The Other Eric... Thx for the tip on the leather being a bit too stretched and suggesting now I have to take the freakin' screw out again with my new allen key, set myself back to square one, and try to get that **** pressed furthur down onto the gearshift shaft.

I can't wait to do that tomorrow. Oh what joy that will bring me .

This is such fun. DIY - you gotta love it. If I ever do get my shifter **** on right, I'm going to be one happy camper.

Guys, you've made me smile alot today. It's comforting knowing there's a bunch of you out there actually routing for me. What a cool thing.

I'll update you tomorrow. It's 1215am and I'd like to go out to the garage and tackle it some more, but the lighting is awful and I really need to get to bed at some point. I'm sure I'll fall off to sleep and have dreams/nightmares of the leather boot, the 6 speed gear shift ****, and the drama of getting it seated correctly.

Regards,
Steve R

 

Way to go for it Steve! Remember to BREATHE and have fun! Can's wait to hear how things go tomorrow!

 

Hey, at least you didn't have parts left over!

Great story; it gave me numerous flashbacks to less complicated DIYs where I'd say to myself "Did I break it??? Did I break it???"

 

OMG this is great. I am sorry you had so much trouble. I feel a little bad I was one of the many that prodded you into this DIY. At least you have a good sense of humor about it. Really once you get it done you will be more confident in other DIY's. Like I said in your first thread on this subject. I changed the oil in my 1st 911 and had no idea how much oil the tank held. My garage floor looked like the Exxon Valdez crashed in my garage. Once you master this your confidence level will be higher. Good for you sticking with it.

Mike

 

You are too funny, Steve! I am sorry the task went awry, but I can completely understand. The Three Factor often comes into play when I tackle a new task: takes three times longer than I anticipated because of frozen bolts, trips to the parts store, consultation of other Rennlisters, etc.

 

That was well worth the read...it made me chuckle. I can't wait for you to tackle the next DIY project.

 

Or, he could be nominated to be Chief Technical Writer. Great story, Steve.
I feel your pain; my Dad was an engineer. Not me (by a long shot).
When I first got into ocean sailing an old guy (my dad's age) was helping me with something and I was telling him about how I wasn't so good at technical work and my Dad was just the opposite - he taught me something when he said 'Rick, we have 30 years of experience on you young guys. Don't worry, you'll get there.'
I now have the 30 years of experience (but still would never consider a big project like an engine rebuild).
Keep at it; each of these is a learning experience. Glad you are sharing it.

 

A for effort.

How's your rear wing spoiler wall?

 

Hood/Decklid shocks

 

Ok, I'm back. Embarrassed, but I'm back.

Keep in mind, my camera broke during this DIY and the autofocusing is kaput, but here goes... I've taken the shifter back off as some of you said the leather is too stretched and the **** needs to be furthur down on the shaft (this is starting to sound pornographic).

Here's a pic of what I found when I de-knobbed it this morning:


See those 2 little rubber things with the lines across them? I'm guessing they're not supposed to be like that, right? At one point, before I put the **** on yesterday, I pulled that one higher rubber thing to the **** and attempted to put the shifter OVER that rubber thing and pushed it as hard as I could to the lowest point on the shifter. It appears that I've broken the rubber thing as it used to be flat across the top with rubber on all 3 sides. It sat at the top of the metal shifter shaft. Now it's 1/2 way down the shaft, possibly split on the top part. Do I bring it to the TOP of that shaft and place the shifter **** RIGHT OVER IT while I'm lowering it on the shaft? Or does it go under the **** but not "in" the ****? Lastly, what are these 2 rubber things for, as in, what's their actual purpose? Gert's instructions suck for me. Maybe for you guys it's all intuitive, but to me, it's like rocket science.

SO - where DOES that rubber thing go, when I'm first putting the **** on the metal shaft? Also, where does the lower rubber thing go? Is it ok where it sits now?

I can't believe how this is turning into something difficult when it's so supposed to be so easy. My $100 would have been well spent to have someone else do it for me at this point, but I'm totally frickin' determined to do it myself now unless I've ruined some part of it and HAVE to bring it into a shop to have it fixed .

It's all good, right? I'm taking my other car today, naturally.

Steve R

 

The old Tweeks catalog, which sold the larger drain pans, always said, "You have not known excitement until you attempt to drain 10 quarts of oil into a 5 quart pan."

Happened to friend of mine in Florida years ago, he even slipped and fell right into the oil. What a scene!

 

Steve,

Thanks for sharing and I hope it comes good in the end. It usually does. I took hours and hours taking my silencers off and putting another set on and now I can probably do them in fifteen/twenty minutes a side. It is always that nightmare first attempt that takes for ever and has you part way through wishing you had either left it as it was or else given it to someone else.

Cheers,

David

 

I don't have those little rubber things on mine. You can pull em off and all will be fine. If the new **** then rattles around and it waay too loose, then you can reinvestigate if they actually did something useful.

Probably something to make the boot feel smooth from the outside or possibly reduce vibration.

Pete

 

Take those rubber thingies off and throw them in the garbage.

 

They are likely giving you trouble in getting the **** slid down far enough.

Popping that boot base into place will be easier the 2nd time... "practice makes perfect"? Or "familiarity breeds contempt"?