Seine Gate install and Shift housing refresh

[Neilnaz]

Hi all, I thought I would start a thread showing my installation of a Seine gate shift and refresh of the gear shift mechanism. Hopefully it will be of interest to some.

As it stands I am awaiting the delivery of the Gate shift kit - ordered 3 days ago and I am NZ so a little patience is required. I decided that I would refresh the gear shift housing as it was tidy but not outstanding. I have changed the bushings and have had no gear change issues - I just liked the idea of the Gate shift.

I undid the hex-head bolts and removed the Gear shift housing. I then disassembled the mechanism. I was very careful to undo the nuts holding the plate down so as not to let the springs go shooting across the garage or take my eye out!



I will touch up parts that need it. Most everything was cleaned when I was in there 4 months ago. I then started cleaning and polishing the housing. It looks like this now:



I used a rotary tool with abrasive wheel and then a polishing wheel. I will continue with the work this evening. Hopefully this will be completed in time to install the Sift Kit.

More photos to follow as work progresses.

Cheers,

Neil

[Evans, Marv]

Looking forward to watching your progress.

[Neilnaz]

Yesterday evening I repaired the (nearly) original gear-knob (901 gearbox replaced with a 915 sometime ago). The knob had some broken off edges that were not noticeable unless you were changing gear.

I used some powder + epoxy filler, then sanded, smoothed and painted while masking off the legend. The whole thing came out really well - very pleased. I polished once the paint had dried.
The Seine Gate shift is in NZ now so I should have it shortly so I will be able to assemble everything and re-install soon.

Cheers, Neil

[Neilnaz]

Oooohhh, the kit has arrived. It looks nicely made and seems to come with clear instructions/documentation.
Pictured is the kit partially assembled.

I will get onto installation this evening. I do not (currently) have a welder so am going to get a friend to weld the Gate Shift Arm to my Shift Lever while everything is apart. That makes more sense than installing with the clamp and then disassembling for later welding in my view.

I will update as things progress.

Cheers,

Neil

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by Neilnaz

I will get onto installation this evening. I do not (currently) have a welder so am going to get a friend to weld the Gate Shift Arm to my Shift Lever while everything is apart. That makes more sense than installing with the clamp and then disassembling for later welding in my view.
Neil

Having done this job, I would recommend you install the Gate Shift piece with the hose clamp after you have the shifter operational and installed in place. It took several different tries adjusting with the clamp before I was happy with the position and shift feel! Then weld it afterwards, or you may be disappointed. You can weld the piece very easily while in place, no need to disassemble!

[Neilnaz]

Uwanna, thanks for the tip - I hadn't thought of that. That sounds like a good idea. It won't be difficult to remove once I am happy with the location.

Can you tell me what were the symptoms of mis-location of the Gate shift arm?

Cheers, Neil

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by Neilnaz

Uwanna, thanks for the tip - I hadn't thought of that. That sounds like a good idea. It won't be difficult to remove once I am happy with the location.

Can you tell me what were the symptoms of mis-location of the Gate shift arm?

Cheers, Neil

When you shift it and adjust it a few times you will know by feel what's right.
Things like getting it located at just the right height, and aligning it so that it slides on the
two metal blades in correct alignment. You can leave the clamp on while you just do a small tack weld to hold it in place, then remove the clamp and complete the weld.

[Neilnaz]

Thanks Uwanna - that makes perfect sense. I will set the position as a first go and adjust the whole shooting match as per the instructions. I will then weld the Gate shift arm in the right position.

Cheers, Neil

[zippy_gg]

Originally Posted by uwanna

Having done this job, I would recommend you install the Gate Shift piece with the hose clamp after you have the shifter operational and installed in place. It took several different tries adjusting with the clamp before I was happy with the position and shift feel! Then weld it afterwards, or you may be disappointed. You can weld the piece very easily while in place, no need to disassemble!

What method did you use to weld? I will be in the same situation soon.
Thanks!

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by zippy_gg

What method did you use to weld? I will be in the same situation soon.
Thanks!

