Cheap Shifter Fix!

[mistahsinclair]

How about some cheap advise on making your shifter nice and tight, shortening the throw and making things quieter?

That's what I did this weekend!

During the last week I had the car up to Providence for a couple of days...gave me time to stretch its legs and see how it ran. Everything ran fine, except for the shifter being noisy - rattling/vibrating.

Seems like the shift lever itself could do with replacing, being 22 years old and bit tired.

The design of the lever means the pin on the lever, that goes through the shifter tie rod, gets worn...a lot.

Today I decided to go to Home Depot and look around for thin nylon tubing to use as a bushing.

In my search I ran into some delrin compression fittings which looked like they might just work - Delrin is a great bearing material for those who aren't familiar with it.

I bought some 3/8" I.D. pieces, took them home and fitted them into the shifter. I had to cut about 1/8" out of them to allow everything to go together properly, but the end result is a tight, smooth shifting car!

I don't know how they will last but it was $1.25 well spent if they only do a week!

[Arizona_928]

pelican has a 4 dollar bushing for the shift lever.
i'm planning on getting that and a new shift lever for mine... once i figure out my pesky starting issues.

[mistahsinclair]

I think all the bushings sold here by Pelican cover other things.

There's the lower ball joint, that the shift lever goes into. Then there are the upper and lower bushing for the actual shift knob itself.

On my car the ball joint is pretty tight, and the shift knob is not stock...leaving the pin connecting the lever to the shift linkage as the only area open to do much about.

Pete

[John_AZ]

I used the "FRWilk" method a couple of years ago. www.frwilk.com.
Short Version:

Definitions
shift lever - stands up vertical and has the shift knob attached.
shift rod - it lays horizontally between the tranny and the shift lever.

When I bought my 84 944, the shifter was so bad it hit the frame and rarely would go into second gear. It was cutting the leather boot between the frame and lever. I replaced the "shift lever" for about $60. It got much better but still very sloppy.

The shaft on the "shift lever" suffers wear on both ends, hourglassed shape. Also, the mating 1 inch long hole in the "shift rod" suffers damage. Simply replacing the "shift lever" does not make it shift like new again.

Use a reversible hand drill and go up in size each time. Drill sizes, 13/32, 27/64, 7/16. Twist the "shift rod" so it is pointed up at an angle as in second gear. Then run the 3 drills through the hole in the "shift rod".

Use a good epoxy and glue the brass tubing (0.95 in long) over the worn shaft on the "shift lever". When it is setup, grease it up good and put it back on the car. Everything will feel real tight again.

The brass tubing is a hobby store item. K & S Engineering sells to hobby stores exclusively. The wall thickness is 0.015 inch nominal.

Or you could try a recent post:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-924-944-968-technical-forum/402107-shifter-fix.html#post3870323

The problem continues tho. Further back by the transaxle, the shift rods connect with a "block". This block is not available by itself. The shift lever holes get rounded in this "block". Unable to provide parts diagram.

The above repairs do improve the shifting alot.

John_AZ

[944Spec_bound]

I still like the garden hose and duct tape method.

[mistahsinclair]

I removed the "roll of electrical tape method" employed by the former owner.

I will say that I've now driven for 2 days on my fix and everything feels very good. MUCH quieter too!