You got lucky using the ball end allen socket. They tend to round out the hole when they can't go in deep enough. Those top nuts are bittchin' tight sometimes, so the straight flute allen socket is recommended.

Thanks for taking the time to post the diagram/pics, guys. Now what size is that hex? And that's a 3/8" ratchet, right?
Have a happy 4th!

Thanks to all for the great tips and especially John Walker for putting the fear of using a ball end allen. Someone in the line of POs buggered up the nuts pretty well. Here's a pic of the worst one:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1470520489.jpg

Repeating John's words of caution in my head, I began the search through my tools on hand. Not having a straight (non-ball) allen socket, I found the perfect solution (albeit from Harbor Freight) sitting right out in the open, on top of my workbench:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1470520552.jpg

Using the short end, I had plenty of clearance and the needed torque to get both nuts moving and finished off with the ball allen socket. One thing to note on the clearance, is that I have a factory wide body, so not sure if that gives me any more/less clearance than on a non-turbo.

Hope that helps someone else in the future. Total time using the HF "T-allen" was just over an hour for the swap (not including jacking/lowering the car).

Not sure why the internal hex? why not a basic hex nut? just changed the starter on our 911, pita until the bearhug is used

Is changing the starter on a G50 any easier than the 915? Any particular advice out there for the G50/ starter removal?

Be sure you keep the starter receipt. Unless it was locally rebuilt there are a LOT of early failures due to substandard parts and labor on the builds.....good luck.

More difficult from what I've read. Either a partial engine drop or slave cylinder removal.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/611179-porsche-911-g50-starter-removal-tips.html

Ouch. Thanks for the link. I've got an intermittent problem w/ the starter... turn key to start: nothing; turn it off then to start again & it starts right up! Has happened only about 6 times, but may be a warning of impending disaster. Cleaned up the starter connections yesterday so we'll see what happens.

jlex - also check your ignition. I originally thought my issue (915 trans) was ignition related, as I had similar issues initially. If you have a jump cable you can get turn your ignition on and use the jump cable to spin your starter to hopefully narrow down the no-start to ignition or starter.

A trick for the G50 is to remove the solenoid from the old starter.

Thanks. That was going to be my next point of focus if the cleaning didn't help. Problem is it happens so rarely & always starts on the second try, so tracking it down may be a problem. If I have to throw parts at it, a new ignition switch at $130 may be cheaper than a new starter at $250...
If I could experience a continuous fail I'd be able to track down the problem.

That would be a cool trick.... how is the solenoid fastened to the starter & are the fasteners accessible?

Pardon my ignorance. What does this do for you?

It would give you extra room to be able to remove the bolts holding the starter.

Considering the intermittent nature of the issue is start by cleaning all connections and the ground strap from the gearbox to the chassis.

Then I'd consider replacing the electrical portion of the ignition switch. The easy test would be to try supplying +12v (via a jumper wire) to the yellow wire at the ignition switch the next time you have a no-start condition.