I will have to disconnect the coupler and see if I have play in 5th that way - I have not tried that. I use the same approach as you to adjust the coupler, and the shifting is really good. I just do not get any play when I engage 5th?!? When you do the adjustment, do you push the coupler completely to the passenger side (CCW if facing rear of car), or do you have a very small amount of play at that end as well before you tighten it all down??

As I said, it is at the moment shifting really nicely, and I would rather not play with the coupler again. Is there a chance that I could do damage to the transmission if I drive the car set-up without any play when in 5th/reverse??

For those hesitating changing their coupler or adjusting.....I am far from a gear head and managed in doing the project just fine. It is not that hard. I also had to change the shifter bushings. The fine tuning of adjustment back to perfection was very easy as long as you do it one small "line" at a time. Paul complete the job, you will not regret it....I didn't.

Paul, yes, I push the coupler completly CCW before I tighten up the bolt. Lou

Wil, last time I had a problem with gettign mine into adjustment I messed with it for weeks! Then I took the shift lever assembly apart and the ball cup and shift shaft bushing were in pieces!!! and they were not that old??? You might want to peak in there and make sure those are in god shape.

Also, I do not have any play in 5th in mine either. I will have to try lens suggestion, maybe that expelains some of the other issues in my tranny.

I thought it was because I went to round (914??) bushings in the coupler instead of the stock oval???

Anybody have one of the Stomski type universal couplers that they could try their 5th gear play?

Counter-clock wise? Are you sure??

I'm pretty sure. Linkage works in reverse mode... Lever to left (1/2 shift) coupler shifts CCW (looking at the coupler from above, head pointing towards rear of car) That is the way I have done them. Got the 76 last week using this methos and got it right the first time :) Lou

There is no side-side play in the shifter in 5th and reverse because there is tension from the springs in the shifter housing trying to push the shift lever back into 3-4 plane. The locking tabs at the base of the shift lever and the top of the shift housing (lock pawl plate) prevent this force from being transmitted to the shift rod coupler and hence the transmission selector forks. If your bushings are good you won't get much movement of the rod coupler. If the shifter springs are in good condition it does take firm pressure to engage 5th and reverse. There is no such pressure in 1-2 and 3-4 as there is no spring return for these gears. Porsche trying to save a few more ounces here maybe?

Ahhh, then you are right, you were facing rear, I was facing front :)

In a similar vein, I have had problem with 5-4 downshift with my 915. There is a reverse lockout cam on shifter housing for 5th gear. When the shift lever is placed in 5th the cam is designed to prevent accidentally pulling the shifter back into R. I have had terrible problems with crunching Reverse while trying to downshift 5-4. It is NOT a good sound. I could barely pull the shifter out of 5th before grinding. I did the most logical thing and repositioned shift rod coupler so that I have to pull shifter farther back (ie toward console) to engage R. This has certainly helped, although 2nd gear is quite close to my thigh. PROBLEM: now the R lockout cam not working! When shifting into 5 the shift lever doesn't go far enough forward to allow cam to click in behind it, thus I can pull the shifter from 5 directly into R (only tried it when stopped!). Should't be able to do this! Admittedly I can now downshift from 5-4 without nicking R if I am focused on it. Still jam reverse once in awhile if I have to downshift quickly, as when an oncoming pickup pulled out to pass someone about 500ft ahead of me (had about 2 secs to get out of the way!)
1st thru 4th are great, into 5th is good too (lots of spring pressure as mentioned above). 5th to 4th still makes me cringe every time. Anyone else have issue with nicking R coming out of 5th?
Porsche factory short shift just installed (replaced older, worn factory ss kit). New cup bushing, rod bushing and shift coupler last year. Shifts firmly, no slop... just too easy to remove non-synchro teeth on reverse.
I have tried adjusting coupling every which way. I wonder if the 5-R shift fork inside the tranny may not be positioned properly?

Just went thru this a couple of days ago... We just got our car running last weekend. My son took it out for a spin and loosened the fulcrum from the shift rod, breaking the epoxy seal. I decided to use 5 min expoxy to fix it. Was not strong enough. when going to work a couple of days ago, it happened again... I went into 5th and had a real hard time pulling out from 5th to go back to 4th and was hitting the reverse lock out thingy.

Problem was that the tabs on shifter were not aligned with the guide tabs on top of shifter (cocked). Pulled the torch and removed all traces of epoxy. Used JB-Weld. Once I had applied the epoxy, I reinstalled the shifter/fulcrum assembly into the shift tower and angaged 5th. I used a thin piece of paper as a shim between the two tabs to force the lever to line up correctly with the guide tabs and let it dry overnight. Make sure it does glue does not drip out of joint while drying, since gravity still works :)

I think Dentist's problem is that perhaphs the fulcrum piece at the end of the lever might not be perfectly aligned with respect to the guiding tabs, making it hard to go into 5th and hitting the lockout tab. Perhaps it was not glued correctly form manufacturer?

Take the shift tower out and see how the tabs are aligned. On my car, the actual shifter tab never touches the tabs on top of the shifter tower while going onto 5th or reverse.

Also, your shifter might be too far forward or back... You might need to loosen coupler and move lever ft to back, but don't chage the lever's side position. It just might not have enough clearance to clear the guiding tab. Take a look at how it works with the rubber cover removed and adjust.

Like I said, I usually get my alignment on the first try. No grinding going into rev. and play on the coupler on 5th. Also, it is not necessary to re-adjust coupler if you remove the tower for checking/refurbishing. But you must readjust if you add a short shift kit.

Good luck! Lou

I went through this after installing the zero-slack shift coupler, then again after installing the Wevo shifter, and again after intalling the new retro Wevo shifter.

Unfortunately, this is one of those things best solved thinking spatially and using fine fingertip control.

I think Wil's shift selecter is bottoming out before the shifter itself. Uncouple the coupler (no matter how psychologically difficult this may be, I've been there and understand this part) and try moving the ****er to the right ONE TOOTH ONLY. Re-tighten, then try it. It took me better than a week to get it right each time.

Incidentally, I recommend buying the new Wevo shift coupler pinch collar thing. It will hold much better than the factory one.