I would like to upgrade the sloppy stock shifter in my v8 powered 914...yes, all the bushings have been replaced, but looking to improve to a more positive shift. I realize even with the best shifter, I still will have a 901.

Option 1 $100: Weltmeister short shift kit...reduce the throw and that's about it.

Option 2: Renshift Kit by JWest....nothing but raving reviews but $500.

I really like the idea of a reverse lockout, but I'm also wondering with the Renshift if you can lock out 1st gear. I would prefer to have only R, 2, 3, 4, and 5 available.

Is the Rensfhift really worth it for a street car over the Weltmeister for an aditional 400?

Is there another shifter out there that accomplishes what Renshift does for even 3 or 4 hundred?

Are there other options I'm overlooking...thanks in advance!
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My current street car has about an inch cut off the top of a stock shift lever and has the Weltmeister shift spring kit installed, nothing else, and I'm pretty happy with that.

From my experience, the Weltmeister short shift kit will amplify any shifting problems you have. That being said, my old 2.0 had one and it shifted great.

Have been running a Weltmeister kit for 17+ years, ever since I installed it in high school on my lunch break!

I've been thinking long and hard on the Rennshifter. While I don't have any problems with the current Weltmeister shifter, my wife and others do. For that reason alone, and because I know it could be better and thus more fun to use, I've considered spending the money for the upgrade.

However, the thing that stops me is the look. I like the way the stocker looks, and the boot in my car is original.

Still, I am pretty sure the Rennshifter is vastly superior, and I like driving better than I like looking. Perhaps that would explain the string of, uh, "off-beat" driver's cars (914, Xerati/XR4Ti, WRX, A5 GTI)...

pete

I have both the Rennshifter AND the Jwest shift linkage installed. Completely changed how well the 914 shifts. For a modified car, the single best investment I made - IMHO.

--

I had the weltmeister and liked it but once I put the Rennshifter in there I thought I was driving a completely different car with how nice it shifted. BIG difference and worth every penny.

Rennshifter with a stock 911SC boot. Short throw, springs well to the 2-3 plane, and reverse lock out. I am a cheap SOB but would still get the Rennshifter again. I removed a Weltmeister kit to install the Rennshifter.

Yep. Am about 60-70% of the way there, but like the look of the stock setup better. But then I think about better shifting... I'll keep cooking on this for a while, I bet. There are just so many other things more pressing right now. Like the $2k I just dropped on rubber and trim. What was supposed to be a "conservative" path to new paint has turned into, uh, engine money.

pete

What we need now is...
A smooth cable shifter!!
Especially for those of us that are not using the 901 tranny anymore.
Or, covert the Rennshift to work with a FWD Suby box then I'll jump all over that

Food for thought.

Has anyone tried the cable shifter that renegade sells? They say it can be cut in custom lengths.

I have a Rennshifter in my 911. It is a big improvement over the stock shifter, but it doesn't shift like a modern car. I would still recommend it though.

I love the purposeful appearance of the Rennshifter... I only used the boot that came with it (covers the top only).

I've not driven a car with a Rennshifter, but I sat in Mr. Bovey's car and moved the shifter around. I was immediately sold. Besides, I'll need something new to work with a sideshifter in my '71 anyhow...

A Rennshifter is on my shopping list, and I'm thinking that I'll just make a leather boot to cover it.

i have a renshifter, and will buy another ...
currently waiting for the canuck buck to help me out since it is currently tanked
if it doesn't untank by christmas i will be buying the linkage kit regardless

make sure your linkage is tight

it outperforms a stock sys!

I did the same thing on my last car and a RennShifter will go in my Factory 914-6 as soon as it gets back from the body-shop.

T.C.

Rennshifter is on my wanted list. When I have the extra dough that is where it will go .

Mark if you would quit buying all those darn 914's you could afford to do it

I love my Rennshifter. It's a work of art.

I have a rennshifter and I'd have to say that the quality is on par with the Gene Berg shifter I have in my bug (that means top notch).

My buddy also has a rennshifter in his 911 and says it's way better than the Weltmeister it replaced.

Correction...it's because I keep buying "all those darn 914s" I can afford to buy it.

Lot's of great comments, but could someone address this one?
I really like the idea of a reverse lockout, but I'm also wondering with the Renshift if you can lock out 1st gear. I would prefer to have only R, 2, 3, 4, and 5 available.

Ma want to ask James that personally. I am sure he could answer that for you better than the rest of us.

