Shifter difficult to move

[brianhiggi]

I recently purchased a '78 SC that had been sitting for quite sometime. I got it running but the shifter doesn't move freely, difficult to find gears too. It goes in to the gears but doesn't feel like it is going in solid . Any ideas on what is the problem?

[KTL]

Pull out the shifter and take a look at the two bushings- one is a cup that the shifter lever ball rides in, the other is a circular bushing that the rod connecting to the transmission rides in. If either of these bushings is really bad, it makes the shifting awful. Also remove the inspection cover under the carpet, just in front of the rear seats on the center tunnel hump. Look at the coupler and see how the bushings are for that piece too. If they are toast, it'll also cause shifting slop

If the above checks out, then the only answer is inside the transmission. If it's been sitting very long in a damp environment, trans internals can have corrosion on them. Not too likely because the gear oil should provide a protective coating for a long time. However if the shifter assembly all checks out, it's got to be inside the trans.

[Por_sha911]

The bushings are probably old which doesn't help.
Also, find another car with the 915 trans that you can drive around the block. If you've never driven a 915 trans then it takes a while to get the feel for finding the gears. Find your local PCA chapter and see who can help you out.

[brianhiggi]

Thanks guys. I haven't driven a 915 trans car before, or any Porsche for at least 15 years so I don't know how It's supposed to feel. If the bushings are old would they shrink a bit and make the shifting tight? There's nothing sloppy about the shifting just tight. I took a look inside the shift mechanism last night and was a bit intimidated. To make things worse I unscrewed the top plate and springs popped out and flew around the car. My thumb is still sore from trying to compress those springs to get the plate back on. I'm kinda new to this.

[KTL]

Ah crap I should have told you to just remove the entire shift housing. There's no bushings inside the shift tower itself. The shift lever simply pivots on steel pins and a metal box inside the tower, so there's no bushings to replace in there. All you can do inside is check for wear on the box itself or it's pivot pins, or pivot shaft for the shift lever.

Don't be intimidated by the shift mechanism. It's actually not that complex, and really rather simplistic in my opinion.

As far as the other bushings go, they typically don't swell because of the type of plastic they are. Instead they crumble to pieces when they get hard & dry. Do a search on the forums here and you'll find TONS of posts about shifter repairs and shifter upgrades. Should be plenty of information to help you understand where the problems are and how to get it all back together.

[plumb4u2]

I would also change the tranny fluid, I assume you don't know last time it was changed

Pick up some swepco 201 it may help

[brianhiggi]

Thanks for the replies. I'll find a diagram and get started. And changing the trans fluid would be a good idea.