After putting new bushings in the trans bracket for the shifter rod, I still had a lot of slop. Taking it apart and measuring found the following. New Bushings are 0.600 inside dia and 0.815 outside dia. My bracket hole for the bushing is 0.830 and my rod is 0.588. Made another bushing for the rod that is slightly larger. Will get back later to let all know how it turns out.
Also made a couple of bushings for the yoke at the fire wall. Press fit and hone to fit pin. This tightened up that area very well. I used a white delrin material to make the bushings out of as this material is supposed to be good for this type of application.

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Later,
Tom

Very cool, is the delrin you are using more plyable than the OE part so it is easier to install?

celcon (delrin) is typically stiffer

Tom?

I got some bushings form ebay. They fit terrible. The holes were oval shaped. Some stated this is correct. I never used them. I will make my own bushings also. I will use a moly filled nylon. This is what I used on the console shift bushing. The console was worn so I bored it oversize. Made a bushing to fit and secured it with a snap ring.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...c=62845&hl=

Well, the bushing went in and things work better. May not be perfect, but the best I have tried. Before I had a real difficult time shifting to first when at a stop. If I down shifted before coming to a complete stop , I could usually get first OK. Now works great either down shifting or at a stop. Makes for a much more pleasurable drive, that's for sure.
The delrin I used seemed to be a bit softer than the stock bushing material. Even with the outside Dia. larger, I was able to push the bushing in with my fingers. Made a big difference in the slop back there at the trans.
Yes, my hole was oval also. Addressed that by pushing up the bushing and putting 3 small nylon zip ties through the hole and zip tieing them off at the bottom of the oval. I wish I could post more pics , but I can't do that at work.
Thanks to Dave Hunt for the pics and posting them for me.
Because the material is softer, it may wear faster. I would do it anyway, as the shifting is greatly improved.
Tom

Well, it has been over a year and the shifting is still great. Never a problem finding any gear and quick easy shifts every time.
Tom

Hello 914 World... technically this is my first post if anyone is curious!

I recently purchased my 1972 914 with a converted 73 side shift transmission and a botched short shifter job where it only had 2nd, 3rd, & 5th gears(although 5th was very tough to find!), I've since installed a factory shifter and removed the spacer plate that was installed as part of the previous owners modifications... although now I only have 2nd and Reverse (which is a pain to get into).

It goes without saying that I need new shifter bushings (and perhaps some alignment too?) so I figured I'd start there...

So my first question... is anyone making high quality bushings like those mentioned previously out of Delrin yet or would I have to ask a member here super nicely to run off a set for me??

P.S. I've already experienced the challenging journey of shifter disassembly and reassembly... with race springs twice as stiff as the factory set, talk about shooting an eye out! YIKES.

I got a complete set from Pelican and they fit tight and no issues

Hmm well I see they have part number PEL-SKS914-03N which has a firewall bushing specifically for early 914s with sideshift so perhaps I'll go with that $48.40 set if there aren't any better suggestions?

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopca...t_pg1.htm#item0

I bought some from AA a while back, although they were the aftermarket ones. They were a little loose for sure. The coupling ones I ordered from ebay, think they came from GPR if i remember correctly, and were some kind of softer graphite type nylon. Those worked very well. I think i'll make some out of oilight for the next ones, since I have access to a bunch of stock.

Well, it has been several years now and shifting is still very good.
I used the delrin because I was having trouble finding oilite. An engineer at the shipyard told me most oilite applications were shifting to delrin.
NOMAD, you would need to take measuremeents for some one to custom make a set for you. Do you have any friends with a lathe? Otherwise new bushings from a supplier will make things better, just not best.
Tom

Nothing wrong with Delrin at all. I just have access, so the price is right.

Thats good to hear! Way for me to bring back your thread from two years ago right?!

I do have friends out of state who could potentially do a set but after hearing 914 owners relatively solid experience with the standard bushing sets I think I may just go that route for now and then upgrade to the whole crazy expensive Rennshift package down the road if I feel the desire to do so...

