Removal of stubborn shift linkage bar

[TimW]

Referring to the late (’73) shift linkage...

The “914 Engine Removal Made Easy” Tech article reads:

The shift linkage is attached to the front shifter bar by a coupling that is held in with a cone screw…Remove this screw…Next, move towards the rear of the car, and remove the cone screw from the rear shift coupling…The shifter bar should now slide out of the coupling in the front and rear, and can be removed by feeding it through the motor mount bar.

Ok, great. But what if it doesn’t slide right out?

I’d love some suggestions on how to remove a stuck bar from the coupler. It is really stuck at both the front and rear, and I can only spray on so much WD40 to loosen it up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Well, WD-40 is your first mistake. It sucks as a lubricant, since it's mostly alcohol. Try Liquid Wrench, or better yet PB Blaster, or best Aero Kroyl. Hit the joint from all angles.

Since the rear joint usually seems to have at least some tranny fluid dripping onto it, it usually isn't that bad to remove. Grab the bar in one hand and the "T" piece in the other, and wiggle. You should be able to break it loose by hand. I generally do the rear join first, and pull the "T" off of the gear selector.

Pull both shift rods aft, and grab the tail end of the front one with some TIGHT vise-grips. Grab the U-joint in one hand, the vise-grips in the other, and twist back and forth. You should be able to crack it loose that way.

Make sure you have removed the cone set-screw entirely first, just taking it halfway out won't work.

--DD

[JP Noonan]

Just be carful not to use vise grips on the part of the linkage that contacts the bushing. The marks left from the Vise Grips might chew the bushing up later.

I've had two 914's that were real PITA to remove, both times I did it alone, but a second person would help. One under the car moving the rear shift bar using hands/pliers/whatever. The second one either holding the shifter toward the back of the car or using vise grips inside the center tunnel access hole to twist the front rod. Without a second person I've used all kinds of redneck engineering, like ropes to hold the shifter and vise grips jammed in the center tunnel.

The rear of the rod by the trans was seized on the same two cars. The first one I used a punch and hammer, probably not the best thing for the shift mechinisim, but it only required light taps. The second one I used a gear puller, or a tie rod end remover, something like that.

[TimW]

It sounds like I'll just need to wrestle with it until either it gives up or I do -- and I don't intend to give up.

I'll go trade in my can of WD40 for something else too.

Thank You.

Tim

[Conrad W Peden]

Depending on which end is stuck.

When I had problems getting mine out I just left the screw in the end that wasn't stuck and used the shifter to leverage the other end out. It took some wiggling on the shifter but not alot of force. And if doesn't go don't use more force, you could bugger the shifter.

If both ends are stuck just do one end at a time using the shifter method.

------------------
CWP/VIR
72 914 L20E in rusto.
73 914 L20E 2.0L in resto.

[This message has been edited by Conrad W Peden (edited 11-29-2000).]

[Jim Smolka]

I had a side shifter shifting bar that was really stuck . The end near the fire wall was easy to remove, the other end by the tranny was really stuck. Assuming the car is properly lifted/secured and the pins are out of the bar, I solved the problem by doing the following:

1. Drained the tranny oil
2. Put the tranny in neutral
3. Unbolted the 2 8mm (13mm hex head) nuts that secure the sidesifter assy to the tranny.
4. Wiggled the bar and the sideshifter assy out of the tranny
5. Used a pully removing tool to seperate the bar from the sideshifter assy.

Be sure to use antisieze on the bar when you are on the put-back-together-trail.

[TimW]

Thanks for the tips. Persistence paid off! Fortunately I was able to get the rear apart without having to remove the side shift support. I thought of that too, but I really didn’t want to if I didn’t have too.

All and all I pretty much just muscled it apart with the help of a vice-grips (on the rod, away from any bushings). One thing I found helpful that wasn’t mentioned is this: at the rear assembly I put a block between the shift rod head and the shift support. This essentially allows the bar to move forward without the shift rod head reaching it’s full range of motion. You do have to be careful though that you don’t put too much forward force on the shift rod that you damage the shift support or the bushing the rod goes thru.

I suppose the same could be accomplished by holding the shift rod head with a large pliers? But with nothing solid to brace up against, the rod head and the pliers would just move with the rod.

What can I say? It worked for me!

Once the rear was apart the front pretty much fell apart. Go figure?

Tim
'73 914 with it's 1.7L along side


[This message has been edited by TimW (edited 12-05-2000).]

[This message has been edited by TimW (edited 12-05-2000).]