factory short shift locking in 5th

[phiba]

Doppel,
Not being one to over-analyze... Looking at your photo showing the two lock plates, it looks like the original one has a shorter locking pawl (the one that pivots and captures the shift lever as it comes down from fifth) than the replacement one. The way this works, your original plate would allow the shift lever to descend further when shifting from fifth into neutral than the new one. This would allow the wider tab on the short shift lever to clear the upper tab on the plate, but it would also seem to allow the gears to come closer to grazing reverse. I am wondering if you notice this when driving the car.

[doppel]

Originally Posted by phiba

Doppel,
Not being one to over-analyze... Looking at your photo showing the two lock plates, it looks like the original one has a shorter locking pawl (the one that pivots and captures the shift lever as it comes down from fifth) than the replacement one. The way this works, your original plate would allow the shift lever to descend further when shifting from fifth into neutral than the new one. This would allow the wider tab on the short shift lever to clear the upper tab on the plate, but it would also seem to allow the gears to come closer to grazing reverse. I am wondering if you notice this when driving the car.

Never noticed hitting reverse, but I am an absolute neophyte to 911's and only drove this car about 200 miles before the shift coupler blew out on me!

[doppel]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

One more thought - just because a 30+ year old lock plate on the shifter all of a sudden works with the new kit doesn't necessarily mean that the problem is with the new lock plate. The old one may be slightly worn out from years of use, and the new one may be in the "proper" position (hinting at a tab mis-positioning).

-Wayne

My old lock pawl may certainly be worn, but I am absolutely sure that the fundamental geometry is different between the old and new pawls.

[doppel]

Originally Posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts

I personally think that the tab may be slightly off, although your experiment with the lock plate swap seems to go counter to this. I'm really not sure about the differences in the lock plate - I think maybe at one time there were different versions of this over the years. The only way to know would be for me to check the microfiche (which I do have tucked away). Right now, the lock plate is the same for all the 915 cars, PN: 911-424-063-04.

The only solution for me as a supplier is to take back the kit and send a complete new one (or we might be pulling these off the shelf, so it would just be a refund and no exchange). I can't mix and match parts, as these are sold as a complete kit. So, we can do that if you'd like. Honestly, if it were me, I'd chalk it up to a fluke and simply grind the tab and be done with it - it's a bear to take these things apart with the springs and everything.

I called my supplier on this, and he would like to get the complete kit back (every single piece), so that they can take it to a shop and test install it in a car. But I told him that was probably not the best solution for the customers because that would require removing the kit from the car and installing a whole new one that may or may not have the problem fixed. He mentioned that they have sold a ton of these over the past several months with no complaints, so this problem may be intermittent.

-Wayne

Wayne, mine is still on the bench, so we may be able to work something out if I can get back on the road soon.

[doppel]

OK, I ordered a short shift kit directly from my porsche dealer and it worked great. If you'll note in the picture (porsche kit left, pelican kit right) the shift lever tab is different, it is formed around the lever and offset slightly back to clear the tab on the lock pawl plate. Also, the shift pivot housing was pre-"smooshed/bowed" and had no play to the shift lever.

This is what I think happened, at some point in time Porsche changed the lock pawl on the lock pawl plate (for whatever reason) and updated the tab on the shift lever to compensate for the new geometry. The pelican kit has the updated lock pawl plate but old geometry on the shift lever. This could affect someone replacing only the lock pawl plate or only the shift lever in an original car (maybe this is the original idea why the lock pawl plate is included in a kit????)

For reference, comparison of parts in the 2 kits:

- Shift lever - different tab geometry
- Lock pawl plate - exactly the same with same stamped porsche part numbers
- Rubber stop plate - exactly the same
- Shift pivot housing - similar geometry but porsche part pre "smooshed" to remove play to shift lever
- springs - slightly longer in porsche kit
- Shifter guide plate same geometry
- Roll pin-same geometry

I am moving on, I hope everyone will excuse the obsessive nature of my first post, but also hope that it made a contribution to help someone out in the future.

Wayne your parts are coming retour to be checked out by supplier.

Scott

[911pcars]

Scott,
Not to add too much mystery, but in my experience with these kits, the two springs are shorter than the ones used in the standard shift housing.

Good to hear the shifter issues are resolved.

Sherwood

[phiba]

Very interesting, thank you for posting. It does raise the question why ordering a Factory Porsche Short Shift Kit from the dealer rather than Pelican would result in a different kit.

[theiceman]

Originally Posted by phiba

Very interesting, thank you for posting. It does raise the question why ordering a Factory Porsche Short Shift Kit from the dealer rather than Pelican would result in a different kit.

Coz Porsche doesn't make the Pelican ones

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by theiceman

Coz Porsche doesn't make the Pelican ones

I suspect neither does PAG. I'm sure a manufacturer sells them to Porsche as original Porsche equipment and to others as OEM. For this small market, I'd be surprise there are multiple manufacturers of this product, but I could be wrong.

Sherwood