Shift Rod Broken Welds, Best course of action? Options

[Nogoodwithusernames]

So I *finally* got around to replacing the CV joint I talked about a while back. I'm sure you all know how that goes.

Anyways I figured while I'm under there, and since the shifter rod had to come out to do the CV joint, I'm replacing all the shifter bushings. However with the rod out on the bench I noticed the tack welds are cracked. Possibly from the axle riding on the rod for the 1/4 mile back home.

Should I just clean it up and add a few more tacks or what's my best course of action?

[Cairo94507]

I would clean it up, grind it down and weld it all the way around. Then clean that up and paint it.

[BillC]

I would clean it up, grind it down and weld it all the way around. Then clean that up and paint it.

Yup. Sounds like a plan.

[Al Meredith]

Perhaps another "old timer" would like to chime in and verify this. Back when the 914 was introduced in 1970 the cars were recalled to have the shift rod rewelded. Back in the day a friend who just bought a new 914 called me about 10:00 at night to help because he couldn't get into gear so he could get home that night. Since back then I had a 356 and had been driving VWs for about 10 years I was the "go to guy" for all things German cars I found the shift rod not moving so I took some channel locks and put the transmission into 3rd gear which ,with some slipping, allowed him to get home.

[Mark Henry]

Note that the solid rod has a mount hole that is clocked, it has to go back the same way.

[Bartlett 914]

I made fixture for repairing these. I can even make new end shaft if badly worn. PM me if interested

[roblav1]

Porsche, or Karman, built them wrong for welding. The larger tube should have had a couple v-slices to increase the weld length. Either that or a few rosette welds. I fixed mine before it failed.

[Nogoodwithusernames]

Well it *should* be fixed, as soon as the oil seal and shifter console bushing show up next week we will know for sure.

I left the two factory tacks, even though they were cracked, as indexing points and welded the rest of the way around the shaft. A bit of cleanup and fresh paint and it's ready to go.

Will find out if anything got bent or otherwise out of spec once I can put it all back together.

[Nogoodwithusernames]

Well got it assembled last night with all the new bushings and such and all is not as it should be. Getting it into gears requires the shifter moving at weird angles (aka have to push diagonally to get into a gear) and I for sure cannot get R/1, not entirely sure about 4/5 either.

I did not ever touch the adjuster right under the shifter lever, only detached the coupler and cup on either end of the rear rod. I did remove the shifter to get the firewall bushing in but marked it's position and put it back exactly as it was.

Does anyone have a photo of a *good* shift rod going into the shifter console? I assume it needs to be straight and level? Mine certainly is not either of those. Will probably have to get it fixed.

[VaccaRabite]

You may just need to readjust the shifter.
Put the shifter into the 2-3 plane at the transmission console under the car.
Then adjust the shifter in the cab by loosening the pinch bolts under the shifter at the rod and moving the shifter to where it should be. There is a little more to it (trial and error) but its not hard. If the shift bar is not too bent out of shape, you should be able to get it to a point where it shifts correctly.

Zach

[dcheek]

When I brought my car in for the first dealer service the shift rod broke in the parking lot! Talk about lucky. I think I have 1000 miles on the car. Of course it was covered under warranty.

Dave