shift tower/assembly install problems -what am I doing wrong?
 

I removed the entire s/s assembly and am attempting to simply swap an entire other 901/911 (also from a 71T) shift assembly in its place.

However, the lever seems frozen in place when the 3 13mm and 2 10mm bolts are tightened down. I have the L bracket in the correct position (tongue above the tunnel, right?), and the ball is popped into the cup with fresh cup bushing.

Upon loosening the rear 3 bolts a bit, the lever again moves freely. WTF.
What am I doing wrong here?

:confused:

I don't think the tongue should be above the tunnel. On the 915, it bolts to the bottm of the shift housing once it is in place. You could be binding the shift rod when torquing the assembly down therefore not letting it move. Sounds simple, I know but trust me I have done.

Howdy,

The "L" bracket rests on top of the tunnel sheet metal. You will note a relieve on the bottom side of the tower housing to receive the "L" bracket. I recently had a lot of trouble installing the nylon cup bushing with undo pressure on the mounting bolts. It turned out that I had put too much grease in the cup bushing and the tight fit between the nylon cup bushing and the shifter ball would not allow the shifter ball to seat all the way down into the cup bushing. Just a thin film of grease is enough.

I believe I placed the cup bushing in to metal retainer on the torque tube first, then set the shift tower into the bushing.

I hope this is your problem and you get the job done...

The position of the L bracket 'tongue' is poorly documented.

Maybe you should install all the bolts loosely, then tighten them up a small amount at a time. That's what I do.

Or... maybe you have a piece of the old s/s stuff still in there - maybe the old bolts were longer??

Post pics if nothing above helps. Somebody might spot an odd part...

I think you might be onto something. The weltmeister kit uses a 1/2" adapter plate to raise the tower due to the revised lever ratio, and the kit shown in catalogs comes with all 5 bolts, so this likely the problem.

Does anyone have the measurements for the 5 original housing bolts? Obviously the same bolt but simply 1/2" shorter"