Installing The New Schnell Autosports Exclusive 981/991 Brake Master Cylinder Brace!

We're excited to show off our latest product that we have in production, our brake master cylinder brace!

If you have a 981 or 991, your braking performance isn't the best it could be.

Under heavy braking, your firewall will actually flex from the pressure, which allows your brake master cylinder to move. As with brake lines, any unwanted movement in your braking system means that you're reducing brake pedal feel and responsiveness, because the force that's being used to flex the master cylinder, is force that's not going to your calipers.

You can see this movement for yourself in this quick video we made:

Our master cylinder brace is designed to remove the majority of that deflection, by bracing the master cylinder to another point on the car (in this case, the wall that separates the front luggage area from the rest of the front trunk area). With that deflection removed, you'll be able to brake harder, and improve your pedal feel.

981 Cayman/Boxster GT4 Side Scoop Installation Guide!

Did you buy our GT4 side scoop kit to give your 981 Cayman or Boxer a little more oomph in the visual department, as well as increasing the air going into your engine?

The installation process might seem daunting, but Planet-9 member Voyager6 did a fantastic writeup on how he installed them on his own 981 Cayman S (seriously, if you get a chance, check out his thread on his beast of a car).

He was gracious enough to allow us to repost it on our blog for the benefit of other 981 Cayman/Boxster owners, so here's Voyager6's 981 GT4 side scoop installation guide:

Schnell Autosports Thursday Quick Tip!

We've had plenty of customers buy our GT3 control arm upgrade kit for their 987 or 981 Boxster/Cayman, and love the extra amount of camber they're able to get with them installed.

Some of you were so excited of the prospect of being able to better tune your suspension settings, that you took the outer control arms out of the box without checking to see which side is which, prompting a call or email to one of our friendly techs to point you in the right direction.

The problem with figuring out the orientation of the outer control arms (the longer of the two halves of the control arm), is that the actual control arms themselves (i.e. the bodies) are identical, with identical part numbers (same with the thrust arm bushings), and what makes them left or right is the orientation of holes of the thrust arm bushings.

As for the inner control arms (the smaller of the two halves), they will work on either side.

Just for clarification: Left - US driver's side; Right - US passenger's side.

The outer control arms in their boxes. Not all boxes will have both stickers on them.

The outer control arms themselves. Please note the orientation of the offset hole in the thrust arm bushing.

Left outer control arm. Note the orientation of the offset hole in the thrust arm bushing.

Closer view of the thrust arm bushing on the left side.

Right outer control arm. Note the orientation of the offset hole in the thrust arm bushing.

Closer view of the thrust arm bushing on the right side.

Project 981 Cayman S - Installing A 981 GTS Rear Diffuser

Looking to give the rear of your 981 Boxster or Cayman a little more flash?

When the 981 Boxster and Cayman GTS were introduced, they brought with them some new styling cues, most notably a new bumper design, and a rear diffuser that works in conjunction with the front bumper to change how the air flows underneath the car vs the non-GTS models.

Putting on the GTS rear diffuser may not give you the same benefits that you would get on an actual GTS, it will however, make things a little more interesting looking for everyone you show your taillights to (whether in traffic, or on the track).

While changing the front bumper is an expensive and time consuming process, putting the GTS' diffuser on your non-GTS 981 is a fairly simple and quick process.

This is what the rear diffuser looks like on a non-GTS 981 Cayman or Boxster.

Installing A Center Radiator On Your 981 Boxster/Cayman - Part 2: Flushing Your Cooling System And Installing The Radiator

When you remove your front bumper, this is what you're left with:

This is what's behind the bumper for PDK and PAS equipped 981 Caymans. Your vehicle may differ.

Or at least for us, this is what we have going on behind the bumper. What may be lurking behind your 981's face depends on what options you have. As our Cayman S came equipped with PDK and the adaptive cruise control, our side radiators have the "open" ducts that channel air from the front trim piece that clicks into a frame attached to the bumper and surrounds the PAS radar sensor.

