Shifter adjustment AND what can I expect?

[thilmes]

I have a 1970 targa. I believe the vehicle has about 108,xxx miles and original transaxle. cat sat from 2006 to 2013. I have spent the last year getting the car back to driver status.I an very happy with the results so far. Just sorting out some final issues. The car does not shift as smoothly as I would like.

I have replaced the shifter linkage bushings including the coupler bushings. My question today is what should I expect? The shifting is "difficult". I have owned a number of classic porsche and vw's. my '65 356 shifts effortlessly. by '62 vw ragtop shifts well. The 911 shifting is a lot of work... it is difficult to grab the right gear under casual driving without a little grind or what seems to me to be excessive pressure. higher revs seems to help from 1st to 2nd. At a stop light 1st is harder that I think it should be.

my point is that most on this site understand such things but someone who does not have the faith would find the car difficult to shift. I feel that it can be improved. Am i just dealing with an old tranny or do you think that more adjustments/other bushings/mount replacements are in my future?

I would love to hear some ideas from you guys! Thanks!

[CidTito]

when engine is out and tranny apart.
check
- throw out bearing tube. For a 1970, likely worn.
- pivot bolt off alignment ... might need adjustment
- new clutch / flywheel
- clutch fork may need new bushing

for now..
- clutch pedal assembly. Could be having metal fatigue or bushings worn.
- clutch cable. maybe need adjustment.
- gear oil

[thilmes]

Great comments CidTito. I have questions

Pivot bolt. I am assuming this is the bolt that the T/O bearing fork pivots on. I replaced this recently but saw no way to adjust.

What I see your comments as saying in two seperate groups either the clutch is not fully dis-engaging due to flywheel/clutch wear or the T/O is not engaging enough or too much. I have not replaced clutch disk or flywheel. may be the weak link...

I am curious how a worn pedal assembly could cause poor shifting except for not engaging enough. am I missing something?

[CidTito]

Hi Thilmes

Pivot bolt can be shimmed with washers to raise and lower it.. but let me tell you, sometimes its a task to get it right. In my case lining it up with e 3.2L and having a '71 901 Transmission, its tricky. You will find miss alignment will have the clutch fork just barely bumping up against the flywheel. You might hear this rat-tat-tat sound. With my car it was sometimes on 1st and Reverse, and as it got worse, the pin stretches and just eventually gets sheared.. The bolt also might be machined to make tweek, roll, seat in one direction vs. another, or shaved or even have material added and machined clean. It will take a keen eye know visualize where it belongs, so that it stays there and not get smacked around.

In terms of the pedal assembly, there is the fact that in itself, it could be old, needs bushings. Could be hard to press, or not give an even amount of pressure when engaged. There is stuff all over this site that talks about that. Also check if the driver side floorboard might be missing a rubber stopper that is suppose to be there. I saw one at Easy Porsche, but i also noticed even though the stopper was there, it was used enough the stopper is falling out of its seated holder. So if someone wanted to restore it, it would need to replaced. I just ended up and bought one of those new PVC kinds and that problem is gone. Maybe it engages too much or too little.

I would like to eventually swap my coupling link too, but ill do that a little later.

[bxd]

To start, I'd get some really good gearbox oil in there. Swepco or similar. Clean, high-quality lubricant can make a huge difference. Also if your engine and trans mounts are worn, shifting can also be negatively affected.

[rpc356]

In addition to the previous suggestions, don't underestimate the importance of adjusting the shifter. Relatively small misadjustments can cause poor shifting.