GT3 Coilover installation DIY.

hi guys thought I might share my latest experience with upgrading the 996, so now it is one small step closer to a GT3 after converting the car to manual transmission (still some unsignificant bits are sought after, steering wheel without the tip butttons cluster etc etc) and some spirited driving I found out that the old suspension was no good for me, some clunking sounds and steering wheel woble on bumps (one shock died completely) I decided it was time to finally get the prior purchased GT3 suspension in place. I am sorry for the $h1tty pics but that all was done during the night and with allready tired hands but anyway it is doable by any of you who has some basic tools and the will to do it. so here is the patient (it had eaten a fox on the road, resulting in 3 cracks in on the front bumper, but could be worse ) here is the coilover set I managed to steal from ebay the seller claimed he had upgraded to OHLINS (I wish...) and therefore was selling these and also claimed they are in perfect condition, they arrived in OHLINS box and as I have driven the car now, I can say he is an honest seller. didn't check the part numbers but seems to be the real deal however, the more attentive ones will by now have noticed that there are some crucial bits missing and they are these the gold ones I got from ebay in new condition, but they can be ordered at any porsche dealer and aren't all that expensive. the silver ones are the tricky bits although there is a part number, porsche will sell these only with the whole strut (at stealer pricing of course) there is a great solution however. and it is here: http://www.fvd.net/de/en/Porsche-0/-...1380&.x=0&.y=0 I can really suggest these guys, the package arrived in some 3 or 4 days time and the shipping was also very cheap (Germany -> Latvia = 29 eur) then there is the next problem: the top mounts, they were not included in the set, and they also are rather pricey. but the local roads are also so dramatic that I honestly didn't want to go the uniball way, so new lemforder stock rubber units were ordered: next step is the most tricky one on which I couldn't find any info, so here is my development if one can call it that way, since the stock GT3 top mount has an uniball bearing in it it doesn't need any aditional bearings to stop the spring grinding the top plate. not so with the rubber mounts though. so this is the solution I did, I am not saying it is the best ever, but after driving the car for some 100 miles after install - it works great. in the local bearing/seal shop I found these - around 10$ a piece, they fit perfectly on the oem stock plate so the set now looks like this: this is pic of all the additional parts (except lemforder top mounts and mazda stabilizer drop links for the rear shox) the grey things will be demonstrated and explained later the installation first up remove wheels and this is what we see, in my case the shock has lost all of its oil first undo the drop link, that also holds the strut to the hub you need 17mm spanner for the ball joint part and 18mm socket or spanner for the nut my personal tip - not to loose the nuts I usually bolt them back up to the bolts undone or removed the same goes for the wheel nuts/bolts (my car has a 17mm spacer so the extra 5 bolts hold that to the hub) next step: undo the 10mm bolt that holds the brake hose bracket to the hub undo the 10mm bolt that holds the abs/pad sensor connector to the hub. remove the caliper, you need a t55 torx to undo 2 bolts (yes i know my calipers are f00cked up by previous owner, who had them brush painted - red, looked even more awful than this) next: remove the hose wire out of the shock bracket then open the trunk, and remove this plastic cover undo the top mount nuts, you need a 13mm socket now you have to be careful, it is possible to pull the strut out of the wheelhouse by slightly pressing.prying down the wishbones and being extremely carefull around the fender (my car was lowered so that was easier) remove the strut by pulling it out of the hub, they can seize and get stuck due to corrosion, you might need to hammer it a little or pry it out from the underside using a crow bar etc once the strut is out, you can disassemble it (for stock springs a spring compressor is helpful) top mount removed - one of the clunk sound sources next: we prepare the new bearing by greasing it up real good IMPORTANT: using my setup you need to put an M14 washer between the top mount and the upper golden plate i didn't try the setup without it, but it seems that the upper mount is basically welded to the upper golden plate that gives it no dampening, therefore it is better to have it. next step: my suggestion is to clean the hub from corrosion, best done by using dremel and sanding paper socket/drill grease it up, as these parts can get seriously stuck insert the new strut however before you do it, remember the gray thing in the beginning, these are the dust/mud protective bags for coilovers, got them from local rally team supply shop, they work great, these look a bit down but they are essential to protect the top bearing, as it is greased up the water cannot get to it, but sand/dust/small rocks can get stuck to it and ruin it quite quickly. that is it for the front then about the rear. not many pics remove the wheel, this is what you see undo the stabilizer link, basically you need to remove it completely undo the shock bottom bolt (18mm bolt and 18mm nut, on some cars 16mm bolt and 18mm nut) then lower the seats and remove the rear panel undo the top nuts (15mm) at this point the battery of my shop camera died so the all other stuf is in descriptive manner rear is basically straight forward and simple, install the new strut the way you removed the old one, no tricky bits. the only difference comes with the drop links, the old ones have ball joints that look in oposite directions, you need either the OEM ones or the simply from another car (in my case from mazda ) that has them in the same direction and slightly longer thant the old stock ones. here is a pic with everything installed and car on the ground... although the rear struts are fully stock I also installed the coilover bagsm as they prolong the life of coilovers. the top mounts also remain the same old stock ones, no changes there. also you need to do a full wheel alignment check after all is complete. hope this is helpful to someone, and sorry for the dirty car/shop, the car has a long todo list during winter

Very nice! Thanks for posting!

Great job! My 2000 C2 track car came with this setup. Also, my mounting holes for the front coil overs were slotted to allow more camber.

arent they the same on all cars? my ones also allow this.

I think he means his car was notched further for even more camber adjustment. Cheap and effective but not as elegant as split control arms. Thanks for the write up. Nice job!

Thanks. Very nice!

Thanks! Excellent write up.

beautiful 996 and great write up.

Great DIY. Thanks for sharing.

well some 500miles are driven and the setup works perfectly, the springs have setled and all the suspension works great, much better than the oem struts, seems to be more comfortable and the feel of acceleration seems to be better as well