Following the collective tips and instructions previously posted, 3 of us got together last weekend and installed UDPs on our Caymans. The installs were surprisingly easy, we encountered no problems and got it down to about 40-45 min for the last car (the first took about 1.25 hours as we learned the job). If you're the least bit mechanically inclined, don't be afraid to tackle this DIY. However, it is much, much easier with a helper.
Here are some additions to previous posts:
1. The
photo in K-Man S' DIY article shows 2 hex bolts holding down the luggage bar. His bolts must have been replaced during a prior mod, because the actual bolts are 12 point star as pictured in
porsches4ed's article. Those bolts ideally require an 8M 12 point socket (which I happen to own from work on prior Porsches), but a hex socket will do the job. Just be careful not to over tighten.
2. The top plastic rail above the carpeting at the front of the engine bay need not be removed. Just pull it up in the middle and it will pop up allowing enough room to easily remove/install the carpeting.
3. Completely remove and store the belt so it doesn't pick up any metal shards during the engine boss cutting.
4. Put a BBI provided bolt through one of the holes in the oem pulley into the hole in the engine boss. The hole is NOT threaded so the bolt is just pushed in. Don't bother with engine in gear, handbrake hard on, foot on brake blah, blah to keep the pulley from rotating. It takes just a minute to push the bolt through if your helper slowly rotates the pulley with a 24mm wrench or better, a long 1/2" breaker bar.
5. Spread a towel in the base of the engine compartment to catch debris and a hand towel or rag over the end of the crank to protect it from any slips during the boss cutting. Afterward, shop vac before and after the towels are removed. Inspect the pulley surfaces for shards.
6. We cut off each engine boss using a cordless reciprocating saw ("sawzall"). To simplify the cuts, we scored the bosses with a Dremel using a side cutting bit, but that's not essential. The cutting was easily and cleanly completed in literally a few minutes for each. There was plenty of clearance to work. The bosses were cut off at about a 45 degree angle going into the engine from the left (driver's) side of the car.
7. Torquing the new bolt could have been a bear since there's limited space to get the leverage for the 90 degree turn after reaching 37 ft lbs. We used a 4-5 foot length of iron pipe to extend the length of the breaker bar & standing outside the car with a helper holding everything steady we easily got the last 45 degrees of movement.
8. When replacing the carpet, make sure the tabs at the top corners (sides & top) are not folded under, but rather guide them in between the metal and the plastic trim.
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