Putting my case back together I had to reuse the bottom rectangular plate from the tail cone of my tail shifter. The thing was a little beat up. Like someone had backed into a curb or something. The back edge was folder over a little, and the plate was far from flat on the gasket side. There were raised areas around each hole, like the plate got pulled away from the case.

Click to view attachment

Looks like someone tried to fix this with a cork gasket and a paper one together. My gasket set only came with one gasket, and it wasn't nearly thick enough to span the 1/16" gaps between studs on this plate.

Click to view attachment

So I went to the anvil and carefully peened around each hole from the outside of the plate with a 1/4 punch to flatten it. It worked really well. It still wasn't perfectly flat though. So I hit the inside face on my belt sander and then it flattened up real quick. Hopefully this will be leak proof.

Click to view attachment

Also used Dr. Evil's method to get the cup out of the clutch throwout arm. PTFE S'mores anyone?

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

The last step was to install the new side shift console (I polished up the ball arm) and try and select the gears. I was able to select all gears pretty easily. They all clicked in real positively. I didn't feel any interference between the comb and the selector arms, so I must have got my spacing correct. This was so satisfying. I can't wait to shift this in the car!!

Click to view attachment

Here is the much better scan of the Pano article from my collection - 26 years old! Good grief I've got a lot of stuff in the basement.

This includes an idea on how to make an adapter so that the sideshifter boot at the back of the firewall can be incorporated. Hope this helps. I'm going to be doing this conversion myself.

Click to view attachment

Great job on this! Looking like you got it all good. Its going to shift well and you will be happy for many miles

Thank you Sir! I'm just waiting on some new trans mounts to arrive before I can plug it back in. Getting new tires today too. Dunlop SP Sport 5000. Mine dated out (14 years.)

So I'm still waiting on a couple rubber boots to arrive to get this put back together. I did get the transmission reinstalled, and along with it a new clutch and pressure plate. The flywheel had enough meat left to do a resurface. I took 0.023" off, which I also ground from crown of the flywheel bolt heads. I also added a 0.023" washer under the pivot ball. So it should all work sweetly (crossing fingers.) I resealed the trans with all new seals. So while fiddling around with my brakes, I thought I'd mic my discs. Way past the wear limit. So not much choice, I ordered a set of discs and rebuild calipers from PMB. Didn't expect this bill, but all new brakes (and lines) will be really nice for staying alive. I also got my wheels painted up in the meantime and new tires mounted. These are Dunlop SP Sport 5000 195/65s. I'm having a little fun with this one, so I took an oil paint marker to paint the raised letters. If all goes well in the next week, I'll have this car back on the road lickety split.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Made some good progress this week. Got the shifter rods installed.

Greased the front shift rod where it passes through the firewall. I ended up pulling the shift rod into the tunnel to get a little grease in the bushing itself.

Click to view attachment

The rear side shift rod has a football-shaped flange on the front end (right behind joint) I learned that this was to clip the side shift boot onto. But since I'm doing the conversion I needed to cut off the flange (sorry, no pics) so the front end of the shift rod would fit into the tail shift plastic firewall housing. Once the flange gets cut off, the rubber bellows (http://shop.914rubber.com/Early-tail-shift-bellows-91442429700-70-72-91442429700.htm?categoryId=-1) got installed from the back end of the rod.

Click to view attachment

And then I put the boot on that clips to the side shift module cover.

Click to view attachment

I installed the tail shift firewall housing by pulling the rubber band toward the back of the car (while on the housing), working the housing over the steel lip on the firewall, then working the rubber band over the lip. This was a little tedious. It helped to put a small screwdriver under the band to stretch it and get it started over the lip. Then I pushed it on by working my way around the lip.

Click to view attachment

Then I greased the shifter ball at the back.

Click to view attachment

And tapped on the bushing (which I also put a little grease into)

Click to view attachment

And then pressed on the coupler until it clicked over the bushing.

Click to view attachment

I fed the shift rod through the engine bar from the back and let it ride under the chassis a little until the rear end cleared the side shift module.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Then I installed the plastic cover

Click to view attachment

Then I fed the shift rod through the cover and bushing into the module

Click to view attachment

I found it needs to go past the coupler to clear things up front

Click to view attachment

With a good amount of fiddling, I eventually got the shift rods lined up. I did need to remove the cone screws so I could get the holes lined up just right. This wasn't difficult, just tedious.

Click to view attachment

With the holes lined up at the front coupler I installed the cone screw, then did the same thing at the back end and installed the second cone screw. I had to shift the trans into a different gear to get the coupler to line up with the shift rod.

Click to view attachment

With the rods all attached, I stretched the bellows over the covers. I still need to attach the strap to the rear cover to hold it in place. I think I'm going to use some wire to hold the bellows on, unless someone here has a better idea. My car didn't come with anything here, so suggestions welcome.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Today I finished up the side shift conversion!! I got all the covers completely attached as follows:

Click to view attachment

The bellows at the side shifter module cover got secured with a zip tie. I figured it'd hold up as long as the bellows, so I wasn't too concerned about not using a metal strap.

Click to view attachment

The bellows at the firewall cover posed some problems. There really isn't much of a lip on either the bellows, or the cover. I tried to wrap a wire around the groove in the cover, but I didn't have much luck. It turns out that the first pleat in the bellows fit rather nicely just inside the hole in the cover. It felt quite secure. So I simply tucked one pleat inside and called it good. We'll see how this holds up I guess.

