I felt that the plastic
PDK
trim was becoming dated and saw that for newer
Cayman
generations, they have
this mod
to replace the PDK plastic shifter trim with a leather boot. I couldn't find anything for 987's until I found
this 997werks post
. However, the mod had some issues (for me): the +/- shifter symbols are flipped on the newer PDK shifter, and I didn't like the yellow lettering on the shifter button (just didn't go with the rest of my black/grey interior). To be fair, those issues could be fixed by installing some vinyl on the button.
I decided to go down another route— Euro Impulse is selling custom versions of the PDK shifter knob + boot mod.
Link
to leather one,
link
to aluminium one. I went with the aluminium one as I didn't prefer the perforated leather (maybe they can customize the leather to be unperforated, I didn't ask). You don't have to pay for their boot as you will use the OEM manual leather boot for 997/987. Make sure to email them and ask them to include both adapters (one for the boot, one for no boot) in your order.
Whichever shifter knob you go with, you will also need a couple of OEM parts:
1) Manual shifter trim. Part number 99755324301 (soft-touch) or 99755399600 (full leather, option code XDZ). Make sure you choose the correct part for your interior:
2) Manual shifter knob + boot. Part number 99742407501 (leatherette) or 99742498100 (full leather, option code X97). Make sure you choose the correct part for your interior:
Once you gather all the parts, the next step is to separate the manual shifter knob from the shifter boot. No tools are needed for this! Simply flip the leather boot over the knob such that the plastic ring attached to the bottom end of the knob is exposed. Twist the ring clockwise to unlock, and position the ring such that there are no tabs visible in the two triangles. Then you can pull apart the knob from the trim. The boot is attached to the plastic ring via compression between an inner ring and outer ring. To remove the plastic rings from the shift boot, simply pull the outer ring off the shift boot.
Next, carefully pull the leather over the compression fitting for the Euro Impulse shifter knob. Make sure you are using the correct fitting, it should be the less complicated one without the extra aluminium ring. Make sure enough of the fitting's thread is available to catch onto the knob, then screw on the knob. It may require some finagling to get the boot to line up properly with the knob. You know you did it right when the indent line on the back of the knob lines up with the single stitch line on the boot. You should now have an OEM leather boot with a custom knob fitted!
Now you can install all the parts into your car. I followed
this video
to remove the PDK trim. You should stop at 3:20, before he starts removing the screws. Then install the manual trim. Follow
this video
starting from 1:01 to install the shifter boot + knob.
Before/After pics:
Great writeup,
@987_2
- Thanks for sharing this! Nice change for a MT look in a PDK car.
As I recently mentioned to another new user, make sure you introduce yourself in the new members section. Photos of your ride are highly encouraged; it's a major tradition around here. Cheers and hope to see your ride -- especially it being a 2.9: -- theoretically the most bulletproof of our P-cars!
Thanks
@foodbiker
, will do. One other thing, I commissioned the "987" logo that is engraved on the shifter button. I had the artist use the 986 and 718 logos as guidance. Feel free to download and use the 987 logo in any personal projects -
NineEightSeven-Font - Google Drive
.
Here's a sample of the logo:
Given I specifically do graphic design, that's just fantastic and those files will be directly helpful. I tried doing something like that in the past, but I'm not sure my designs were as sharp as this. Great contribution,
@987_2
!!!
Again, make sure you check out the forums here about the 2.9L and I'll look forward to your intro. Cheers!
I did this swap with the Tip, came out great. I don't mind the shifter -+ indicators that were not available with the Tip, I also swapped the steering wheel to a
PDK
paddle shifters. All were plug and play. No error codes or issues.
can you please tell us from where you got the shift knob? it looks so perfect
