Shift Linkage bar Adjustment Tips Options

[dcecc1968]

After 9 MONTHS of letting my 914 sit in my garage (unworked on and undriven), I decided to get my two teenage boys and do a couple of small jobs I've been postponing. One of the jobs we did was to install a side-shifter transmission cover that I bought from 914 rubber 9 months ago. Part of that job is disconnecting the shift rod to slide the boot and cover on which should have involved just unscrewing the two cone screws and sliding the lower shift rod out, but somebody.... didn't look at the Hayes Manual close enough to find the second cone screw and decided to disconnect the gear shift assembly from the shift rod.

Long story short, we put it back together (boy I had heck of a time getting that original cotter-pin style locking clamp to tighten up) and then I realized that I must have rotated the shift rod differently when I re-clamped the gear shift assembly to the shift rod as I could barely get the transmission into 1st and Reverse.

Is there any advice out there for adjusting the rotation of and insertion length of the shift rod in the clamp so that all gears can be reached besides trial and error?

I would welcome any and all help.

-Don Ceccarelli