I was poking around under my car and noticed the firewall shift bushing was not only damaged, but was not even mounted and just hanging on the shift rod. The car seems to shift normally except for grinding going into 2nd at close to 30mph, so I just don't do that. I assume the 2nd gear grinding is a syncro issue though. Here are my questions.

1) Is there any way to inspect the other bushings or should I asume they are all worn? I took a look at the other bushings and they looked okay visually.

2) The bushings referred to in question #1 are the 2 coupler bushings, the rear shift bushing, and ball bushing. Am I missing any?

3) If I stay with plastic bushings, is the Pelican kit the best source? Are the parts from a Porsche dealer made to a higher tolerance or are they just more expensive?

One of the easiest and least expensive ways to improve you car is to change out ALL the shift bushings. Some of our vendors make fancy shift linkage improvement kits (Tangerine Racing makes a really nice one) and they are great but just replacing all the bushings with stock parts will greatly improve how your trans. shifts.

Get the full kit at pelican.

while you're in there purchase/renew the 2 bushings that cradle the shift lever ball. pelican used to sell them. if you haven't cleaned the bottom side of the base now would be the time.

If you are changing the shift bushings look at your trans and inspect for leaks. The shift selector is a prime point for leaks and seals are pretty cheap and if you are removing the linkage it is not that much more work to replace the seals on the shift selector. I have a number of the o- rings for the outside of the shift selector.

When I did mine I found out that I had less than a pint of gear oil in the trans due to leaking at the shift selector. The seal that goes on the rod is a littler harder to remove and replace but worth the effort.

It's possible (likely) the "Stock" size replacement bushing at the shift console will be loose because years of shifting with a worn out bushing have wallowed out the hole in the console.

Option #1] "shim" the stock size bushing with a zip tie or equivalent.

Option #2] use a brass bushing that will never wear out and is a bit oversized. I think several people make these, I had one from Patrick Motorsports. Made a huge (positive) difference in shift feel for me.

I am leaking some fluid from the shift area? I included some pictures to get some clarification on how to disassemble and replace the o-rings in this area.

I am also unclear as to the bushings rhodyguy is referring. Are they on the shifter in the passenger cabin or in the area shown in the picture?

Click to view attachment

[email]Review these two articles. They explain it very well for both.

Bushing replacement. http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9...ift_improve.htm

Shift selector. http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9...select_seal.htm

If you can't find the large o-ring pm me your address I have 20 of them.