Other 981 Boxster and Caymans may have the same "open" ducts that we do, but do not have a frame attached to the bumper, as the block off plate eschews that frame and connects to the bumper itself. And still other 981s have "closed" ducts with the block off plate in the center.

Installing A Center Radiator On Your 981 Boxster/Cayman - Part 1: Face/Off - Removing Your Front Bumper

For most 981 Boxsters and Caymans, the stock cooling system is adequate enough for day to day use with the occasional romp on the loud pedal.

However, if you have a highly modified 981, live in hot climates, or like to take your car out for track days or otherwise extended "fun" driving sessions, you might find your coolant temperatures going up to a level that's too close for comfort.

The stock radiators are two units located on the left and right side of the car, and by adding an additional 3rd radiator to the center of the bumper, you increase your cooling capacity and ability (as well as extra peace of mind in hot weather).

The stock side radiators on the left and right sides of the bumper. Also: rock and twig magnets.

Upgrading Your 1965-1989 911 Headlights From Stock H5 To European H4

Today we had a customer come in with his much-beloved and well driven 88' 911 Targa to have some work done. Asides from having us replace his catalytic converter and change his oil (a mechanic at a different shop used an oil with a high zinc content, which is incorrect for the year of his car, which in turn destroyed his original catalytic converter), he had us upgrade his stock H5 headlights to Bosch Euro H4 headlights.

These headlights have seen better days.

Water and dirt were entering through this hole.

His headlights were a little worse for wear. Dirty, scratched, cloudy, cracking, and on the driver's side headlight, a rock kicked up from another car had hit the light, creating a hole, which would allow dirt and water to enter into the housing. On top of that, the amount of light that the H5 bulbs were outputting left a little to be desired.

He wanted a solution for his poorly performing stock lights, and our Bosch European H4 headlights were the answer. The H5 headlight as found on US-market 911's is a sealed unit, with a plastic housing that was prone to melting and damage. The European H4 headlight has a metal housing, and can be disassembled if you need to replace just the lens. The Euro H4 headlight assembly also has superior light output due to it's lens construction.

Bosch European H4 Headlight Assemblies are the popular upgrade from stock USDM H5 lights. 

Changing The Brake Pads On Our Rotora Big Brake Kit

For those of you who have had to change the brake pads on newer model stock Porsche calipers, you know how much of a pain it can be. For those that don't, the brake calipers on newer Porsches have a "feature" where the two halves of the caliper are joined at the top by a permanently attached bridge.

Taking your brake pads out from the top like a sane person isn't an option here.

While they say this design it to create a stiffer caliper that has more resistance against potential flexing during hard braking circumstances, what this means for the end user is that to replace the pads, you have to remove them from the bottom of the caliper, which ultimate means that you have to remove the entire caliper (and rotor) to gain the clearance needed to remove and replace the pads. On top of that process, the bolts used to secure the caliper to the hub can be easily damaged during reinstallation.

Rotora's Big Brake kit, while asides from providing superior braking performance compared to stock, eschews Porsche's caliper design for one of a more familiar layout; you only have to remove a single pin that holds down a retainer plate, and once the plate is removed, the pads can simply be pulled out from the top of the caliper. After compressing the caliper pistons, the new pads can then be slid into place, and once the retaining plate and pin are reinstalled, you're done.

Just removing that center pin will give you access to the brake pads. Simple!

Removing The Headlights From Your 981 Cayman/Boxster

We've had a few customers with 981 Boxsters/Caymans that wanted to know how to remove their headlights, whether it's for changing a blown bulb, or for the installation of paint protection film, or for any variety of reasons. The first question often asked is "how difficult is it?", and to which we simply reply "not very". It will probably take you longer to read this blog entry and look at the pictures than it would be to actually remove the headlights.

Installing Rotora's Big Brake Kit On Our 981 Cayman

While all the glitz and glamour is given towards making your car faster, the unsung hero in automotive modifcation is improving your ability to stop. The stock Porsche brake setup may be adequate enough for many people, but for many of those that like to drive their car often and hard, it's not quite up to the challenge of their driving style.