As for you guys who THINK you shifting is fine... You have no idea how nice this thing really is. My shifter worked great before I put the Rennshift in. Now it is on of the best shifting cars I have driven from the 70's. I guess it is the simple ignorance is bliss

Difference is like night and day. A properly adjusted renn shifter with good tight bushings in the rest of the shifter linkage is a pleasure to drive. Since I have installed this, I wouldn't own a 914 without one installed.
Tom

You dont need to lock out 1st from the shifter side. However, this would not be too hard to do. An easier, for me anyway, way to lock out 1st is to do it inside the gearbox. All you need to do is remove the rear cover and at least one bolt. Piece of cake.

I had the short shifter in my car and loved it. Everyone who drove it was amazed at what a rebuilt box and a short shift could do. I was lucky enough to have a friend buy me a Rennshifter (lest I would still be wanting) and I wont go back to anything else. I like it very much.

While the Rennshifter was an improvement to my 911 (which has a non-stock 915 tranny), I don't think it shifts any better than Babydoll ('74 914 with side shifter and fresh bushings, completely stock setup).

--

I hope not.

You are well-liked here and build a well-respected (beloved?) product -- one I have no problem with the price of. I'm sure the price is set logically based on the amount of work that went into creating it and the cost to make it, with a reasonable profit on the backside. Frankly, I wouldn't hold it against you if there's a good profit. You deserve it, and I'd love it if nothing else is said about price in this thread. The metrics are YOUR business, and others can vote with their feet -- or shut it.

I'd rate the Weltmeister as merely okay, and it sounds like others would, too. I like it better than the stocker, but I also like the idea that there's something better out there. And it sounds like a lot of people agree.

As for me, I'd be all in if a ) I could get past this silly visuals hump I'm on regarding the hump on my floorboards and b ) if my wife drove the car more and starts autocrossing it/I didn't have so many other glaring areas for expensive improvements (engine, short gears, suspension redux done right, brake overhaul 3, etc.).

The visuals thing is hard for me. I love the way the rennshifter looks in modified cars, but I have been increasingly interested in doing only things the way the factory would have, or at least in the spirit of the factory. I want the car to look like it could have been built that way in 1973, when it was new.

Then again, I have a feeling that, if I were to sample a car with the rennshifter, all that would go out the window.

I need to stop looking at this thread. It's gonna drive me over the edge!

pete

A recent article in Classic Motorsports stated "(A)lthough the Porsche 914/6 is remarkably modern and well built for a car of its era, there's one massive Achilles' heel: the shifter. It's epically terrible by today's standards, and drivers are more likely to find third gear while stirring their Cheerios at breakfast then while driving a 914". (p. 49)

I have had new bushings and cone screws on my 901 with 75k miles on it. I now have the Rennshifter with the shift kit. The Rennshifter and the shift rod kit are night and day above and beyond. Anyone who thinks differently has never tried one. Crisp, solid, sure-shifting...

Lear, S. R., Schroeder, P., Sports Cars Then & Now. How Do Classic Sports Cars Size Up to Their Modern Counterparts? Classic Motorsports November 2008, Issue 135 pp. 44-63

Fairly funny, but is it true? Is it fair? Is it accurate?

I spend a LOT of time in modern cars in the course of my work, and have sampled the world's very best shifters.

The one in my 1973 914, while FAR from as good as it gets, just doesn't match up with the statement above. It works just fine for me. I never miss shifts in my 914, and I don't struggle with it. The only people who do are those who I let drive it (they ALWAYS, all of them, from from first to fourth), which is what tells me that it is not a particularly good shifter.

I do agree, however, that the shifter may be the 914's single biggest letdown (well, maybe after rust...), but I'm not sure the above is good or fair journalism. And, was the car they sampled *representative*? Of course, the owner of CM should know, having restored a 914-4 and having (I believe) tried the Rennshifter to good results.

pete

Don't forget, the /6s were tailshifters... two words come to mind: "vague" and "faith".

egg-zactly.

pete

My only concerns to date have strangely echoed Pete's.

* I wanted the original knob
* I wanted the original boot
* I wanted the original hand-throttle

I heard the first-gen could handle most of those tasks with the exception of the boot.

Regarding the others weighing in on the Weltmeister and the Rennshifter. I think every camp seems to have consistent and valid points herein:

1. Most of the time, poor shifting characteristics can be improved upon with a new set of bushings.
1a. We don't have the worlds best shift linkage... it can be a challenge to build a mid-engine car in that era with a great shifter.

