Steve Wright's Serious Moddin' - SSK solid bush/bearing

[jboy]

I had Alex's ssk fitted to my 40 Jahre a week or so ago - and wow, what a difference. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the oem shift other than a little bit of slop, but this now feels so, so good. As others have said it transforms the driving experience, from 'ok" manual shift to what feels almost military grade in quality and precision - like a properly good gated manual just without the gate...... wish I had had this on my previous 996s

 

[Alex]

:thumbs:

 

[Ricof]

At long last my membership has been approved! I installed the Alex SSK today but I think something has broken on the test drive, the plastic yoke retaining pin.

The first photo shows it currently, looks to have broken or retracted.

The second photo was before it was installed in the car.

Am I looking at an entirely new shifter housing?

 

[Ricof]

Edit: the pin wasn't broken, it had just been dislodged I think. Took all the trim off in record time and pushed it back in. Problem solved, but I will keep an eye on it.

3rd to second is a bit vague though, any ideas?

 

[gizlaroc]

Make sure you adjust the cables while you play with it through the gears.

I find the best way is to move between 3rd and 4th and while in 3rd adjust the cable for left/right, you want the stick to be where you expect 3rd to be. in other words in the middle.

Then when this is set, adjust the cable for the froward/backward motion, as second is always the most 'spongy' feeling gear, I always make sure that the cable is set so second is found sooner than you would expect, if that makes sense?

So as you feel you are centred between 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th etc. just extrend the cable one more notch.

If it still feels sloppy after this you should consider some powerflex transmission mount inserts or new bushes. Inserts much easier. £35 and takes an hour tops.


After this you can consider putting in a new detent pin, Porsche even sell an 8mm ball bearing that drops in which gives a more precise gear change as the spring ages and looses its strength.


But definitely adjust cables first, and play with them to get the feel you want when changing gear.

 

[gizlaroc]

You might find you have to adjust the position of the lever too, adjusting the end screws moves it back and forth. This forward/backward movement along with cables can make a massive difference to how the gear change feels.

From spongy to snapping into place.

 

[X911]

Reading this post this evening just inspired me to tackle a job I've been putting off for ages...adjusting my SSK! I've always found it a bit loose and had a real problem getting into 3rd.

I've adjusted the cables and have both sat right on the end notch (any further and they wouldn't clip in). I also had a play around with the end screws but I couldn't really work what they were doing other than if I tightened them too much, the lever wouldn't spring back to centre from a lateral movement.

After all of this the shift is much improved so thankyou gizlaroc for your guide! I am still having a bit of an issue finding 3rd though. I aim for where 3rd should be and I seem to hit just either side of it. Any ideas what further adjustments I could make?

 

[gizlaroc]

When adjusting the two end screws, you need to do both in the same direction. Other wise it will just tighten.

You are basically moving the whole thing closer or father away from the cables if that makes sense?

In doing so you will find you will hit 3rd or 4th sooner/later, adjust to suit.


I also make sure that third is set up so it is where the lever naturally returns and where my brain expects it to be, as in dead in the middle. You need to adjust the cable so it clicks in when you have the stick in that position.

I leave the centre console off and drive around, making small adjustments until it feels like every gear change is where I expect it to be and slots in as good as it can. Worth doing when warmed up a bit after a few miles too.

 

[X911]

That makes sense! I've left the console off so will make some more adjustments today. When you say you'll hit 3rd/4th sooner/later is that one or the other or will this affect both equally? Is the idea just to get the screws perfectly centred?

 

[gizlaroc]

If you shift the whole thing towards the front of the car 1st, 3rd and 5th might be harder to engage if you are running out of cable, shift it too far back and 2nd, 4th and 6th will be harder to engage.

Or is it the other way round, can't think now, but you get my drift.

Move it to extremes, even just the cables, that will give you an idea of how it changes the gear shift feel.


2nd is normally the one that feels less precise, not 3rd, if third is not feeling slick I think it will just be an alignment thing.

 

[X911]

Had a little tinker again earlier on and feels much better so thank you gizlaroc for the advice. I'm finding 3rd much easier now and the whole think feels the best it has done since I've had the car!

+1 from me for Alex's kit.

 

[Alex]

 

[maldren]

If you shift the whole thing towards the front of the car 1st, 3rd and 5th might be harder to engage if you are running out of cable, shift it too far back and 2nd, 4th and 6th will be harder to engage.

Or is it the other way round, can't think now, but you get my drift.

Move it to extremes, even just the cables, that will give you an idea of how it changes the gear shift feel.


2nd is normally the one that feels less precise, not 3rd, if third is not feeling slick I think it will just be an alignment thing.

That's exactly what I found, I started with the cable positions copied from my unmodified shift and then adjusted it a little to improve access to 2nd gear, it's never been good from cold but much better when it warms up.

 

[Nightshade]

Another happy customer here! I received it shortly after Alex finished his latest batch of the kits. It was posted quickly and I was pleased to see it included the new metal ball end piece pictured a few posts above. Fitting the kit wasn't too difficult, the supplied install guide helped. I reckon it's about a 1.5 hour job if it goes smoothly.

My car has 130k on the clock and before installing the kit the shifts were sloppy to say the least, mostly relying on blind guesswork! After the install the shifts are snappy and precise, and a joy to use. The throw amount feels 'just right' and leaves you thinking that Porsche should have used a short throw for the stock 996s. Highly recommended mod for any manual 996.

TIP >> I had one small problem, which wasn't a fault of the kit at all, but due to the age and milage of my shifter. After install I still had quite a bit of left-right slack/play in the shifter. Maybe 1cm in each direction. Also getting into reverse was very tricky. Upon examination, I could see that the white plastic yoke was being pushed hard left into the side of the black shifter casing when selecting reverse, rather than pivoting downwards (where reverse is). This was due to wear in the yoke's pivot and the casing.. it was 22 years old after all! To remedy this I bought some 12mm x 18mm OD x 0.3mm thick shim washers from Ebay. I put 3 of these to the left of the yoke on its pivot, between the yoke and the shifter casing. That solved both the play in the shifter and reverse selection. It genuinely feels like a brand new shifter now!

Thanks Alex!!