IamVee

Great buy! I hope she treats you well. Where did you find her? I'm in the market for my first one as well.

2mAn

@IamVee Thanks I hope she does too. I’ve always been nervous about owning one but I did about as much due diligence prior to...

I use autotempest and spend time on forums. Bring a Trailer is nice but I suggest getting the car as best you can prior to buying anything. I got lucky and found this in Monrovia so I got to see it, drive it in addition to the PPI stuff.

wdb

Wow those old speakers were spent! I wish I could just put black seats in my car, kinda jealous of that. They look like a nice road seat, not too track focused like so many of them are. Nice choice.

2mAn

@wdb Yeah, I plan to take the car to the track, but it’s not a track car and I wanted something reclining so I could get my kiddo in the back. These seats are great.

2mAn

Boring Update #1



I changed the air filter with a GENUINE PORSCHE piece I wasnt sure how old the current one, and it was a good looking Mahle (or was it Meyle?), so I just put it in the box and threw it in the box of old parts. Speaking of old parts, I snapped some pics of the Bilsteins that were on the car previously as I'm looking to sell those off. Between the Bilsteins & the current coilovers I might have half the money towards the good coilovers I actually want, but more importantly less crap in my garage.

2mAn

Nothing too exciting this weekend to update, but my brother was in town and he drove up in his 987.2 Boxster S. I've driven his car before, but he hadnt driven mine so he asked to swap when we were on our way to the PEC-LA 'Morning Shift' We arrived only 30 minutes before it officially began so we were at the end of a very long line of Porsches and didnt even make it into the lot. This is the kind of stuff that annoys me about cars & coffee events, especially ones that involve Porsches. Ultimately I left and didnt even go inside...

Anyways, I snapped a few rollers from her "good side" lol





From there though I went to church and afterwards was greeted with a nice cloud of smoke upon startup. Immediately thoughts of M96 explosions began running through my head.... five figure engine rebuilds... cursing out the shop that did the PPI, etc... Then I remembered theres a search function here and I coudl see what others have experienced when this happens. Then the lightbulb in my brain illuminated. I've done mostly canyon runs with this car....sooooo you guessed it, an Ultimate AOS has just risen to the top of the list of 'mods'

Crisis averted.

And this is important, because I am loving this car, my kid is loving this car and I really dont want to look elsewhere so soon. I saw it mentioned in another thread, but this is one of the great things about having a car thats nearly 25 years old. Most of the issues have been discovered, and sorted by either the factory or the aftermarket.

One final thing. After driving the 987.2 and my 996 It also made me want to get the 997 shifter install soon. I already have it, and am not really worried to install it. I just want to be prepared. Is there anything I should anticipate for the install? I dont want to change any cables or anything else at this time so this tells me I can get it done quickly. Am I being naive?

Thanks in advance!

Tom Loder

For the shifter swap, my advice would be to remove the lower center console where the storage bin is. It will make it easier to maneuver the rear section over the shifter without damaging the handbrake leather/vinyl covering.

2mAn

I thought I would need to remove the entire center console, so thats good news as its less stuff that needs to come out!

Im thinking about adding phenix bushings now, but not sure if thats something I should skip for now as the plastic bushings feel nice.

Tom Loder

Sorry, you technically only need to remove the long section which houses the shifter, handbrake, and storage bin. If you remove the front console, the section below the dashboard, then it will be easier to maneuver the long piece without damaging anything.

2mAn

Boring update #2

One issue that came up on the PPI was the frunk shocks were toast.





Problem solved.

2mAn

Swapped in the 997 Shifter. Made a quick video about it. I like it

Atgani

I feel duty bound to make the following observations.

