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!