I have a 3.2 conversion project that's getting a 911 steering column for the key-on-the-left. Well this column we got didn't have the upper steering bearing and new replacements are $260. I was able to find something that will work for much less. Wondering if there is any interest in putting together some kits to sell.

These are not for 914/4 key on the right columns. It's a drop in replacement and should only take a few minutes to install. If there's interest I'll sell the first two at a steep discount as long as they get installed soon so I can confirm there are no installation issues or small variances from car to car.

Yes..interested.

Hey McMark,
I have a factory 6 with wheel wobble,I would like to put one in.
I have the leland west fix,on my tool box,I could do a comparison.

McMark,

Interested as well....I have a NOS upper bearing (paid $160 for it years ago) but have never installed it. My upper bearing has disintegrated and I have steering wheel wobble.

Slight hijack on this post but your pm isn't working Mark.
I am looking to do this myself but am having trouble finding the parts needed at a reasonable cost. Would it be rude of me to ask where and how much they cost for this job?
I am in Australia and finding these parts is quite difficult would it be something you are interested in sourcing and sending this way? Obviously a fee would be needed
Feel free to pm if you prefer
Edwin

I may need to 2...

Looks like I have my prototypers. Thanks!

I'm interested as well.

I'm interested in the whole conversion. Just need the column... The steering rack... The engine... Oh, heck! Might as well just buy the whole car!

I'm in for one.

Well, it pays to be observant. My original bearing is still in one piece and firmly attached in the steering housing. I'll need a small bearing puller to get it out to experiment with Mark's prototype. Here's a couple of pictures of the original bearing, the prototype and an OE bearing I happen to have on hand.

Mark's bearing is on the left and the OE bearing is on the right. The OE bearing has a 1mm lip circling the outer bearing face. The side view shows a slight difference is height (about 2mm) between the two bearings.Click to view attachment

Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentSorry for the blur, my camera doesn't like short focal lengths. These show the existing bearing in the column with not much room to extract it and the side view showing the taper and the lip of the OE bearing.

Mark, I'm open to suggestions about how to proceed with the bearing extraction. I thought this would be a slam dunk!

Isn't there a tiny lip around the OD? You might be able to get away with Channel-Loc pliers. I didn't think it was that tight...

I would be interested in this as well

Thanks

David

I am the other prototyper,and I am in the same spot.My bearing is still in the upper column,I tried a screwdriver,with no success.I am going to go out and play with it after I take my kid to school
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I was thinking that as well, but the space is pretty tight. I'll give it a shot in the next day or two.

I was able to get the original out by taking a thin screwdriver,tap it straight in,working around the entire outside diameter,another wider screwdriver,until I had a space the channel locs could get a good grip on,wiggle in a couple different directions and it came out.
Working on putting the bearing in now.

Ok,the bearing is in.
The shim part is the part you will need to address,not being attached to the bearing it wants to go before the bearing,and that makes it hard to get them even.
I took the hose clamp and tightened it down wiith the shim around it ,got it started by taking a 32mm socket face toward the column and gently tapping a couple of times o start it,take off the clamp and continue to gently tap. The bearing will only go until it is even with edge of the column,probably because the shim is not even. I tried my monte carlo and stock wheel. They both seem to work fine,no binding and there is a BIG difference in the slop,like there is none left.
I may remove it and play with the shim some more,maybe bond it to the bearing?....somehow

I used a wide flat piece of metal to tap everything into place at the same time. Maybe I need to build an installation tool that uses the steering wheel threads to pull/push the assembly into place evenly.

Thanks for the feedback. Keep me/us posted if there are any further revelations or thoughts.

yeah that what I was thinking,because it is not that far off,just enought to possibly frustrate people.Another thought..start with more bearing in the column and the shim flush with the front edge of the bearing.

Yup. Just wast sure how to accurately explain that. I probably need pictures to go with this kit.

Well my thoughts of finding a small bearing puller to yank out the existing steering bearing did not bear fruit....nothing around that will do the job. The Porsche service & repair manual lists a specific bearing puller with two pieces, Kukko 22-1 and Kukko-4 for this job, but that's another story.

In any case, I took the tried and true method of a light hammer and increasing widths of screwdrivers to get the bearing lip far enough away from the steering column to gently tap it from the back and the bearing popped right out. Less elegant, but it works. All told it took me about 20 minutes of working the bearing out after I removed the plastic housing and horn ring. I did not need to use a vise grip. I did end up with a couple of very mild scratches on the end of the steering column from all of this, but nothing really big. Plus my close vision sucks, so that doesn't help at all.

