2003 Porsche 911 Turb-OOOOH

In reply to jfryjfry :

Plenty of ducting going on, I've got the larger GT3 control arm ducts, plus the GT2 fender liners/ducts that send air directly into the spindle.

Well, a "new" suspension popped up locally and I picked it up today.  The PSS9's will go to another local friend, to be replaced by a set of MCS 1WNR with Tarrett top hats and swaybar links.  These are a really nice setup, fully rebuildable and upgradable to the 2 ways, either with, or without remote reservoirs.  The front top hats give a static -1.5 camber, so I was worried I'd have to remove some shims from my lower control arms.  More work and also a more narrow track.  When I looked at the location of my stock top hats, happily they're pushed all the way in, in max negative camber in the upper slots.  So I should just be able to set the MCS' in the least negative camber and then not mess with the shims.  I'll mark the center line currently and make sure I line it up when I install the new gear.

I may install them tomorrow, since I'm off.  If I don't, I won't have spare time to do it for another few weeks.  Although that might not matter depending on when I can get it into a shop for an alignment.

Junk in the frunk pic!

Installed the MCS' today.  Went smoothly since I mostly remembered how I'd installed the PSS9's before.

New rear MCS installed.

And the top of the rear.  Adjusting it means pulling the subwoofer out.  I decided not to put the piece of trim carpet over the top of the shock, you can't see it with the subwoofer installed anyways.

On the fronts I decided to pop the axles out of the front diff, rather than remove the axle nut from the knuckle like I did last time.  I think it's easier this way but a bit tedious to R&R 6 bolts from each axle.  Then of course my allen key socket broke while torqueing the second to last bolt.  Doh!  Anyways, you have to pop the axle out so you can get the knuckle to move out like this to remove the strut

Then install the new, making sure to mark the bottom of the strut bearing to orient it in the car.  They mark the top, but you can't see that when you're installing them

Happily the adjustment knob for the front struts fit

You can also see the marks I made in order to line up the top of the struts so hopefully my camber didn't change too much.

Happily the ride height was exactly where I wanted it and also where it was before

And the PSS9's are ready for my friend

I took the car out for a quick spin, initial impressions are the spring rates are definitely stiffer but the shocks do a great job of controlling them.  Ride is supple, turn in is immediate.  Sadly I won't be hitting the track again this season but I might go do a little canyon carving to see how it feels.  I do need to get it in for an alignment check too.

I got excited for a minute...I want pss9s! 

In reply to dyintorace :

If my friend doesn't buy them I'll let ya know

Please do!

Ok, I'd noticed these two 10mm delrin spacers in the box I got from the seller.  I'd asked him what they were for and kinda got a shrug.  He didn't know and never used them. 

So I sent MCS an email and found out that they go on the bottom of the shocks, one per side.  Over the metal bushing and apparently are to limit the amount of movement the shock can have.  Well, alrighty then, guess I need to install them.  Up on the lift, rear wheels off, luckily able to just pull the lower shock bolt, swivel the shock out of position, pull out a metal bushing, install the delrin spacer, pop it back in, pop the shock back in, reinstall the bolt.

Do that to the other side

Everything torqued again, wheels back on, job done.  Also got the setup sheet from Tarrett and double checked my setting.  They want you to start at 8 clicks from full soft front/rear, which is right in the middle.  I found that the front for me was at 12 clicks from full soft, rear was 8 on one side and 9 on the other.  I set the rear both to 10 from full soft.  Will drive it some and see how it feels

Solid 996 Turbo, beautiful car! 

What kind of rates are you running on the MCS coilovers? Very nice, sir! 

If you don't mind me asking, who do you track with at HPR? 

In reply to roninsoldier83 :

Thanks!  Spring rates are 785 and 560. I usually run with the PCA.  I used to be very active in NASA, was an instructor for them.  I stopped going because the time trial groups were just getting way too serious for me.  I just want to go and have fun, but don't care to run in HPDE3/4 and deal with traffic, etc...

