Stock shift vs OEM SSK (and introducing myself. Long post)

Hi all, First, let me say this is a great board with tons of useful info and great people! I've been lurking for quite some time now and have enjoyed the forum thoroughly. I'd like to share with you some thoughts I have after I installed the OEM SSK. The SSK feels a lot tighter and requires more effort to shift but the total shifting time is either longer or the same as stock....at least for me. As someone (Tool Pants?) pointed out, you have to be right on the money to shift into 3rd, especially at high rpm. So I have mixed feelings about it. Out of curiosity, I decided to check why the stock shifter is so sloppy and loose. I was quite surprised by what I found. The stock metal stick and the plastic "pivot" it attaches to are actually really tight fit and there's NO free play at all (in fact the there's some free play between the metal stick and the "pivot" on the OEM SSK). So where the free-play is coming from? It's actually from the stock plastic bushings. But then why Porsche engineers put sloppy bushings in there? My guess is the free-play actually smooths out the shifting when absorbing the difference between the linear shifting movement of the user and the actual smoothest path the transmission wants to take. And when I read the other thread "Linkage Upgrade - one more time!!", the photos from 1999Porsche911 with a red bushing looks VERY interesting because this seems to be the best solution to be smooth and tight (albeit relatively long stock throw). So is the red bushing a tighter one to fix the sloppiness in the stock shifter?? Also, I note that in the OEM shifter, the metal rod that sticks out from the side acutally has a cube-shaped socket to cover it before inserting to the shifting mechanism on the housing to minimize wear. Whereas in the OEM SSK, the metal rod has a bigger ball but it inserts directly to the shifting mechanism on the housing so it's like ball-to-flat contact...so not sure how well it will hold up in time. Sorry for the long post and I'll upload photos of my car once I figured it out how to upload photos

Welcome to the board. Tim (gota911) has done an EXCELLENT write-up on how to upload a picture. Do a search for his posts or hopefully he will chime in with his write-up. FYI...this thread is dead without any pics! WE LOVE PICS!!!!!!!!

As promised, here's a photo of my ride

Thanks LVDell, my bad. Here's a few more photos...

Nice pic! She's a beaut.

Ahshi - Nice P-car. I love the wheels. I guess you don't need my "can't miss" pic posting instructions. Welcome! Now stop lurknig and continue to post!

Congrats and welcome aboard. Now about the SSK...thye can be adjusted and if they are not installed properly I have heard about notchey(not sure if that's a word) and stiff shifting. I have the B&M and have simply a shorter, more "distinct" shift. Way better than stock. I do not have the EVO linkage thing.

I have the in car BM with the evo linkage. Shifts great. Slightlynotchy, but that's part of the appeal. It feels like a sports car. I drove a stock 996 recently and it felt so sloppy i thought the shifter would come off in my hand

The real issue here is to use the SSK for more than an hour. Drive it for a week and get 'used' to it. I then challenge anyone to go back to the stock shifter and say they prefer. The SSK is definitely a change from stock and will feel substantially stiffer than stock, especially if you have been driving the stock shifter for a while. But, give the SSK a chance. In the end, I am certain you'll all be pleased. Having driven cars that are stock after getting used to my car for 6 months now with SSK, I can't even imagine ever going back.

Thanks Tim and wross996tt! Worss996tt, you're definitely right!! I just got my car back from the dealer (to diagnose clutch shudder problem. Another story) and they replaced the clutch plate. Not sure what they did but the SSK is sooooo smooth now and I LOVE it!!! It's night and day difference. Now I don't see why anyone would NOT like the SSK. I'll ask the dealer tomorrow what they did to the SSK but I installed it per Porsche intruction (i.e., disconnect from the ball joints and kept the cable adjustment) and my original shifter was very smooth. Also, I had tried to adjust the set-screw on the SSK but the shifter was very "notchy" no matter how I adjusted the set-screw. I was up to a point I was ready to order the stock shifter to switch back! Anyway, it's super smooth and short-throw now and I'm loving it!!

glad to hear it worked out. I know they say it is and easy DIY, but there are some adjustments that should/can be made by pros that make it work better IMO.