When you brake, the pedal pushes hydraulic fluid through your brake lines to push on the pistons in your brake calipers, which in turn pushes your brake pads into your brake rotors, and that friction between your pads and rotors is what causes you to decelerate. That friction is converting your kinetic energy into heat, and that heat is absorbed by the rotors, which then release that heat into the air.

With day to day normal driving and the braking that goes along with it, you typically don't have to try and stop or slow down from a high speed to low speed in a short distance, which means that you are not generating a large amount of heat for the rotors to absorb, and your rotors also have ample time to shed whatever amount of heat they have taken in.

During more aggressive driving situations, or when you're on the track, your brakes are going to be seeing much larger amounts of heat caused by frequent hard braking in short periods of time. Your rotors can only hold so much heat capacity before they reach their limit, and once that limit is reached, trouble starts to happen. If the rotors are maxed out as far as heat capacity, that heat has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is the rest of your brake components. If you overheat your brakes, you risk damaging your seals, drying out the lubricants, glazing the brake pads, and boiling your brake fluid. The net result of that damage is that you will have significant reduction in your braking ability, to the point that your car may be considered too unsafe to drive until the problems are fixed (by replacing damaged seals, reapplying lubricants, replacing the brake pads, and doing a complete flush and fill of the brake fluid).

Rotora's Big Brake kit helps to prevent dangerous brake system overheating and the subsequent resulting damage, as well as noticeably improve your overall braking performance. Larger, forged aluminum brake calipers with more pistons (that are sequentially sized) will give you stronger clamping forces with longer brake pad life, and their larger than stock slotted rotors not only give more leverage for the calipers and pads to generate more braking force, they also give the rotors the ability to store more heat in them and shed that heat faster.

Installing Schnell Autosports' Lug Stud Conversion Kit

Lug bolts can make the changing of wheels a longer and slower process than it needs to be. If you're tired of having to hold your wheel up to keep it from falling when you take out your lug bolts, or if you're tired of having to hold your wheel up while simultaneously making sure the holes are aligned so you can get the lug bolts started without damaging your wheels, we have the perfect solution for you.

Schnell Autosports now carries our own lug stud conversion kit, which lets you ditch the lug bolts for high quality lug studs that makes removing and replacing your wheels fast.

Our conversion kit includes 20 conversion studs and 20 lug nuts

Converting your hubs to use lug studs is simple.

Improve your brake feel with Schnell Autosports' braided brake lines!

A popular and easy way to improve your brake feel is to replace your stock brake lines with braided brake lines.

The braking system on your car is a closed system. A simplified version of how it works, is that when you press the brake pedal, your brake fluid (which is non-compressible) is displaced, and the force of the fluid being displaced into the calipers is what makes the brake calipers close around the brake discs.

With the stock brake lines, the rubber hoses actually bulge slightly from the pressure of the fluid displacement, which translates into less pressure being applied to your calipers, which then makes you have to press harder on the brake pedal to compensate for the reduced braking force (i.e. brake feel). Braided brake lines prevent the hoses from bulging under load, which improves the brake feel.

Stock brake line (top) vs braided brake line (bottom)

Installing Schnell Autosports’ braided brake lines is a simple process, you just have to make sure to be careful and use the correct tools.

Installing Schnell Autosports' Exclusive Rear Support Bar

Schnell Autosports’ rear support bar is a quick and easy way to make your 981 Boxster or Cayman handle better. There are two frame rails at the rear of the car that are connected to one another by only a stamped piece of metal. Under hard cornering or other unbalanced loading, that plate flexes, which in turn allows the two rails to flex. Installing Schnell’s rear support bar will solidly connect the two rails together, minimizing any unwanted movement during spirited driving.

The installation process is simple to do, and only the following tools are required:

• Socket wrench with 16mm socket
• 19mm wrench

Installing the 981 X73 Rear Sway Bar Upgrade

An easy handling upgrade for your non-X73 Sport Suspension equipped 981 Cayman or Boxster is to replace the stock rear sway bar for an X73 Sport Suspension rear sway bar.

