Carl Fausett

At this year's 928 Motorsports convention/Labor day Races at Road America, my Shifter Ball Cup failed. It was One year old. I had replaced it when I serviced the torque tube and transaxle last year.

As fun as this part is to get at and replace, this wasn't funny.

The post-mortem revealed the ball cup was fine - its just that the nylon cup liner was nowhere to be found. Gone.

The nylon cup liner will, like most nylon products, go soft at temps above 220 degrees, and will certainly loose it strength and its shape. At higher temps than that, it can literally phase-change into a liquid.

I figure that the combination of the 95 degree day and the hot exhaust pipes mounted under the torque tube is more than enough to exceed the 220 degree limits of the nylon part.

I designed an all-steel replacement that can be adjusted for drag/stiffness, can be installed from under the car, and will never wear out.

These photos are of the finished product without the yellow chromate plating. The plating is being done to them now and will provide excellent rust resistance.

Because you can adjust the drag/clamping force on the ball, this ball cup will provide the most precise shifts possible as there is absolutely no for-and-aft play in the shifter linkage.

See for yourself: Connie will have a table top demonstration model in our booth at Sharktoberfest. Stop by and examine it!

Carl Fausett

For the curious, here are the steps to install the new Precision Shifter Ball Cup.
I thought they might make it easier to understand.

Photos are from the top for clarity - but it is designed so that it can be installed from the bottom of the car as you would expect.

Panzer9

Looks good, Carl- I wish that was available when I replaced mine two years ago. At least I did install a 6" hose clamp to avert any catastrophe in the future- so far, so good.

Shane

Cool how soon can I order one or two?

Carl Fausett

I'll try to have a price on it by the end of next week. The OEM replacement is $79, I think. This won't be that much.

Bill Ball

Excellent!

F451

I'll take one too. Will be on the look out for an update on this. Great work Carl.

BrianG

Nice piece!
Can this be installed with the torque tube in situ?

928ntslow

Man I love your ideas! I almost wish the one on the GTS was bad Heck, I may just get one anyway.

Very nice Carl!

Carl Fausett

Yes. I made sure to make it no taller than the OEM unit so it can slip over the ball and under the body. Then adjust and tighten the jam nuts from the side.

Mike Frye

Spent several hours on several weekends working out how to remove and replace mine. Now that I've got it in, you build a better mousetrap.

Any ideas for the rear coupler?

There's a little play designed into that one too, and when those bushings wear out it's a B!TCH to get that little set screw out.


Very nice design. Well done.

123quattro

I think I'll be buying one of these as well.

AO

Me three.

Garth S

Nicely done
You may wish to add an instruction note to adjust the threading depth into the shift rod to bring the shift lever to vertical .... then snug the lock nut.

Mike Frye

BTW- For anyone who is not familiar with Carl's stuff,. Any phrase that contains '928 Motorsports' and 'Precision' is redundant.

Where did I leave that wish list...