Click to view attachment

The metal strap that came with the side shift cover from 914 rubber was a little tricky to install. The instructions were a little vague for this first timer. I had to do it twice to get it right, but once I figured it out I was able to cinch it down tight and it stayed put.

Click to view attachment

The terminals that connect with the back up switch were totally corroded in my old switch, so I had to wire some new ones on. I had a hard time finding any that would fit the round holes. And at this point I've gotten a little impatient, so I dug around in my electrical supplies and found these. They were too small, but I found they had a split in the side. So I took a little pick and a thin blade and worked the metal apart to make it a little large. They fit in the switch nicely with a good amount of bite. Seems like they will hold just fine.

Click to view attachment

I also reattached my wiring to the started motor and installed a new reverse light switch into the tranny. I followed Dr. Evils dirt simple method of shifting the transmission into 2nd, then pushing the shift lever forward into second as I slipped the coupler over the front end of the front shift rod, while holding the lever tight to the spring plate (left) and cinching down the pinch bolt. It feels good as is, but I'll need to drive the car to make the final determination. All I'm waiting on now is a rear brake caliper to show up, then reinstall the muffler and I can fire her up!

Really nice write up. Thanks

Hopefully someone in my shoes someday will find it useful. I'm hoping to bleed my brakes after work today, fire her up and take her out for a test drive!

I just picked up a junk yard side shift trans today and am looking forward to the conversion. I did not get the new style rubber mounts with the cross bar. do you think it would be possible to retain the old rubber outer mounts and solid mount the center like the old bar?

Excellent work, Jameel, and excellent write-up. Thanks!

Agreed.
No cutting necessary

Thanks! Great news! Two nights ago I got everything buttoned up, fired her up, pressed the clutch pedal in, put her in reverse, then with great apprehension I slowly let the clutch out. The car backed out of the garage! Then I put her in first and drove over to the school parking lot across the street from my house and checked everything out. It works! It seems I even got lucky and nailed the shift coupler adjustment up front first time out. It goes into every gear without issue and feels great. I have not taken her out for a serious drive though, just a spin around the parking lot. Needless to say, an ENORMOUS improvement over my worn and sloppy tail shift. Once I get a few other things sorted on this car (oh, forgot to mention our first test drive with maybe 10% brakes was interesting) it's going to be pretty sweet. I'm just waiting on a new master cylinder to finish the brake system. I bled them three separate times, two-man method, and still have pretty much zero pedal. Must be the seals in my master.

Hard to say. There might be a way to do that. I think the front end of the engine case might have some bits that interfere if you delete the rubber mounts. Might be a way to shim it out with rigid spacers so you can use the early rubber mounts at the ends. I'm a rank beginner here, so these are really green opinions.

Nope. The shift rod will foul on the hole in the motor mount bar. You need the late style mounts.

--DD

Actually when I saw this, I looked into my center tunnel with a borescope (my car is a tail-shift to Side-shift conversion as well).

There WAS interference between the shifter and the clutch cable tube AND the shift rod was rubbing on the hole in the tunnel like shown in the pics.
I have a rennshifter so I dont know if that contributes.

I used a hole saw to make a hole in the center tunnel and reached in with a die grinder and enlarged that hole.
You could actually hear the rod rubbing on the center tunnel opening before as you shifted. Now I cant hear anything rubbing.

Just a quick follow up. I got my brakes bled properly after installing a new master cylinder. Now I can lock up my wheels. A GREAT feeling, which made a proper shakedown drive possible. After a few days my shifter started acting up. I couldn't get into 2nd or 3rd, it went right into 4th from 1st. With the knowledge from rebuilding everything I knew to look at the cone screws to see if one had come loose. Sure enough the one way at the back was loose and the rear shift rod was rotating in the coupler at the side shift module. I reinstalled it with some blue loctite (and did the same to the front one for good measure) and all is well. It still shifts great. I've been tearing around town in this little go kart for the past week and loving every minute of it. Here's a couple pics of the car, along with a friend's 1971 914. He's the original owner. He's my dad's age, and used to take me for rides in this car when I was a kid. Great memories. Thanks again to everyone who helped me out here, especially Dr. Evil and his invaluable video.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Nice work and really nice looking car(s). Feels great to be able to rat around and shift with some confidence!! Really increases enjoyment of driving the car! Thanks for the great write up.

All is right in the world.

I like the steelies. No-nonsense.

Iv completed the conversion and I was able to use the old outboard rubber mounts and old engine mount with the new bar. I had to drill out the center bar holes slightly bigger to fit the old bolts. also cut off the nubs on the ends of the bars that stick up so they are the same height as the old bar. The biggest problem was the old engine mount holes are about 1/2" narrower than the ones in the new bar. So I sliced out a nut on one side and bent out the gusset to weld in a new nut to slightly widen out the holes.
For the shift lincage my old u joint was shota nd part of the bar that came through the firewall was all bent up. so i welded in a new pipe section the same diameter as the old bar. Actually a bit bigger so it sits tighter in the bushing. and i welded in a u joint from a car steering shaft with the splines so its removable on one end. And I even used the old tailshift firewall boot just turned around. It fit over the new u joint since i positioned it as close as i could to the firewall. Hope that all makes sense The conversion seems to work good. i wasnt able to drive it at the moment because i have one wooden wheel