Zen-level shifter link adjusting

[JohnTucker]

Question for the Masters out there -

Replaced my shifter-link bushings today with brass. I've got the car running and shifting...BUT...it was slightly smoother before I did this.

I ran through a few of the online shifter-link adjustments and they didn't really help out a bunch.

Is there any advice from those who have done it many times on really getting that final 5% nailed down? Example - my 1-2 shifting is slower now than before today's work. Is that a 1mm adjustment left/right? Forward/Back? What's the secret to getting it really nailed down?

[john walker's workshop]

With a stock, non-short shifter, pull the boot up so you can see, center the shifter front to back in the housing, hold it all the way left, turn the coupler all the way right and tighten the nut and bolt.

[JohnTucker]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

With a stock, non-short shifter, pull the boot up so you can see, center the shifter front to back in the housing, hold it all the way left, turn the coupler all the way right and tighten the nut and bolt.

Many thanks JW. As a person running a short-shifter from our host, this seems to not work quite as well as a standard shifter. So...maybe not all the way left. Less-leftish?

[Jp-oh]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

With a stock, non-short shifter, pull the boot up so you can see, center the shifter front to back in the housing, hold it all the way left, turn the coupler all the way right and tighten the nut and bolt.

How about with a factory short shifter?

[john walker's workshop]

SSers mess everything up, adjustment-wise. Just keep screwing around with it until you get it. No surefire plan with those, if the regular adjustment doesn't work.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by JohnTucker

Question for the Masters out there -

Replaced my shifter-link bushings today with brass.

brass bushings are way stiffer than the rubber ones and don't allow any sideway movement.
if you have just the slightest off-alignment in the shifter rod it may cause this feeling you have

[BER]

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

SSers mess everything up, adjustment-wise. Just keep screwing around with it until you get it. No surefire plan with those, if the regular adjustment doesn't work.

I have the factory short shifter in my 84 911. John's technique worked for getting mine dialed in perfectly.

Two key steps helped greatly. 1) Like John said, expose your shifter's vertical shaft and get it positioned 90 degrees vertical. 2) I used a couple bungee cords to hold the shifter fully to the left (Driver's side) and to keep it vertical.

I then had two hands free to adjust the coupler by centering it fore and aft on the shift rod and rotating it fully to the right.

I had to tweak the adjustment a couple times, but JW's technique does work.

[MichaelSJackson]

With the coupler loose, I put the transmission in reverse and the shifter in reverse. The shifter will only have a small rectangle of available movement. Find the middle of this rectangle and tighten the coupler. Now shift to 1st. Any trouble? It should also sit in its small rectangle. And not be pinned against any of the sides.

If shifter can't move left enough to reach 1st or if it moves too far left and is pinned against the left side, then go back to reverse, loosen the coupler and adjust the position in the rectangle, but not against the sides. If you want it to move farther left, to reach 1st, then position a little farther to the right before tightening the coupler. And visa versa.

Similarly, if the shifter can't move forward enough to engage 1st or if the the shifter gets pinned to the forward wall of the rectangle, then shift back to reverse and loosen the coupler and adjust the position in the rectangle. Again, if you want it farther forward in 1st, then position it farther back in reverse's rectangle. Want it farther back in 1st, then position it a bit forward in the reverse rectangle.

With this method, you can always shift into reverse, because that is where we start. And since you've adjusted to reach 1st, which is the longest shift from reverse (both left to right and front to back), then every other position will be fine.

I've used this with the stock shifter, some cheap short shift kits and now with the factory SS. I'm not arguing with the "standard" adjustment procedure, nor with John Walker's technique (he can't even tell you how many times he's done this); it just works for me.

[JohnTucker]

MichaelSJackson - That's exactly (totally on accident, btw) what I ended up doing that got me to where I am now. For some reason -(operator error) - when I do the 'classic' way of adjusting, I end up with the tranny in reverse and the shifter in 4th. Tried 3 times, same results all three times. I am fairly certain when I had the normal shifter last year, the 'classic' way worked like a charm. Thanks for the idea of messing with the shifter/tranny in reverse. I'll play with that.

[911pcars]

Any short shifter, in addition to reducing the throw distance between gears, will also increase the sensitivity of any coupler adjustments.

