kjr914

Many thanks to Ed and Peter (chaoscreature)! Peter whipped up a new jig for this event and Ed supplied the place, beer and lift (that I now must have...). And a HUGE thanks to Garth S for his pioneering this easy mod.

This is a super easy mod to do and I can say that I feel the steering is much more direct (no slop in the wheel and thus more quickly responding to steering inputs). Some might say the negative is that it gives a little bit more road feedback (subtle vibration) thru the wheel (I'm on PSS9s set fairly hard on a very low car as well that needs new A-arm bushings). But it isn't harsh at all and not an issue unless you want a cushy disconnected from the road feel. if so, you wouldn't be doing this mod in the first place.

As a minor WARNING: on my C4S, there are 2 brake lines behind the LF wheel that the drill bit could hit after going thru the tie rod. I forgot to doulble check on the NB cars to see if its the same. Just be careful when you finally go thru the entire tie rod on that side.

TIPS:
Drill at high speed, but with firm (not forced) pressure. Keep drill spinning and back it out often to help clear the debris. I found the in/out/repeat method (get outta the gutter...) works much quicker than trying to "push" the drill through. Also we used some cutting oil on the bit...not sure if its necessary, but thought it a good idea. The outer tierod walls are thicker and take a while to drill through. When you get to the center, gentle pressure keeps the bit from "catching" on the walls of the inner portions as you go thru the multiple layers. You might see smoke!...but that's just the inner rubber heating up, so no worries, you haven't started a fire.

Pic Favs:
Those sweet gold rimmed safety glasses that Ed let me borrow.
The flames on Craig's brand new Hankook R-S3 tires....a little over the top by Hankook, but a nice touch.
Pizza in hand, while staring at the bottom of a 993 engine....a great way to spend a Saturday! mmmm, Leucadia Pizza ROCKS!!! Philly Cheese Steak pizza and a Rosemary Potato Chicken pizza...

niche

It was great hanging with you guys. Wish I could stay for pizza!

NickyP

Multi-tasking at its finest!

sdcabrio

Ed, Thanks for hosting and letting us fill your garage floor with metal shavings. Peter, thanks for your metal crafting skills which made the whole thing possible in the first place.

The pizza was great, the Corona was cold and the company was top notch.

cgfen

Good tip Keith,
This line was present on ALL cars we did yesterday.

I recommend that anyone doing this use some type of backstop to avoid a drill-through-the-hydraulic-line issue.

Craig

NickyP

I drove my car to Phoenix last night (spent the night in Yuma) arriving this am with my freshly pinned tie rods, so I've got some miles under my belt. SD to Phoenix is mostly straight, but I was really happy with the way the steering feels. I think most of the difference is noticeable at higher, freeway type speeds. The steering stays very centered and the response is more direct. Any slop that may have been there seems to reduced or eliminated. The difference is not dramatic, and some of it may be akin to the seat of your pants HP gain from Fister D's, but I like what I feel. Had a great drive.

Nick

Ed Hughes

Hard to haul a new car home from Scottsdale in a 993....

NickyP

.....

mgianzero

Kika - I'd be interested. I'm in Orange County and I'm sure we can get a group together either here or LA to do this project. Best to do it where there's an easily accessible lift. I currently have a 4-post lift and I'm hoping to purchase a bridge jack soon so we can get the wheels off the runways. If so, I'll volunteer my garage for the task.

JStyler - any chance we can get our hands on your beautifully made jig? Looks robust enough to do a fair number of jobs.

Otherwise, maybe Garth has another one available. I was put on the list last year and still a long way to go on that list.

Marc G.

Garth S

Firstly, Kudos to all for giving this DIY new life - particularly to Jstyler & Peter for crafting additional jigs!!

I have additional thin wall pipe, so will craft another jig: plan to bronze the original when Niles13 returns from the warm south

Question for you guys that used the '2-hole' jig design: how do you center the large bore hole over the initial pilot hole? - Appears to have worked just fine ..
I ask, for my approach was to pass a 5/32" pilot hole 50mm inboard, perpendicular to the centerline - then drop the jig, and chase the pilot hole with a loosely held, free hand guided 5/16" bit. ie., no better guide than a pilot hole ...
OTOH, if a jig is as robust as Peter's ( not that I'm unimpressed with jstyler's schedule 90 pipe ), is it possible to forgo the small bore pilot .... and go for the kill with a single 5/16" drilling?

Ed Hughes

As noted above, Peter will make his available, after a couple of other SD guys use it.

Garth-Peter's indexes off the lip the boot sits it. We did not drill pilot holes. Once it is clamped on, we went right for the 5/16" bit.

C4SJOHN

If we are going to set up/schedule a group event to do this in O. C. California. I would like to also do my 993 C4S and meet some more Porsche Nuts. Please let me know when, where and what I can bring to this event... Thanks

Paul902

Ed, is that a Metabo drill? Good stuff! I bought an SBE750 when I was doing some concrete work and it pleases me every time I pick it up to think that I will never need another drill like it if it lasts anywhere nearly as long as Dad's.

Nice gathering of cars. Looks like you guys had fun!

Ed Hughes

No, it's an old B&D 1/2" that slugged away well for us. The funny thing is, I charged 3 batteries for my cordless, to use on this day. After about a minute, I realized it wouldn't last long. Got the real drill out quickly!

Those tie rods take a little time to drill-we all learned that in succession. The secondary handle was nice to have!

It was fun!

chaoscreature

I made the drill jig with a 5/32 pilot, but we never even used it. We used on average 1 HSS drill bit per 2 cars. Cobalt turned out to be too brittle for the hand drilling and is not worth the extra $$ in this case.
If we planned this out further in advance a Screw Machine Bit would have been perfect since they are shorter and can help keep things rigid.
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...PARTPG=INLMK32
I prefer to use Screw Machine bits for most of my drilling now unless I need to go deeper, they wander less than Jobber's and are inexpensive. No need for spotting most of the time too.

Garth,
Thanks again for the idea! This has been a lot of fun and the mod makes a noticeable improvement on the steering precision.