mike993c2s

Today is a happy Sunday for me. Spent the whole day at FisterD's shop, I guess now officially Fister-Dipietro Motorsports, had the Rennline engine carrier reinforcement welded on by Darin, put Wevo Blacks on the car, and best of all, had the RS-style Shift Rod (AKA the Cactus Golden Rod ) installed!!!!!

I showed up around 9AM and I was anxious to check out Darin's car with the new shift rod in place. It felt really mechanical and direct, so when MarkD and Darin offered to upgrade mine to the RS-style shift rod, I just could not refuse (lucky me)!

With Mark and Darin's help, we started taking the car apart to get to the engine carrier. The mufflers and cat came off first (good thing I got new bolts for the cat/heat exchanger since one's head sheared right off), then out came the heater block. Then it's the rear engine tin, and finally, the engine carrier itself. It was then time for Darin to work his magic......

I popped in the new Wevo mounts (Black pillow) - much lighter than the stock mounts. Next came the reinforced engine carrier (primed and painted). After a couple more hours, we got everything back on the car, including the new shift rod!

I was quite excited (but not to Cactus' Defcon 4 level ) to try out the new mods as I pulled out from the shop. I'll first comment on the Wevos. Definitely the right choice for me, since I can now hear and feel more of the engine inside the cabin. Not much difference at idle, but on throttle, there is more noise and vibration coming into the cabin. At WOT, it is absolutely glorious!!!!!

Now onto the rod...ahem, shift rod. Interested parties can check out MarkD's thread on this RS-style shift rod for more details and pictures. It is very well made and probably over-engineered, and there is no give at all looking at the joint (which translates into direct/precise shifting). When Mark pulled out the original shift rod and showed me how much play there was, I found it hard to believe that we could shift at all...... Anyway, onto driving impressions. I would say that the shift feel is about 100% better than stock. It is much more precise and mechanical, with a very slight increase in vibration transmitted through the shifter. I can't wait for my next DE.

The only thing I didn't have time to do was to take some pictures We were all too busy working the whole day. So I just want to give my heartfelt thanks to both Mark and Darin for all the help today (and to pstraub for a free Porsche calendar). I also want to say that this forum is really an awesome place since I wouldn't have gotten to know these wonderful people otherwise.

Now, I'm contemplating what my next mod should be.......

VMXWinn

Mike, I'm glad to here that you like the RS shift rod mod, I have been thinking of doing this along with a B&m short shifter. Later I will add RS motor mounts.

Tell me more about the shifter rod. Is it more precises and slick?

Thanks,
Darren

mike993c2s

Darren,

I wouldn't say it's slicker or smoother, but it's certainly more precise.... there is none of that "I guess this is where 1st gear" type feel. There is less play in the shift linkage, hence the more direct and precise feel. Think of it as like a gated shifter, and you get the idea. Obviously, you can always come over and try it out for yourself!

Cactus

Awesome! Wish Andreas and I could have been there to supervise and drink all of Darin's beer!

VMXWinn

Mike Thanks for the offer. Lets get another drive together soon.. I also still need to get that airbag from Sunset and change out my steering wheel.

Darren

AOW162435

Fool, I think '09 is road trip time.


Andreas

MarkD

Mike, thanks for the kind words. I thoroughly enjoyed the work yesterday.
I just cannot get enough of these cars

Too bad you couldn't make it by Kevin, hope to see/hear your car soon. I'd like to compare the center exit with mufflers to Rufus' without.



Sweet!
We need to plan a Spring get together around your schedules

FisterD

If you guys come out here.......OMG....it would be ON BABY!!!! We could put together a shop party, some great drives, lots and lots and lots of beverages!!!!

Stealth 993

more things to add to my list!

Cactus

Hmmmm.......

AOW162435

That's all you have to say about that???

West Coast Philly...


Andreas

nile13

Guys, how hard is it to install teh new rod (I have RS shifter bits, but the rod is OEM). Also, could you PM the pricing? Do you need the old rod in exchange?

Thanks!

mike993c2s

Mark and Darin did all the work when it came to installing the rod, so they would be better qualified to tell you how hard it is. However, from what I could see, it wasn't that hard to put in with the car on a lift....... I think the harder part is actually removing the old rod.....hmmm I need to stop putting "hard" and "rod" in the same sentence!

MarkD

On the install, it isn't bad, more tedious than anything. Lots of 10mm nuts (and a few bolts) to remove the under covers.
You need to remove the center tunnel cover and a smaller cover where the AC condensation drain is on pass side.

Remove covers mentioned above
Remove shift box boot enough to expose ball at base of shift lever
Pop the fixed rod off the ball on the bottom of the shift lever
Remove the e-clip from bottom of shift fork (catch plastic bushing and washers)
Rod can now slide off of the shift fork
Remove rubber dust boot from trans and slide back to expose the shoulder bolt
Remove shoulder bolt
Remove shift rod (need to pull shift box boot off of rod)
For install, reverse.

I need to take pix and write a DIY I think. That would probably help.
Anybody have some spare time I can borrow?

nile13

Mark, thanks!

I need to take the car back to the mechanic to turn the shifter around after the RS parts install (the dam thing ended up all the way forward, neutral is somewhere around where the 3rd was). So maybe it's time to install the rod as well. So... could you PM me pricing and all other pertinent info?