After 9 MONTHS of letting my 914 sit in my garage (unworked on and undriven), I decided to get my two teenage boys and do a couple of small jobs I've been postponing. One of the jobs we did was to install a side-shifter transmission cover that I bought from 914 rubber 9 months ago. Part of that job is disconnecting the shift rod to slide the boot and cover on which should have involved just unscrewing the two cone screws and sliding the lower shift rod out, but somebody.... didn't look at the Hayes Manual close enough to find the second cone screw and decided to disconnect the gear shift assembly from the shift rod.

Long story short, we put it back together (boy I had heck of a time getting that original cotter-pin style locking clamp to tighten up) and then I realized that I must have rotated the shift rod differently when I re-clamped the gear shift assembly to the shift rod as I could barely get the transmission into 1st and Reverse.

Is there any advice out there for adjusting the rotation of and insertion length of the shift rod in the clamp so that all gears can be reached besides trial and error?

I would welcome any and all help.

-Don Ceccarelli

Put the trans in 2nd and put the shifter in second. Tighten things up and then you will be close. Some fine tuning may be required.

That makes sense, thanks. Now I need to look up how to ensure the trans is in 2nd gear

Kinda hard with that new plastic cover in place.

Put it in 4th gear by moving the shift lever to the right and back.
Loosen the clamping bolt.
Hold the shift lever toward the passenger door with a bungee cord.
Tighten the clamping bolt. Test the gear pattern. It should be close.

Thanks Chris. I'll try anything not to have to mess with that plastic cover again.

PS - did you mean put it in 4th gear by moving the shift lever to the right and "forward", or to "5th gear" by moving the shift lever to the right and back.

yeah, 5th

The cover band isn't too hard to figure out with the directions. If you lost them let me know I can send you an email. The band is curious in that you only have to put enough tension to pull it across itself. It works but is more complicated than you would expect without the directions.
Just PM me your email , I'd be happy to send you copy.
Mark

I wanted to report my progress to those who helped, after adjusting the linkage this weekend, I drove my 914 to work today! First time in 9 months. Thanks to you all for your insight and encouragement.

Now onto getting those dual carbs adjusted properly so no hesitation at low rpms.....

-Don