Garth
My OE GT lever looked even shorter than yours does now, but I cut another 10mm off it anyway because the leather gaiter had shrunk and would pull the base ring out of the consol. REALLY irritating. Sawed it off at the neck. It works better than ever and now looks better too.

Colin. 89GT

 

Glen,

I have a short shifter in my '80 Euro S, and like it, so I expect you would as well.

 

I modified my lever not by cutting off the top but by just drilling a new hole 46mm above the top tube and cutting out the old tube to insert in the drilled hole. This shortens the throw and overall height.

 

clever! I was planning on cutting, welding in a new piece, and trim the top. This does it all in one operation. I guess this would give you a 235 mm total length, and 46 mm "spacing", making it equivalent to the aftermarked short shifter, with a slightly longer handle.

Wow, really smart thinking.

 

Yep. Like that. Just need to get it welded.

Thinking to take 2cm off the top for a 5.7cm height reduction.

 

Here's my cut-down shifter. Took 6cm off the top. Cut the sides down so the **** will fit. Ground in the notches so it'll stick on. Decided to "do it" and not get the lower tube re-welded in higher. No 5/8" drill bit in the drawer.

Painted it so the **** will slide on and it won't rust. It's red as red is fastest. Hacker's will be black.

 

on the car, ive cut a few 928s, and taken about 25mm off the lever. on my 84, with it matched with the 85 gear box and torque tube, it becomes even more short throw. to make the S4 match this same short throw, i needed to cut the shifter even more. it seems to work well, reminds me of a 944t i drove a long time ago. its like having a little computer joystick for a shifter! never miss shifts anymore.

mk

 

Finished installing the shifter. Was easy to do with the aid of a pair of big channel-locks. Pressed the lever towards the rods and slipped on the clips. Sure, a bit of fiddling to get the plastic bushings in right but pretty easy; a 10 minute job.

Last time I was in there I used the method where the springs are compressed and tied down. When dis-assembling this time I found that the wires, although cut, were jamming the springs to the tubes and the springs weren't doing anything. This may be a cause of the shifter buzzing I was experiencing. Won't know for sure till April as the Queen ain't moving till then.

 

I have a question to the stock stifter guys, If you are cutting/welding/grinding, and reving the springs, is there any spacers/washers required to take up the space that the springs would be in. I have not taken my stock 84S apart but I think I will do this mod soon...

 

On mine it looked to be maybe 1mm gap, or less. Someone suggested leaving them out. Might not make a difference.

 

Well, I made my own short shift stuff and it is working good.
Åke

 

Earlier this year I finally replaced my 87's stock shifter with one I bought from 928 Specialists at least 15 years ago.

I cannot say I'm happy with the change as it takes much more effort to switch gears, thus it's not nearly as quick.

This is an important point since I'm a double-clutcher (..my synchros love me) and throws my timing off.

I plan on keeping it installed for now to see if I can adapt to it - in the meantime, for me and how I drive, I'm not happy with the short shifter.

 

I agree that a shorter gear lever means more shifting effort - law of the lever. However, I find the Porsche manual transmission not as easy nor as quick to change gears as the Getrag 265/5 close ratio gearbox I have for my BMW 635CSI also with a short shift lever.
I wonder how those who race the 928 look at this issue (Mark Kibort)?
Åke