Mikee Quickstep
Silverstone
- Joined
- 13 Aug 2014
- Messages
- 116
So having recently had a remap @ 9e (which I'm very happy with ) I'm on a roll with the next stage, lowering on Eibach springs with 15/7mm spacers and fitting a full factory aerokit. Hadn't really attempted anything much more than changing discs and pads before so this one was going to be a step up in terms of DIY!
Started by removing the Bose sub to expose the rear mounts then getting the car up on axle stands. Thought we'd have a go at the fronts first as they are always the tricky ones but although we managed to get the nut off one end of the bolt that secures the shock to the wheel carrier, we couldn't get the other end to shift for love nor money. A late night Friday call to Demort (#ledge) led us to the conclusion as is often the case on 12 year old 997s that the bolt had seized and we were unlikely to be able to remove it unless it was up on a ramp and we could get some serious leverage, or the tie rods needed cutting to expose the other end to get an impact wrench at it.
Defeated for now on the fronts we cracked on with the rears and had much more success. Got the retaining bolt for the strut and wheel carrier free and after removing the ARB slid both shocks out with 'relative' ease. Switched the springs over and then worked out a nice tehnique to get them back in by aligning the top mount bolts in the hose and then using a trolley jack to raise and compress the shock before sliding it into place over the bushes, job done!
The front bumper switch was also relatively easy following another DIY thread I found on rennlist, also giving me the chance in the middle to fix the lower horn which has never worked (finally I can use the horn without sounding like a poor excuse for a Fiat 500!).
That's where the DIY stopped and I opted for a little help from the pro's (i.e my local indy Tower Porsche). They had the car up on the ramps and were able to get the front bolts lose, replace the shocks, top mounts and clean / grease everything up nicely.
The last piece in the puzzle was the rear wing. Originally I bought this thinking it was the carrera aerokit wing as it came off a 997.1 targa and a quick check with OPC confirmed that the part numbers for the targa and carrera were identical... job done I thought. Turns out though that it later dawned on me I had bought a GT3 wing and the internal fan / airflow configuration was completely different :? ...... so... new aerokit wings aren't available to buy from OPC and no one seemed to have a 2nd hand one available so only option was to work out a way to fit it. Went through the thought process of ripping out the air box and replacing it with a cone filter but didn't want the expense and don't really rate those solutions anyway, then thought about trying to mount the fan somewhere else in the engine bay or cut another hole in the lid, but eventually Tower came up with a fairly simple solution... leave everything on the lid as is and trip the air duct down. Retains air flow to the air box and doesn't require any other fettling, and to return to stock would only cost me £37 for a new duct. Job done!
The plus side of having managed to fit the GT3 wing is I also get the gurney flap and protruding air intakes which I think look the nuts!
Love the new look, now just need to get it out on the track and give it a proper thrash, can't wait!
Started by removing the Bose sub to expose the rear mounts then getting the car up on axle stands. Thought we'd have a go at the fronts first as they are always the tricky ones but although we managed to get the nut off one end of the bolt that secures the shock to the wheel carrier, we couldn't get the other end to shift for love nor money. A late night Friday call to Demort (#ledge) led us to the conclusion as is often the case on 12 year old 997s that the bolt had seized and we were unlikely to be able to remove it unless it was up on a ramp and we could get some serious leverage, or the tie rods needed cutting to expose the other end to get an impact wrench at it.
Defeated for now on the fronts we cracked on with the rears and had much more success. Got the retaining bolt for the strut and wheel carrier free and after removing the ARB slid both shocks out with 'relative' ease. Switched the springs over and then worked out a nice tehnique to get them back in by aligning the top mount bolts in the hose and then using a trolley jack to raise and compress the shock before sliding it into place over the bushes, job done!
The front bumper switch was also relatively easy following another DIY thread I found on rennlist, also giving me the chance in the middle to fix the lower horn which has never worked (finally I can use the horn without sounding like a poor excuse for a Fiat 500!).
That's where the DIY stopped and I opted for a little help from the pro's (i.e my local indy Tower Porsche). They had the car up on the ramps and were able to get the front bolts lose, replace the shocks, top mounts and clean / grease everything up nicely.
The last piece in the puzzle was the rear wing. Originally I bought this thinking it was the carrera aerokit wing as it came off a 997.1 targa and a quick check with OPC confirmed that the part numbers for the targa and carrera were identical... job done I thought. Turns out though that it later dawned on me I had bought a GT3 wing and the internal fan / airflow configuration was completely different :? ...... so... new aerokit wings aren't available to buy from OPC and no one seemed to have a 2nd hand one available so only option was to work out a way to fit it. Went through the thought process of ripping out the air box and replacing it with a cone filter but didn't want the expense and don't really rate those solutions anyway, then thought about trying to mount the fan somewhere else in the engine bay or cut another hole in the lid, but eventually Tower came up with a fairly simple solution... leave everything on the lid as is and trip the air duct down. Retains air flow to the air box and doesn't require any other fettling, and to return to stock would only cost me £37 for a new duct. Job done!
The plus side of having managed to fit the GT3 wing is I also get the gurney flap and protruding air intakes which I think look the nuts!
Love the new look, now just need to get it out on the track and give it a proper thrash, can't wait!
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