Tips and Review: Installing a Seine gated shift kit on a 915 with OEM short shift
 

In case anyone is interested in 915 shifter upgrades, here’s my experience with the Seine gated shifter kit. Budget prevented me from choosing the Rennshift or Wevo options. Fortunately, my car already had the OEM short shifter, so all I really needed was gates and a centering spring. After trying the Seine back-to-back with a Rennshift, I would say the former gets you 80-90% of the benefits of the latter at ⅓ of the price.

Installation was time consuming but technically easy. The worst part IMO were removing and reinstalling the center console, auto-heat box, and carpet. With the OEM short shifter, the shift housing has to be significantly modified to fit the new pivot and spring mechanism. I suggest drilling a ½” hole at the new max height of the pivot pin and then file or dremel the rest of the slot profile. Here it is completed.

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AFTER drilling and filing (including holes for new sprig bolt carrier), clean very well to remove any filings and re-lube. I like synthetic redline grease, but it's overkill to be sure. Take the time to remove the carpet when removing the shifter from the car b/c you’ll need clear access to get the shifter back in properly. I do not currently have access to a welder, so I used JB weld and the supplied clamp to anchor the tab that attaches to the shift lever. The key with JB weld is to properly prep the metal surfaces. Remove paint, scuff, then clean. After 2 months of spirited driving, the tab has not budged. Before I epoxied the tab, I tested the kit with the tab only clamped for a couple days to dial it in. Lots of adjustments were needed, and I did end up filing that tab a bit to prevent it catching on the 2 gate when going to 3rd. Once adjustments were made and epoxy had set, the shifter felt solid and precise.

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Impressions after two months use are very positive. Component quality is high and the engineering and innovation are worth the price IMO. This now feels like a much more precise, more modern shifter. No more stirring soup trying to find gears. Seine’s kit is an inexpensive, highly worthwhile improvement.

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Final picture is the price in blood this mod cost me. So far with this car, EVERY project has taken such a cost 😕

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Good write-up! I have the Seine kit lying here waiting to be installed. But I figured I'd add it to the list of jobs for this winter.
Nice work on the JB Weld, I don't have a welder either. I'm just not entirely sure how you got to epoxy the tabs when it needed adjustments. I mean: you have to remove the tabs again to JB Weld them, right?

I drove the car for a couple days with the tab mechanically secured but not epoxied. I made lots of little adjustments till it was just right. Then I took a paint pen and carefully marked exactly where the tab went. I removed it, prepped the surfaces, added the epoxy, and then re-secured it with the hose clamp.

Everyone should have a small, <$500, 120VAC MIG. Easy to learn how to do little jobs like this here or there.

Interesting about the JB Weld. There is quite a bit of force on that tab, plus bumping it occasionally into the fixed tabs it hooks onto. I'd not have thought it would work, but obviously it does.

For extra insurance, remove your road-tested shifter and have a welding/muffler shop apply a few tack welds to the lever tab, then remove the clamp. Once removed, there's a hole in the lever arm to apply the final weld to the lever. Reminder: Prep the area for a clean weld. It should not move, even when subjected to ham-fisted shifting efforts. I tried and failed to disturb it's final resting place.

Sherwood
(affiliated)