In reply to docwyte :

Serious rates! Do the MCS dampers keep the car fairly streetable? Or is it becoming more of a track focused build with the higher rates? 
 

That makes all the sense in the world. 

In reply to roninsoldier83 :

The dampers seem to be doing a good job of controlling the springs.  I'm currently playing around with the settings on them, adjusting the fronts takes no time at all, getting to the rear adjusters means pulling the subwoofer forward a bit.  Right now I've got them in the recommended "track" setting from MCS.  I'll drive around fora  bit and then back them off if I feel I need to. 

I've been walking the fine line with this car, trying to keep it as street civilized as possible while having it work better on track.  That's one of the main reasons I haven't put in a rollbar, well, that and I carry my son in the back seat. 

In reply to roninsoldier83 :

Oh, forgot to mention, the real track spring rates for this car are almost double what I using.  Like 1300/1000lb rates!  Mine is still pretty firm around town, I need to back off the dampers some more and see what that feels like.  Just sort of a PITA to fold myself into the back, remove the subwoofer and get to the rear clickers.

I used to have an EvoMS intake/airbox on this car.  Got it from a friend, who warned me it blew up MAF sensors.  I put it in because I'm a juvenile and like turbo noises.  It blew up my MAF sensor in short order, I removed it and reinstalled the stock airbox and then sold it.

Last winter when I did the GT2 turbo swap and got the car retuned, it got swapped over to a speed density set up, so it no longer runs a MAF.  Hmm, might be fun to make turbo noises again.  I then regretted selling the EvoMS airbox.  I posted on rennlist and found one, about a month or two ago I tried to install it.  First I made a block off plate for the MAF sensor since I won't be running one.  Then I tried to install it...

Immediatey I realized the GT2 decklid wouldn't close because it's a different internal shape than the stock one.  Then I remembered that the old EvoMS intake I used to have had already been modified to fit a GT2 decklid.  I then regretted selling it even more.  Doh!

So I reinstalled the stock airbox until I decided what to do.  Yesterday I was bored and decided "Screw it!  I'm modifying this intake to fit."  Grabbed it, mocked installed it without the MAF tube (important!) and started slowly shaving away where it hit until I could close the decklid.  Then put the weather stripping on and shaved down more till that fit.  Thought I was done.  Today I went to install the intake with the MAF tube and filter in place.  Well, those being there changed the position of the intake enough that the decklid didn't close again.  Argh!  So another hour plus spent slowly closing the decklid, peeking in, shaving down more, rinse, lather, repeat.  Then putting on the weather stripping and doing that all over again.  Dammit.  Finally got it into a happy place tho.  Started the car up, confirmed that it still runs and it does make awesome turbo whistle noises at idle.  At that point I was hot, tired and dehydrated so I retreated to the AC inside with a cold drink.

In reply to dyintorace :

Don't think my friend is going to buy the pss9's.  Drop me an email, you're next in line!

So I started to hear some rattling sounds coming from the suspension.  Last night it was really noticeable.  Hmmm.  I torqued everything.  Then I remembered my experience with the Land Cruiser, where I got the suspension already assembled and neglected to check all the nuts/bolts before I installed it.  I got these already assembled too.  I wonder if the nuts/bolts that I didn't touch are loose?  Only one way to check, so up on the lift it goes.

On the drivers side I found both the rear and front swaybar endlinks, where they attach to the shock/strut body loose.  Neither of which I touched as I didn't need to on the installation.  The rear is a nut/bolt, with a nylock nut.  Initially I tightened it but wasn't happy that the bolt wasn't engaging the nylock part of the nut.  A more careful inspection showed me that the mount was threaded and the bolt wasn't seated all the way.  So I backed off the nut, tightened the bolt all the way down, then put the nut back on and tightened it.  Nylock engaged.  I also paint pen marked it so I'll know right away if it moves.

On the front, again, the bracket was threaded, but there wasn't a nut.  Initially I thought the nut had fallen off, but when I checked the other side I noticed there also wasn't a nut, but there was a paint glob marking the torque and it wasn't disturbed.  Ok, no nuts for the front.

