Shift shaft under the car: bushings NOT fitting

MarkRobinson · 05-24-2007, 08:06 AM

Hi guys,

I put my 914 up on my lift for the first time yesterday to observe the shift shaft bushings & couplers: here's my report:

Firewall bushing was original, & not bad, so I made it worse by removing it to replace it with my new one: It appears this is impossible w/o removing the shaft assembly from the hole to allow the installation of the new bushing: correct?

The horizontal plastic pushing that clips into the bracket at the rear of the transaxle: my new bushing is the same size as the old, & the shaft is MUCH smaller, allowing quite a bit of slop. Is this because someone let that bushing fail a long time ago & the metal-on-metal gradually wore the shift shaft diameter down? this is all I can think of, but what was there was incorrect but in good shape, & my new one is incorrect & allows the same flop.

The rear socket bushing was ok, but replaced/regreased it anyway.

The front U-joint (at the firewall) is near perfect, so I have extra bushings to return.

Thanks for the thoughts,

Mark

John Rogers · 05-24-2007, 01:58 PM

The firewall bushing can be soaked in hot water to soften it but the shaft will still have to come out. For the shaft bushing at the rear, get some very small nylon wire ties and after the shaft is in place loop several through the clearance between the shaft and around the outside of cast housing to eliminate any slopply fit. You can tighten the ties and then there will be no slop back there. I hope you bought new set screws as they have a seal that prevents them from coming loose and if you use the old ones put some lock-tite on them.

MarkRobinson · 05-24-2007, 02:05 PM

I'l try the zip ties, good idea. I assume you'd recommend using small ones around the perimeter to keep the shaft centered.

Is my theory on why the diameter is too small accurate? Just curious.

Mark

John Rogers · 05-24-2007, 05:15 PM

The shaft can be slightly off center and as long as the shifter is adjusted for that it will shift fine. When I put the very small ties through the bushing I start from the front and slide them in the same way the shift rod goes through the bushing. I then wrap them back and fasten them tightly. I found it takes about 3 to tighten things up and the nice thing is you do not have to use any dirt grabbing grease to lube where the shaft goes in, the nylon is slippery enough.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Use blue loctite on the cone screws even if they are new

MarkRobinson · 05-25-2007, 05:14 AM

Well, when installing the zip ties (5 smaller 6" ones), it does fill the viod ok when the shift shaft is pushed forward (towards the firewall) all the way, but when you pull it back, it gets very tight as the diameter of the shaft increases, so I think I probably need a shaft that has not been worn, as there's no way to make the snugness uniform.

Mark

GWN7 · 06-03-2007, 09:12 AM

One persons solution to a worn shifter rod was to take the rod to a shop and have new metal welded on and then have it turned down to the right size.

MarkRobinson · 06-04-2007, 04:55 AM

I was gonna ask if anyone had a non-worn shaft out there for sale?

degreeoff1 · 06-04-2007, 08:22 AM

Sure, 20 bucks + shipping....I do not know the cost there?? Powder coated Grey too (side shifter, yes?)

MarkRobinson · 06-04-2007, 08:41 AM

Great! No "tapering" of the shaft where the bushing resides? If you've been following my posts, that's where my issue is: sometime during the car's life the bushing failed & they drove it for a while like that, reshaping the shaft to more of a cone, so the new bushing is not tight over most/all of the shaft, & really poor towards the end of the shaft.

Yes, side shifter. I'm in Austin, Texas, 78756. Slow-poke tube-shipping is fine.