Usual story, boy meets car, boy changes stuff and now wants to change stuff again. So I'm going side shift, got some used parts including a shifter., the shifter rod was buggered but the rest was okay. For my tail shifter I put in a short shift kit, it helped, now it was like stirring a small pot of stew instead of a large one. So I also pulled the tail shifter apart to remove the shifter rod to replace the bad one on the side shifter and maybe pass this short shift kit on. When I finished I noticed this:

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Looking at the rest of the pieces that would add length for both shifters, they come out pretty even. So is this why I have had no luck finding a short shift kit for a 73 and up design? Can it go any lower into the tunnel? Looks like the factory did all they could to get a better shift in the later cars. Yup, Rennshift, love to have one but with my budget it would not be prudent. I'd like to make it harder to push the gate over so it isn't so easy to nick reverse . Anyone ever put washers in as shims behind the springs to tighten the tension? Any reason I should not? Thank You

Do you have the base plate/spacers? The one on the left is for a tailshift. Ballcup arrangement.

Yes, the ball / cup is the early set up. This uses a spacer between the bushing mount and the shifter housing. It lowers the mount, lowering the rod so my shifter would fit under the console.

The Weltmeister late short shift came with a ~1/2" plate that went under the shifter base. Spacers would work fine as long as it is sturdy.

Have you tried adjusting it rather than strengthening the springs. I found a little trial and error with the rotation of the long shift arm made for a real smooth 1 to 2 sift with no worries on scratching reverse.

Back in the day weltmeister used to make a stronger spring set up that provided additional resistance against the reverse plane

I have one in my car
It was pretty difficult to install as the new stronger spring in the kit would barely fit on the pin in the shifter

No reason you could not find the correct/heavier spring on belmetric and do the same

My short shifter does not use spacer plate, do not remember who make the kit.

Does it work? Like when going from 4th to 2nd in a hurry? It doesn't move that far so it seemed to me any extra tension will help. And washers I can afford.

You need to examine the detention plate in the bottom of the shifter. And also look for a wear spot on the lever. The lever will 'jump' out of 1st/Rev plane and the plate acts as a guide for clean 2nd gear engagement. Stiffer helper springs will not solve the worn dentent plate issue.

I agree
Replacing the shifter plate is the first step to improving everything

And a good cleaning. The springs get load with crap and hinders compression. A little less compression is all it takes. Add in the wear factor and it's no wonder R/1/2/, and even 3rd, can be problematic.

Thank You Gentlemen

I had a look and there is only a little wear on the plate. Nothing on either piece I can't weld up and grind down. Thanks again

Yes. Back in the day. Pre-internet for me and trying to maintain my 914 by myself with no local resources. In the early 90's my shifting was becoming rather vague so I ordered a shift bushing kit from Automotion which included the fire wall bushing, transmission console bushing and tranny ball joint bushing. I installed the bushings, slight improvement, but still not good. So I ordered the Automotion Weltmeister reverse spring kit. This kit added two additional springs to the two existing springs, now four springs. What a bitch to install. First drill four holes for the two additional springs and then install the two springs , pins and c-clips. How does this work? How do you compress these springs and locate the pins? Springs flying around the garage. My fingers ached from the repeated attempts. Anyway, job complete. Shifter resistance into the first-reverse plane significantly increased. Results? Not good. No improvement in shift action. Back under the car, remove the fire wall shift rod coupler boot and find it full of plastic fragments from the disintegrated shift coupler bushings. I did not even know there were bushing there. This debris in the boot was not present when I replaced the fire wall bushing. Order and replace these bushing and the shifting was transformed. What an improvement. My impression was like new. And now I have additional spring resistance into the reverse-first which was not needed in the first place, if I had known about the shift rod coupler bushings.

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the shifter after the extra springs were added, would you?

Shivers, sorry, but no photos. This was done back around 1992, pre-internet, pre-cell phone, pre-digital camera....at least for me.

The two additional springs in the Weltmeister kit were installed parallel to the original existing springs. As I stated, shifter resistance into the first-reverse plane was significantly increased. The additional springs are still in place on my car.

Thanks I looked at all the parts from both shifters and the D plates look the same. And the one out of the tail shifter looks much better than the side shifter.

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So I used the tail shift D plate and ground a bit of room.

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The springs on the tail shifter are quite a bit shorter than the side shifter

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So once I brought it to the drill press I discovered I need a bit for the job. Here is a look at what I will try

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Hope you bought 2 bits. I surrendered and just swapped the springs out. Tiny carbide tipped bits were useless with a drill. The housing is pretty stout steel. Then I went SS, all that went with that, and a stock shifter. Another pre internet deal. A Haynes and winged it. Paper catalogs were king.

Yeah, noticed the hard steel, I'll get two three. Didn't want to burn up what I have. I found AA in the back of a Hot VW magazine in the early 80's, finally got George's catalog and it was like getting the Sears Christmas Catalog...But for a big kid.
Back then I would have thought the "Internet" was some kind of IUD contraceptive.