Was driving the 914 to work the other day and half way there I couldn't get 4th and barley was able to get 5th. After inspection the side coupler bushing broke. I can get the plastic or rubber ones from 914Rubber for pretty cheap but I saw Pelican Parts has these brass ones. Are the brass ones worth the additional cost? Anyone have any experience with them?

Maybe, but they would be dry, and you would have to lubricate them. The plastic/and or rubber would always be kind of pliable, and would most likely not need a lubricant. I have never experienced the brass ones. I have had several cars with all the other ones, especially the broken, disintegrated ones. I guess it all depends on how much you wanna spend.

Matt

I use these in my side shift 914 and in my 912. These do not require lubrication any more than the bronze bushings in pedal cluster kits. They will be the last set of bushings you need to mess with, but the choice is yours, the standard ones last quite a while too.

IMO I don't see the point of these ? ,the plastic ones work fine,up to you of course as its your car,cheers.

I decided to pull the pin on the brass ones. My mentality is do it right the first time and you won't have to do it again. Lubing it every oil change shouldn't be an issue. I will post how the install goes once I get the parts delivered.

I had my friendly local machinist make new bushings from Delrin, been there a year and are working great. I did not like the tolerances with other products.

I have the brass one. Plan on doing some work on polishing all your parts on a wire wheel. DO not force anything. Shift coupler is very fragile.

If the brass bushing is "sintered" there is a cool way to permanently lubricate it.

A sintered bushing has a "pebbly" look to it, and it is supposed to be lubricated via hydraulic pressure.

You put your thumb on one end of bushing, fill it with your choice of lubricant, and place your other thumb on the other end. Press slowly and you will see the lubricant seep through the pores. Don't use too much pressure as you can crack the bushing.

The pilots on a 240-300 Z/ZX were lubricated this way. Few know the trick now and lots of folks have pilots that fail now-a-days.

Engine oil is the most common lubricant, but I use 75-90w GL4 only. This is manual trans lubricant. The Swepco stuff we use in the transmission will work great.

I'll use a real brass bushing over plastic if I have the option.

If it's sintered doing it this way permanently lubricates it.

Most brass bushings are sintered.

I used the brass ones in mine when i had to replace this a couple years ago, it was a bitch getting the pin pressed out, but once that was out ( you need a press) they went in perfect, nice tight smooth shifting now. I also did the Rix914parts firewall bushing and the brass bushing for the shift console at the transmission that 914werke sells, and with a rebuilt trans, shifting is better than new.
they dont cost that much so why not. definely can feel the difference.

Phil

no brass wears things out, get the delrin perfect circle coupler bushings ONLY

The brass are nice in theory. Rememer the originals lasted decades, so yes we are seeing more that need to be replaced, but either one you put in is likely to be the last time you have to mess with it.

The nylon has some give to it, this facilitates an easier install and some accomidation of variances from temperature change and wear.

The brass will simply take up some of the ability to have flexability.

Think of it as analog vs digital. You can have a high degree of accuracy woth analog ...say 99.5%, the digital is 100%, but it has less margin for adjustment and compensation of variations in temperature.

So yoy can choose either, but they bith havevpros and cons.
It is my opinion that the OEM style offer the best bang for the buck, but to each thier own.

Agreed and disagreed

Brass is too rigid, a bit of give is good here

Yes the originals lasted for decades, but new factory originals are too sloppy for my liking.

New Delrin with tighter tolerances works well for me.

the after market delrin are the way to go, perfect fit not sloppy what so ever

Anyone have a link to the Delrin bushings? For the shifter console right?

I have the brass one there now and my shifting is almost too tight.

Already have the Tangerine bushing at the firewall.

You can always replace the coupler with the steering U-Joint left over from a parted out 914 or 911.



Nice, tight shifting and you never have to worry about the coupler bushings falling apart again.

I did this on Betty's 914 years ago, and on mine when I still had a 901 transmission. Makes an incredible difference.

Slick, how do you keep it covered to prevent debris?

Agree with the delrin bushing, I spun one up on the lathe and it’s worked great. The Tangerine firewall bushing is fantastic, well worth it

I don't. And I have never had a problem with it.

And the picture is not either of my cars. I can't seem to find one of them. I am still looking.

Found a picture of the shift coupler on my six conversion back when it had a 901 in it.

I have a different take on the sintered bushings/ The oil is designed to wick out when warmed as with a motor shaft. There is insufficient lubrication here to be of a lot of help. The sintered material tends to breal away and wear quicker. I use a different alloy which is an aluminum bronze that holds up better.

The plastic is good to use. The problem is the aluminum housing gets worn out and the plastic bushing fits loose and is often the root of the problem

Very interesting post....we all want "Toyota" shifting if I may speak for the masses. I put in new delrin bushings all over the place and have the old "Bronze" one down on the shift rod by the tranny. I wish I could make this particular bushing just a hair tighter tolerance. Anyway I won the PMB firewall bushing somewhere along the line and have yet to install it.....can anyone please comment on how to install this part and the benefit of doing so? Thank you very much!
gg

I thought PMB made the firewall bushing.....I do no know what Rix914parts is off the top of my head but since I have one and if it will help the car then I want to install it. I appreciate any and all comments.......thank you!
gg

OK....it is a Tangerine Racing part....sorry about that...no offense intended....someone please tell me about this part? Thank you very much!
gg

my next shifter upgrade will be Chris's aka @ChrisFoley aka Tangerine Racing's shift console conversion ,
someone here that has done this can comment, i've seen posts commenting that it was a big improvement on tightening up the shift linkage at that location.

Hey Chris

Yes, it’s Chris’ creation. Very easy to install because it’s designed so well, no mods necessary. You’ll need to separate the shift bar (might as well remove it and clean things up, or if you’re changing a bushing at the shifter console)

Place it in it’s location, mark out the three holes, drill the firewall and rivet in place.

Been running one for years, flawlessly

Ok folks, kinda stuck. The brass bushings came in. Honestly things were going way too smooth. I got the shifter linkage out no problem, the pin pressed out with easy in the vise, got the old bushing out and new brass bushings in quickly and smooth, even greased then up to make sure no binding. Now the coupler is MUCH stiffer on the shifter linkage but thought that's just how it's supposed to be with new bushings. Got the shifter linkage back in the car, hooked up in the back at the transmission but tht issue is I can't for the life of me get the shifter linkage to slide back onto the shifter.

So what have I done wrong? Are there any tricks? Do I have the wrong bushings? Any help is appreciated!!!

JWest makes urethane coupler bushing for about 15 bucks. They make GREAT SUTFF TOO

Ok just got it figured out. Had the wife sit in the car and hold the shifter forward and just wiggled the linkage and it went on. Test drove it and it's all working again. Able to grab all gears. Now jus to get that pesky boot back on ....