Just drove it to a pro welder shop. He used tig or mig, really don't know the difference, or which he used, but it was electric. Obviously I'm not a welder! Just a 5 minute $10 job!

[zippy_gg]

Originally Posted by uwanna

Just drove it to a pro welder shop. He used tig or mig, really don't know the difference, or which he used, but it was electric. Obviously I'm not a welder! Just a 5 minute $10 job!

Thanks! Maybe I was overthinking it but I was concerned for the electronics (ECU) with tig or mig. Kinda relieved now!

[TheSt|G]

You also may have to bend the gate shift arm as well to get the ideal alignment. I actually just ended up using red locktite on the worm gear and it hasn't loosened a bit since the install.

[Neilnaz]

Thanks for all the input and thoughts. I will be moving forward this evening with this. Hopefully I will be able to install the new components into my current Gearshift mechanism and follow the instructions as provided. Photos will follow....

Cheers, Neil

[Walt Fricke]

If you have a welder (the machine), it can be useful if you also weld the gold colored plate with the tabs in place. That way you can cut off the fingers which are made to slide around the two vertical studs and get full nut engagement holding the steel top plate down. No doubt this isn't necessary (just as the Stig has had good results just using the hose clamp on the other part with some Loctite), but if you can weld you can get an overall stronger connection here.

This kind of welding can be done by just about anyone with MIG.

[Neilnaz]

Walt, that is a good thought. I certainly hadn't considered that. I think I will take the whole process in steps and consider welding the plates together further down the track. As it stands the set-up allows adjustability that would be lost when welding the plates but I won't need to adjust when I have it set just-so.

Later with my progress,

Cheers, Neil

[Neilnaz]

I got home yesterday evening and got on with installation.

I fixed the gate shift arm using the clamp and installed the new elongated axle shaft:



I polished the shift housing again - it is looking pretty good now.



I checked out the additional gate plate with respect to the current one:



I decided to paint the new plate (photos to follow)

I marked up the housing for drilling:



I drilled and installed the spring mechanism:



and:



Hopefully I will have completed the job soon. I will be sanding the gearstick down and will either keep it shined or painted depending on how it comes up.

More to follow if you can bear the excitement!

Cheers, Neil

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by Neilnaz

I got home yesterday evening and got on with installation.

I fixed the gate shift arm using the clamp and installed the new elongated axle shaft:



I polished the shift housing again - it is looking pretty good now.



I checked out the additional gate plate with respect to the current one:



I decided to paint the new plate (photos to follow)

I marked up the housing for drilling:



I drilled and installed the spring mechanism:



and:



Hopefully I will have completed the job soon. I will be sanding the gearstick down and will either keep it shined or painted depending on how it comes up.

More to follow if you can bear the excitement!

Cheers, Neil

Nice job! When you drive your car with the new shifter, you'll wonder how you put up with that damned imprecise shifting for so long. One of the best "drivability" upgrades I ever did. You will love it!

[Neilnaz]

Thanks Uwanna - I am hoping that it will feel as 'precise' as I believe it should provided I adjust everything correctly.

It is funny, given Porsche's design ethos for precision, I have often wondered why the gear-change mechanism is so 'imprecise'. Already, despite not having installed the gearshift mechanism, I like the feel of the spring-loading between 1-2 plane and 3-4 plane.

Cheers, Neil

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by Neilnaz

Thanks Uwanna - I am hoping that it will feel as 'precise' as I believe it should provided I adjust everything correctly.

It is funny, given Porsche's design ethos for precision, I have often wondered why the gear-change mechanism is so 'imprecise'. Already, despite not having installed the gearshift mechanism, I like the feel of the spring-loading between 1-2 plane and 3-4 plane.

Cheers, Neil

I think the "imprecise" shifting harks back to the old VW heritage, however it took forever to remedy it. i.e. the G50

[Neilnaz]

I cleaned off the black paint I previously applied and used Epoxy to glue the Gate shift arm in place. Cleaned all excess off any polished away. It is all looking good now. Tried in place prior to glueing the arm all feels great.

Now I just need to re-install and drive!!

Happy