Early 911 shfiters too far forward?

[araine901]

Is is me or is the shifter a little too far forward? Is there a reasonable cure for this? I am considering getting my right are lengthend. JK

I have seen most race cars move it back but this makes the e-brake use a non-option? I have considerd hours of fabrication in moving it back and shortening the e-brake lever but this will take a great deal of work. I am not too into the idea if a super curvey shifter reaching back to me either.

Any thoughts??

[JCR]

It's not just you. I'm 6' 1" and have to lean and reach for 1,3 and 5th (915 obviously). Guess I've just gotten used to it, would be interested in a non permanent fix though.

A Myers Manx... Cool! I know the designer of that car, his name is Stewart Reed. Got any pics??

[araine901]

Jared, I will dig up some pics, its currently in pieces. I was under the impression that Bruce Myers designed that car. I bought the body from the original owner and this is rumored to be one of the first 12 ever made, they didnt have ser#s on the first 12. I sent pics to the Manx club a few years and they ran it by Bruce and he rememberd the old fart I bought it from.

[jluetjen]

Personally, I'm not one of the "arms straight out to the wheel" crowd and find the shifter fine -- but I wouldn't want to go any further away then 4rd gear on my 901 shifter. Note that I'm 6 feet even with fairly long arms and legs.

Moving the shifter further back would move it back from the plane of the steering wheel which I don't think that I'd like. But if it helps you -- go for it!

[Bill Verburg]

Short shifters help in this department.

[dotorg]

Short shifters and sitting close enough to the wheel helps... a lot of people sit an awful long ways back from it. With my hands on the wheel, and my elbows an inch or two ahead of my body (the position I prefer driving in when I really need to have tactile feedback of what the car is doing, and make steering corrections with a minimum of effort), the shifter is in the exact right position, far better than my old Audi was. I think I may have it adjusted a touch less vertical than its supposed to be, though.

[oldE]

Somehow or other I've got the shifter (901) set right for me, but when my wife drives,(seldom) the edge of the Recaro interferes a bit with her selecting 1st. Other than that..nice.
Les

[ted]

I re-bent the shifter about 15 degrees more.
It helped move it back a little.
A little extension on the shifter handle would help raise it and locate it closer to me. Still working on that.
I'm 6'6" with the seat back and the steering wheel spaced back as well.
This seating/shifting postion worked well enough during recent races.
Still if I had T-rex arms it would not be enough.
On my street 911 the stereo remote control is helpful too.

[masraum]

Sounds to me like you guys are just sitting too far back. Scoot up some, you'll get used to it and you'll have more control over the car to boot.

[911ctS]

I moved my whole shifter assembly back about 1 1/2 inches. It has just enough room for the ebrake to park itself right up to the base of the shifter. You have to put the car in 2nd or 4th to pull the ebrake up (901 box). Also the engine must be removed in order to pull out the long rod from the tunnel to re-size it. ITs a huge improvement and much more comfortable shifting into 4th.

I could be wrong, but I have a hunch that RSR's came this way stock. It seems like all the RSR's that ive seen have had this modification done.

Clint

[araine901]

Thanks for the imput.

I am partial to Clints Idea as most of the factory race cars have thier shifters moved back for a reason.

I cant move any farther forward as my legs rub the underdash pad as it is.

As far as the plane to the wheel changing that was changed when I went to a MOMO wheel.

Here is a pic of how it is set up now. It is in 4th with the short shift kit and my seat in the normal spot. I am 6'0"

[pwd72s]

Maybe I'm just too used to it? 6'3", I drive with the seat all the way back, but never thought of the shifter as being a problem.

[jluetjen]

araine901;
I've got almost the same seats as you. Maybe it's me, but it sure looks like your seat is layed back a lot. I'm the same height at you and I've got my seatback almost up to vertical. Basically the bottom portion of my seat is further back then yours for the extra leg room and the seatback is straighter up.

There's no way that I could drive my 911 with my arms straight since with the caster designed into the front suspension, the steering wheel forces are pretty significant when going around hairpins like the one at the end of my street. I think that this is one reason why Porsche always used big steering wheels -- to provide the extra leverage. In my case I have a 930 steering wheel.

[jluetjen]

It doesn't appear that drastic of a difference in this picture, but my seat is pretty upright.

[dotorg]

John, that hairpin is fun, that time I left your house and went screaming down the main drag there, I got some nice oversteer coming around that turn.

[Chuck Moreland]

You can move the shifter knob back a few inches just by adjusting the shift coupler.

Just loosen the clamp and pull back on the shifter (no side to side motion) then re-tighten. Make sure you leaving adequate engagement of the splined shaft.

Still not enough? Bend it like Mike did.

[araine901]

jluetjen

Point taken. I run it a little more vertical than feels comfortable to reach the shifter. I measured the angle at the slackest part of the seat back and it is 74 degrees. Center of horn button to seat in a strait line is 24"

I dont think my drivers seat is too laid back here are some more pictures. I did go to great lenghts to cut and re weld the seat mounting brackets so that the seat sits lower in back. Notice how much lower the seat back is on the driver side vs passenger side.

[911ctS]

Is that a wood Moto-Lita wheel on your car? Looks Nice!

[araine901]

Its a Momo "Super Indy" It has that wood prototipo look to it. I was trying to get the "Grand Prix" but they quit making them. That one has lots of little holes drilled into the three spokes like an old farrari F1 wheel. Very cool, but the "Super Indy" Looks like it belongs there. I just re-stained the dash to match it.

[jluetjen]

araine901;
I just checked my car and my seatback is 22 inches straight back from the center of the wheel (parallel with the bottom of the window frames) and 24 inches from the center of the wheel to the piping at the top of the seat.

A 74 degree seatback angle doesn't make any sense since that would suggest that your seat is leaning forward. My seatback is about 95 or 96 degrees from the seat bottom.

At the end of the day, that's where I like it and you're a different person with different preferences. I agree that you should also try to adjust the shifter location at the linkage.