I tried my collegue's method of wrapping the steel shim with the hose clamp, but I could not get the shim to sit within the column this way, so I removed the clamp and set the shim in without it, just about half way. I positioned the new bearing in place and gently tapped it with a 30mm socket. I did place a very small amount of bearing grease around the outside of the new bearing to facilitate installation.

The bearing went in very easily, and by using the 30mm socket, which only covered the bearing and not the shim, the bearing was seated just before the shim. I just had to tap the shim home and both were seated level with the end of the steering column.

The steering wheel went on next to test the bearing and it worked as Mark intended. No slop whatsoever! The wheel functioned as intended and there was absolutely no play in it.

The above picture shows the column after the NOS bearing was removed.

This picture shows the metal shim half way in.

This shows the bearing just started.

This one shows both the shim and new bearing seated.

Another shot of the bearing and shim seated, from above.

One more of the completed bearing installation.

Steering wheel attached for a "slop" test.

Old NOS bearing is on the left, and a brand new NOS bearing on the right. There was no wear or mars on the old bearing, it appeared as fresh as the day Uncle Hans installed it. I didn't clean off the old grease before taking the picture.

There is no difference in the two bearings, except for a "Made in Germany" around the circumference of the new NOS bearing and it's build date of 12/97. IIRC I paid about $160 for it and went through Stoddard.

The NOS bearing causes the slop in the steering wheel. If I had installed the new NOS bearing I would not have gotten rid of the free play in the steering wheel! The wheel simply does not have a tight tolerence with the NOS bearing in the steering column. I'm wondering if all 914-6's came with this issue.

Anyone care to comment on their steering "free play?"

Mark, long story short, your bearing works as intended. The removal of the old bearing is cumbersome using a hammer and screwdrivers, but short of designing and building a specific removal tool, it looks like its the only way to go. Installation could not have been easier, and the end result is impressive.

I'm very glad to have had the chance to help out.

Will these bearings work in a '69 912?

-Britain

Britain, I need someone to try one out. PM comin' your way.

sbsix,
great pictures and nice write up.
I failed to mention that I used a 30mm after the 32.too completley seat the bearing.
I may attempt a removal,and reinstall using your method with the shim,but I am completly satisfied with the results.
Dig the helper!

Thanks for the kind words..my steering wheel feel is perfect with this bearing installed. Getting the plastic steering column covers back on was the biggest PITA of the whole project.

My shop cat Leo is 14 years old now and a hoot to have around when I'm in the garage. Wish he had thumbs to help out a bit more, though.

Just an idea to try iffin any of you guys have one , a power steering pump pulley puller may work out with the circular jaws designed to bite into the circle around the pulley snout . ??? Maybe ??

Jack

Jack,

Not familiar with that tool at all...can you download a picture? The space between the steering column and the bearing is very small and even the smallest bearing puller I could find, a clutch pilot bearing puller, was way too big.

Gary

That's the right idea, but I suspect the diameter is wrong and the steering shaft is too long in the center.

Does anyone have the part number of the replacement bearing used and the thickness of the shim material?

Seems I need to perform this same surgery on mine.

I do.

Anybody else want one at $60 shipped?

I'll try one for my 911. Also need a crank position sensor if you still have. PM me thanks

DB9146, the OE upper steering bearing does not cure any steering wheel movement if you have some "slop" in the steering, as far as a 914-6 goes.

McMark's bearing works perfectly and it cured my wobble. I can't believe it's already been 5 years since I commented on this thread.

Yes, since I bought mine several years ago, I have had more movement in mine than I like.

If replacing the OE upper steering bearing doesn't fix it, then I wonder what that bearing is for? What is it "bearing" against?

I only considered going the OE route because I thought it a better solution for me since there is no shim fitting needed and I really have no access to an metal other than what I can buy at the local hardware store.


McMark replied to my post this morning 1st thing and got back to me with the price, so kudos to McMark for speed!

The OE bearing just centers the steering column. You would think it would also take care of the movement as well.

McMark's bearing not only fixes the issue, but at $60 it's substantially cheaper than the Porsche OE upper steering bearing!

The hardest part of this fix is putting all the plastic steering column cover pieces back in place.

Does anyone know the retrofit part number on these? I am waiting to hear back from mcmark.. If anyone else knows I would appreciate it..

I think it’s a shim and a bearing to replace the oem bearing. I could use one too.