yelcab

I need to get a good wrist pin installing tool for the 996 engine I am assembling. Other than the uber-expensive Flat Six tool which I am not going to buy, what are some other choices?

BRS-LN

The Baum copy of the factory tool is the only way to fly if you don’t want to invest in the Faultless system from FSI.
If you use the factory tool I highly encourage you to buy the Raby step by step video series, since he uses the Baum tool in the video and shows all the ways that the procedure can be goofed up if the user doesn’t have experience. This process in the video is absolutely essential and over an hour of the 15 hours of video is dedicated to this one procedure.
None of the tools other than the Faultless system come with instructions, which makes the use of the video even more important. When I learned the procedure in Raby’s hands- on class I was amazed how just holding the tool certain ways makes the difference in success or failure. He shows how to check your work to ensure the clip is where it belongs, and that you have actually captured the small end of the connecting rod with the wrist pin. In the last month at LN we’ve had 3 different customers fail to connect the piston to the wrist pin, and none of them would have done this if they just bought the video and used it as intended.

The other tools are cheap copies that don’t fit the pistons correctly, have the wrong diameters and sometimes won’t even pass through the block. This is the most important aspect of M9X engine assembly and it is the one thing that you have a single chance to get right.

The Faultless tool is just that, it holds everything in position for the assembler and mechanically delivers the clip with smoothness. You can hear it click into place.

Doug996InKC

I learned this the hard way. Had to split the case 3 times after failing to install the wrist pin clip. It wasn't until the local Porsche guru showed up to bail me out that we realized the steel "tube" (eBay cheapy) outside diameter I was using was larger than the Baum tool he brought over.

4Driver4

OP - location?

I messed up my first shot, but it was very easy to recover the pin for a second attempt without splitting the case. Did you have the engine inverted?

yelcab

Bay Area, on the Peninsula.

yelcab

You mean this one?

4Driver4

Too bad. I bought some tools from a guy in Eastern Canada. They are still on their way down to me in Connecticut.

Doug996InKC

The pin installation was textbook easy. It's the pin clip install fail that forced me to split the case multiple times. If the clip doesn't seat correctly, about the only way to remove it is to gain direct access. The last thing you want to do is fish long pliers into cylinder 6, hoping to dislodge the clip, without damaging the soft aluminum (JE Piston for my rebuild). Point being... best to buy Baum toolset for all steps!

4Driver4

I misspoke: It was the clip. I misfired once or twice but had no trouble retrieving it through the adjacent cylinder. Having the engine inverted was a huge help, as when i dislodged it from its misfire location, it just fell out of the case.

e30rapidic

I made my own out of a piece of scrap electrical conduit, 14mm socket and an extension. Worked like a champ and cost $0.....

Petethecarman

I know this is an old thread, but hopefully this saves someone from a similar situation. The diameter of the tool I bought off EBay was too big for the hole so I went with the electrical conduit and 15mm socket option. It worked like a charm and cost next to nothing.

I took the piston to the hardware store to confirm it would fit

Fit like a glove