ALL our actions can and frequently do have consequences, so when I see what can only be described as "amateurishly bodged" seat mounts and seat belt brackets and fastenings such as these, it concerns me deeply :





Comments such as “I used aluminium section for the seat mounts because it was lighter", and I elected to fabricate my own seat belt bracket because I didn't consider a professionally made item to be worth $100 ?? just don’t cut it, especially when you decide to release a video into the public domain detailing the process. And whilst the OP may consider his video “a bit of fun” and excuse his lack of engineering knowledge as “a differing sense of humour” between two parties. I don’t.

In the event the worst were to happen on a canyon run, and the OP rounded a bend to find a DUI driver on his side of the road, and as a result he took evasive action but ended up going off the road doing so, and ended up rolling/sliding the car down an embankment and into a tree, his chosen design of Recaro seat won't provide support for his hips, torso etc in a side impact, as it would in a bucket seat such as those fitted to the 996 GT3.

Instead the seat belt and it's brackets/fastenings will take the majority of the force involved in retaining the body mass. Whilst he states he used proper seat belt mounting fasteners that were at least Grade 8.8, I suspect he's not used a high carbon steel at least 3.5 - 4mm thick, for the seat belt stalk bracket nor had it water jet or laser cut and folded by someone who knew what they were doing. Nor has he had a captive nut welded to the back of the bracket.
Instead he's produced what looks to be a poorly drilled, wobbly, misshapen hole which leaves excess material one side and a lack of material the other side, all in a material of which he doesn't know the specification.

Having gone off the road, and hit a tree, his 200lb body mass has effectively been multiplied by 5 or 6, and that force is going to be transferred to the poorly crafted seat belt stalk bracket and fasteners. Come the moment of truth, the 1200lb force overwhelms the material at the point adjacent to the bolt securing the stalk, leaving him unsecured inside the cabin. Regrettably he’s cannoned to the other side of the car, whereby he heavily impacts the tree. He doesn’t survive the impact.

Can you imagine his nearest and dearest’s thoughts when the accident investigator announces at the coroner's hearing that he perished because the seat belt bracket had failed, and it looked to all intents and purposes to have been a homemade item that appeared to have been made by someone who had little in the way of engineering skills ?
But worse still, that numerous companies make properly fabricated brackets for this very application, from certified materials which are designed by certified engineers who've studied engineering and thus understand the forces such components can be expected to have to withstand in extremis. And all for less than $40 a pair ...

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...px?Thread=True

I have a friend who produces automotive seats in the UK, (they're also available and highly regarded in the US) they're used in top flight motorsport and in road cars too. I know that as much thought goes into the design/manufacture of the seat mounts, brackets, and seat belt mounting points/fasteners as the seat themselves. And with good reason.

Manufacturers invest millions of dollars ensuring your safety in the event of a crash, and yet for some strange reason you (and plenty of others) think that fitting an aftermarket seat is something you can do on the cheap using materials totally unsuited for the purpose.



NOTE. The above post has been heavily edited at the OP’s behest.
In an attempt to illustrate the simply massive forces and amounts of energy involved in a high speed impact between our cars and a solid object, and to justify the reasons for my critical comments in this thread on his seat/belt install, I posted what the OP scathingly refers to as a "novel", along with many graphic images of what those forces can and will do to the vehicle's structure. The OP has taken offence at both my "novel" and the images I posted within my text. Both have now been removed. However the jist of the post still stands :

Posting about the installation of safety critical components on here and on YouTube, brings with it responsibilities. His seat/belt install is poorly thought out and ultimately, in the event of a high speed accident, most likely to prove injurious or worse still, fatal.

On the basis that others watching his YouTube video may think his method of mounting the seats/seat belts acceptable or indeed safe, I’m requesting he remove his video both from this thread and YouTube itself to avoid others being injured in the event of an accident having used his method of installation.

Failing that, he should at the very least edit his video and his post on here, to include a caveat and disclaimer stating that he has no engineering qualifications and that others should not copy any of the solutions he’s applied to his seats/seat belt mountings, because to do so may compromise their safety or that of their passengers.

