Transmission Linkage Issues?, What's the current thinking on "renewing" linkage? Options

[earossi]

As noted earlier, I have just taken delivery of my first 914 which has had both the engine and transmission "rebuilt". Unfortunately, I do NOT have the build history on either component. The engine seems to run very well. The transmission is another story. Shifting is very vague and it is HARD to shift the car. I have been able to work the tranny through all 5 gears, and there are no bearing noises or evidence of bad synchs. But, the linkage appears to be f****ed up pretty poorly. It takes a lot of force to move the shifter forward or rearward. And, hitting the correct gears is a bit of a hit or miss.

I have been able to research the Pelican site where there is a writeup by Wayne Dempsy on reworking the linkage and doing some adjustments. But, I wonder what else is out there. On this forum, I have seen references to some linkage articles in the archives, but have not been able to find much using the Search function.

There are also several sources for replacement bushings, bearings, and hardware. But, what is the "hot ticket" to get the tranny to shift smoothly and with some ease?

Though this is my first 914, my first Porsche was a 66 911 with a 901 tranny in it and I can remember it being a joy to shift. You could not speed shift the car, but it was very easy to shift. And, I am wondering if I can get the 914 side shift tranny to behave as did my 911?

I can source hardware from Patrick MS, Tangerine Racing, Pelican, and Porsche......but, what should I replace and with whose part to get this tranny so that it is easily shifted?

Right now, the car is a true PITA to drive simply because of the linkage or perhaps something internal to the tranny. Iwould like to work through a proper diagnosis and adjustment of the linkage first, to see if that fixes my problems. I kind of feel that the issue is linkage related, at this point.

So, I would appreciate some direction from this forum.