2. A Weltmeister short shift can help but frankly a 901 tail or side-shifter is a learned process.

3. A Rennshifter is an outstanding improvement.

4. A Rennshifter with the linkage adds another level to #3

5. A Rennshifter can be pricey, especially when viewed as "1/2 a Thousand" We all know there are varying levels of income or just plain levels of acceptance. There is a point where $500 can be too much or simply "cheap" when you compare it to a missed shift on a $12,000 race motor. I guess what I'm trying to say is, even the CSOB's may find the money for a Rennshifter and even the "Money's no Object" crowd may see it as 1/2 a grand in a car that cost them $2-4k.

My six was owned by a little old lady who went back and forth to work in it on sunny days (I kid you not). The bushings in that car crumbled under my watch. When I replaced them I had one of the nicest shifting 914's I've ever had (please read 1a). Remember, the six was still a tail-shifter.

I think a Rennshifter is a worthy investment. It's on my list of things to buy along with the linkage. I just need to find time to work on my car vs. everyone else’s!

Quit posting and get back to work!

+9,146

Pete,
Having never driven anything older than my '75 I could not say if it was true, accurate etc... I know mine was pretty much like stirring soup in a two gallon pot when I got it. Sloppy, vague, lots of grinding if you were impatient. The bushings made a world of difference and the Rennshifter brought it into this century. The 914/6 they tested was an original 6 but had it been converted to sideshift? That was not mentioned.
I certainly see your point. It is funny but journalistically not an accurate statement. I took it as a humorous exageration. I am pretty sure Tim Suddard tried the Rennshifter V. 1. Not really sure how James redesigned it but one would assume an improvement.
My opinion is that in many cases the 901 box will work very well with just the bushings. I have met a number of newer 914 drivers who were of the opinion they needed the transmission rebuilt. For what I want from my car, I had to have better.

Tough crowd...



Hey... I didn't blow up the Brumos motor!

A bit different than the four banger version though,(better)

Hey, are my brakes done yet



Okay, so I have them and they look amazing. You should go work on your car

Did you put them on yet? Let's see some pics man!!

Perhaps you missed my post about getting my brokers license I haven't had time to do anything since I got my garage reorganized. I will be getting to it in the next week or so while I will also be pulling the engine to give it to the doctor. Jeff

Engine? Different doctor?

That would be Dr. Jeffery Hines. I have seen his work. Driven it in fact... He is Da Man in the Northwest!

You cannot possibly know how relieved I was to learn someone else had over-revved that motor at another event.

If, however, you would like me to "break" YOUR new 2.5 in, I would be happy to!

Yeah... whatever.

I think you oughta get in line for a Rennshifter. Sounds like you're ready to go!

Yeah, Rob said it... but you're still the #1 Tranny Doctor

Does that sound as bad as I think it does?

SUCH a bastard. But don't worry, I'll remember...

pete

James, I hope you don't think I have an unfavorable view of your product. Far from it... I think the Rennshifter is the best thing I ever installed on my 911. My car is a mutt that was probably about 80 percent sorted by the previous owner, and the Rennshifter was a big improvement over what I was told was the factory short shifter kit. I think I still have some shift rod geometry issues, running a 915 in a 1970 911; if I can work that out, the shifting should improve even more.

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I began this thread noting that I had heard nothing but "raving reviews" of the Renshift but was questioning if a Renshift was appropriate for a street car like mine. The Renshift is truly a piece of "art" and is not even close to being in the same league as the other product, not that there is anything wrong with it either. Both are great products with different levels of functionality and precison.
I for one will be buying a Renshift when the cookie jar reaches that amount. For me it's a worthy investment for a car that I intend hanging on to. James...thank you for your contribution to the 914, your products are fantastic. I also have a set of your engine lid hinges and I just marvel at the quality of your stuff...worth every penny!

Now that's BS. I didn't get upset. And in fact I even praised your product. You edited two of your posts removing most all of the content after I said I was considering editing/deleteing mine. That led me to believe that you would like me to reciprocate. I pulled my comments so that they would not be misconstrued as being a negative reflection on your product. I did it for your benefit. Then you go and start this crap. If you would prefer I can put them all back.

Let's just chill. I don't believe any of these posts are meant to uspset or affend anyone. Just relax everyone

I know the 914 shifting woes as well as anyone. My current 70 v8 conversion was a tailshifter when I got it. It was absolutely awful to shift. Total slop everywhere & hard to get in gear. I converted to a side shift within a month. I replaced all bushings when doing the swap. My car is now the nicest shifting 914 I have ever had. It is smooth & I have no problem with any shifts or gears. So while I am happy with it & it works great. I am going to get a Rennshift when I work it into the car budget. Going to be a ways off as other things have priority. Especially knowing it is good the way it is. So while it is way down my list on things to get. It is definately on my list