath. Small price to pay for such an improvement.

Paul902

RudyP, I have both the SSK and Goldenrod on my 4S. The goldenrod makes the linkage more direct, but not shorter. The SSK does shorten the throw up, but not a huge amount. I have a SSK on my A3 and it is very short, crisp, and notchy. The 993 SSK is not like that. I would not call it notchy. It is still a longish throw, IMHO, but definitely shorter than original, and definitely more solid feeling (due to Goldenrod). Definitely worth doing if you think the original is like stirring a long stick inside a gallon of milk!

BTW, I originally used oxy-acetelene to bang out my tunnel cover. When I got home with it it needed a bit more. I tried just straight propane at home, and this was by far enough to heat it to bump it a bit more.

CarreraX

Paul, Approx how much did you have to bend it down?

Paul902

osugasman, what part is buzzing? Where are you going to put the grease? Do you mean around the white nylon bushings that go between the shifter and the clamshell? Is the buzzing still there if you take the shifter **** off?

CarreraX

Brian,
I have a set of walrod bushings on the way. I have had them on one of my other 993's and the grease is crazy sticky. I will have more than enough for both of us!

osugasman

Mark: thx. I'll hold off on buying some super sticky tar like crap for now.

RudyP: Either swing on down or the next time Mark (carreraX) and I hook up at his awesome garage in Centerville, you can swing over there--3 993C4S all lined up--what a site that will be. BTW: the SSK provided a small reduction in throw length--not much at all. Goldenrod really tightened things up. Both are a MUST DO, since your ball/cups on the front rod are probably close to failure as mine were.

Paul: If I remove the gear **** from the lever, the HUGE buzz/vibration is pretty much gone. At this point it probably comes down to NVH between the lever and the metal inside the ****.

HOWEVER, maybe I need to do the tranny mounts??????

osugasman

FYI: I used a ball peen hammer to knock down the center tunnel cover to make room for the shift linkage. Not hard. Set the tunnel over a couple of sawhorses with pretty limited space between the sawhorses and hit the area around 50ish times lightly each time to make a small impression. Then, I mounted the 6 bolts around the area got up in the cockpit to confirm no rub and attached the rest of the bolts. Pretty easy. By far the 2 trickiest portions were hammering the shift lever up into the tunnel and jacking the front ball cup onto the ball on the torque tube (for front guide rod).

--Brian

Paul902

I said, "Pardon?!!"

Seriously, now, not much at all. The bump is roughly shaped like 1/3 of a sphere. The diameter of the bump is maybe 4 cm and the depth 1 cm. I didn't want to molest the car in anyway and even priced out an alternate pan to mangle, but, eventually I got over myself and did the dirty. I resprayed it inside and out and there is no looking back. If I had been more patient I would have had a piece of hardwood turned, or something similar, and pressed it so that the bump would come out smooth...next time.

Paul902

You might try putting a wrap of tape between the lever and the ****, and ensure the set screw on the **** is tight.

I recall the 4S tranny mount being different from the 2WD versions and therefore no RS mount available. Is there a stiffer than normal mount available, or do you simply mean to replace with OEM?