I did make time to jack up the 914 and inspect the bushings when I had 15 minutes earlier; sure enough what little was left of the pair of shifter coupling bushings totally fell out when I pulled back the firewall boot so there is ZERO bushing now. Fortunately the coupler itself looks good but the lack of bushing explains why none of the rearward gears were engaging at all!

The firewall and rear shift rod bushing have just a bit of slop, maybe .10" but I'll replace those too, I wasn't able to inspect the ball cup bushing inside of the inspection cover earlier since I was in a hurry and didn't want to crack it so I suppose I'll creep out to the car now and see what I can do. (Yes at 2:30am )

Otherwise the rear shift rod boot was split in 3 spots so I found an appropriate reproduction of the discountinued part #914-424-239-02 at JWest Engineering here:
http://www.jwesteng.com/porsche/914/linkage_914.htm
I presume they're a pretty reputable company to order from?

Lastly, the front shift rod boot is in decent shape and is correct to the 73-76 style linkage but doesn't match up at the firewall... I presume this is because 70-72 used a different firewall shift rod boot and because of that I'm betting there's probably no early/late hybrid boot like there is firewall bushing to seal it 100%? I didn't find one scouring the internet but correct me if I'm wrong.

And one more thing.... if I'm already ordering the bushings should I go order a set of the cone screws if my current set appears to be in good condition or skip them and re-use my originals? Also I should note by good condition, I mean the originals are still there... is there any reason to remove and inspect them for wear on the coned/pointed side?

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Put in new cone screws. They have a nylon lock material on them that is a one time use item. If you try to put them in with locktite, you will regret it later when you have to take it back apart. BTDT.


FYI... The side shift console on Betty's 914 was so worn (it was a replacement) from missing bushings that it would not hold a new factory bushing. So I went to the hardware store and bought bronze bushings to fit in it. Between that and the u-joint replacement for the coupler, the shifting has never been better.

I bought the complete side shift bushing set from Pelican, and it works great. Been driving for a little of a year now, and no complaints. But, my holes were not ovaled out when I replaced them.

Zach

Nomad,
Yes, I would replace the cone screws also. You don't want things to come loose at the wrong time.
I was pretty surprised to see this thread pop back up. I'm glad it had been some help to some members.
Put in the replacement bushings and see how they work out and then see where you need to modify anything.
I have a J-west boot for the rear console also. works great. You really need to keep the dirt and dust away ffrom the bushings there or risk excessive wear.
Tom

Okay great, I went ahead and ordered the full kit from Pelican (cone screws n all!) It also looks like I got the last hybrid shift rod bushing for the 72 Firewall/73 shifter linkage so perfect timing!

I ordered the J-West piece too, I suppose I'll just leave the front boot how it is for now since there's no easy way to seal it to the stamping on the early 70-72 firewall.


Otherwise any pointers or a guide to removing the plastic cover on the bottom of the transmission? I removed the clamp and pulled downward on the corner where the shifter linkage goes it and it moved a bit but I couldn't get the other sides to budge. I'd like to avoid cracking it since it looks like it's in pretty good shape, and leveraging against the transmission with a screwdriver to pry it off doesn't look like the best idea either? Ideas?

maybe try hitting it with a heat gun to soften it up?

Also, this thread will be useful when replacing your firewall bushing.

Okay well everything arrived in short order and I've got it all in hand!

The rear plastic cover came off with just a bit of PB Blaster penetrating oil which immediately loosened up all the gunk and aluminum oxidation securing it in place. Rear cone screw is removed but now I can't seem to get the dowel pin out?!?

As I lay underneath my 914 now typing this via phone; I attempted the trick noted elsewhere here to have someone quickly move the shifter forward into 2nd while holding the rear ball cup segment in place. Unfortunately since the bushings at the other dowel pin further up are 100% gone it applies no substantial force and would be more likely to damage the aluminum piece...

