New 996 Owner - Lots of DIY

Hello from over the pond in the balmy climes of western Canada. Previously owned a 997.2 C4S a few years ago, great car and spec, but I couldn't take it with me when i relocated to Canada due to import restrictions. After finally getting settled in Canada, house sorted etc and purchasing a few other cars (Macan S, 3 series F31 touring, X5 40d, Impreza WRX estate etc), it was time to get back into the seat of a 911. I wanted something to tinker with, so after much thought (and nearly buying a 80's G-body) I pulled the trigger on a leggy early 996. Prices having been rising, just like the UK and the sheer lack of choice in Canada lead me to purchase a US-spec car instead. No real difference between US/Can specs. It was far cheaper than a Canadian car, and I didn't want black leather, like most 911's...... and yes, I have to live with the rear 'bumperettes', no avoiding these on North American cars unfortunately. Spec: 1998 C2 6-speed 143k Ocean blue met Non-sun roof (rather rare option in America/Canada) LSD / 220 M030 suspension (and Eibach springs) Sports hard back seats (heated) Grey 'graphite' interior. Litronic headlights (early version of the xenons, wasn't a cheap option). Factory short shifter Stack of receipts, new engine installed by Porsche at 70k, plus IMS has been done. Clean car, original paint etc. Cost me circa £13.6k But it did come with some issues (clutch isn't pleasant), which I was OK with rolling up my sleeves and doing myself. What's the worst that could happen? Journey home (circa 400 miles, temps down to -20c, border crossing, lots of red tape etc), but worth it. ]

Once I got the car home and driven it a little, I could access what work I needed to do. Clutch was definitely on it's way out. The pedal was super heavy, it slipped at times and just wasn't very smooth. Having ones own two-post lift does make life easier. Condition wise, not too bad. Not much rust, exhaust bolts/studs are pretty much corrosion free as well. Just a bit grimy and in need of a decent de-grease.

List of replacement/things to do is as follows: New clutch, flywheel & slave New clutch throwout guide tube, bearing, pivot pin & arm (with updated 997 items) New RMS New AOS / Air-oil separator (nothing in the paperwork suggests a replacement was done) New spark plugs, coils, spark plug tubes New fuel filter New air filter New pollen filter New oil filter+oil New brake/clutch fluid New variocam solenoid seals (misting oil on both) New undertrays (two are cracked) New low temp/71c thermostat New aux belt Install Powerflex gearbox mount insert Inspect IMS bearing

I've never removed a gearbox before, on any car or motorbike, so this was my first experience. I read a few guides, made notes on the order of which bolts etc and took plenty of 'before' pics. I got the gearbox out in just 1.5 hours. Flywheel and clutch have seen better days. Note; homemade flywheel locking tool. Flywheel was the original, so for sure was due to be replaced. old vs new RMS had been replaced at some point, but either they didn't seat it right or it pushed out I'm not sure, but it was weeping (i've cleaned it up in this pic). I had a 3D printer made RMS insert tool. Pushed the RMS into the correct 13mm depth. Hopefully no more leaks New RMS in and also replaced the 3 x case bolts as well. One was a little moist, so popped some new ones in

As I had the gearbox out, I figured I could save some time and get the AOS out from below, rather than removing loads of parts above, such as the left intake etc. I dropped the engine a little, broke off the two of the clamped pipes and it dropped out from below with some wiggling. I decided to replace two smaller pipes, so connected these first and fed them back into the engine bay and then wiggled the new AOS into place and reconnected the two larger pipes etc. Due to the age of the car, and it seems common, the plastic stuff on these cars is so damn brittle! I managed to sheer off a connect where the pipe from the AOS goes into the block. There's a stupid plastic connector which bolts to the block. To prevent this happening, I used a brass barbed coupling piece instead with oeikter clamps.

Throwout guide tube had also seen better days. New low temp thermostat 83c vs 71c New clutch slave. Old one is a 996 item, newer one is a 997 one. Both Sachs. older one original, newer same, just has the Porsche logo ground off. (always makes me smile that)

Damp Variocam solenoid, this is the awkward righthand side. They weren't dripping, but I'm sure they would eventually. New one. Seal is far more supple and also less baggy! Cleaned and installed. Hopefully no more leaking.

Old fuel filter. Original. Will never see any difference, but peace of mind it was replaced. I used a Mahle item (identical to the original)

As the gearbox was out, I thought I'd inspect the IMS bearing. It's an LN engineering one that is fitted and has around 12k on it since fitting, but that as a few years ago. To inspect it, is you need to do the same as you would if replacing the bearing. This meant locking the engine at TDC, locking the cams and pulling the chain tensioners. I didn't want to buy a special cam locking tool, so made up my own. Cam locking tool in place: I didn't take any pics, but the LN IMS bearing was smooth as. I replaced the flange seal and o-ring, plus the 3 bolts with newer styler ones.

Yesterday I got the flywheel and clutch back in. Torqued back up and used new OEM bolts for all. Gearbox went back in later in the day, took me about 2hrs with quite a bit of wiggling and turning the output shafts to align the spline. But it popped in fine, then finished up with the bellhousing bolts, then then gearbox mount etc. All torqued to spec. Today i finished up attaching the clutch line to the slave and then bled the whole brake clutch system. I recently bought a Motive power bleeder (not sure you can get these in the UK), but it made the whole process a doddle. Literally fill it up (i used ATE type 200), pump it to 20psi and then go around a crack the nipples. The clutch is a bit more tricky, few bleeds needed and holding the pedal down etc, but after 5 nipple openings, it finally gave me those naughty bubbles. [

You don't hang about. This will be finished by this time tomorrow!! Weĺl done for getting stuck in, should be great when sorted. MC

So what's left to do? The clutch feels great now, I'm very happy to have solved that (and learnt a lot along the way). Fresh engine oil is in, and i fitted a magnetic sump plug. I did cut open the oil filter to inspect it as well to check if there's anything of interest in there. I noticed the bump stops are a bit rough and crumbled, so my plan is to drop the struts and replace the bump stops on each corner, but whilst I am there, I will do the top front strut mounts as well. Coolant change will get done soon. Just waiting on a vacuum tool, so I can get the whole 22L of coolant in. Front bumper needs to come off so I can clean the rads properly When the weather warms a little, I'll get around to cleaning it and giving it a polish. However I did buy the car to drive mostly.

Ha! It was over a space of a few weeks I'll add, mostly waiting for parts to arrive from the US (OEM flywheel bolts for example). Yeah, looking forward to the snow melting and getting some mountain pass drives in.

A great read, looking forward to further updates :thumb: Oh and garage envy from us 'laying on the garage floor/driveway tinkerers' :envy:

Cool thread, going to get lots of subscribers! :thumb: