Popping off the rear axles is a little challenging. I stripped two of the triple square axle bolts on the passenger side... we will see if higher quality triple squares do the job. In the meantime, I got the driver's side out. After 115k miles, the axle definitely needed some coaxing to budge. I used liberal amounts of PB blaster, my body weight, and a 4 foot breaker to bust loose the axle nut. Then I took apart the toe arm and the camber arm at the subframe side, and the rear upper trailing arm on the wheel hub side. That gave me enough room to lift the hub to drop out the old axle and reinstall the new one.

 

Man, I love the all black. Nice project. Takes guts to get involved like that. And a dose of patience I'm sure.

 

Thanks! Takes patience, a lot of ibuprofen, but especially a reliable car to use for the inevitable screw ups that leave the turbo inoperable.

Unfortunately I could not get the last axle bolt off. It is stripped solid. Tried using bolt extractors which failed, tried to cut a wedge into and then hammer it loose but there's not enough space. There's also not enough space to drill it out... so I'm going to try one more bolt extractor type tool that I just got from amazon. Otherwise..... I might just take it to a shop.

 

It took a week, but it's done. I went to two shops who didn't want to work on it. So I just chopped off the stripped bolt head with a saw and I'm kicking myself for not doing it earlier. It only took a few minutes and then I removed the rest of the bolt with my hands. I cleaned and regreased the inner CV joint, put on a new rubber boot, and reinstalled the axle. Everything torqued to spec. Important note, the front axles bolt up to the diff at 29 ft lbs while the rear axles bolt up at 60 ft lbs. New tires are mounted all around. Another alignment tomorrow and she's gonna be good to go for a long time.

 

This is bananas. Amazing work @jeebus31!!! Loved your C4 and im loving this thread even more. Keep it up.

 

Thank you sir! I think I am now done with the suspension, steering, brakes, axles, and the fluids in the front. I'm going to rest for a few weeks and then change the engine oil, transmission oil, and do the plugs/coil packs.

Today I locked the spoiler in the upright position. I am in desperate need of someone local with a durametric pro to code out the active aero feature so that I no longer get the spoiler error at 75 mph. I am going to look for a fixed wing to take its place eventually.

 

^ How'd you lock it in place? That's waay higher than it would normally go if it were functioning (at least for a coupe.. cabs extend a bit higher than their coupe bretheren.)

 

I like it high

Threaded rod and lock washers... found the kit on ebay. It was ~$150 which is a steep price to pay for the "fix" but what are ya gonna do - porsche tax and all. Better than repairing the hydraulics. I removed the hydraulic system, taped off the electrical connections, and pleasantly surprised that there is no more spoiler malfunction warning above 75 mph. Did not have to code out the active aero for this setup. It'll do for now while I look around for a fixed wing.

She's dirty, but some pics:

 

Your local indy should be able to do that. Mine wouldn't even charge for something like that.

Anyway, I think I told you I saw a 997 Turbo "Touring" (without the wing) and its my new fav. I would go that route. Find a black lid off La Dismantle or Ebay.

 

Ive been thinking about it since you posted earlier. I saw this https://www.reddit.com/r/Porsche/com..._without_wing/ and thought it looked pretty good but... it might be a little too subdued for me. Definitely on the list.

Also, I wish I could find a good indy in Houston like you have in the Bay Area. I've had a slew of bad experiences with the "high end" shops here - the most recent example is one place that for some unknown reason removed an axle bolt from the driver's rear (not the stripped one I needed removed), didn't tell me about it, then said they would only work on it if I bought a new axle ($$$$), and then I unknowingly drove home on 5 axle bolts instead of 6. Imaging my surprise when I put the car up and saw a missing bolt! They also had the nerve to charge me a "diagnostic fee." I tore them a new one and got my money back. DIY all the way.

 

^ That stinks. Make a road trip to the Dee Eff Dub as we have lots of good Indy shops around.

 

I know!!! I lived in DFW for 7 years - I miss the mechanics I met up there. Never had a problem.

 

Gave it the beans on some empty highways and access roads after midnight last night... even at 116+k miles this thing hauls like a freight train. I've had it for about 1k miles and it hasn't burned a drop of oil. The suspension refresh, new tires, a proper alignment, brakes, etc have turned this car around. I still have a few things to square away - I think the Fabspeed intake is rattling a bit on bumps and the center console is definitely rattling - and I need to repaint a few interior items to make it look really nice. A really fun project so far.

I am wondering if I should put sport classic Fuchs on instead of the blacked out Turbo wheels? I liked those a lot on my previous C4. Any opinions?

 

Yes on the wheel change. I'll almost always vote for any color other than black so all the wheel detail doesn't get lost in the dark wheelwells.

If your car is basalt and not regular black, a brighter wheel also brings out the metallic in the paint. If you're not averse to rear spacers, my polished Champions would look great on it. Like this but fully polished.




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Thanks Pete - I might be after some gunmetal or lighter colored Fuchs. Haven't quite decided but otherwise I agree, the blacked out look gets old pretty quick and the wheels need to pop.