Tail shifter ball bushings, Are they really balls? Options

[Jaiden]

So while tinkering with the teener I decide to take care of the sloppy shifting and after unhooking the shaft from the tranny noticed alot of slop in the ball bushings.
Upon inspection the bushings look like balls with a flat section all the way around are they supposed to be this way? There is alot of slop in the joint.

Also at the connection between the shaft and the tranny is there supposed to be a bushing in there because I do not have one?

Thanks for the info.

I don't have any pics yet but will try to get some tonight.

[Jaiden]

well I ordered new ball bushings and the pic looks like they should not have a flat around them so the swap will happen ASAP.

What about the finger on the end of the shift rod?

There is alot of play at that point and I doubt they would have metal to metal there and no where else.

[Cap'n Krusty]

QUOTE (Jaiden @ Oct 6 2005, 06:01 AM)

well I ordered new ball bushings and the pic looks like they should not have a flat around them so the swap will happen ASAP. What about the finger on the end of the shift rod? There is alot of play at that point and I doubt they would have metal to metal there and no where else.

They do, indeed, have "metal to metal" there. In the past I've had to build up the rod, and even the fork, to eliminate excess play. The Cap'n

[Jaiden]

Any pics or specs on the finger? what should it look like.

I tried finding details about what red-beard brazed and filed down his but did not see any details.

[lapuwali]

There needs to be *some* play in the knife-and-fork part, or it won't move (or will be very stiff). Note that the "knife" is tapered, so some clearance will be taken up as it's shifted into gear. If there's still a lot of play after you put it in gear, then you need to break out the brazing tools and a file. You'll just add material until you have no clearance, then file it back until you have a bit of clearance again. Red-beard brazed up the knife, and the rod where is passes through the rearmost bushing, then filed both more or less into shape.

IMHO, in the tail shifter, the points of slop that cause the greatest difference in shifting are the ball cup at the base of the shift lever, followed by the balls. The knife and fork makes much less difference to feel, followed by the firewall bushing, then the guide bushing just aft of the shift lever. Fix the ball cup and the balls, and you get rid of about 80% of the possible slop. I also strongly dislike the Weltmeister short-shifter on the tailshifter setup. It seems to work nicely on the side-shifter, but the tail-shifter only seems to be harmed by the Welt unit.

[Jaiden]

Thanks for the details.

The shifter bushing have been replaced already all the way to the fire wall but my balls are battered and worn (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/blink.gif)

The rear bushing is good on the rod but the rod is worn.

How much clearance is needed at the finger/fork joint while in gear? a few thou? or more? Or is it a go until it feels good kind of thing?

[lapuwali]

QUOTE (Jaiden @ Oct 6 2005, 07:28 AM)

Thanks for the details. The shifter bushing have been replaced already all the way to the fire wall but my balls are battered and worn (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/blink.gif) The rear bushing is good on the rod but the rod is worn. How much clearance is needed at the finger/fork joint while in gear? a few thou? or more? Or is it a go until it feels good kind of thing?

Yes, it's a feel thing. I'm sure there's an ideal measurement, but I have no idea what it would be. Start with too little clearance, then file until you can move the shift lever smoothly. You might find after replacing the balls that you won't bother. It's a lot of work, and the gains are pretty small.

[Jaiden]

I have dug in a little further into the tailshifter slop and found what I thought was a bad roll pin in the tail shift shaft but after draining the trans and opening the cover I found that the slop is in between the gear selector and the associated parts. The roll pin is perfect.


So how much rotational play should there be on the end of the shift shaft coming out of the trans? I can rotate the shift shaft 5-10 degrees before I can feel the internal shaft moving. Is this normal? or is the internals on the tranny worn?

Next question where can you get the cover gasket? The local FLAPS does not have it. Can I just use rtv or some gasket material?

Thanks again for all the help

[lapuwali]

Seal up the tail cover with Hylomar (FLAPS will have it). The play you mention isn't uncommon. Since the newest tail-shifter I've tinkered with was 20 years old already, it's hard to say what's "normal".