Okay. I have a '71 914 that I have recently upgraded to have a side-shift gearbox and all new bushings. It shifted just fine but I wanted a Rennshift based on the positive reviews.

I have it in place, but I can't get it to go into any gear. Sometimes by adjusting the bolt that tightens the swivel to the shift rod I can get it to go into 2nd gear, but that's it. It's doesn't seem to want to want to move right or left very far.

The instructions are, to me, completely unclear. I've never messed with shifter assembly stuff before, and the instructions seem to be for those who have. I suppose that's only natural.

Is there any help for this?

Thanks!

Did you modify your shift rod going to the tranny? How about the JWest firewall bushing? They are needed.

Put it in the 2md-3rd gear plane, then tighten everything up

T.C.

Click to view attachment

I built my own. I had to due to my sump being in the way. To align the shifter, I used a bunji to hold the shifter in the 3rd gear position. I then forced the tranny into 3rd from the tranny linkage. I then tightened the bolt under the shifter. I found every gear and did not have to make any adjustments at all. I used 3rd gear because the reverse lockout spring was a positive stop and easy to locate.

I was also not impressed with the instructions. Assembly pictures would of been nice. I thought the thing was a sloppy mess and was going to put the stock shifter back in when I realized you were supposed to use the metal bushing from the stock shifter in the rennshift shifter. I assumed the rennshift was complete. It does mention reusing the metal bushing in the instructions. After adding the metal bushing I am now happy with the shifter. What worked for me was to put the tranny in second gear and then adjust the shifter to reflect 2nd gear which is to make sure the shifter rests against the spring loaded left side, pushed forward to reflect 2nd gear.
After it's tightened put it into neutral and see if the shifter is vertical. After that adjust the Allen screws front and rear and make sure you can fully engage 4th and 5th. Also make sure your firewall shift bushing and rear shift bushings are in good shape.

Wut?
I used my rennshifter for years with the stock shiftrod and conversion bushing.


I always put my car in second gear before undoing the (old) shifter. That way, putting in the new shifter is easy as it wants to settle in the 2/3 plane by default.

If you didn't do that, disconnect the shifter and put the tranny in second by hand.
Andy

This is all it takes to adjust. I put a lot more words in the instructions to make them easy for the inexperienced, but this is really all it takes - much easier than adjusting a stock shifter.

I still wasn't able to get it to work. At one point I could get into first, but no other gear. And later I could get it to go into second but no other gear. I gave up and put the stock shifter back in place and it worked fine.

The shift rod I'm using is stock for the later side-shifting 914s. When I bought the gearbox I bought the shaft, the mounts, everything. All of the bushings are brand new from Pelican, including the firewall bushing. Everything seems to be in great shape.

I appreciate all the responses. I'm worried because in the other posts on the subject other users say it slips right in. I was worried that I had failed to buy some necessary part or that my application (an upgraded early tail-shift made to work with a side-shift) wouldn't work.

I'll try again tomorrow evening.

Thanks again.

I have both the Rennshift and the shift rod kit. Both went in a couple years apart and both made a measurable improvement. Second gear - remove stock shifter - install Rennshifter - make fine adjustments. Only the last part has been a challenge but that is because I have not really taken a day and focused on it.

Check to make sure you are not having interference with the clutch tube or other brackets in the tunnel. Others have had to put spacers under their shifters or bend the shift shaft away from interfering parts.

When adjusted properly it is a good working shifter

On a scale of 1 to 10 how much of an improvement is this? Does it shorten the throws?

The instructions state:
"914: Inspect the clutch tube in the tunnel for evidence of being rubbed by the shifter. The clutch tube is often broken loose from its welds to the tunnel, and must be repaired for proper clutch operation."

This may not quite address the full issue, though (I'll add some more to the instructions). The RennShift does move the shift rod down in the tunnel a little bit, so if the cable tubes are out of place they could still clear the stock shifter but not the RennShift. As Paul pointed out, some spacers under the shifter mounting plate can give you the clearance until you can properly fix the clutch tube (don't let it go too long if the tube is loose!).

It's an 11!

The throws are shortened by 20% or 33%, and this is adjustable (you can change between the two settings whenever you want).

Curious question... If I convert to a 915 someday can i flip the Rennshift around? It seems like it would work since reverse would now be lower right versus upper left. Or would i have to buy a whole new rennshift for a 915? Sorry for the hijack!!

