J West Shifter, early version Options

[Randal]

Anyone near Los Altos have one installed in their car? I'd like to see how yours feels dry shifting into 2nd so I can make sure mine is adjusted (if there is such a thing) correctly.

I'm having a tough time selecting second, either up from first or down shifting from third and I'm thinking it is either the spring setup or some other adjustment.

Of course I am shifting a lot harder than you would on the street, but if the shifter isn't installed correctly it just makes it worse.

Thanks.

[john rogers]

When I initially installed mine many years ago I did it as follows and note I also had replaced the flex joint in the middle with one of those aircraft sealed units. Note this is a bit different but was used by my racing mentor who had won many races over his career and it worked very well.

1. Before I took the old unit off I removed the plastic cover at the trans and had someone shift from 1st to 2nd then 2nd to 3rd then to each of the other gears. I made a drawing of which way things moved at the console, especially noting where 2nd gear was at the trans when the stock shifter was in 2nd.

2. Installed the new linkage, front and rear parts, and the new J-West shifter and tightened the rear set screw. I DID NOT TIGHTEN THE CLAMP BOLT THAT THE FRONT SHIFT ROD FITS INTO. I also loosened both stop bolts at the shifter.

3. Shifted through each gear from under the trans at the rear to make sure all was well.

4. If all shifted well, I put the trans in 2nd gear at the trans end and had someone hold it in gear while I moved the shift handle into the 2nd gear position and locked the clamping bolt. I also adjusted the stop bolt for the 2nd gear position at the same time.

5. At the rear I shifted into 3rd gear and had someone hold the linkage while I adjusted the other stop bolt.

6. I then had a person inside shift through all gears while I watched the linkage at the rear to make sure there was no binding. Then I tested it from inside.

7. I started the car and shifted through all gears with the rear wheel in the air to make sure all worked with the engine running and it did.

This was repeated when I switched from the short geared transmission to shorter geared transmission and visa-versa and takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Note that the shifter should hit the stop bolts inside the shifter housing before the shift linkage at the transmission runs out of travel, otherwise the trans can be damaged. I also had a setup at the rear similar to what Jim sold and also what Chris is starting to make so there was no slop at all at the rear.

[SirAndy]

while I moved the shift handle into the 2nd gear position and locked the clamping bolt. I also adjusted the stop bolt for the 2nd gear position at the same time.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

The stop bolts need to be all the way out while you do the adjusting, otherwise they can interfere with the adjustment. Once everything shifts as desired, you screw the stops back in until they just barely touch and then lock them in place.

I always found that putting the trans in 2nd before doing any adjustments on the lever works just fine if you are by yourself.
That way, you know exactly where you want your shift lever to be (center and forward) and everything else basically falls into place from there ...

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[Randal]

while I moved the shift handle into the 2nd gear position and locked the clamping bolt. I also adjusted the stop bolt for the 2nd gear position at the same time.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)

The stop bolts need to be all the way out while you do the adjusting, otherwise they can interfere with the adjustment. Once everything shifts as desired, you screw the stops back in until they just barely touch and then lock them in place.

I always found that putting the trans in 2nd before doing any adjustments on the lever works just fine if you are by yourself.
That way, you know exactly where you want your shift lever to be (center and forward) and everything else basically falls into place from there ...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

I put the car into second back at the transmission and then slid the (not tightened) coupler on to the shaft. I made sure it was centered side to side then moved the shifter forward until it stopped, i.e., the inside of the shaft was bottoming out in the coupler. I tightened the coupler. Then tried selecting all the gears and everything worked.

I would have thought I had to slightly back off bottoming out the shaft in the coupler, you know like more "centered". This bothers me.

Anyway I then drove (nervously) down the street and got a bit of grinding when shifting to second and third. Actually this could be happening at events, but you don't hear or feel it.

I'm am going to tighten my clutch cable a bit and see if that helps. My syncros are all good or at least they were when we put in the TBD, about 20 minutes of hard racing ago.