924Board.org

[B]

I know tis subject has been visited time and time again (and thankfully so for those of us who have no experience with the infamous snailshell bushing exchange). I was trying to follow procedure and take the transmission out of the way to get to these bushings and tried not to cut a hole under the rear seat. I ran into a road block for me in that I could not breat the allen bolts loose from the torque tube an transmission. Frustrated, I appealed to the wisdom of the board for suggestions. Luckily they responded with their usually patience and solid advice. Paul had offered the idea of dropping the rear suspension. He said there were only 3 or 4 bolts that you could and had to take off. Once the suspension was down you could access the shift rods easily. This indeed worked and led to a successful bushing exchange. For those of you that might be intereseted in going this route this is what I did. Hopefully this will help someone else in a similar situation as I was. - sorry if it's a little long.

This was done on a 79 NA with a snailshell transmission.

I started the usual way with a battery disconnect, engage 5th gear, disconnect the shift lever at the console, broke the lug bolts, blocked the front wheels, put on the emergency brake(helpful later), and gently and carefully raised the rear of the car using a floor jack with a board on it to protect the trans casing. Here is where Paul suggested to use flat top jackstands that use a pin to lock them into place not the wratcheting type because at this height they would not be safe. Place the jackstands under the circular holes (that protrude slightly) at the rear of the car toward the out corners. Set the jackstands to their highest setting - mine was in the third or forth hole. Set the car down slowly onto the stands. In addition to this I had also placed supports along the side of the car under the jacing points just to be safe. Remove the tires, then you will need to remove the brake hose that attaches to the line that feeds the rear brakes not difficult but the clips that hold them into place can be a pain. oops - before doing this have the brake pedal blocked down an inch or 2 to keep the system from emtying. Paul suggested a screwdriver over the brake pedal and under the gas and clutch. I used a 4x4 wedged between the seat and the pedal. Tie string to each side of the rear axles before removing for support. Clean the area around the boots and spray the bolts that hold them in. Have plastic bags handy to cover them once they are off. Be sure of the type of bolts that you have - they may be those annoying little 12 point stars(8mm?) or someone may have changed them out to allen type bolts. I think there are 8 on each side be gentle and firm - one slip will just about round them off so be sure the fitting is in all the way. Remove and bag. (Putting them on I think the torque was 30ftlbs) There is a aluminum cross brace in front of the torsion tube that can also be removed and helpful later. Remove the transmission nuts from the mounts (under - not on the sides). Remove the lower shock bolt on each side and be ready for the sudden drop. The next 3 bolts I marked just in case their holes were of the oval kind (the driver's side mount to the body is - where the passengers side is not). There is one long bolt that holds one mount to the side of the car, one bolt above the axle next to the shock(upper torion tube retaining screw) finally there is the upper mounting flange screw and small rectangular plate. Once these are removed you can lower the suspension. For me - mine was wedged in there pretty good so I used a block of wood, metal rod and small sledge to loosen the mount to the body. Be sure you have jacks under both sides of the torion bar tube and lower it slowly because it still has the emergency brake cable attached I also believe the hayne's says to keep this tube level. Once this was down, I slid the transmission slightly to the passengers side unscrewed the nut holding the shift rod in place and pulled the shift rod out over the transmission. (this was also suggested at an earlier popst by ds777?) Once this was out it was easier to work on - punch out the pin that holds the bushings in grease and push in the new ones and push the rod back in place. Yoou may need to remove insulation by the shift rod to do this and it will take some effort to put it back in - I even used a guide wire to help keep it aligned on the way in - an assistant helps here too. The only other tricky part was getting the rod reattached to the trans. it took some effert pulling and wiggling - but it gets on check your alignment so the retaining screw is lined up with the hole on the transmission too. Reassemble and bleed the brakes.

Another note on reassembly - when raising the suspension back into place - go slowly and a little on each side to keep things lined up easily.

I know it seems like a lot but if I could do it then I think anyone can and all of the bolts are easy to get to with basic hand tools. It worked for me and I hope this helps someone else out there -
B
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1979 924 n/a
BAE turbo
5-speed snailshell

[Rasta Monsta]

So what was the result? Got any photos of the old bushings? Is your car shifting better?
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Toofah King Bad

• WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

[B]

The car actually shifts into gear and the shift lever stays in place -
what a nice driving experience compared to before!!
The bushings were non-existant - completely gone - metal on metal.
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1979 924 n/a
BAE turbo
5-speed snailshell

[cegan09]

Nice write up. Just curious, should this all be the same for my 1987? I'm going to have to check the shift linkage at some point in the next year and this seems like a good reference. Just looking to see if mine is close to this or if there are major differences. I realize that the cars have different engines, just didn't know how different the back ends were.
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1987 Porsche 924s (summer project)

2002 Toyota Camry (practical daily driver)

[Paul]

A 924S is much easier. When you're ready to do it, yell.
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.