Shifter bushing replacement without loosening the coupler?

[clesch]

I’ve got quite a lot of play in the shifter of my 1970 911S and figure that the shifter bushings were never replaced before.

Is it possible for me to replace the front two bushings without touching the coupler in the rear? My main concern is about the tunnel bushing and getting the "ballcup adapter" off, because the ball cup bushing itself should be no problem at all with everything connected.

I’m only just starting to do my own work on the car the front bushing replacement seems doable, but the whole linkage alignment surrounding the coupler is a bit intimidating and I’d rather leave that to a mechanic.

[smack]

i just did this and the cup is replaceable but i can't remember if you HAVE to loosen the rear coupler to get the front tunnel bushing out. i loosened the rear before digging into this repair as i was replacing the rear bushings as well.
either way if you just make a mark both longitudinally and laterally at the rear coupler you can just realign the two when you're done up front.

[Sacto S]

Clesh, Wade in there! Don't worry too much about the rear coupler. Mark the coupler and shaft with a Sharpie to indicated the alignment. You can just run a line from the shaft up onto the coupler or you can wrap tape on the shape and the coupler and make a continuous mark from one onto the other. Just line up the marks when you put it back together. Place the trans into 3rd gear before you loosen every thing up. This will also give you a reference should you have any other issues. You can do this.

[clesch]

Clesh, Wade in there! Don't worry too much about the rear coupler. Mark the coupler and shaft with a Sharpie to indicated the alignment. You can just run a line from the shaft up onto the coupler or you can wrap tape on the shape and the coupler and make a continuous mark from one onto the other. Just line up the marks when you put it back together. Place the trans into 3rd gear before you loosen every thing up. This will also give you a reference should you have any other issues. You can do this.

Thanks a lot for the encouragement. My parts should arrive on Monday, I’ll give it a try then!

[Flat Six, inc.]

Just disconnect the coupler from the trans....

[911pcars]

I’ve got quite a lot of play in the shifter of my 1970 911S and figure that the shifter bushings were never replaced before.

Is it possible for me to replace the front two bushings without touching the coupler in the rear? My main concern is about the tunnel bushing and getting the "ballcup adapter" off, because the ball cup bushing itself should be no problem at all with everything connected.

I’m only just starting to do my own work on the car the front bushing replacement seems doable, but the whole linkage alignment surrounding the coupler is a bit intimidating and I’d rather leave that to a mechanic.

Stop. Hard to say when those bushings were replaced/inspected by a previous owner.

The shift coupler doesn't have to be disturbed to replace the forward shift bushings (end of shift lever, forward end of shift tube). Remove the shift lever housing to access those bushings.

However, the shift coupler bushings could be excessively worn as well, but that's a separate operation. Replace the above first, then observe the shift coupler as you move the lever. If the lever moves without corresponding movement of the shift shaft tube aft of the coupler, the coupler bushings are probably worn as well.

Sherwood

[adam912]

Just did the cup and forward bushing on my '66 yesterday. It is an easy job and does not require any further dis-assembly beyond removing the bolts holding the shifter to the chassis. WOW there's no slop now!

I guess every 495,000 miles/45 years is not so bad....

cheers
Adam912. Out.
'66 912 495,000 fun miles, nice torquey 2.2L T4 motor...

[clesch]

My experience is that the rear bushings are usually the culprit. Not saying the front can't wear out but the rear is where you are going to get most of your slop.

Thanks a lot for the instructions, very helpful!

The PO of my car had the transmission rebuilt 3000km ago and I suspect that the rear coupler was entirely replaced then. The part looked quite new when I lifted the transmission tunnel cover some days ago, but I did not inspect it further.

Since the transmission has a lot of slop and the car is unrestored, I’ll replace the two front bushings first and see how that works out. My rebuild kit also includes the two rear bushings for the coupler itself (which I would have replaced by my mechanic).
If I’m still not happy with the result, there are always the aftermarket solutions from WEVO or Stomski to fall back to.