The List Tools: Ramps (for me, at least 6") 3/8" ratchet 1/2" braker bar 17mm socket 19mm socket (1/2" and 3/8" drive) 22mm open end wrench 13mm open end/box end wrench Measuring tape Paper and pencil (not pen...you can't write upside down with a pen...for very long...unless it's one of those "space" pens...) 32mm THIN Offset (VERY THIN) wrench Hook spanner (not a pin spanner) Flat head screw drivers (I recomend a "stuby" one and a medium length one) Inspection mirror (important) Cotter pin puller (ya..like anyone actually has one) Porsche Tie-Rod End puller (available from Pelican-Parts.com Tools/Stuff you may need: 10mm x 1mm Die/Rethreader M10 castlated nuts (from Porsche) A grinder Air compresser Other stuff: A synthetic spray lubricant A synthetic grease A penetrating oil (WD-40) A "trouble" light Paper towels 2mm x 20/25mm (around this length) cotter pins LocTite (I used the red stuff) Medium sized zip-ties

Okay, first thing...make sure you have all the parts. Then, crack the lug bolts. Jack up one side of the car and remove the wheel. Now, with the tire off, remove the cotter pin from the tie-rod end. Trust me, it is much easier to take it off now than on your back using an inspection mirror. Don't remove the 17mm castlated nut. You'll need that so you can drive the car up on the ramps.

Which leads us to the next step. Drive the car up on the ramps. You could jack it up and then slide blocks underneath it but my jack isn't big enough (no, I'm not referring to...uh...nevermind you sick bastards).

Now that the car is on the ramps, disconnect the negative terminal of the battery. The bolt that secure the clip is a 13mm.

Once the car is up, get underneath it and remove the cover plate. My father thinks that the bolts that hold on the cover plate have a torque spec. I think he's an idiot. Back on topic, IIRC (if I recall correctly) it is held on with two 17mm bolts and two 13mm bolts. The 17's are easy to get at and you can use a ratchet on them. The 13's require the use of an open-ended/box-end wrench.

Next, clean off everywhere you think dirt and crud could fall onto the rack, i.e. clean off the bellows, above the bellows and to the sides. I recomend doing the cleaning now becuase when I get tired/irritated I DON'T clean.

Very important. Measure the distance from the center of the u-bolt to the center of the tie-rod end ball joint. Write this down using the pencil and paper. Maybe you could use a PDA but who would use such a fragile thing under a dirty car?

Then, use a 17mm socket and undo the castlated nuts on the ends of the tie-rod. It helps if you spray the nuts with penetrating lube (hehe) prior to removal. At this point you should be thanking me for removing the cotterpins. "You're welcome. :D" Now, take your special Porsche tie-rod removal tool and remove the tie-rod end. The special tool takes a 19mm IIRC.

I worked on one side at a time so I wouldn't get crap on my rack (hehehe). Anyway, take the medium flathead screwdriver and pry up and over the spring clip from the out-board side of the bellows. You will have to move a portion at a time becuase the spring is rather stiff. Pull it off towards the tie rod ends.

Pull back the bellows. You'll see a funny looking thing with four notches on it. I'd put a picture up but I don't have any film... Anyway, use the hook spanner on it. It is a bitch to get the hook spanner on. You have to reach ALL the way to the other side (well, I did). Anyway, make sure you are turning the right way and push like all hell. Remember, some loving Porsche mechanic put that on with 50+ ft/lbs of torque...and you're using some small ass hook spanner.

Okay, now that that's done, the u-bolt and tie-rod will rotate freely...thank god. Now, look at the u-bolt and the bolt gonig through it. Twist the u-bolt until you can see the other side of the bolt. Notice how there isn't a nut on the end. Notice how there is a cotter pin. Remove the blasted cotter pin. Now rotate the u-bolt and unscrew the bolt holding the tie-rod to the u-bolt. This is a 17mm bolt. Remove the tie-rod.

Now that the tie-rod has been removed, unscrew the u-bolt from the rack. Place u-bolt and tie-rod end somewhere. Remove the other spring holder from the rack-side of the bellows. Pull this off of the bellows so it is resting on the rack. Do not remove the bellows; you'll remove them later.