So I tightened down that bolt and then marked it with the paint pen.  Checked the torque on every other fastener and marked a few others with my paint pen that I hadn't done initially.  About to go drive the car and make sure it's quiet now...

Dropped the car off this morning to get aligned and corner balanced.  Morning rush hour traffic plus an accident meant stop and go gridlock.  Took an hour to get to the shop, should've been a little over 30 minutes.  Super happy I still have the stock assisted clutch set up vs the unassisted GT2 clutch, which is far heavier...

You might want to replace the bolts on those end-links.  Having a loose bolt in single shear produces some really high bending loads.  Might be close to yield already.

That and I'd want a longer bolt and a nylock on all the spots.  The rear one really needs a couple more threads thru the nylock to be effective.  As it is, the only way to effectively secure those would be to drill and safety wire them.

Turns out I'd nailed the ride height/corner balance, shop didn't have to touch it.  Not sure how close I came on the alignment specs, I'll find out later today when I pick it up.   

Good point on engaging the nylock, I'll probably buy longer bolts and I might put nylocks up front.  Not sure why Tarrett didn't do that, but I'm sure they have a reason...

When I put heavy sway bars on my GTI loose end links became a recurring problem. I wound up cranking them down pretty tight and checking them on a regular basis. 
 

It's interesting that the front bolts don't even engage all of the available threads let alone have a lock nut on them. I'd guess that those aren't the bolts that came with the kit. A call to Tarett might be a good idea. 

In reply to CAinCA :

They were assembled by Tarret, so this is the way they're supposed to be. 

Just got back from picking up the car, alignment made a huge difference.  Here's the spec sheet from Porsche, I've got it set up to the GT2 specs now, basically

Here are my corner weights, ride heights, etc.  I nailed this, they didn't have to adjust it at all, which saved me a bunch of money, woohoo!

I'm surprised the alignment was so far off though.  In the front I'd marked the center line of the strut tops and lined those up.  I didn't touch the tie rods or the blocks in the lower control arms, so that shouldn't have changed.  In the rear, again, I didn't touch the eccentrics or anything.  Since the ride height stayed the same I would've thought everything would be pretty close and maybe only the front camber would need to be tweaked.  Nope, it was all outta whack...

Worth spending the money on for sure.  Next is the off season work, so oil change, remove the front brake calipers and either send them off to get rebuilt/refinished or rebuild them myself.  Depends on $$$

Thank you for updating this thread. It is giving me confidence that a 996 Turbo is fully within my DIY abilities. I do prefer the looks of the 997 front end, but I'm sure either one would satisfy me.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I like the 997 exterior too and honestly the interior is more pleasing but the 996 interior is still a nice place to be.  Although my happy place tends to be the early to mid '00's VW/Audi/Porsche/BMW's, so they're "home" for me.  The 996 has much more driving feel to it compared to the 997, so I'll take that over the front end anyday

I've also given far too much money to the folks down at 3R lol. 

Is it common for Porsche to dial in more front negative camber vs rear? I guess I always figured it would be the other way around on a rear-engine car to help tame oversteer. Shows how much I know! 

My old CRX had the rear sway bar come loose (it was a giant 32mm splined bar) during an autoX run down at PPIR. Truth be told, I drove down there on a set of dirt cheap tires (that came with the car) and swapped to my competition tires when I got there. The ride down was miserable- bouncy/rattly as can be, rattled everything like crazy the whole way there! After my first or 2nd run, I heard a clunking/tapping noise from the rear... rattled the bar/endlink off (torqued to as close to spec as I could find). I then started driving to/from events on the comp tires lol. The softer rubber drastically reduced the ride roughness- either that or there was something seriously wrong with the cheap tires that came with the car. 

At least you caught it before the nut popped off completely! 

In reply to roninsoldier83 :

Yep, always more front camber than rear. 

I do think I'm going to take the suggestions here to replace those bolts with longer ones and add nylock nuts to the front endlinks.