An Mk1 GT3 to aspire to...

Here are a few pics of an early mk1 GT3 that I found on a German website. This car looks very much like what we had in mind when this project started.

Brake Bleeding & Parking Brake Adjustment

As part of our gearbox and slave cylinder replacement a full fluid purge and refill with ATE Super Blue Racing fluid was in order.  Therefore no time better than the present to take the opportunity to adjust the parking brake as well.

Adjusting the parking brake on the 911 is similar to other drum brake adjutment procedures. Instead of another "how to" here I would highly recommend any Porsche owner to head over to http://www.renntech.org and set up an account. RennTech is a great resource for DIY tutorials and is THE place to go for technical Q&A about all things Porsche. Check it out.

I often work on my Porsche alone and my wife is no longer thrilled about pumping the brake pedal during fluid changes.  The Motive Bleeder to the rescue! This little unit really makes life easier.  It is a simple one person power bleeder for your car. The Motive Products Power Bleeder (which we sell) requires no external power source and allows you to completely flush your hydraulic system without refilling. An accurate pressure gauge ensures safe operation. Pressure bleeding is the preferred method used by professionals and the Motive Power Bleeder will help you achieve those same professional results in minutes. 

The entire brake system was flushed and refilled by myself in less time than it normally would take two people using the old "one guy on the brake pedal, one guy shuffling between bleeders and reservoir" method.  It's a must have.

All the tools and fluids show here are available from Apex Competition Systems. http://www.apexcompetition.com/

New Clutch & Gearbox

Text will be added later

- New Slave Cyl

- Rebuilt Gearbox fixed pinion whine

- New SACHS clutch. The 6 puck SPEC was grabbing & chattering

GT3 Aero Kit !!

Found a GT3 Aero Kit!

The Carrera 2 and the GT3 share the same basic chassis & suspension. It's the gearbox and engine that really make the GT3 shine. The early 996 GT3 (which was never sold in the USA) had a 'body kit' installed from the factory which was also available on the 996 as an option. This option is commonly referred to as the "Aero Kit". This 'GT3' Aero Kit is comprised of a deeper, wider front spoiler, deep side skirts and a large rear wing. This whole package was developed in the Porsche windtunnel to help the GT3 with aerodynamics at racing speeds. It is not simply all show...but it does look cool :)

Recently we were lucky enough to locate a set of early side skirts and a GT3 nose on EBay. These bits are all factory OEM Polyurethane components and not the cheaper fiberglass you sometimes see advertised. Since this is still a street car there is no substitute for original polyurethane. It can bump a curb or two, whereas fiberglass will be destoyed with even the slightest contact.

We also got a small carbon fiber chin spoiler which can bee seen in the photo above. This really adds a nice agressive look and will more importantly keep even more air from getting under the nose. Reducing lift at 100+ MPH is what it's all about !

What we have not obtained yet is the GT3 rear wing. The verdict is still out on whether a "period" Aerokit wing (affectionately known as the "Taco Wing") such as was found on the street going GT3, or a far more functional GT3 Cup wing as found on the factory Carrera Cup race cars is a better choice. The race wing will produce more downforce but since this is still primarily a street car we may need to make a concession here depending on price availability, practicality, etc.

We'll be adding another post to this blog when we paint & install these parts...stay tuned!

Updating the Headlights

The amber turn signals were delivered on the earliest Bosters & 996 cars. Personally I dont like them at all. I like the new 997 headlights as they look more "classic 911" however this is a 996 so we're stuck with what we have. What we can do however is swap out these old faded yellowing headlights for a nice new set of clear lights with smoked turn signals and get rid of the amber. The smoked lights will look much better on our project car's White/Black color scheme.


How to install 996 Headlights.

It is really simple but I have heard all sorts of stories from people who did no research prior to attempting this and wound up breaking their lights. There are no screws or nuts to remove. You need to use Porsche's special tool that is included in the tool kit in each car.

First locate the plastic interior nut holding the carpet in place. After you remove the plastic finishing screw you will be able to pull down the carpet. Remove the rubber plug just to the right of the grounding wire to expose the headlight removal socket. In your Porsche Tool kit you will find a hollow 'hex' wrench with a handle. Insert the hex head into the socket as show with the handle hanging down.

Turn the handle counter-clockwise until you hear a "click" and see the headlight move out forward. You can then pull the headlight straight forward out of the car. It is located by plastic guide pins in a plastic channel. Assembly is simply the reverse procedure.

More Sparkle :)

I was lucky enough to find that "The Racer's Group" had just posted a set of the later model tail lights on their website. Something they had taken off a 996 shell for conversion into one of their full on race cars no doubt. It gives the rear of the car a nice updated look. The main difference is the replacement of the amber lense across the top with the newer clear/smoked lense.

Track Day #2 (w/ video)

Monday, Project 996 was back on track as ACS owner Bill Sulouff was instructing at the BeaverRun Motorsport complex. The corner weighting, pressure adjustments and the ride height adjustments which were carried out last week all made a positive improvement on the 996's handling. The cars seems to be handling about right now for a basically stock 996.

After a few sessions it became clear that in order to enhance the track handling of this car any further that some additional "balance" adjustments would be required. The car was being pushed hard enough now that we could tell it still had too much understeer coming out of the corners. Even when "tossed" a bit and accelerating hard there was some "push". Therefore it looks like some GT3 swaybars (or similar) are in the car's near future.

The Hawk HP Plus pads that we intalled were a definite improvement. The fade is mostly gone. However we still seem to getting some fade at the end of the longer straight as we brake hard for the hairpin. It's possible that this is related to something else so we'll be going through the front brake system before the next event.

Here is a video of a couple laps. Fabspeed muffler bypass "Track Pipes" were installed just for this one day. Unfortunately they are far too loud for everyday use :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-qjbPflQ7o