997 Shifter Install

[blinkwatt]

I couldn't stand the standard throw of the 986 shifter assembly on my 6-spd and the B & M style shifter was way too notchy for my taste,especially since my car is a DD when the weather is nice. I ran across a post on Rennlist mentioning how the 997 shifter assembly is a 10-15% reduction in throws(compared to the 9x6 assemblies) and is assembled better the 986 assembly. My Dad and I each order one for $80/assembly,new it would have been $165 from Sunset Imports.

Here are the cliffnotes from my Dad's and my conversation,he drives a 01' 996(same tranny for us 6-spd owners);

'Nice,I was afraid I wasn't going to notice that small of a reduction,but I did.'...'nope,everything is perfect,no regrets'

I drive a 01' 986 S and I must say whoever on Rennlist found about this is one awesome dude. With the stock 986 set up I really hated the 1-2nd or N-2nd throws......Not soo much of an issue now with the 997 shifter assembly. Other that when I flew threw the other gears it seemed like there was a small increase in throw lengths.

For those of you afraid to change anything out on your rides but want a shorter throw just do it already,it's completely reversible & OEM.

If anyone wants the contact if for the dude who sells the assemblies let me know,I can send you his email. He runs a track conversion shop of some sort and has a bunch of them just lying around.

[chaudanova]

Nice man, that's cool that you're the first one I know of to have tried it for the 986. I was reading their posts too, but they were all from 996 guys, and no one had any feedback for the 986. Anyhow, I think I remember you saying that you liked the B&M on your old 5spd (I think that was you?), but that you hated it on your 6spd S.

For the 5spd base 986, would you recommend the B&M or the 997 shifter?

[dmenn]

There is a guy that took the 987/997 OEM short shifter (997-424-983-00) and put it on his 986 without any problems. That is by the far the best way to go since it's all OEM and you can totally bring it back to stock if you like. I don't think the throws are are short as B&M, but close. ~30% vs ~20%

I've also heard about what Blink is talking about. People are taking the stock 987/997 stock shifter (997-424-010-00) and putting it on their 986. While the throws aren't much shorter, supposedly you can tell a difference and the shifting feel is better than the stock 986. This has been confirmed by numerous folks.

Now the question is - do you spend ~$200 on the stock 987/997 shifter housing and get a better feel with a slightly smaller throw, or spend ~$450 to get a better feel with a much shorter throw ...

I don't know the answer yet - I haven't purchased either! (yet)

[edevlin]

"For the 5spd base 986, would you recommend the B&M or the 997 shifter?"

I installed the B&M short-shift kit and love it, I dont know how I got along with the stock long-throw on my 5-speed without it.

Ed

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by chaudanova

Nice man, that's cool that you're the first one I know of to have tried it for the 986. I was reading their posts too, but they were all from 996 guys, and no one had any feedback for the 986. Anyhow, I think I remember you saying that you liked the B&M on your old 5spd (I think that was you?), but that you hated it on your 6spd S.

For the 5spd base 986, would you recommend the B&M or the 997 shifter?

Depends,the B & M was a little notchy on the 5-spd but on the 6-spd it was twice as much and annoyed me.

I say give the 997 shifter a shot,they can be had for cheap. If you don't like it no biggie,I'm sure another board member would pick it up.

[chaudanova]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

Depends,the B & M was a little notchy on the 5-spd but on the 6-spd it was twice as much and annoyed me.

I say give the 997 shifter a shot,they can be had for cheap. If you don't like it no biggie,I'm sure another board member would pick it up.

Hey Blink, well I have a new B&M sitting here, I just haven't installed it yet, since I was still debating about either putting that in or going with a 997 unit... seeing that I already have the B&M, if you were in my shoes, would you just go with the B&M or would you still go with the 997?

And also, which 997 shifter did you put in? The stock 997 shifter, or did you go with the 997GT3, or a 997 oem short shift kit?

[dmenn]

Originally Posted by chaudanova

And also, which 997 shifter did you put in? The stock 997 shifter, or did you go with the 997GT3, or a 997 oem short shift kit?

Sorry to jump in, but I wanted to give a little more feedback. There are two different kinds of 997 shifters. One is the stock 997 shifter that is part #:997-424-010-00 and that is the same for all 997 cars, including the GT3. The other option is the 997 short shift and that is part #:997-424-983-00.

I am pretty sure Blink put in the stock 997 shifter.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by chaudanova

Hey Blink, well I have a new B&M sitting here, I just haven't installed it yet, since I was still debating about either putting that in or going with a 997 unit... seeing that I already have the B&M, if you were in my shoes, would you just go with the B&M or would you still go with the 997?

And also, which 997 shifter did you put in? The stock 997 shifter, or did you go with the 997GT3, or a 997 oem short shift kit?

If you have a 5-spd then I'd personally go with the B & M.

I DIDN'T ORDER THE 997 SHORT SHIRT KIT,JUST THE STANDARD 997 SHIFT ASSEMBLY.
I believe the 997,987,997 gt3 shifter assemblies are the same(sans OEM short skit kit).

Hopefully someone here can link the rennlist thread,I can't too busy at work to find it.
The thread title is something like 'new shifter option'

[dmenn]

Hi all - Just wanted to follow up again on this thread. I went ahead and purchased a stock 997 shifter from the contact Blinkwatt provided me (thank you Robert!).

The part # is 997-424-010-00 as I mentioned in an earlier post. Switching out the stock 986 shifter with this stock 997 shifter was very straight forward and pretty easy to do. I did some measuring before and after so we have some hard facts to work with.

On my 2000S 986 shifter the distance between 1st and 2nd gears was 6 1/8 inches. After the 997 shifter was installed, the distance between 1st and 2nd was reduced to 5 1/4 inches. That is approximately 14%. Not bad!

