Short shift install today - '84 Targa

[JohnTucker]

I ended up buying the "OEM" short shift kit off our host. Arrived today and took about 3 hours of labor to install. The car is functioning, but tomorrow will probably be another 1 hour of putting the trim/console back together.

First off, I have a Bentley manual, but I found the Pelican tech articles to be much more helpful.

Notes:
- First thing, I could not get my OEM shift knob off. The plastic one with aluminum bushing. Smacked away at it for 15 minutes with the 15mm wrench until I starting thinking I may be damaging things downstream and just stopped. Cut it off with a dremel. Bummer because it's OEM...but...I'd rather replace it than break something much more expensive.
- I was able to bear-wrestle my center console out of the way without disconnecting anything (electronic).
- Shifter removal went smoothly and as described.
- The Short shifter kit is not perfect. It has to be messed with a bit. I dremeled away some paint on the shifter that fits between the pivot housing. The pivot housing itself got some gentle bending to it to get it to allow the shifter zero play but not bind + allow the locking clips to be replaced.
- Aside from the shift-knob frustration, my biggest issue was getting the large, brass lock nut that holds the threaded roll-pin in place. About an hour of effort here. I ended up filing away just enough of the shifter body that I could get a socket + breaker bar on it and with a scary amount of force (this is after several cycles of WD40 + Heat) it broke loose much to my relief.
- Everything else went really smooth and I just took the car on a 10 minute drive around my neighborhood. Initial thoughts are the feel of the shorter-shifts are very good, but as others have said in the past, the shifts themselves are a bit more difficult. Basically - no surprises.

Over the weekend I'll mess with my shift-linkage and see if I can get things a bit smoother, but overall, I'm happy with the results. It now feels I can reach 5th w/o leaning over into the passenger's lap.

And some may ask why I didn't go Wevo because I was stampeding in that direction. Nothing against them at all, but I have no issues finding gears with my particular tranny and actually wasn't wanting the spring-back to 3/4 the Wevo gives. The "OEM" stock feel, just shorter, is a good match for my personal taste. Highly recommended.

[Kidasters]

The factory short shift system is the best. I have mine paired with the Seine Systems gate shift kit and a wevo coupler.

While you are in there - replace all of the bushings on your shift linkage. Second best thing I ever did, right behind installing the factory short shift kit.

[911pcars]

Some OEM factory short shift kits I've seen have quality control issues.

Make sure the pivot pin slides cleanly into the fork (rectangle pivot box) and short shift lever.

Confirm the holes in the pivot box are drilled correctly. I had one where the holes were offset by a few degrees (should be 90º to the fore/aft pivot). It was enough to create alignment issues, then time to disassemble, yell at the supplier, wait for replacement, then continue the installation.

As for removing the large pivot pin nut on the front of '77-on shift housings, the best method I've found is to loosen the nut with the entire shift housing bolted down on the tunnel. Use a long flex handle and 23(?)mm 6-point socket, then push the handle downward. It will loosen without damaging the nut, shift housing or knuckles.

Hope this helps,
Sherwood

[Hotshot]

My cars PO did the OEM shift kit with a new OEM Knob. I have the stock one and a broken shift knob in the OG parts bin. Apparently a pain in the Bum to knock out.

Hi king about the coupler now..

[JohnTucker]

Originally Posted by 911pcars

Some OEM factory short shift kits I've seen have quality control issues.

Make sure the pivot pin slides cleanly into the fork (rectangle pivot box) and short shift lever.

Confirm the holes in the pivot box are drilled correctly. I had one where the holes were offset by a few degrees (should be 90º to the fore/aft pivot). It was enough to create alignment issues, then time to disassemble, yell at the supplier, wait for replacement, then continue the installation.

As for removing the large pivot pin nut on the front of '77-on shift housings, the best method I've found is to loosen the nut with the entire shift housing bolted down on the tunnel. Use a long flex handle and 23(?)mm 6-point socket, then push the handle downward. It will loosen without damaging the nut, shift housing or knuckles.

Hope this helps,
Sherwood

Yeah...thanks. That's I was describing here:
"The Short shifter kit is not perfect. It has to be messed with a bit. I dremeled away some paint on the shifter that fits between the pivot housing. The pivot housing itself got some gentle bending to it to get it to allow the shifter zero play but not bind + allow the locking clips to be replaced."

It took some massaging, but it ended up super smooth.

Thanks again.
JMT

[JohnTucker]

Originally Posted by Hotshot

My cars PO did the OEM shift kit with a new OEM Knob. I have the stock one and a broken shift knob in the OG parts bin. Apparently a pain in the Bum to knock out.

Hi king about the coupler now..

Yeah...my coupler looks good...but I'll take it all the way out when I'm there over the weekend. Took about 25 minute drive just now. Really pleased with everything. 4-5 is good.

If you're interested in selling your intact OEM shift-knob, let me know.

Thanks!
John