915 Stock Shifter Improvement Spring

[Carrera3oh]

My spring coil is resting on the shifter body right here. The other pictures I see on here the right side arm (loop end) seems longer because the coil sits closer to the outer edge of the shifter body. Any opinions on this?

[Carrera3oh]

[EC900]

That’s how that particular spring was wound, maybe 2-mm shorter compared to other installations. Probably it’s best that the spring coil end does not rest on (any) the aluminum shifter body areas. I think the spring will find its resting spot (lower) once it’s installed and slight movement will only be when then shifter is moved from 1st/2nd to 3rd/4th etc.

With that short of spring leg(s) was there any experience of a little more force to get the hook to latch under the bracket?
Ultimately as long as it shifts correctly then there should no concern - other than rubbing.

It’s a good point you bring up on where the coiled end rests, maybe mark the surrounding surfaces with a Sharpie and check after a few hundred shifts to see if there’s any obvious wear. Nobody ever questioned this.

I tinkered with some music wire and managed to wind some of these springs to various lengths and diameters to see if there’s was going to any interference, binding or stubbornness… if it fit - it worked. It’s so simple that I even used a thin mouse trap wire to bend and fashion to replicate the shape. Not much tension is needed to keep the shift lever over to the 3-4 plane.

Side Note: I heard from Karsten the originator of this novel shifter torsion spring a couple months ago. Due to some unknown mail circumstances I never did receive a spring from Germany, but Karsten had sent a refund with apologies.

[Funracer]

Originally Posted by EC900

Side Note: I heard from Karsten the originator of this novel shifter torsion spring a couple months ago. Due to some unknown mail circumstances I never did receive a spring from Germany, but Karsten had sent a refund with apologies.

I was a very early adopter and still proponent of the Karsten spring.

His “disappearance” always seemed odd.

You are the first person who has heard from him in about a year. Did he say anything about why he stopped making the springs and ceased communication on this forum?

Thanks

[Carrera3oh]

@ec900 yes the spring is resting on the aluminum body right where I am pointing with the tool. I had to force it on. I think the arm might be too short. I'll go measure it so someone can confirm the length.

[Carrera3oh]

41.96mm. Can anyone verify this is a normal length?

[EC900]

Carerra3oh - this spring I have was made by a neighborhood spring manufacturer as a prototype favor, car nut said similar to some early Hurst shift spring, measuring was eyeballed by pictures and determined to be between 44-47mm. Technically the “leg” is measured from center of the coil and loop (5-6mm). I don’t recall what angle it’s set to but close to 90° - 100° deflection, which more deflect affects the spring rate pressure.
I recall kartsen spring were hand-made and stated to have some variances.

All I would suggest is to mock up some sort of stand without installing it and work the shifting thru the motions while looking underneath to see if the spring coil will drop out of the way of any touching.




@funracer - No correspondence whatsoever. Backstory I ordered his spring I still hadn’t received it after an over a year, in fact after the first couple months he PM’d me and sent another DHL tracking number, still no tracking location was ever found the two missing parcels. So I sent PM’s but never received anymore replies. After over 1 year, out of the blue he sent a PayPal refund with note of apology. That’s that.

[Carrera3oh]

Thanks for your measurement. I'm 4mm short which would give me clearance with a proper length spring. I'll order one as I don't have spare time to make one since I'm tearing into my motor right now.

[KTL]

I think it’s just another example of unexpected interest and at some point it’s time to be done. Sometimes people have a hard time saying “hey, sorry, I’ve decided I’m not going to continue providing *this* (insert part or service here) anymore…..”

I can attest to that feeling, albeit on a lower level. I’ve shared some documents on the forum over the years and I’ve been on the forum since 2000. 24 years? Holy crap……. Just off the top of my pointy head, my recollection is that I still get requests from those old posts regarding the following things:

>Halmeter AF30 lambda sensor air fuel ratio meter info sheet from the Stone Age dawn of time
>Joe Shukys (aka ShakinJoe) weight loss spreadsheet/listing from his ‘87 911 project
>915 and G50 factory repair manual info
>G50 shifter repair article from Excellence magazine

Still to this day I get requests via google sharing or sometimes a forum private message about this stuff. And I keep sharing it. At some point I need to unsubscribe from Pelican or just plain drop dead because the requests, which are honestly not a huge burden, apparently are never going to stop…..

[Funracer]

KTL really nice that you have been able to contribute to and spread the knowledge to future Porsche people.

I can certainly understand folks that invent something like the Karsten Spring and then decide one day to be done with it. Jaimies Ultimate Shifter Bushing comes to mind. Just seems odd to drop out like that. If you aren’t going to make any more then say so so people can move on to plan B or whatever. The guy that makes the SnapGap kit is a good example.

But of course they owe us nothing.

[PK 77 911]

Hello. I am interested in your spring. Do you know what is like with a short shirt shift kit installed. My transmission has a fresh rebuild as well.

[TastyReuben]

Installed the other day, went in easy enough but now am just barely nicking ?reverse? gear on the way to 5th. Anyone else? Its like the path over to 5th is no longer on the same horizontal plane as neutral.

replaced ball cup and rod bushing while I was there. maybe that's the problem? coupling adjustment?

[creaturecat]

Originally Posted by PK 77 911

Hello. I am interested in your spring. Do you know what is like with a short shirt shift kit installed. My transmission has a fresh rebuild as well.

works great with my Porsche short shift.

[Otter74]

Originally Posted by TastyReuben

Installed the other day, went in easy enough but now am just barely nicking ?reverse? gear on the way to 5th. Anyone else? Its like the path over to 5th is no longer on the same horizontal plane as neutral.

replaced ball cup and rod bushing while I was there. maybe that's the problem? coupling adjustment?

The shifter is very sensitive to small adjustments - when I took my shift tower out to fix an issue it wouldn’t shift right after I put it back in - I had to loosen it, let it move a little until everything shifted correctly, then tighten it down. You probably need a small fore-aft adjustment.

[trials935]

Anyone know if this or a similar spring will work on a 930 shifter?

[TastyReuben]

Originally Posted by Otter74

The shifter is very sensitive to small adjustments - when I took my shift tower out to fix an issue it wouldn’t shift right after I put it back in - I had to loosen it, let it move a little until everything shifted correctly, then tighten it down. You probably need a small fore-aft adjustment.

few attempts at a coupling adjustment got it working well. love the spring now.

[joe912/62]

I have never been able to get mine installed. Spring is so tight that I can't get it on the lever section.

[TastyReuben]

Originally Posted by joe912/62

I have never been able to get mine installed. Spring is so tight that I can't get it on the lever section.

I clamped mine down almost fully compressed with big channel locks, then clamped from the back, like directionally matching the open mouth of the spring (if that makes sense) with some small locking vice grips so I could shove it straight in. then used a flat head to pry it into final position

[917_Langheck]

Originally Posted by 917_Langheck

I thought I would share a helpful hint in helping locate Karsten's fantastic spring into the spring plate aperture. I didnt have a vice handy to help fix the spring so I used some 0.40 safety wire and my wire spinners to compress it to the point where I could set it with a flat-head screwdriver. Here's a pic before continuing to the end:

This is how I seated my spring.

[zuch]

Originally Posted by joe912/62

I have never been able to get mine installed. Spring is so tight that I can't get it on the lever section.

Joe, are you interested in selling it?