Sportomatic shift linkage question

[caproader]

Guys:
The shift linkage on my 73 S with sportomatic feels as loose as a badly maintained 1.7 liter 914. So far I have replaced the cup at the base of the shifter, the shifter shaft sleeve that is held in place by the shift colum base plate, and the bushings in the U joint at the nose of the transmission. And it still is not even close to the feel of my two 915 5 speeds. What am I missing? Are sporto's naturally vague? Is this something in the shift forks that I need to address? Is there something in the 901 derived shift colum that I can tighten up?
I wake up nights in a cold sweat with the recurring nightmare that I am trying to shift from 2nd to 3rd but go into 1st instead and spin the car. All help appreciated.

The capitalist roader
73 S coupe with sporto
73 T Coupe
73.5 Targa

[B D]

Have you ever shifted a Sporto that was in proper order? Is it giving you any trouble? It does not feel like a traditional box, it shouldn't take much effort to put in gear. The shifter does NOT have a solid feel in neutral only when in gear. It flops all around in neutral. It's almost like a shifter in an arcade game. Also think of the pattern as more of an X than a H pattern and you should never miss shift.

[caproader]

BD,
This is my first sporto, so you're right, my comparison data base is rather meager. But the problem is going from gear to gear, not so much the loose neutral position. If I make a consious effort as I move from gear to gear, each gear change works out ok. It's just not as precise as the 915 five speed box. It seems that a sporto requires more concnetration and attention to detail than a 5 speed. Am I correct in this approach to shifting or is there something I can do to tighten up the linkage?
Thanks for your thoughts.

John

[B D]

It sounds like everything is in order from what you explain. The shifter is very loose in feel, there is not much of a gate pattern to follow. It's should be very easy to shift, minimal effort is required so you can almost toss the lever in to a gear. As I said before think of the shift pattern as a X vs. H. I do not know what you can do to tighten things up. Mechanics I have spoken to say to be very easy on the shifter not because it's weak but it's very easy to engage a gear without force.

[caproader]

Thanks for the help. Guess I will just learn to live with it and be extra careful. One final thought: Did you ever consider one of the 'solid' engineered universal joints. The one that you access from behind the front seats? I've heard so many bad things about the negative effects of solid engine/trans mounts transmitting vibrations, that I'm afraid to invest $200 bucks for something like a solid shift bushing that might tear up the trans.

I owe you a couple fingers of Sarsparilla if you ever get to Cincinnati.

John

[B D]

Mmmmm Sarsparilla!

John quick question for you when you shift into gear how much does your idle drop? Basically in neutral at idle what's your RPM and then in D what's your idle RPM?

Thanks Bret

[caproader]

Brett,

I printed a copy of your question and will put it on the dashboard so that the next time I take the car out, I can take notes.

John

[B D]

No worries I went a spoke with Deiter at Andial and he calmed my worries. It was just time to sync/tune the webers again and reset the timing. If any of you have not done this in a while do it now. It made a huge diffrence in power and as well as smoothness.

Also Deiter reminded me not to trust the tach in the car for tunning. They are usually off, instead I use a timing light with a digital RPM readout.