Shift housing bushing wear

[911pcars]

This topic is similar to a currently discussed thread on shift coupler wear.

This relates to the bushing for the shift tube and why it wears. It's not just the short fore and aft and slight rotational movement of the shift tube that does it. Be aware that during a shift into 5th or rev., the spring tension produced by the 915 shift housing will place a side load onto the bushing. There is no free lunch with spring tension. The force created by the two shift housing springs bears on all the bushings in the shift components; shift lever, shift tube and shift coupler.

A similar force is created, but on the opposite side of the shift tube bushing when using an aftermarket shift device that applies spring tension on 1st/2nd gear (Seine Systems Gate Shift kit shown). I'm pretty sure this also applies to other aftermarket shifters (e.g. Wevo, Rennshift, etc.).



As the wear increases, the internal diameter increases, and the resultant loss of motion from shift lever to shift tube will make access to 1st or 2nd gear increasingly more difficult. The above happened at the Monterey Historics a few months ago. Carry a spare for piece of mind. One would think a local Pcar dealer would have these in stock - nah. Germany and 5 days they said. BTW, thanks to Dave Loop @ David Loop European for his timely assistance. He's on this forum.

As for service life, the above factory piece was installed in '98; the shifter modified in 2001 and lasted until this past year. Use that as some sort of reference point.

Hope this helps,
Sherwood
seinesystems.com

[KNS]

A friend of mine picked a 911 for a very good price due to the seller not wanting to face the cost of a transmission rebuild. The car was very reluctant to go into second and the owner was told the tranny needed work. Friend bought the car, changed out the shift rod bushing - good as new.