Shift coupler bushings, can you buy the correct ones? Options

[JWest]

On a side-shift 914 the coupler sits inside a boot just behind the firewall. The orginal bushings in these couplers had a round hole that was a nice fit on the internal pin. The 911 uses the same type coupler, only it has a short shaft sticking out instead of the long bar used in the 914. The bushings are interchangable, though.

At some point, some genious at Porsche decided that the coupler bushings should have oval holes, adding axial slop to the shift linkage.

I have been looking into the bushings lately, and it seems that all the suppliers have quit carying the round hole style - you have to use the crappy oval one now. Pelican says NLA on the 914 style but the 911 style will work "fine." As if these cars don't shift bad enough, we have to add more play to them!

I have worked up a replacement to take care of this slop (to go with my shifter), but I don't want to bother if the proper bushings are available from somewhere.

The ultimate solution is to weld a u-joint in place of the coupler, but I can't provide that reasonably because the whole rear shift rod is attached. I recommend it if you can do it yourself, though. I think Brad mentioned he collects the steering u-joints to use for this.

So, has anyone bought the correct bushings lately?

[maf914]

I have just installed new bushings from Pelican in my shifter universal joint. They are a black plastic with round holes for the pin. They fit very tight and the pin has no play. The joint is sitting on my workbench right now as the engine and tranny are out of my car.

Several years ago, when having shift problems, I found the original bushings were literally falling apart. Pieces of hardened black plastic were falling out of the joint. I bought a pair of bushings from Tweeks. They were a dark red polyurethane with oval shaped holes for the pin. I wondered about that, but needed the bushings, so I installed them and used them for several years. The improvement over the disintegrating originals was noticeable, so I was happy even if the oval holes allowed some slop. I expect the new bushings I have from Pelican to be even better.

Mike

[Qarl]

Post a pic of the part in question. There may be some alternatives for the joints that may improve shifting as well!

Look at this forum on the Pelican Forums.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....20&pagenumber=1


Regards,

Karl

[JWest]

I have just installed new bushings from Pelican in my shifter universal joint. They are a black plastic with round holes for the pin

Maybe their online catalog is wrong - as they list the same part # for the 914 as the 911 oval bushings. I'll give them a call.

Karl, none of those 911 joint solutions work because the 914 coupler has the the whole rear shift rod built in. They are good ideas if you can weld it yourself, but I am looking for something I can provide to people at low cost (if it is even needed).

[JWest]

Ok, it seems that Pelican only sells the round ones (those are the good ones). I ordered a set to be sure they work as they should.

Performance only sells the oval ones - so stay away from those.