It helps to have the key in the ignition to disable the steering wheel lock. Note: you can move the rack by pushing/pulling sideways on it. You can have someone else turn the wheel if you want. Remember, the rack moves opposite to the way the steering wheel moves.

Do the same thing to the other side. Be sure to watch out for the master cylender. You will have to move the rack side to side to get a good position. The master cylinder makes it a bitch. I ended up hitting my break lines when I took off that washer thing you have to use the hook spanner on. However, they didn't get dammaged.

Now, get out from underneath the car and take a break. I ate lunch and looked at the old tie-rods and made comments about how much better the 930s were.

Now that you're out from underneath the car set the length of the tie-rod to the amount to measured on the old tie-rods. You can adjust the tie-rod end by undoing the securing nut and rotating the end. You can do this with everything in place by rotating the shaft. The shaft requires a 13mm open-end wrench to turn.

Also, take off the orange cover over the threads of the tie rod. Now, remove the castlated nut and pull off the white plastic thingy. It is only a protector. Now, look at the supplied nut. On the tie-rods I got, it was a cheesy piece of crap that hadn't even been deburred. This is where the Porsche nuts come in. They are of much higher quality, in my opinion. The people at the Porsche store look at me strangly when I buy Porsche nuts/bolts/screws, oh well, at least I know the hardware is going to be high quality.

At this point you should still have the bellows on the car without their springs holding them on, one set of old, crapped out tie-rods, one set of new, nice tie-rods, two spacing washers, two bellows, two zip-ties, 2 2mm cotter pins and two 17mm castlated Porsche nuts.

Get back under the car.

Now, go to the passenger side of the rack. Move the rack so it is at full lock and the end of the rack is flush with the rack (hrm...sounds like I'm telling you to move the same thing. You'll understand when you're under there). Remove the bellows. The bellows slip over a long length of the rack. Don't ask me why.

I do not know the correct torque spec for the tie-rod to rack. The 914 manuel says 34 ft/lbs for the stock tie-rods. I decided to use this torque and use LocTite to be sure. I ended up using red LocTite. I used the red because that is all I had and I didn't want to go to the store to get the green or blue stuff. You should use the green or blue, well, the correct one...I'm not sure of the ratings of those colors of LocTite. Anyway, I left the threads oiled when I applied the LocTite becuase I didn't want the full bond strength.

Before I put on the tie-rods I put some sythetic grease on them. (I don't want them to rust...damnit). Now, put some LocTite (if you're using it) on the threads and screw it into the rack until it is hand tight. Make sure you put the spacer in, i.e. the big fat washer.

You'll notice that the tie-rods have a square area to use a wrench on instead of a hexagonal surface (when viewed from the side). This means that if you don't have an offset wrench you'll be unable to turn the tie-rod all the way/get at it. This is important because I had a straight wrench and I had to cut it in half, grind some stuff and drill some holes so I could mount a long extention bar to it. It would be much easier just to buy the correct, offset wrench.

When I tightened the tie-rod on the slider was flush with the rack.

Now, you think the next step would be to put the bellows on. Wrong. Spray that long surface where the bellows goes over before it hits it's retaining ring with some synthetic lube. This helps TREMENDOUSLY when trying to put the bellows on. Be sure to put a liberal amount on; it won't hurt the rubber.

To put the bellows on, you kind of "mash" them on the end. I ended up scrunching up the bellows until they could compress no more and then rotated them until the went over the rack housing. I kept rotating until I got them near the retaining ring. (Just imagine doing this with the master cylinder in the way...) When I got next to the ring I sprayed the hell out of the flange. Then I just jammed it up and over.

Next, put on the retaining spring. (Easier said than done.) To get this on you use the flat-head screwdrivers. The medium works well because it has descent leverage. The stubby screwdriver is great for pushing the lifted spring over the lip and onto the boot.

The secret to putting on the springs is to get all that you can see over the lip. Then, (this is partly why you lubed the hell out of it) you rotate the whole boot. The retaining spring will rotate with it. As it become visable, use the screwdrivers to lever it on. Try doing this without rotating...on the side with the MC...I did, it took me 1/2 an hour.

Okay, now e-mail me to finish this