hb253

No pics for now since I was eager and buttoned everything up in the interior after I installed the shifter last week. Stupid, I know, but I'm always assuming things will work out right the first time.

The shifter itself is installed per the instructions - to the right side of the tunnel opening. I'd estimate the right edge of the shifter bracket is about 1/4" away from the edge of the tunnel opening. Tomorrow, I'll pop the boot up and see if I can get an accurate measurement and picture.

Hugo
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1984 928S
1979 911SC Targa

hb253

A couple of pics:

Ducman82

I had foam on the bottom under the shifter bunching up and causing issues. had to trim it a little. but that was due to New trans and motor mounts raising every thing up.

PorKen

I had the 'luxury' of no interior when I installed one in my '86.5 track car.

I found there were two small factory dimples which matched the drill locations perfectly. (They are on my '86.5 auto, too.)
I drilled the holes with three, progressively larger, drill bits.
I removed the front socket, pulled the linkage forward, and strapped it down with big ol' zip tie.

Landseer

I'm wondering if you've clocked the shift rod / coupler in the correct location for the new shifter mechanism.

Hilton

I was wondering the same thing - the pre-86 gearboxes are spring to return to the 4/5 plane, not the 2/3 plane of the later cars.

So if its installed in an early 928 and the rear coupler set to have the lever point straight up when in neutral, R/1 won't be reachable.

jbrob007

I'm curious if his shifter mount bar is in the proper place. I think it is since it looks to be in the same location of mine & Ken's. Mine's still very notchy... kinda frustrating.

Ken, do you have a pic after the whole unit was installed...?

hb253

I think you're on the right track, I was timid and didn't try more than one "click" when changing the axial relationship between the coupler and shift rod. I just completed a coupler bushing replacement on my 911 and found that TINY changes in coupler/shift rod relationship made a significant difference so I brought that thinking to the 928 coupler.

I hope to find time this weekend to troubleshoot further.

Hugo
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1984 928S
1979 911SC Targa

depami

Shift the transmission into 4th, have someone hold the shift lever all the way to the right, tighten the coupler.

Check gear select ability. If all is well you can always move back a bit at a time to "fine tune" stick position if desired.

jbrob007

Moving the mounting bar forward or aft in the tunnel should not affect shiftability per Colin. Side to side / up & down probably does... I've already tried lowering it by two thick washers under each end with no real difference. My next "fix" is to wallow out the holes a bit to see if moving the shifter a bit more to center makes any difference. If that doesnt solve my "crunching" issues, then the only thing left is the tranny because I will have addressed every possible shifter positioning issue... not looking forward to that!

hb253

Already tried that but at the coupler end, moving the shifter to the 4th position doesn't change the relationship between the shift rod and coupler. What I've come to realize is I may need to hold the coupler and shift rod and rotate them in opposite directions to skip a few splines which may be easier to do in neutral.

Hugo
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1984 928S
1979 911SC Targa

Ducman82

splines? the coupler has "teeth" that grip the shift rod from the trans when cinched. i thought the same thing when i first did this, the shift rod is just smooth metal. one thing you can do is shift in to 4th, go under the car and make sure the trans shift rod is in the correct orientation (all the way out and turned), THEN re tighten the coupler as someone holds the shifter where you want 4th to be sitting.

depami

1. Get a helper to run the shift lever.
2. Put car in what appears to be 4th gear.
3. Go under car while helper is in driver’s seat and loosen clamp.
4. Have helper move lever side to side and verify that shift rod is loose in clamp.
5. Pry transmission shaft out (toward front of car) to select neutral.
6. Turn transmission shaft fully counter-clockwise as viewed from front and push back in. That is 4th gear.
7. Have helper hold shift lever all the way forward and to right and tighten clamp.
8. Have helper select various gears and visually verify that shift rod does not slip in clamp.

If you still cannot select 1st or reverse, you may have issues with the shift lever mechanics (or transmission).

PS You may want to try selecting all 3 planes between steps 5 and 6. Full clockwise is R/1, middle is 2/3, full counter-clockwise is 4/5. There isn’t much rotational movement.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Denny

hb253

I finally had time to get back to my shifter adjustment today. Talk about testing my patience...

I confirmed that the existing coupler bushings are good. There is no rotational play, only minor fore/aft play. Anyway, before convincing myself about the bushings, at one point I tried loosening the coupler set screw and quickly realized removing the coupler would be a nightmare. Hans must have used an air wrench to tighten that screw.

I tried putting the car into various gears and adjusting the relationship between the shift rod and trans gear selector shaft. I lost count of how many attempts I made, but it felt like 50 or more. All told, it took 4 hours to find the right setting.

I took the car for a drive to try it out and it definitely feels different. More positive but more effort too.

All this was made easier by my recent acquisition of a Harbor Freight 2-ton floor jack and a creeper.

On to the next project...

Hugo
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1984 928S
1979 911SC Targa

Ducman82

Good to hear. What's next?