Cupcar

I am sorry to say, your shifter is installed wrong. The shifter handle would have been closer to you, and the dent in the pan would not have been necessary, if the oval pivot shaft bushing were flipped, so the pivot shaft is in the upper part of the oval rather than the lower one, like it is supposed to be. See picture below, the dirty oily hole is where the shaft is supposed to be, it is normally in the lower hole in a non-RS shifter equipped car.

garrett376

The C4 has the 993RS style shift coupling...

1990-964

Oscar,

Cupcar hit the nail on the head. My guess is that your car is a 1990 or that your mechanic installed the shifter incorrectly. As Cupcar said the correct method is to flip or rotate the bushing that holds the tube that supports the shift lever. This is a mistake that many people make. This moves the whole assembly up in the box like the factory intended. Having any part of the linkage hang down like that is asking for trouble. Those that say that there is no problem cutting a hole dimpling the cover or whatever do not have a full grasp of how the unit is really supposed to be installed. The best thing for you to do now is to redo your installation, flip the bushing and then you will be in good shape. That will keep you or the car from getting hurt. If you are still in doubt try talking to Schatz Motorsport, Jerry Woods, or PCA Tech editor Joel Reiser. I did before doing my shifter and all three of them and others helped me from going down the wrong road. Good Luck.

Cupcar

The picture I showed is of the factory installation in my USA Cup, so I KNOW that is how Porsche does it!!!

Fast4525

This is a great thread with lots of good info. I am in need of a short-throw shift kit for my '90 C2 and have a few questions.

Are you saying that some of the sheetmetal needs to be bent or cut away to make the short shifter work? Does anyone happen to have a pic of this mod?

Are the Porsche short shifter and the RS shifter two different parts? I like the RS version because it locates the shifter over 1" higher than stock! Does anyone have a part # or price for the RS part?

This also looks like a very nice upgrade. Are any additional parts or changes required for installation in a '90 C2? Does anyone have a part # or price for this part?

1990-964

Fast4525,

Yes I am saying that the holes that the two support tube bushings in 1990 car need to be opened up to match the later style bushings. It can be done with a file or with a die grinder/Dremel, either way be very careful and above all TAKE YOUR TIME. The owner of Schatz Motorsports was the first one to clue me in on this as he had done it to his own car. I did mine last July and after almost a year and a half it is working just fine. Don't make the mistake of dimpling/cutting your pan. Imagine what might happen if you were to hit a speed bump with the linkage and have the lever possibly slam back into your arm. NOT GOOD!

Post your results and Good Luck

Cupcar

The RS' normal shifter is what people call a "short shifter" for the other cars. The part numbers are:

Lever 964.424.015.08
Fork below lever 964.424.017.01

The shift rod with the metal to metal universal joint is actually a 993 RS part (the shifter and fork are same as 964 RS) is part number 964.424.020.35

I bought my shift rod from Schatz Motorsport mentioned by others above, the parts are listed here, the 3 piece kit has the rod and the shifter: http://www.schatzmotorsport.com/Merc...ct_Code=150SKX

Fast4525

Mr Cupcar,

You seem to be the resident short shifter expert Can you confirm that the lever actually raises the shift **** height by 28mm?

Even though Schatz lists the RS short shifter as fitting '90> I think that I will have to do the previously mentioned sheetmetal mods.

The price difference between the RS shifter and the 993 version with the rod/linkage assembly is $400 -- a huge percentage more! How much better is the 993 version?

Thanks

Cupcar

Page 3-8 of Porsche's service and training book Service Information Technik '92 911 Carrera RS has a comparison table that states the new lever design raises the lever 28 mm and moves it 10 mm closer to the driver as well as shortening the travel by 20 mm total overall (plus & minus 52 mm rather than plus & minus 62 mm).

Email Mike Schatz directly and he will tell you about the mods for your '90 shifter.

A picture I posted earlier shows the wear on my stock coupling. I noted a real decrease in sloppiness with the 993 rod. What you would get depends on how worn your original components are. I suspect your '90 has similar wear or greater to the photo. The 993 rod is not nearly as prone to wear, so the sloppiness fix is permanent.

As for whether it is worth it depends on how expensive your taste in women, homes, watches, cameras, computers, travel, home theater, etc., is and where you want to spend your money...I thought it was worth it.

ltc

FWIW and IMHO having driven my RSAmerica with the stock shifter and the Euro Cup with the shifter/linkages discussed, the RS/Cup shifter position and feel is much better. A highly recommended mod.

1990-964

I took a quick look at the the link to Schatz Motorsport and find it highly suspect about the 90' fitment with the asterick saying to dimple the tunnel cover. As I had said previously it was Mr. Schatz himself who told me in a phone conversation not to do this and what had to be done in the box area to accomodate the late style oval bushing. He went on to say that he had done this to his own personal car and that it was not that difficult. I'm finding it hard to see why he/they would list the wrong way to do this on their website. Dimpling/cutting or other mods to the tunnel is NOT the correct way to accomplish this installation(was not always listed there that way). The factory did not do this but rather raised the whole assembly via the oval support tube bushings up in the box. Follow what the factory did and you will be happy that you did it right.

Fast4525

Good advice. How difficult and expensive is the factory update route? Do you know what parts #s are required to do it the right way?

Thanks

1990-964

To do this right only requires two new oval bushings, compared to the ones that you have in there now that are round. Everything else is the same. Sorry but don't know the part numbers. As for cost, I think both bushings were a dollar or two. Incidental cost really and worth 100 times that for the peace of mind that you did it right.

ThomasC2

I've done this mod and it's really money well spent!

Cupcar

Model Year 1992 and on use bushing part number 964.424.028.00.

From the parts book listings, the same bushing is used for '90 and '91 cars, and then it is changed from 1992 on so presumably this means for RS shifter installation the '91 C2 needs to change to an oval bushing as well.