Begin by painting a reference line on both sides of the adjustment so you can see what direction you're going and to return to a previous setting. Coupler adjustments with a short shifter seem to require increments of 1/16" or less. More or less can prevent gear access and/or reverse gear teeth grinding.

Sherwood

[JohnTucker]

Originally Posted by 911pcars

....... More or less can prevent gear access and/or reverse gear teeth grinding.

Sherwood

that.

[MichaelSJackson]

Originally Posted by JohnTucker

MichaelSJackson - That's exactly (totally on accident, btw) what I ended up doing that got me to where I am now. For some reason -(operator error) - when I do the 'classic' way of adjusting, I end up with the tranny in reverse and the shifter in 4th. Tried 3 times, same results all three times. I am fairly certain when I had the normal shifter last year, the 'classic' way worked like a charm. Thanks for the idea of messing with the shifter/tranny in reverse. I'll play with that.

John,

Starting in reverse means you're already past the spring loaded click-stop and the available slop (left-right, forward-back) is greatly reduced from the amount when starting in neutral, so the initial position is already "tuned" fairly well.

I was always reading how people were having problems getting into reverse, so the first time I had the "reverse" problem, I just thought I'd try starting in reverse. Everything fell into place when I tried it.

Just remember you don't want the shifter resting against any of the sides of the slop rectangle. I assume the WEVO gateshift eliminates this slop. Gotta get me one of those.

[JohnTucker]

Originally Posted by MichaelSJackson

John,

Starting in reverse means you're already past the spring loaded click-stop and the available slop (left-right, forward-back) is greatly reduced from the amount when starting in neutral, so the initial position is already "tuned" fairly well.

I was always reading how people were having problems getting into reverse, so the first time I had the "reverse" problem, I just thought I'd try starting in reverse. Everything fell into place when I tried it.

Just remember you don't want the shifter resting against any of the sides of the slop rectangle. I assume the WEVO gateshift eliminates this slop. Gotta get me one of those.

Oh YEAH!!!!! I am surprised this isn't referenced more. I did some minor fiddling (like 1mm-ish) this evening...all in reverse...and yep. I'm definitely shifting better than ever. I mean, really really smooth and quick into all gears. Wow what a great little 'hack'.

[MichaelSJackson]

John,

Glad I didn't lead you astray.

[smessing]

@MichaelSJackson

I'm not visualizing the first part of the procedure... You say "With the coupler loose, I put the transmission in reverse and the shifter in reverse."

If I loosen thr coupler how can I shift the transmission into reverse? I can move the shifter into reverse but I don't see how the reansmission goes into reverse?

Originally Posted by MichaelSJackson

With the coupler loose, I put the transmission in reverse and the shifter in reverse. The shifter will only have a small rectangle of available movement. Find the middle of this rectangle and tighten the coupler. Now shift to 1st. Any trouble? It should also sit in its small rectangle. And not be pinned against any of the sides.

If shifter can't move left enough to reach 1st or if it moves too far left and is pinned against the left side, then go back to reverse, loosen the coupler and adjust the position in the rectangle, but not against the sides. If you want it to move farther left, to reach 1st, then position a little farther to the right before tightening the coupler. And visa versa.

Similarly, if the shifter can't move forward enough to engage 1st or if the the shifter gets pinned to the forward wall of the rectangle, then shift back to reverse and loosen the coupler and adjust the position in the rectangle. Again, if you want it farther forward in 1st, then position it farther back in reverse's rectangle. Want it farther back in 1st, then position it a bit forward in the reverse rectangle.

With this method, you can always shift into reverse, because that is where we start. And since you've adjusted to reach 1st, which is the longest shift from reverse (both left to right and front to back), then every other position will be fine.

I've used this with the stock shifter, some cheap short shift kits and now with the factory SS. I'm not arguing with the "standard" adjustment procedure, nor with John Walker's technique (he can't even tell you how many times he's done this); it just works for me.

[MichaelSJackson]

Scott,

I knew this question was hanging out there. There are two ways to get the transmission in reverse.

1) With coupler loose, access transmission shift fork from under car.

2) Or with trans in neutral, move the disconnected shifter over to left and tighten coupler. Now try to shift into reverse. Might need to adjust more forward if you can't get past the click stop for reverse.

I usually use #2. And I often leave the trans in reverse if I'm going to undo the coupler, for an engine drop or a partial drop.