jon928se

I see you have already removed the lever - with it in the vice insert a spanner - open ended about 17mm I think that fits close to the front and rear of the steel lever. ensure shoft **** is pushed as close to vice as possible with spanner in between. tighten vice then lever up with spanner.

This also works with the lever insitu use visegrips instead of the vice.

Marine Blue

Well either I'm getting weak (very possible) or I need to get over my fear that this car is old and fragile. This morning I brought the shift column into work and did the above in a vice. The combination of twisting and tugging pulled it off. I can't even blame the PO for this, didn't see any epoxy on the column but I did see some light rust.

Anyways everything is apart now and I'm still debating what I want to do. The leather isn't great (I"m ****) and the shift column is homemade but they both work. I do want to replace the small bushings since they're plastic and will probably improve the smoothness. So now I need to decide if I want new leather and column.

Mike Simard

If you want to start with a 'new' shifter lever let me know, I have one for free that came out of my '87. I replaced that one with the 20mm shorter one used in a GT that was also a freebie from a Rennlister so it would be a pleasure to give this one a new home. Then you could get a new cover from Champagne and have a like new shifter!

Jim M.

Like they say: "Don't force it, get a bigger hammer." You got it off! Now see if the PO notched the front and rear of the shortened shifter, like the original. If he did then just old age was most likly the problem. Shortening the lever reduces the throw slightly, but a short shifter has different spacing between the two bushings to give a larger moment arm to each throw. So a short shifter mod is still better than shortening the length. By the way, all the short shifters I've seen have both a different moment arm and a shortened length to the stalk.

Paul's offer of a new leather cover is the best route. Paul's quality is top notch and can't be beat. The shift **** is rubber and may be dried out, which made it so difficult to remove.

Jim Mayzurk
93 GTS 5-spd

Marine Blue

Mike,

Thank you for the offer, if I see any issues with the existing I may take you up on it. I haven't really had a good look at mine yet but it appears to be correct.

Jim,

I was wondering about the additional differences in the aftermarket short shift. Judging by the pictures I thought the holes looked closer but I didn't have confirmation until now. I may still buy the shift and plastic bushings, the idea of shorter throws is appealing.

Paul as always you know I love your work. I'm debating about sending my shift **** back for a new cover but I just haven't decided yet. As I've eluded to in the past, when finances allow I will be sending nearly my entire interior to you for a recover. I'll let you know about the shifter.....

WallyP

While you are doing all of this work...

You can adjust the angle of the shift lever by moving the rear coupling, or by loosening the lock nut on the front ball cup housing (on top of the torque tube) and then adjusting the length of the front shift rod.

And I hope that you have checked the condition of the front shift rod ball cup!

Compress the springs in a vise and wrap them in two places with very fine copper wire or dental floss to hold them compressed while you replace the retaining rings.

Marine Blue

Thanks for the tips, especially about the springs, I was wondering if they would make things difficult when going back together.

My shifter well has a foam around it, can this be removed without damaging it? I assume this needs to be removed to access the front ball cup? Ok you all may be realizing I'm not very well versed on these cars as of yet....but I'm learning fast thanks to everyone's input.

a4sfed928

Are these 944 shift *****?

Fabio421

I stopped reading halfway through the thread so excuse me if I'm missing something here. It isn't required that you remove the **** or boot to install the plate. I just did this recently. Just put the plate over the **** and then pull the bottom of the boot up through the foamed hole. Next, wrap the leather around the squarish plate and then snap it into place in your console. It takes three minutes.

Marine Blue

Ah Fabio, you're excused. Actually the frame with the foam wasn't too difficult to remove. The problem was the rubber boot underneath this that required removal of the shift ****. This thread is definitely worth reading for any 5spd owner which isn't intimately familiar with these cars. Some great input from everyone.

MrGST

Knowing you, it's an easy decision. You want new...just do it!

Fogey1

Get mechanical advantage. Jury rig a jig so you can fix one end of the column and use your hydraulic or scissors jack to pull in the opposite direction.

Worst that can happen is you'll ruin a currently unusable part.

ParkerC

Me too, I wanted to stay with the original. Then I said hell with it and ordered the GT-S shifter which looks and feels 10X better than the old one. Good luck.

Parker

Marine Blue

Parker that does look nice. Actually your whole interior looks inviting.

I'm bringing my parts to the parts washer at work this weekend to get the old grease off. Once done I'm going to decide which parts I'm ordering. I'm leaning towards a new short shift with new bushings for now and then decide on a new shifter next year which is an easy install now that I know what I'm doing. This will give me time to try the existing shifter and compare it to the new GTS style shifter which a few people have already installed. I just soaked my existing shift **** in leatherique to help soften it up. It's sitting on the heater (hidden behind furniture so my wife doesn't notice ) and it has improved a bunch from when I pulled it off.

Elmiko

Did you order the GTS shifter directly from Porsche? I've been waiting 3 weeks for the one ordered-apparently has to come from Germany.