How sloppy is too sloppy? (shift lever)

[#391]

1. My shift lever was sloppy, so I just installed a new shift lever and replaced the white plastic bushing between the bottom of the lever and the torque tube. Neither one appeared too worn...the bushing actually looked pretty new, and the shift lever rod was only slightly deformed (football shaped). I replaced them both anyway.

The adjustment bolts on the rear of the linkage are tight.

The shift lever still has a bit of slop in it. When in neutral, it moves side to side about 1.5 cm, and forward/back about 1 cm. Is this normal?

2. When tossing the car through a series of turns left and right, the shift lever moves quite a bit side to side. Would a worn out transmission mount cause this? I just got a solid tranny mount but I haven't installed it yet. Just wondering if replacing the tranny mount will prevent the shift lever from moving side to side during hard cornering.

[surfdog4]

did you also notice the pin that connects the shift lever to the arm from the transmission? Mine was worn to a "cone" shape..i replaced both that and the white bushing and it "tightened" up the slop a lot, but did not go away..

[#391]

Originally posted by surfdog4
did you also notice the pin that connects the shift lever to the arm from the transmission? Mine was worn to a "cone" shape..i replaced both that and the white bushing and it "tightened" up the slop a lot, but did not go away..

The "pin" is part of the shift lever itself, which I did replace.

[Taz's Master]

The hole that the pin fits through also wears causing slop. I believe that hole can be drilled out and a piece of brass tubing fitted that will correct that issue. (Search is your friend).

There is a modification of the shifter that involves replacing the pin with a bolt. When done properly (mine wasn't initially, SoCal straightened me out), the slop is reduced to an acceptable level.

[SoCal Driver]

The Bolt. 3/8" x 3" Need the long bolt as you cut most of the threads off and use two jamb nuts to clamp it to the vertical flat area of the shifter where the old pin was. Grind off the head of the pin and it can be easily knocked out. The head of the bolt may need to be ground down thin to clear the side of the tunnel opening depending on how the shifter is adjusted at the trans.

the bolt goes through the shift linkage first. Both sides of the tube end of the shift linkage require thin flat washers and at least one of the wavy spring washers. You then put one of the jamb nuts on and snug it down against the washers and shift linkage. A jamb nut is about half the thickness of a standard nut. The shifter goes over the bolt then a flat washer and the other jamb nut. Adjust the inter jamb nut against the shift linkage and spring washer to take as much slop out as you can with out creating too much drag/friction. The outer jamb nut keeps the whole mess tight on the shifter.

In the back over the trans is a cross over link with rubber bushings. These wear out and cause some of the side to side slop. There was a thread here or on Rennlist about replacing the shoulder bolt and rubber donuts with some aircraft fittings. I have the same user name there as here. Do a search.