Brad B
New member
Finally got to a bunch of to-do's I have been putting of on the Carrera. Pulled the car on the lift, cranked up the A/C (it was 102 degrees in St. Louis today) and bonded with my child from Stuttgart.
My first task was to replace some shifter bushings. This is just a preventative measure to keep the shifter tight. The bushings have a tendency to harden and get sloppy creating more movement in the stick shift. To get to the shifter I had to go underneath the car and remove several panels that enclose all the mechanicals on the Carrera. It's pretty cool, IMHO, to see how aero the underneath of the car is. Virtually everything is hidden from the nose to just in front of the exhaust at the rear. (My Cayman S or even new Carreras are not covered this completely.) The panels are a mix of aluminum, steel and plastic. All assembled they are very strong and tight. The tolerances are far more precise than say the plastic engine undertray found on most cars. Must have undone 50 nuts and bolts.
Front looking back. Note the scratches under the chin of the car. The car is LOW and stuff happens. These are in the clear bra covering only and I plan to replace this soon to make it perfect again.
Looking forward, from just behind of the engine.
Finally! There is the shifter.
Some of the panels after clean up. (Of course I cleaned them!)
Engine cover.
Even moveable suspension parts have aero fairings on them to reduce turbulance. Cool.
All buttoned up and clean.
I also changed the oil which is a pretty big deal on the air-cooled Carrera's. The engine is a dry sump system and has no oil pan. There are two oil filters, one at the engine and one in an oil tank housed in the rear wheel well area. The engine oil filter is easy. The oil tank holds oil that runs in large stainless steel tubes between the dual oil coolers located in the nose of the car and the engine. This tank, and the draining of the lines is where you get out most of the 12.5 quarts of Mobil1 this car uses. Cha-ching!
It's a pain to do the side oil tank because you have to remove the wheel well liner, etc. The filter is at the bottom.
I also took this opportunity to lay on my back and clean the undersides of the body.
And finally I cleaned up the engine bay a bit and called it an afternoon. (Note: the oil dipstick is that yellow handle on the far right. It's about 3 feet long and travels all the way up to that tank in front of the wheel. There is also an oil level gauge inside the car.
My first task was to replace some shifter bushings. This is just a preventative measure to keep the shifter tight. The bushings have a tendency to harden and get sloppy creating more movement in the stick shift. To get to the shifter I had to go underneath the car and remove several panels that enclose all the mechanicals on the Carrera. It's pretty cool, IMHO, to see how aero the underneath of the car is. Virtually everything is hidden from the nose to just in front of the exhaust at the rear. (My Cayman S or even new Carreras are not covered this completely.) The panels are a mix of aluminum, steel and plastic. All assembled they are very strong and tight. The tolerances are far more precise than say the plastic engine undertray found on most cars. Must have undone 50 nuts and bolts.
Front looking back. Note the scratches under the chin of the car. The car is LOW and stuff happens. These are in the clear bra covering only and I plan to replace this soon to make it perfect again.
Looking forward, from just behind of the engine.
Finally! There is the shifter.
Some of the panels after clean up. (Of course I cleaned them!)
Engine cover.
Even moveable suspension parts have aero fairings on them to reduce turbulance. Cool.
All buttoned up and clean.
I also changed the oil which is a pretty big deal on the air-cooled Carrera's. The engine is a dry sump system and has no oil pan. There are two oil filters, one at the engine and one in an oil tank housed in the rear wheel well area. The engine oil filter is easy. The oil tank holds oil that runs in large stainless steel tubes between the dual oil coolers located in the nose of the car and the engine. This tank, and the draining of the lines is where you get out most of the 12.5 quarts of Mobil1 this car uses. Cha-ching!
It's a pain to do the side oil tank because you have to remove the wheel well liner, etc. The filter is at the bottom.
I also took this opportunity to lay on my back and clean the undersides of the body.
And finally I cleaned up the engine bay a bit and called it an afternoon. (Note: the oil dipstick is that yellow handle on the far right. It's about 3 feet long and travels all the way up to that tank in front of the wheel. There is also an oil level gauge inside the car.
Thanks for the great write-up! :bow :xyxthumbs
