Wevo shifter installation problem

[Craig_D]

Hmmmm Maybe the bottom of the shifter (the plastic that inserts into the hole) is not seating all the way and is pushing the shift shaft down?? Just a guess...

Maybe snug the L Bracket bolts after the shifter base it snugged down?

Just ideas..

[mattn]

I think you're right. I have been holding off loosening the shift coupler to avoid having one more variable. However, as background info, when I disassembled the shifter, the old L bracket bushing was completely gone. That allowed for quite a bit of movement. Now there is a bushing and it is binding.....
perhaps time to go the other end of the shift rod. I didn't think even an old worn out coupler would change the geometry but it is time to give it a shot.
Thanks.

[mattn]

Removed the shift coupler and it helped see more of the issue.

After removing the shift coupler:

1. With the L bracket bolts loose - the shift lever moves and the shift rod has freedom of movement at the coupler location

2. With the L bracket bolts tight - the shift lever does not move and inside the rear cover I can see that the shift rod is pressed downward into the tunnel. That is what is binding the movement. The L bracket, properly tightened, is pushing the shift rod down. The L bracket is causing the problem but I don't know why...

[Craig_D]

Have you checked to make sure the lower cap/bushing on the bottom of the shift lever is fitting properly in the shift shaft? If not seated properly it could be pushing down. Just a thought...

[kodioneill]

Is the bracket oriented correctly? ( the larger single hole facing rearwards) It sounds silly to ask but you never know.

[mattn]

At this point there are no silly questions, but yes oriented correctly. I attached a JPEG peering in the hole of the shifter base. The bushing circled in your photo appears to fit nicely inside the cap.

still stuck on the fact that tightening the bracket binds the shift rod .....

Should there be spacers? washers? between the bracket and the base?

[wevoid]

Also check that there is not the broken bottom section of an old ball cup bushing lodged in the ball cup, or anything else that will prevent the new ball cup bushing from going all the way down into the ball cup.
As reference, the ball cup is deep enough that there will be some capacity to lift the shift tube above the axis that is maintained by the "L" bracket, so if the shift tube is being pressed down in the chassis when the shifter base casting is clamped to the top of the tunnel, this is an indication of your problem.

Regards

Hayden

[mattn]

higher resolution picture...

[kodioneill]

Ya' know the to of that cup seems to be high.

[kodioneill]

Here is a few photos of the relative position of the cup with a stock shifter.

[mattn]

Thanks again for all this help.

When the L bracket bolts are "finger-tight", I can move the shift lever and looking in the hole see that the L bracket is stable. (Not moving)

Any tighter, (pulling the L bracket upward towards the base) (and the cup?) and the shift rod binds again.

Makes me wonder if I should have some spacers or washers between the L bracket and the base ....

[RWebb]

Loosely fasten the 2 small Allen screws, then fasten the 3 larger ones. Torque all.

loosen it and see if it moves ok

if not, then pull shift tower off, hold L bracket in place w/screws & check movement of shift tube - check for cracks in shift tube - check that cup is solid on shift tube

[mattn]

Can anyone tell me the length of the three bolts that hold down the shifter?

The threads on the bolts I have are 1 and 3/8 inches long. I think they have been switched at some point and are too long!

I think the rearward bolt is hitting the shift tube. And as it gets tightened, the shift tube is pushed down.

Or I am wrong.

[kodioneill]

Originally Posted by mattn

Can anyone tell me the length of the three bolts that hold down the shifter?

The threads on the bolts I have are 1 and 3/8 inches long. I think they have been switched at some point and are too long!

I think the rearward bolt is hitting the shift tube. And as it gets tightened, the shift tube is pushed down.

Or I am wrong.

I think you found the problem. They should be about 3/4". or 8x20 mm.

[mattn]

Curses!! It fits the symptoms. The good news is I not only found the likely problem, I am now very familiar with early 911 shifters. Not that people will be asking for my my help. :-)

first the bolts and then the shift coupler.

Thanks for all the help.

[Wayne 962]

One more thing to add - this car is a 1972, which didn't use this shifter originally. The shifter *should* be a bolt-in replacement for the 1972 cars, but there is some tweaking involved. It's been about five years since I did this in my own 1972, so I can't remember the exact details, but the issues faced here do seem familiar. I remember having to mess with it several times before I got it right. Maybe I had to raise the shifter off of the floor using washers or spacers? I can't recall, but I do remember it was not 100% plug-and-play in my 1972.

-Wayne

[mattn]

Yes. In fact following some research and questions on the Pelican site, I bought a later shifter base. The later base had the threaded pin and M14 nut. Made for a nice installation of the kit.

In the end, the root of my problem was a previously installed short shift kit. That kit came with a spacer which lifted the shifter base about 1/2 inch. Then they used longer bolts to fasten the base to the tunnel. When I tried to reuse those longer bolts, the rearward bolt hit the shift tube. Took me a while to figure that out.

Just put the correct bolts in - everything fits nicely.

Wayne, great site. Thank you to everyone who helped. I'll be back I'm sure.

[euro911sc]

Originally Posted by mattn

Interesting. This is an unusual case for a couple reasons. While installing the Wevo shifter I removed an aftermarket short shift kit. By doing some online research, I think that the aftermarket short shift kit required the bracket to be installed ABOVE the tunnel sheet metal. I am now installing it below the tunnel. I had no washers.

I know you found the answer to your binding, but you mentioned that you removed a short shift spacer. Did you also return to the original shift rod (rod with knob at end) length or did the wevo kit come with a new rod? The OEM rod and my SS rod have different hole locations. The SS rod has the hole moved up the rod to accommodate the spacer that goes under the tower.

-Michael

[mattn]

Took me a second to get it. I think what you are calling the shift rod, I was calling the shift lever. Whichever is correct, yes, the Wevo kit came with a new one. But I saw what you are talking about. The hole on the SS lever was higher which pushed the ball socket deeper, required a spacer, longer screws, etc etc.

The Wevo kit was complete. Of course I haven't got it adjusted correctly yet, but so far its a good kit and the problems were mine not due to the kit.

[wevoid]

Good reference thread for those in the future who encounter inexplicable issues while installing the WEVO shifter, or any other 915 shifter for that matter. Several guiding explanations and final success by the originator.

I will contradict Wayne though - the later 915 shifter IS a direct bolt-in to a 1972 chassis. Notwithstanding any legacies from previous non-OE shifter equipment, as was discovered here by Mattn.

My own '72 was the first ever car to have our Proto WEVO 915 shifter installed (almost 10 years ago now) - it was a direct bolt-in with the original bolts that fasten the shifter base to the tunnel.

"Direct bolt-in" as a comment that presumes understanding that the '73 and later 915 shifter housings are the case aluminum unit and visually completely different to the unique '72 only shifter hand-piece......

Regards,

Hayden