Shop recommendations for shifter linkage/transmission repair?

[sballard]

My '72 911T has significant problems with the shifter linkage and/or transmission function. I have been trying to get the shifter linkage sorted out after having removed and re-installed the engine & tranny some time ago. I have been through countless adjustments to the shift rod coupling as detailed by several forum threads without much improvement. There is the possibility that the transmission synchros are well-worn as well. I think it is time to turn it over to the experts.

Can anyone recommend a quality Porsche shop for this sort of work near Montgomery AL? Either Birmingham or Atlanta are possibilities.

Thanks,

Steve

[cabmandone]

What troubles are you having with shifting? Have you replaced all the shift bushings? In my car I had a worn cup bushing, tunnel bushing and both the coupler bushings were worn out. I replaced all the bushings and it shifted much better but I still need work on the 1/2 synchros.

[Roswell]

Goldcrest in ATL. Just had them install a new clutch and rebuild the shift linkage. They are pros at rebuilding trans, if that is necessary.

[sballard]

Cabmando: I've replaced the cup and tunnel bushings, which were both in bad shape. But the improvements in shifting were marginal.

Thanks Roswell for the recommendation of Goldcrest.

Any recommendations for shops near Birmingham? I am going to have to have the car hauled on a flatbed, and Birmingham is closer than Atlanta.

[cabmandone]

So what type of shifting issue are you experiencing?

[brasch]

One thing I can tell you is that the single year, 1972 shifter, is worse than almost any others, vague and challenging. I just replaced with a rennshift and it's amazing!

[Matt Monson]

Eurasian Auto should be able to do this. The founder retired, but I believe they are still a good shop.

[sballard]

cabmando: Some time ago, I dropped the engine to fix a number of oil leaks. Ever since I put the engine back in, it's been difficult to shift with gear grinding, clunking, etc. Now I've got the car repainted and looking good, so I turned my attention to fixing the shifter issue. After pouring over many threads, I assumed that the problem was likely just getting the shifter linkage realigned. I've pulled up several threads that discuss this in depth. I've probably adjusted the linkage about 15 times and I still haven't gotten to the point where I feel safe getting on the road. I replaced two bushings that were reasonably accessible, but I got no perceptible improvements.

brasch: Did you install the Rennshift by yourself or did a shop do it?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by sballard

cabmando: Some time ago, I dropped the engine to fix a number of oil leaks. Ever since I put the engine back in, it's been difficult to shift with gear grinding, clunking, etc. Now I've got the car repainted and looking good, so I turned my attention to fixing the shifter issue. After pouring over many threads, I assumed that the problem was likely just getting the shifter linkage realigned. I've pulled up several threads that discuss this in depth. I've probably adjusted the linkage about 15 times and I still haven't gotten to the point where I feel safe getting on the road. I replaced two bushings that were reasonably accessible, but I got no perceptible improvements.

brasch: Did you install the Rennshift by yourself or did a shop do it?

What about the bushings in the coupler itself? You mentioned the cup and tunnel bushings but not the coupler bushings.

[sballard]

I replaced the coupler bushings with new ones even though the old ones were in decent shape.

[cabmandone]

Are you grinding into each gear or is it primarily into a certain gear?

[sballard]

Grinding in several gears. I've adjusted the coupler many times and it seems to grind gears to some extent at all settings. I can't say for sure that the synchros are FUBAR, but before this all happened, the tranny shifted reasonably well.

The post by brasch makes me think that I should try installing a Rennshift, but I don't know if I will have the same issues with adjusting the coupler and/or possibly the tranny synchros. Does the procedure for installing the Rennshift also require adjusting the coupler?

I rather fix this myself if I can, but I am loosing patience!

[brasch]

I did the Rennshift install myself, really pretty straight forward wth new bushings and coupler. Took me maybe an hour total, worth the effort for sure!

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by sballard

Grinding in several gears. I've adjusted the coupler many times and it seems to grind gears to some extent at all settings. I can't say for sure that the synchros are FUBAR, but before this all happened, the tranny shifted reasonably well.

The post by brasch makes me think that I should try installing a Rennshift, but I don't know if I will have the same issues with adjusting the coupler and/or possibly the tranny synchros. Does the procedure for installing the Rennshift also require adjusting the coupler?

I rather fix this myself if I can, but I am loosing patience!

I don't know that I'd go that route yet. Something isn't right when you're experiencing grinding in several gears. When you have replaced all the appropriate bushings and it's still not shifting right and you can't get it adjusted properly it seems you're either not adjusting properly or there are further issues beyond shifter/linkage/coupler.

[Matt Monson]

What rpm do you shift at?

[racerboyrt]

Check the shift rod in the tunnel, where the vertical socket mounts to accept the bushing, on the bottom of the shift lever ball. That piece (which you screw the Allen into) is glued to the shift rod going back in the tunnel from the factory, it has most likely broken and is giving you excess play, so you can never adj properly. If this is the case it is possible to spot weld and grind it in the car and fix.

[sballard]

I have a previous thread from a few months back where I have a photo of the underside of the shifter mechanism (apparently the stock '72 shifter). There are normally 4 springs in there - 2 heavy duty and 2 lighter duty springs. One of the lighter springs was broken. The spring is NLA from Porsche, but I found a spring at Ace Hardware that was reasonably close to the size, but a bit lighter. I installed that spring, but it had no noticeable affect on the shifting. I don't know how long that spring had been broken.

There are several threads out there (and a description in Bentley) that describe how to adjust the coupler and shifter. I hold the shifter all the way to the left between the 1st and 2nd gear slot, and position the coupler all the way to the right (counterclockwise when looking forward). Once that is done, I drive the car around the neighborhood to judge how well the shifter works. Then I made incremental fore and aft adjustments between the coupler and the shift rod to dial in the "sweet spot" for the shifter. Then drive the car around again. I've done this adjustment about 15 times and I've only gotten marginal improvements. Lots of gear grinding and clunking. I've tried shifting at low RPMs and higher RPMs without much improvement. None of this has gotten me close to the normal shift performance.

[sballard]

racerboyrt - Thanks for the suggestion. I will take a look at this.

[sballard]

racerboyrt - I just looked at that part. It is solidly connected to the shift rod.

[racerboyrt]

Did you put some leverage on it? Sometimes it's not loose enough to be flopping around by hand but it moves when you include the leverage of the shifter. It can also break up on the coupler side but that's very very rare.

Also are you certain the 13mm boots on couple side are very tight?