hey, I am ready to rebuild my shift lever, due to the massive slop it has. What I was wondering is if anyone knows if I can do both the 3/8" bolt (as explained at paragon) and the nylon 924 bushings as suggested at http://www.dietersmotorsports.com/tech/tech-july-03.htm

I would really like to do both, but was wondering if anyone has been there and done that, and could explain the difficulties, rewards, etc.
Thanks!

 

If you can measure the OD of the stock unworn pin and find an appropriate bolt it should work great. I've done the Dieter's fix on 3 cars now but never with the bolt method. Your method has to be the cheapest fix yet. You will be amazed how well those plastic bushings work; eliminating all metal-to-metal contact is the key to longevity. Buy at least 3 pairs of the bushings and keep them around if they wear out..you never know when Porsche will stop making certain parts. You might post some picks as well.

 

Honestly, the factory-supplied/replacement part is cheap, and should last you another 16-17 years. Why not just order that instead of cobbling it?

 

The term cheap is relative to one's needs. If you can make a better shifter for less than $6 it beats the hell out of a $45 shift lever that might last 16 years but feels like crap for the last 7 of those years. His idea is good, I like hands on solutions to problems that out perform the original design; otherwise we would all have bone stock cars. Remember his shift tube might be worn out also, even a new shift lever won't fix that problem.

 

Okie dokie.

 

Stupid question, but is there anything else that wears on the shift linkage?
My shifter has a lot of slop in it, so I went after the usual culprit, the shifter lever fitting (name?...), and everything is nice and snug there. One of the PO's bought a new shift lever from the dealership a couple years ago (from the tag on it), and it's still great. The hole it slides into isn't worn out either. The whole rod it connects to is sloppy. Has anybody else run into this?

 

Theres some stuff in the rear that normally I don't find them to be badly worn. I'm sure with time we'll be seeing more of the rear linkage components worn. I'm thinking that a short shift kit would replace enough wearing parts in the rear linkage to get rid of slop, I'm also thinking the price would be comparable to replacement with stock components. So, if a short shift kit is on your wish list, you could probably tackle both when doing this.

 

I think mine has the same problem - I had a look at the pins on the lever and it's not bad (assuming the hole it goes into is ok...). It really feels like the looseness is coming from somewhere else, but it's light enough so that it doesn't feel like anything in the transmission itself is worn. Next weekend I'll be under that part of the car to fool around with the shocks so maybe I'll come across something worn and can grab some pictures of it.

 

On mine, I disconnected the shift level, and the slop was still there in the linkage.
I wish a short shift kit was on my list, but I don't have the will to pay for and install one, lol.

Perhaps you know which parts tend to wear, and I could look up the part numbers, perhaps it's not all that expensive to fix?...

I was just hoping there was indeed something that could wear on the back, and I'm not looking at a whole transmission rebuild because something wore out inside.

 

SSK installed at the tranny removed BUCKETS of slop, I highly recommend them. It's installation also pinned down the amount of play at the shift lever, again lots!!! I'll be cobbling a replacement myself....soon.

 

The easiest way to take care of shifter slop is to drill the shift rod with a 7/16" bit and then epoxy some 7/16" O.D. Brass Tubing to the shift lever pin. You can get the brass tubing at any R/C model hobby shop.

 

I've performed the bolt method on my shift lever and it is working great. I used a 3/8" stainless steel bolt, greased it really well and put a nylon washer on each end to protect the ends of the shaft (the shaft that goes to the tranny that is).

I did another interesting mod to my lever. I bent about the top 3" of the lever over 90 degrees, cut about 2" of that off, leaving about a 1" section of the lever that is 90 degrees to the lower section. Then I drilled and tapped a 10mm hole in the 1" section, threaded a long 10mm from the bottom, and voila, I can use any "standard" import shift ****.

I know there are other ways that are less work, but this little bit of metal fab/mod was fun and I have solid shift lever that meets my needs. For what its worth...

 

Get much "rattle" with this modification? I did the bolt/pin swap on my shift lever, but machined some celcon rod into a sleeve to make upper section cylindrical to mount my shift ****. I do have a little bit of annoying rattle though. I might switch to your "fix" if it is better.

Cheers,

 

Riff, a very small amount of rattle, but not from my mod itself (it's tight as a drum), but from the ****. You need to use a **** with some weight to it (like the stock one). Lightweight ***** will rattle a little. I think the one I am using now is leather-covered plastic - I'm thinking of getting a heavier one.

 

Go to dealer, open wallet, spend 28 dollars for new shift lever. What is your time worth? If I spent an hour "making" a part to save 16 bucks, I would have lost about 4 times that amount.

I will never understand this list sometimes. It is a crappy design, you arent going to fix that by making a new lever, why not go back with the one that made it the last SEVENTEEN FING YEARS. Hell, if it needed to be replaced every other year, it would be cheaper than an oil change by 50 bucks.
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