Right. I'm gonna find out what these secret adjustments are from them tomorrow....if they're willing to tell me

Gang, I did the DIY install of the B&M SSK in my 03 996. The installation went fine and the only problem I had was removing the stock shift ****. Once I got past that it was pretty smooth. Anyway, I finished up and took the car out for a test drive. For the first 30 minutes or so I completely HATED this shifter. It was notchy, noisy, stiff, and all I could do was think about how I was going to get back to stock. Let's look at these issues individually: Noisy - This was my own fault. The installation instructions for the B&M have you tighten down the adjusting set screw until the shifter binds, and then back it out 1/4 to 1/2 turn. I didn't get mine tightened down enough so the cups weren't seated fully into the bushings. During the test drive, the cups seated and the shifter got sloppy and noisy. I had to unclip the shifter boot, loosen the jam nut and tighten down the adjusting set screw. Actually, I had to do this twice. My bad. Stiff - This is my third Porsche and they've all had a stiff shift until they're warmed up. This was true with the OEM shifter. The difference is the short shifter amplifies this because of the shorter throw distance. It REALLY feels stiff until the car warms up. Notchy - I had to get used to this. After dealing with the previous two issues I went out for an hour drive on windy country roads. After a half an hour or so, I started getting used to the new shift locations. It became more instinct and I began to really like it. Hope this helps! -Charles

BTW, checked with the dealer today. They did not do any adjustments to my SSK. My SSK was stiff because the old clutch disc material was deformed on the flywheel side and the clutch was catching so it was not fully disconnected from the flywheel even when I disengage the clutch. They replaced the old clutch disc under warranty to fix the clutch shudder problem I originally complained about and my SSK is like butter smooth now! When I picked up my car last night, I thought they had put the stock shifter back in!! I had to check it and feel it to believe it's indeed my SSK. It's THAT smooth now. - Ahsai

That's good news. Man, you know there is nothing worse than "deformed clutch disk material!" BTW, that's a joke!

I bought a kit that comes installed with the housing but do not have any instructions with it. I am not sure if it is very different than a B&M. Any help would be great. Thanks, Adam

Hi Adam, What you got would be relatively easy to install (no need to break and remove the original bushings on the housing). You need the instruction to remove the rear console (use the B&M SSK instruction from Renntech) and after that the hardest part would be to remove the shift **** and disconnect the ball joints from the stock shift (use the Porsche TSB at Renntech as well). Whatever you do, don't disconnect the cables at the adjustment point (that has springs on them) unless you want to play with the adjustment but if your original shift is smooth, it's better not to mess with the adjustment. To remove the shift **** that does not have a set srew, I found it very easy ti just slide a 6-inch adjustable wrench at the base of the **** and pull on the wrench...shouldn't take too much force but be careful of knocking yourself when it breaks loose. I'll try to find the links/documents and post it here. - Ahsai

Adam, Here's a link to the B&M pdf http://outmotoring.com/how_to/bm%20shifter/bmminishortshiftkit.pdf#search='B%26M%20short%20shift%20install%20pdf' The only info you need from the Porsche SSK TSB is you need to move the ball joints at the end of the cables. On the left cable, you pry out the center black plastic. On the right cable, you use a long screw driver to pry it out through an access hole at the right bottom of the shift housing next to the ball joint. If you need to disconnect the cables at the spring-loaded connectors, just remember to mark the cable or count the threads to get back to the original adjustment. Good luck and let us know how it goes. - Ahsai

Oops, wrong link. Sorry. The right link is http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4876 . - Ahsai

Ahsai, Thanks so much for the help. Looks like a breeze. Adam

Your'e welcome, Adam. - Ahsai

I just re-adjusted my SS. It was hard to shift today after installing a Porsche SSK last night. I thought "well it's a SS". After reading this thread I ripped apart my consule and adjusted the right side linkage. My wife is in the hospital after delivering our third child Sage c-section. I'm watching my 5 and 4 year old son and daughter so I could only test drive the adjustment in my culdesac. My neighbors must think I'm nuts, driving in circles with no lights at 5mph shifting from 1st to 6th back and fourth at 1AM. This is the best forum I have ever read thanks alot people.

Congrats on your new born. Mod and watch 2 kids at the same time? How'd you do that?? So i take that your SS is shifting better now after the adjustment? - Ahsai

In regard to 3rd gear, I just have to make sure I rotate my hand when in 2nd so that the shifter is in the middle of my palm. Only when I'm lazy do I miss third now days. Without the SSK I had to sit more up right in the seat, almost leaning forward, to reach the 3rd gear long throw of the stock shifter. Enjoy and welcome.

I have an '04 C4S - had an OEM SSK with EvoLink installed. Initially, the shifter was really tight and almost too notchy, but after a couple of hundred miles, it's smoothed out and a major improvement over the stock shifter. Great mod! Phil