I think you would just use a 915 shifter.

Zach

Yes, but that depends. Straight conversion for a tailshift 914 to 915, parts needed for a sideshift 914 to 915.

The same RennShift will work for a tailshift 914, 911 with 901, and 911 with 915 by flipping the housing around to put the reverse lockout inthe correct quadrant. All 915 conversions on the market for the 914 use this (911) type of shifter even those called "sideshift style" 915.

However, the 914 sideshift uses a clevis attachment with the shift linkage and the other version for the above models uses a ball socket.

These can be changed, but you would have to purchase a new lower stick and base plate from me to make the swap.

Okay.

I spent a couple of hours tonight and got it working. I used the second gear trick and that made a big difference, even though I could have sworn that I already tried that. It took a while to get it adjusted; my big problem was that the bottom rear adjuster with the locknut had to be backed way out in order to get it into second gear.

I have noticed that its really easy to shift up and down from 4th and 5th gears. However, it takes considerably more effort to get it into either reverse, first, or second. I still can't make heads or tails of the instructions and I'm still unclear on this point: is there an adjustment to somehow make the all gears on the left as easy to shift into as the ones on the right? Sort of a <- side to side -> balance adjustment?

In retrospect I wish I had ordered the optional longer gearshift lever to make shifting a bit easier still. But its in and I can move on.

Interesting.. On my 75, I also had to back out the Allen screws way out to get into 4th and 5th. 2nd and 3rd should be in the non spring loaded part. To the right spring loaded should be 4th and 5th. On the left spring loaded should be reverse and first. If you are hitting the spring for the 2nd and 3rd gear plane it's adjusted wrong.

On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is putting in a standard short shifter and 10 is converting to cable shift.. About a 5..

Yep, his happened to me.

My clutch tube weld at the front of the car was gone, which caused the tube to bend to the right when the clutch was depressed. no problems with the stock shifter...but with the rennshift, this prevented me from getting into 4th and 5th.

Also, with the threaded gear stops installed from the factory, I could only get into half the gears -- R / 2 / 4 or 1 / 3 / 5.

I JB welded my clutch tube, put the tranny in 2nd, backed out the gear stops all the way and adjusted per instructions. I had all gears. I then installed the gear stops per the manual and the car shifts better than ever now.

FWIW -- I think the instructions are just fine. Like anything, read them once or twice before starting the install.

Not counting time to let the JB set up or shakedown cruises, total install time was less than 1 hr including removal of the center console.

The stop screws are supposed to be backed out until there is clearance from the shift stick - it would certainly be a big problem if the stop is in any way touching the stick during shifting and limiting the travel.

If it is taking a while to adjust, then you are making it much more complicated than it really is. You put the transmission in 2nd gear, loosen the adjusting screw, the shifter self centers, tighten the adjusting screw, and it is done. You might need a very slight adjustment from there to make it perfect, but it should be usable at that point.

There is no information in the instructions about a side-to-side balance adjustment because that is not how the shifter is adjusted. The springs will be correct if the shifter alignment with the transmission is correct.

It sounds like you still don't have the shift pattern centered. Second and third gear should be shifted into with zero side pressure on the stick - the springs should align the stick with those gear positions in the transmission. An equal amount of movement (and therefore spring pressure) to each side will then result in aligning the stick with the internal transmission gates for the left and right positions.

Is this from driving the same transmission with both a RennShift and a cable shift?

Every 901 has it's own personality, so it's not valid to compare different transmissions.

If you are comparing to a newer car with cable shift, then the difference between Porsche servo synchronizers and Borg-Warner style synchros (used in just about every other transmission) accounts for about 99.9% of the shift feel.

One thing that is being left out......Front to back adjustment. Back out the stops a little first....When the transmission is in neutral, the shift shaft should be centered front to rear in the top of the gate or aiming straight up out of the shifter housing. If not, determine how much it is off, put it back in second, loosen the clamp and move it the appropriate amount. retighten the clamp and check location in neutral again. When perfect, reset the stops for a little clearance.

Setting the linkage should take no more than 5 minutes if everything is assembled correctly.

Also, I found the springs too stiff and washers too thick and bought thinner washers to fine tune the centering pressure.