In my quest to find better shifting on my '73 that I purchased recently, I bought some Sport mounts as both tranny mounts were cracked. I had just installed all new bushings including the two coupling bushings as well as new cone screws. I adjusted the linkage and had it at it's best shifting yet...still very vague tho'. I was looking forward to the new tranny mounts as that would tighten things up. With those installed I took it for a test drive and relized I had no 4th...something solid was keeping it from going in. Since the mounts were the only change, I decided it must be because they're not as thick as stock. It did look like the main shift rod was hitting the top of the hole of the engine bar. This made sense. So I dropped the tranny down alittle and added some spacers....No effect. Then I noticed that when I raised the engine bar with a jack, it kept going up and up. The PO had installed rubber mounts on the sides and had a solid bracket (like a '70 ,'71) on the engine. The rubber mounts were wasted. Amazing that the engine wasn't dragging on the ground. So I found some used tranny mounts laying around that weren't cracked and replaced what the PO had installed thinking that this would be the solution. Still couldn't find 4th. It still looks like the shift rod is hitting the engine bar. I tried the linkage adjustment as described in the Haynes manual with no luck. WHAT GIVES? Why would installing new mounts cause such a problem?
I'm going to re-check all the bushings and screws again and as a long shot, check the tranny fluid. The other thing I thought of is the that the shift rod may have been broken and rewelded incorrectly so that the positioning is off.
If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it. Also why would someone put tranny mounts on a side shifter? Should I change it back to stock?
Thanks for your help.

Which mount bar does it have? The boxy looking one or the curvy cast one with the hole in it?

Fix the engine mount problem. Odds are that'll get you to a place where you can adjust the shifter, if you even have to do that. The Cap'n

hum, could it be the PO used a tailshift engine mount on your sideshifter transmission?

if so, i'm surprised you got into any gears at all ...
Andy

It's all sideshifter set up except the old style engine bracket (thus no place for the cylinder type mounts) and the rubber mounts on the engine bar ends. You should have seen the way the PO tried to adapt tranny mounts as engine mounts. Long bolts ( through some brass tubing were used to raise the mount to the appropriate hieght. Yikes, all the wieght was on those tube spacers. I'll have to get pics. It does have the side shifter engine bar with the hole in it. The rod is centered in the hole when in first but swings up and makes contact when attempting 4th. I was just reading how some people have used the tranny sports mounts as engine mounts for more stiffness. But these were stock.

Hey, Tony!

Here's something you could try that would only take a few minutes.

Try disconnecting the linkage at the trans and at the shifter.
Then, by hand, put the trans into 4th gear.

Reconnect the linkage.

test.

KT

Ditch the silly mount setup and then see where you are. You can adjust your linkage as well.

get that thing back to stock : )

Jim

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Trekkor, I'll try your suggestion just to see if it'll go into 4th at the tranny. I think I'll go back to stock on the engine mounts. Maybe Bontempi has all those parts.

Try 9000 of them.

I thought the same thing.


KT

ask him to give you a tour of the upper warehouse ... don't bother counting ...

Andy

I just had to swap a tranni in the hotel parking lot at MUSR. The tranni I installed had sport mounts on it, and wanting to get back on the road as quick as possible, i left them on. My shifting went to shit, the entire car vibrated violently, and was loud as hell. I switched back to stock mounts today and all is as it should be. Smooth, quiet, and shifts great.

A side by side comparison of the two revealed a 3/4" difference in length of the two. The tranni was sitting 3/4" lower!!!!

Don't know about the experiences of others, but no more hard mounts here.

Curt

The Sport mounts I bought were relatively expensive ($100/pr) but when I got them I was somewhat dubious. The metal is quite a bit thinner than the stock ones. Maybe the quality is in the rubber. I don't know, I heard it was a good upgrade. Who sells the stock ones?

I run 911 sport mounts on all four corners.


KT

Trekkor, would you recommend that for those of us that have 4-bangers?

Have you tried adjusting the shift lever itself? I would loosen the nut (11mm?) and try edging it over towards the 1st/rev side just a spline or two then tightening back up- especially if you can get it to slip into the 4th/5th track back at the trans.

Scott, I've tried different methods of adjustment at the shifter. Tomorrow I'm going to look more at the shifter (at tranny) to make sure it goes into all gears when it's disconnected. It's got to be something simple...it worked before. I'll let you know.

Success Here's an update.
I finally got the parts to restore the engine mount set up back to stock ("73): Outer mounts (I call them boats), inner rubber mounts, and the two brackets that bolt onto the engine. Wow what a difference! smoother shifting, smoother transfer of power, and quieter. I did notice that the engine bar did end up a little higher than before, probably the new mounts made a difference. Also, I got a tip from a mechanic at Bontempi's when adjusting the shifter to make sure it's in nuetral then loosen the shifter clamp and pull the shift lever all the way to the left, not right as described in the Haynes manual. This did work. I have all 5 gears again and better shifting... better, not great. Now if I can just get the tranny filler plug off then I can put in new fluid.
BTW, what a pita it is to install the engine brackets. I had to prop the engine and remove the engine bar to get this done. It would have been easier If I had removed the oil filter as well but had just done an oil change. There's almost no room to get your fingers in to start the bolts. Basically I could only get them started with my middle and index finger then push the bolt head around with just one finger until it was screwed down enough to get a socket on. Last time I'll need to do that. Man I wish I had a car lift!

I have the exact same experience right now. With the sports mounts I get noise and vibration which were never there with the originals. I ordered new originals. Anyone (in Germany) who wants a set of sports mounts, barely used, when I'm done?

My car is finally back on the road, ready to be registered tomorrow, and with a set of original 914 transmission mounts the vibrations and noise from the rear have gotten back to the level I had before putting in those damn sports mounts. What a relief. The vibrations made me think something was wrong with the new clutch and used flywheel installed at the same time as those sports mounts, but the culprit were those mounts.

My shifting is also better than it ever has been before - but I have to blame that on a forced complete shifter readjustment due to a broken shift rod in the center tunnel