jvandyke

Trying to reassemble '87 924s after doing clutch bits. This time we decided to pull the rear off instead of pull the engine.
Can't reinstall the shift rod while the torque tube and it's bell housing is still hanging there. Clarks is iffy on this point. Do people force the rod forward into the cabin so it's up and out of the way while you twist and turn the torque tube?
I hate to drop the rear suspension after getting this far without having to.

16again2009

I have replaced the clutch a couple of times in my 1988 924S by pulling the transaxle. What I did was unhook the shift rod from the shifter, turn it upside down and slide it forward. After the transaxle was reinstalled, I moved it rearward and turned it rightside up. I never had any problem.

jvandyke

okay, my ignorance is showing here, you turned it upside into the tunnel and moved the whole rod forward under the car?

16again2009

That is correct. It will move about 6 inches or so.

jvandyke

okay so to rewrite Clark's:
"Once the shift linkage rod is disconnected from the shift lever, turn the shift rod down, then down into the tunnel and push toward the front of the vehicle. This will disengage the shift linkage rod from the transaxle.

We tried doing this initially and could not rotate the rod due to the bend it's end. We somehow got it all part but now that the torque tube is hanging on the rear suspension cross member (front NOT installed in clutch) it maybe difficult if not impossible to put the shift rod back in as the torque tube's bell housing, the tunnel, the ears on the tube and such severely limit access. We'll try again. I'm tempted to hack those ears off.

mikehayes

You definitely shouldn't need to cut anything. As said earlier, the procedure for dissasembly would be to remove the snap ring that holds the shift lever to the shift linkage, then remove the two bolts at the bottom of the shift lever (looking down throught the hole in the tunnel from the driver's seat), then you can slide the shift lever out of the hole at the end of the linkage and remove it completely. Then you take the bent end of the shift linkage and rotate it maybe 90 degrees to either side so that it is completely in the tunnel (you must have already removed the small set screw that attaches the rear of the linkage to the trans to do this), then you can slide it forward a ways to get the back end of it out of the way of the torque tube rear bell housing. There's some insulation directly in front of the shifter in the tunnel that may prevent it from sliding forward, most people destroy some of it to make room. The shift linkage then remains in that position for the whole job, until it is time to reinstall everything. Once the torque tube is back in position (bolted to the motor in front), just slide the linkage back and rotate it the opposite 90 degrees so that it's in the correct position.

jvandyke

okay will try that,
Thanks!

16again2009

Those ears are a total pain in the butt. Do not cut them off. Just keep fiddling with it and it will go. It just takes some time. Be patient.

jvandyke

no problem, first time is always such a learning experience, ya know? We just laid the shift rod on top of the torque tube while putting it back on, fished it up and through, I get it now, duh. It should say; disconnect the rod from the shifter (remove c-clip, slide rod off shifter, don't loose the wavy washer), pull out the shifter from it's socket in the torque tube to get it out of the way then push the rod back, turn it while pushing it into the tunnel/insulation. Once under the tunnel, push it forward.

​​​​​​​Now the shift lever, the thing with a ball on the end, refuses to go back into it's socket, need bigger hammer perhaps.

mikehayes

I think I just put the plastic socket on the ground and put my weight on the lever until it popped in. If you still have the socket installed on the top of the torque tube, remove it with the 2 13mm bolts, I think the metal plate that installs on top of it squeezes the plastic socket, which would make it more difficult to pop the lever back in.