993 tranny-only removal is not a one man job!

[Rick Lee]

But I did it all alone yesterday in a one-car garage with a floor jack and a tranny jack. Learn from me and get a lift and a friend if you ever do this.

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The guys on Rennlist said the center of the rear wheel well had to be 47" off the ground, but I didn't get mine that high and still felt it could have been lower, as my tranny jack wouldn't reach high enough.

CV bolts are a cinch even on a 993.

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Fork shaft comes out by putting a 6mm long bolt into the shaft, which is recessed pretty far into the bell housing inspection opening. Mine came out like butter and looked new after five years and 30k miles.

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The stuff you have to remove is very basic - CV's, starter, slave cylinder, shift linkage, clutch fork shaft, cross member and some mounting bolts. That upper starter bolt is a nightmare. I never got to see it. I just stuck some long extensions up there with an allen socket on the end and poked around. Once I felt it stick, I added more wobble extensions and kept the pressure on. Man, that sucked.

Getting ready to start wiggling, pushing and pulling.

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Didn't know these were so front-heavy!

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Anyone see a G50/20 around here?

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Surgery begins today. My German Porsche mechanic buddy here suspects a bent shift fork, though I can't imagine what would have caused that. If I get away with such luck as to only need a $145 shift fork, I will, of course, replace lots of that which is not broken. I don't think I can afford to shorten the gears or make this into a G50/21. But I'll repack the CV's, throw on a high-torque starter and replace a few things on the engine that are easier to reach now. Stay tuned for more tranny porn - the good kind.

[tdatk]

:shock:
Rick,
Get a mid rise lift man....you're scareing the shit out of me with that rig. Having been caught by a Volvo Penta outdrive dropping on my hand and being stuck there for 10 minutes broken and bleeding, I've come to realize the bargain cost of the lift vs the emergency room costs.
Good luck with the repair, please be careful

[Landjet]

Ouch, that's gotta hurt.

Good luck Rick.

[Rick Lee]

I will NEVER get a mid-rise lift. The oil change I did on VASteve's was a nightmare. Much easier to do it with ramps in my driveway. This set up was plenty stable and I did try to make it come crashing down before starting work. It never made any noise or wobbled at all. I had jack stands, Rino ramps and a floor jack on the engine case seam. We don't have earthquakes here either.

[tdatk]

I know of which you speak. My mid rise leaves a lot to be desired in some cases as well, but is very handy for suspension work and such. Two posts take up too much floor space and head room that I ain't got. Don't get me wrong, I did my 928S4 on ramps probly the same way as you do the oil change, my wife still cringes when I do this stuff as she was the one to get the Volvo off me. I've seen this type of lift done more a few times and it just makes me nervous. Enough with the safety stuff, great post, I was following your post on the transmission locking up last month and I'm interested in the cause/fix.

[Jazzbass]

Wow... nice work RL. That's hardcore right there.

[VaSteve]

Wow... nice work RL. That's hardcore right there.


x2. I'm speechless.

I had help with my engine drop 2 weeks ago and I have every tool and a nice lift. Having help ensures you don't fuck it up some how. This is amazing work.

I will NEVER get a mid-rise lift. The oil change I did on VASteve's was a nightmare.

Yeah, that was a disaster. I think I got my alternator swap and new steering wheel on before you got that done. :)

[Rick Lee]

Honestly, I'd rather be on my back with no lift or on my feet with a full-height lift. Squatting and crouching under a mid-rise lift just plain sucks. Tranny is all cleaned up and on a stand now, a stand which I found at a garage sale for $20. My German buddy wants to take it to his shop in Santa Monica and rebuild it for me, I pay for parts only and at his cost. For some reason, he feels indebted to me because my company did a great job for his wife and got her on the front page of the LA Times a few weeks ago. Not my doing, but I'll let him keep thinking it was. But I really would like to open this up in my garage and see what's going on here. He's coming over tomorrow now to take a look. Really dreaming of shortened gears, but I don't have enough guns left I'm willing to sell to cover that bill.

[Noah]

Good stuff RL.

I've got over 107K on the rammer at this point and I'm still on the original clutch. I've had an LSD, RS gears, and RS clutch/flywheel sitting on the shelf for over a year, waiting to be installed. But no time to do it yet. I have a feeling it'll all get done when I burn up the clutch and have no choice.

Your saga is a good warning against doing the tranny-only drop, which has been my intention all along. I'll probably drop the whole lump when it comes time. Keep us posted on what you find in the gearbox, including pics.

[Lupin..the..3rd]

You are a crazy man Rick! Those blocks and boards make me nervous. Kudos for making it all work as planned.

[type954]

You and Stephen D should get together. He swapped (fixed?) a Boxster tip...

[Rick Lee]

If I were already in my new house, I'd not hesitate to drop the whole drivetrain and replace a bunch of misc. stuff on my engine. But I'm in a bit of a hurry to finish this project and get the car on the road again. My wife's Mini is now our only car. I have to ride my motorcycle to a Xmas party next week and then to LA and back the following week. It's easy to live here with just a bike, but I don't like being 110% dependent on it. I can carry a 12 pack and a 1.75 lt. bottle of bourbon on it, but then it's tough to carry groceries and forget ammo. Need to get this stuff done and my mechanic buddy didn't show today after pinching a nerve in his back and he's already out on disability. He's making me very nervous, having talked me into DIY'ing this and then getting wobbly on helping me beyond the R&R.