Unrelated but I also just noticed two segments of fuel line in bad need to replacment... And yes my neighbors are used to seeing me work on cars at this hour; they're usually quite a bit larger though and less German than the 914 over me at the moment.

So perhaps there's a tool or trick to removing the 2 dowel pins that I've missed? Time to get this 914 back on the road! : ) Thanks everyone!

Delrin is a great choice for bearings. I've used it for bushings that run pretty much continuously for 5 years.

Only failure rate that I've seen is too high a rotational speed can locally melt the material and you don't have that problem here.

Surprised it is a little softer. Acetal (Delrin) is rigid, kinda brittle and I have snapped slender parts with a lot of force. It's really dimensionally stable, unlike nylon which changes size and shape due to humidity.

What dowel pins? With a side-shifter, you just remove the cone screw and wiggle the shift rod head off of the rear shift rod. Then you can slide the rod out of the side shifter console to replace the castellated bushing, and pull the shift rod head off of the gear selector to replace the cup bushing. No dowel pin removal needed.

--DD

Heh correct... I wasn't sure what I was dealing with until I totally got under there and tore everything apart. Clearly all this linkage hadn't been dismantled in quite some time so it took quite a bit more persuasion than a wiggle... but it really wasn't that bad!

But yes, thanks again for everyones advice, haven't had much time to work on the ole' 914 but the plan is to complete it today.

The new black bushings from Pelican at the aluminum yoke piece right behind the firewall fit exceptionally well and took a bit of ingenuity to press them in myself so thats now reassembled to the rear shifter linkage bar. I know this is the primary culprit as these bushings were missing entirely by the time I removed the boot concealing it; so the front rod & shifter would be fully in the Rev/1st or 4th/5th while it would only tilt the rear linkage bar a fraction of what it should have been.

The new Pelican rear rod bushing located where the black plastic access cover is, is better than the one I just took out but probably still .10" of slop so I could see a measurable advantage using Delrin as pictured in the first post.

The new Pelican cup bushing appears to be Grade A also; just a matter of forcing it on and surpasing the pressure of the air pocket created in there!

Otherwise it looks like the Pelican firewall bushing should fit snugly assuming I can ever get it installed! Tried boiling it in water to the point where air bubbles were rising from it within the Pyrex measuring cup and I swore it was going to melt but even then no luck since there's soo little room to swing a dead blow mallet or hammer under there, I just had a super hot bushing that didn't seem any more pliable!?

Soooo any surefire suggestions for getting the firewall bushing in would be handy; perhaps a tool I can craft to apply equal pressure to either side of the bushing before wailing on it with a hammer?

Last time I did that 1,it slipped right in!.....or let a hot breath buddie........b

Ha well the boiling didn't work but a huge bolt slid through a thick fender washer and then held on the other side with vice grips by myself while a buddy wailed on it with a hammer from the other side did it; and MAN now that it's installed there is ZERO play up, down, front, back or any other direction inbetween.

Everything else went smoothly as planned and the expensive JWest rear boot reproduction piece fits and functions as it should as well!

Currently it feels as if I definitely have 4 of the gears if not all 6 when just moving the shifter around but I don't intend to drive it until I revamp the fuel system that I realized the fuel hoses were on the brink of splitting open!

Although most importantly I didn't let the bushings beat me!

Now... to start a fuel system thread to resolve those issues; after which I've gotta sort out why none of the auxilary gauges work! Back to work...

Update: my 914 officially has all 6 gears functioning just as they should!

Highly recommend the Pelican kit!

It has been over 4 years with these installed and no problems at all. Just thought I would give an update as many winter projects are coming up and there will probably be lots of folks changing out bushings.
Tom

Oilite is easy to find. I use McaMaster carr and I can get small amounts. However...

I think my bushings wear out too quickly. The next set will be with Derlin. I will see how this compares.