Gear shift adjustment, left and right Options

[Dr Evil]

Put in 2nd. Disconnect shifter at rod (side shift). Place shifter against spring plate and put shifter where you want 2nd. Slide rod back into shifter and tighten bolt. Basic concept.

[jdahl]

Need some help here, I've tried Dr. Evil and Racer Chris' methods. I've marked the shift rod and rotated spline by spline. I can get R-3 or 2-5, but not R-5. Any help would be appreciated.

[SKL1]

Get Chris' new front adjuster... just a satisfied customer...

[Keith914]

Check that nothing is preventing full left to right shifter action in the tunnel. In my case I had to secure the clutch cable tube to the driver side of the tunnel with a steel bracket and bolt just ahead of the shifter lever mechanism.

[porschetub]

I continue to struggle with mine and think I'am 80% there,my next move is to replace the coupler with a uni-joint I have found,I note this is what Tangerine and PMS do,makes sense when you see that the rear rod must be in a straight line to the gearbox (however offset) yet the front rod is angled towards the shifter from the bulkhead forward,that where I see the need to have movement 2 ways as opposed to the stock one way coupler.
I recently cut my engine carrier mount by 12mm and moved the engine forward,this improved the shifting ,engine position and I no longer had body contact through my are cleaner tops.
First test drive the car was popping out of 1st and 3rd car,another visit to the hoist and I noticed the coupler was hitting my Tangerine bulkhead bush before the gears were fully engaged,as per Chris's instruction sheet I ground a small piece off the coupler @ the botton,that sorted it.
My PO supplied rear shift rod is rubbish,I patched it up but will rebuild it fully when I adapt the uni-joint.

[ChrisFoley]

... and rotated spline by spline.
...

The splines are only on the rod. There is no corresponding spline pattern inside the hole. Otherwise the fine adjustments necessary would be impossible.

[Bruce Hinds]

With the trans in neutral, attach a bungee from the shift lever to the passenger side door handle while the adjustment bolt is loose. Rotate the splined shaft to the right as far as it will go, then tighten the bolt.

Love this idea, and notices someplace someone mentioned that the shaft could be rotated with vice grips. My problem is I can't get small vice grips in there with a socket and extension on the bolt. It also appears that the bolt is too far aft to get to unless it's in 1, 3, or 5.

[Jack Standz]

There is an access hole towards the rear of the car on the same tunnel the shifter is bolted to. It's about maybe 18 inches from the shifter? You can get a vice grips on the shift rod through that access point.

And, remember to remove the vice grips after you make the adjustment. If you don't, you will wonder why you still can't shift into all gears. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Dave_Darling]

Check that nothing is preventing full left to right shifter action in the tunnel. In my case I had to secure the clutch cable tube to the driver side of the tunnel with a steel bracket and bolt just ahead of the shifter lever mechanism.

Repeating this for emphasis. If there isn't enough range of motion, then something is interfering.

If you have a tail-shift motor mount bar with a side-shift linkage, this can happen. The tail-shift bar is a straight piece of tubing, while the side-shift bar is a curvy cast piece with a large hole in it for the shift rod to pass through.

If you have replaced your seat belts, the driver's inboard mounting bolt may be projecting too far into the tunnel and fouling on the bar. The correct bolt is shorter; more "universal" replacement bolts may need to be cut shorter. (Guess how I know that one?)

As Keith914 noted, the clutch tube can come adrift and foul the shift rod as well.

Unless there is an awful lot of side to side slop in the linkage, you should be able to get into all three planes of the gearshift pattern. (R/1, 2/3, 4/5) If you cannot, something is keeping your linkage from moving as far as it should.

--DD

[Bruce Hinds]

There is an access hole towards the rear of the car on the same tunnel the shifter is bolted to. It's about maybe 18 inches from the shifter? You can get a vice grips on the shift rod through that access point.

And, remember to remove the vice grips after you make the adjustment. If you don't, you will wonder why you still can't shift into all gears. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Funny you should say that . . . last time I adjusted the clutch I'd left a small pair of vice grips on the clutch cable rod between the pulley and the throw out arm. I was under there recently and noticed something shiny. Stayed on for a few thousand miles.

[Bruce Hinds]

Put in 2nd. Disconnect shifter at rod (side shift). Place shifter against spring plate and put shifter where you want 2nd. Slide rod back into shifter and tighten bolt. Basic concept.

But the bolt is too far aft to reach when it's in 2nd.