Having experienced a high speed accident in a 996 I have first hand experience of the massive forces and energy dissipation involved. A poorly conceived/dangerous seat installation such as the OP’s, would have most likely meant I’d have suffered injuries far, far worse than those I did.
On that basis, he has a responsibility to make anyone viewing his video aware that he’s not qualified to engineer a safe, reliable seat or seat belt install, and having agreed to his PM request to edit my post heavily, I expect the OP to do the right thing and comply with my request also.

2mAn

Boring Update #3



Oil changed at 101k. Sending a sample to Blackstone Labs to get a baseline.

and now to address the post above ...

2mAn

Ok, where to start...

I will start by saying that I'm glad to hear you have survived that accident. I would not want to go through that scenario personally, but I know that as enthusiasts who like to enjoy our cars that these things can happen.

You begin by saying you're not trying to criticize or offend, but a lot of what follows was both offensive, very critical and often condescending, but you're free to do so, this is a public forum. I will try to remain level headed and open-minded, but you certainly are "coming at me"... You can also 'change the channel' nobody is forcing you to watch my 'amateur' work here.

Anyways, lets discuss the two items you have issues with and lets see what is a solution rather than just being critical. I prefer to search for solutions than argue. I'm not an engineer. In fact I'm a drop-out ME student who has a business degree. I don't pretend to be one.

Your critique of my seatbelt mount is full of assumptions on both what I've used and what others sell. I used steel, a fair thickness, one piece. 3 drilled holes. Both the BK and the linked VAC one appear to be the same. Steel, thick, drilled holes. Everything else you mentioned is an assumption. Im confident in the metal used, and also the hardware used. My hardware is used parts from cars I've parted out, so these are OEM grade materials, mostly german cars too. Not chinesium as you assumed. Im confident in the seat-belt buckle and am fine not spending $200+ on two similarly shaped bent pieces of metal. The VAC pair at $40 is a different story. Compelling enough to consider. Just might... but we'll see as theres no way to know for sure if they will work. Theres also no way to really determine if they are better until it hits the fan.

The spacing up of the seat is one Im very willing to listen to constructive suggestions. I needed ~1" of height. I felt the combination of the square stock combined with the solid spacer was more than adequate for reasons I cannot explain in proper terms. It wasnt my first option, I had several ideas I went through before settling on what I've shared. It doesnt need to be the final option, but will only be changed when an appropriate solution is presented. My goal was to get the spacer to fill up the entire channel that the bolt went through, but with a small gap, a washer was added (if needed) to fill the void so there would be no play. Its effectively solid through the channel that the bolt passes through.

Atgani

I was merely pointing out I have experience with many seat installations and also have first hand experience of a high speed crash in a similar car. If you choose to take my comments as me being overly critical, condescending or indeed “coming at you” as you put it, I'd suggest that’s you deciding to take offence, rather than me being deliberately offensive.

You've stated in your PM that "you're a big boy", if that's the case, I'd suggest you act like one and take the necessary responsibility for making public a seat/belt install that's at best is questionable, and at worst downright reckless and dangerous.

I'd genuinely hoped you'd see the situation from my perspective ie someone who has an insight as to what the consequences of a poorly designed seat/seatbelt installation could be. As a fellow enthusiast the last thing I want to see is someone indulging their passion, but taking what I consider to be a fundamentally flawed strategy when it comes to something as safety critical as a seat/belt install. That you've elected to place your dubious engineering talents in the public domain, quite frankly beggars belief.
As for watching your other videos to "gain a better understanding of your sense of humour", I had already watched your 997 shifter install video, and it's was watching that video that prompted Google's analytics to recommend I watch your seat install video. Having watched your shifter install video and been left somewhat bemused by the lack of continuity, missing content and questionable/non-existent editing, I figured your seat/belt install video could only be an improvement.
I've voiced my concerns, something I'm entitled to do on a public forum. I have nothing further to say on the matter, and won't be responding to any further PM's/comments from you on this subject.
I wish you well in all your endeavours with your car.