I'm about to purchase a 2001 996 that needs a little work (front strut replacement, right door latch, hood cowl). I'm used to the Bentley manual for my BMW and newtis.info for good drawings and online instructions. Is there a recommended best book/website for guidance on these kinds of things?

 

Bentley manual for Porsche is probably the best. This website is very handy for looking up parts and part numbers: http://www.autoatlanta.com/porsche-parts/911.php
It is my "go to first" website. I have bought a ton of parts from them as well.

 

Bentley for comprehensive coverage - hands down. 101 Projects (Pelican Parts) for your 996 - For less comprehensive, but sometimes useful "quick guides" for less critical (i.e. not engine related) projects. There are also PDF versions of the actual Porsche service manuals floating around - these are helpful to give insight to what gets done at the dealer, and can also be helpful with diagnosis. The problem I find with them is that they rely heavily on PWIS (II) (Porsche diagnostic system) and an abundance of "porsche special tools). These references can often leave you scratching your head instead of working on your car...

 

From Rockauto.com purchased what looks like full factory service manual for $20. It comes on a disc which I was able to transfer to a flash drive. Drawings and information are very good. Thousands of pages. Has information on the alarm system which I haven't been able to find elsewhere. Bookmarks don't seem to work on either disc or flash drive and make it a bit more difficult to find items.



Got the Bentley manual from ECStuning.com. It has color pictures and drawings, and lots of good written information. Looks like more than a thousand pages, thick book.



The above manuals and others don't cover everything in topics or steps to perform. The alarm/central locking system is complicated and few sources give any details let alone give enough to actually troubleshoot. Looking forward to getting Mr. Raby's video series on rebuilding our engines, that's another piece of needed missing information.

 

How's the motor check out? Best to start there before throwing time and money at anything else.
Jake Raby's "Rennvision Video Series" on YouTube is a must watch.

 

I have have enjoyed and found this book very useful when working on my 996. 101 Projects for your Porsche 911.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog...bkptec_pg1.htm

 

Thanks Bill. I had a factory trained Porsche mechanic check it out before I bought it. He said the engine was fine.

 

Looks like you were lucky on that CD. ECS currently only shows the full factory service set in hard copy and it's over $1800!

 

Sorry I got my vendors mixed up, ordered a lot of goodies recently. This is a slight discount from $1800: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...r+manual,10335

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...388314&jsn=359

 

$20 is a bargain either way but based on your screenshot it looks like you've got a copy of the bootleg manual for a 996.1 that has been floating around the internet. Rumor has it if you do a search on this very forum for a factory manual you might be able to find a download link.

If you PM some guy.. I forget.. I think his name is Mr_Strangeman. He might be able to find a link for you if you need it.

 

This has some good stuff in it. A little pricey but it comes up used on Ebay sometimes.