The shifter is smooth and feels great. I've never tried a B&M before, so I can't comment on how that feels or how short that is, but use my data as a reference point when comparing the percentage the shift throw is reduced. If you're at all thinking about going the short shift route and are hesitant about messing with your shifter mechanism, I recommend this!

Any questions - let me know!

[90red]

Blinkwatt-
Sent you a PM regarding the contact for the shifter...

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by 90red

Blinkwatt-
Sent you a PM regarding the contact for the shifter...

Sorry but the guy is out of stock.

[John V]

I did this mod (standard 997 shifter) a while back to a buddy's car. All I can say is that this blows the B+M out of the water on a 6speed car. It's much more "precise" than the stock 986 shifter, and it's not so unbearably notchy like the B+M. The throws are indeed slightly shorter but the shift action is the big improvement. Very silky.

Call up Sunset Imports and order yourself one. It's $155. Well worth it and comes with everything you need.

[Keith Newby]

I have to chime in at this point. I bought one of the 997 shifters from Blinkwatt's source and changed out the shifter on my 2000 6-speed. To tell you the truth I wasn't expecting much of a change but as JohnV stated the effort is much more precise and has a decided gated effect. No more "did I just shift into third or fifth". Each generation of cars brings with it a host of changes, and this was a good one to bring to my 986.

[CJ_Boxster]

Hey guys, i have a question regarding the 997 shifter assembly... Assuming you are getting the entire shifter assembly, is there less "left to right" slop in the 997 assembly?

If so, Would installing a short shift kit in the 997 assembly work/feel better than a short shift kit in a 986 assembly?

[Keith Newby]

Yes, we're talking about replacing the entire assembly not just the internal pieces as you would do with a short shift kit. I didn't compare the 986 assembly against the 997 when performing the installation so I don't know how the set ups differ. As mentioned above, the shift fore and aft is shorter by a little over three quarters of an inch if my math is correct. I believe side to side travel is the same although it feels more slotted / gated. My installation was a standard issue 997 shifter as there were no 997 short shift assemblies available from the source. I have no experience with any short shift kit, aftermarket or OEM. I would think that an aftermarket installation would perform the same regardless if it were put in either a 986 or 997 "carrier".

[Adam]

Any of you guys have a pic of the 997 assembly? Is this bolt in with no modifications?

[John V]

Yes, there is less side to side play. Although a new factory BOXSTER shifter probably has less side to side play than the one in most of you guys' cars - the shifters just aren't well made and wear out with time.

I don't have a picture, but the 997 shifter moves the fore-aft pivot point upward (shortening the throw) while maintaining the same side to side pivot point. The problem with the B+M is that it moves both pivots, and it moves them way too much. The result is that it's hard to distinguish the 3-4 gate from the 5-6 gate. Not an issue with the 997 shifter.

The 997 shifter is a bit more robustly built than the 986/996 parts. It also moves the location of the cable mounts upwards a bit, giving them a straighter shot from the back of the shifter. The entire shift console gets replaced. It's a drop in for the 986 / 996 cars. It's painfully easy to do.

Again you don't need a "source" for this. It's a standard issue 997 part that you can buy from Sunset imports (or any dealer). Sunset charged my buddy about $155.

[geoff]

My writeup after I installed the 997 short shifter is at http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=7371&hl= I am still happy with it after 2+ years and have had zero problems.

When I installed the 997 short shifter in my '01 Boxster, I didn't measure the side-to-side difference, just the forward-backward (I measured about 25% front to back reduction). I would expect the side-to-side difference would be about the same, since the pivot point moved to the same point. I don't notice much side-to-side slop.

See http://www.carnewal-europe.com/cpx_p96139.htm for an ad with picture

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by geoff

My writeup after I installed the 997 short shifter is at http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=7371&hl= I am still happy with it after 2+ years and have had zero problems.

When I installed the 997 short shifter in my '01 Boxster, I didn't measure the side-to-side difference, just the forward-backward (I measured about 25% front to back reduction). I would expect the side-to-side difference would be about the same, since the pivot point moved to the same point. I don't notice much side-to-side slop.

See http://www.carnewal-europe.com/cpx_p96139.htm for an ad with picture

Just to confuse things, I believe goeff's is the actual 997 short shift kit 997-424-983-00. Which is different from the one that blinkwatt, john v and I have installed 997-424-010-00 . Ours is the standard 997 shifter, which happens to be noticeably shorter than the standard 986 shifter. Geoff's is a shorter throw than the standard 997 but longer than the B&M.

So in order of shift distance, longest to shortest:

Stock 986/996
Stock 987/997
Factory Short Shift Kit 997
Schnell
B&M/factory short shift 996/B&M clone

This is also the order of notchiness, least notchy first. I'm not sure where the swift-shift kit that extends the bottom of the 986/996 shift ball falls. There hasn't been much information shared on it.

[23109VC]

quick question-

i have seen refernce in this thread to the 987/997 shift kit vs the 987/997 short shift kit - both Porsche parts.

are these the same items - both drop in/swaps for a 986 shifter? OR does the 987/997 "short shift kit" require that I first get the 987 shift assembly, and then the "short shift kit" modifies it?

i just want something that drops in to replace what I have on my 986 and make shifting shorter and better feeling. i don't want it super notchy like the B&M. I drove an older 996 that had a B&M short shift kit and I did not care for it. i like the feel of my 986 shifter okay, i'd like it a bit tighter..but the throw is just too long.

can I get either the 987 shifter assempbly OR the 987 short shifter assembly and iethe rone will drop right in???

looks like people hwere have bought both, and like both... but i haven't seen anyone do a direct comparison of the two on a 986 boxster...