dporto

"BTW, putting the trans back in is no joy either."

^^^ Hence my suggestion above... I can't imagine how difficult it is to line up the tranny with the motor in the car. It took longer and was more difficult than I thought it should have been with the motor out (for me anyway)!

TexSquirrel

Darn, the seller on eBay refunded my money, but didn't say why.
I'm back on the hunt for one of these engine supports.
Lots for sale online, but no one has them in stock.
I may have to fab my own, but I'd rather buy one.
I don't have time to be fabricating tools at the moment.

FrozenApples

Agreed. I dropped everything too and was still surprised at the difficulty of getting the transmission back on. Dropping the motor will be my standard procedure if I ever have to split the two. I don't foresee being rushed enough to try and take the shorter route. And with a vacuum coolant refill system the most annoying part is made much less of a hassle.

yelcab

I did not have any problem removing or installing just the gearbox on a 996 or 997.1 with a manual transmission. It is a two person job (easier) and it is a job best done on a lift.

Porschetech3

I have done many trans removals on the lift, and a couple on the ground (mine in my basement). On a lift I have had the tranny out in 30min, and a full clutch/flywheel procedure in 2 hours many times. The trans sometimes does get stuck sometimes due to pilot bearing rusting/sticking to the input shaft. You just have to get physical with it, but don't use any more force than necessary, and make sure the force is directed ONLY to pulling the input shaft from the pilot bearing.

Obviously ( or maybe not so obvious)This means having the weight of the engine and also the trans supported, both at the same angle, and force applied evenly...

docmirror

Well sports fans, y'all do it any way you like. I had three old guys and one young guy around, and we humped it in there on the lift by hand. If were working alone, and/or on the ground, I would have gathered up more tools, or maybe drop the whole thing(then ya gotta lift the chassis off don't forget).

ymmv, objects in mirror, contents have settled, and may cause **** leakage.

yelcab

Damn, out in 30 minutes. Never in my wildest dream. It takes me that long to get the wheels off, bottom liners out of the car.

islaTurbine

What type of hex bit socket and wrench do you use to remove the half shafts? I did mine but I had lots of issues with clearing the thick rubber boots and it took me forever. I even snapped a long hex bit socket due to the torque required.

cds72911

Just a regular metric allen socket from a craftsman set.

Porschetech3

. Yea, the long hex flex too much, and the short ones won't clear the boot well, a medium length hex is " just right"... Lol

islaTurbine

I had the same experience but couldn’t seem to find a Goldilocks version. What’s your brand of choice?

Porschetech3

. Snap-On, Matco, Mac any of the top tier professional tool companies have the Goldilocks medium lenght. May be hard to find in the more affordable brands, but you can buy just the individual size you need and not have to a "set" which will have many never needed ones in there..

Ahsai

I use this one. Perfect size. The pic is not accurate. It's shorter than shown but long enough.

cds72911

You could also knock the bit out of a longer one, cut it to goldilocks length and reinsert it.

islaTurbine

Tried that. Broke the socket.