On a PASM-equipped 981, the stock rear bar is actually hollow, with a weight of ~4.65 pounds, whereas the X73 rear bar is a solid unit at a weight of ~8.5 pounds with only marginal size difference. As you can imagine, a solid bar is going to be stiffer than an equivalently sized hollow bar, giving you better handling characteristics.

Swapping out the stock bar for the X73 bar is a very easy process. There are only 4 bolts and 2 nuts that have to be removed.

Installing the Schnell Autosports 981/991 Aluminum Protection Bar

Installing Schnell Autosports' exclusive aluminum protection bar on your 981/991 is a quick and simple project for the DIYer to do at home.

Tools you’ll need:

• T30 Torx head remover
• 13mm socket wrench
• Pliers

Your aluminum protection bar kit should come with the following:

• 1 protection bar
• 3 speed clips
• 3 13mm bolts
• 3 crush washers

Wheel Spacer Installation

So you purchased a half or full set of our wheel spacers to make your car look meaner and have a wider track, but aren't quite positive about how to install them? Then this guide is for you.

Wheel spacer installation is a fairly simple process on paper: take off your wheel, remove the rotor screws, put the spacer on, install the rotor screws, and then put the wheel back on. At the most basic, that's all it is.

991 Front Strut Tower Bar Installation.

We had a customer come in the other day to have our exclusive front strut tower bar installed on his beautiful 2014 racing yellow 991.

We offer free installation of this product if you're in the area, but for those of you that want to install it yourself, it's a fairly quick and simple process for the average DIYer to tackle at home.

You really only need 3 tools:

• Socket wrench with 13mm socket (for the strut tower nuts)
• 16mm wrench (for rotating the turnbuckle bolts to adjust bar preload)
• 19mm wrench (for tightening the jam nuts on the turnbuckle bolts, and for the bolts that secure the rod ends to the end plates)

First thing's first: you'll want to lay out the front strut tower kit for preassembly. The kit should come with a pack containing left hand threaded and right hand threaded rod ends (and will be labeled LH and RH, respectively), a pack containing two turnbuckle bolts with jam nuts pre-installed and two bolts with crush washers and nuts, two end plates, and the strut tower bar itself.

At top: the strut tower bar as shipped. At bottom: the strut tower bar fully assembled but not installed.

Installing Bilstein's DampTronic Suspension Kit On Our 981 Cayman

With the 981 Cayman and Boxster still being relatively new, there are scant options as far as replacement suspension kits go, especially for vehicles equipped with Porsche’s PASM system (Porsche Active Suspension Management), which gives the car electronically controlled, continuously adjusting shock damping.

Bilstein answered the call with the recent US release of their PSS line for the 981 Cayman and Boxster in the form of their popular PSS10 and DampTronic (for vehicles with PASM) coilover systems.

As it turns out, the removal of stock suspension and subsequent installation of an aftermarket suspension setup on the 981 is a bit more difficult and time consuming compared to a “traditional” coilover installation process, where you usually have to just take off a few bolts, take out the old suspension, put in the new suspension, and then bolt it all back together.

This write-up is intended to merely be our observations and thoughts of the installation process of Bilstein’s 981 DampTronic system into our 2014 Cayman S, and not a be-all end-all installation guide. We won’t be giving any specific bolt sizes or torque specs, on the off chance that something is different on your vehicle. At the time of this writing, the 981 DampTronic kit did not come with "proper" English installation instructions (it amounted to essentially "installation is opposite of removal"), nor did Bilstein USA have English installation instructions available. Hopefully we can give you enough information to help you successfully installing Bilstein’s into your 981.

Interested in ordering a Bilstein PSS10 or DampTronic kit for your 981? You can order them here, or contact us at 1-888-978-9899 for more information.

So with that said, here’s the usual disclaimer:

This article is being provided for general educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended to be a substitute for any manufacturer’s operation or installation manual.