DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Many thanks David - got the gear lever this morning - very quick!

One problem though is that mine is the later one with the hole through the bottom (last pic above) - the earlier gear lever has a ball at the base that goes into a plastic cup.

I should be able to strip it down though and use the top plate and also the gear lever. I started to strip the linkage down and found all the bushings worn and a massive bodge where the front and rear shaft meet

Should be so much better when its together though!

Many thanks for a speedy service - chq on its way

What's the bodge then, Kevin?

There were several bodges - the hole through the bottom of the gear lever that is held in place with an M8 bolt had the bushing missing. Top of the gear plate was mashed up, stop plate was worn.

The coupling that joins the front and rear linkage rods didnt have the proper bushes (you have to take the coupling off to replace them), it had been bodged up with some rubber tubing.

The bulkhead and rear bushings by the transmission were worn as well. This would have made a great example of how bad things can get but still work!

Still waiting for a few bits but half of it is back together. The rear conical screw was mashed so to get the rear link rod out I dropped the gear selector rod out of the gearbox with its housing - you lose lots of gear oil but it allowed me to work on getting the conical screw out and also remove the head shift rod to replace one of the bushings.

A bit fiddly but got there and cant wait to finish it next week and see how much better it shifts.

I got new regulator from Lucas which is the same as a beetle with alternator. Only about £12 and its solid state so should last for a bit.

Yipee - back on the road after 10 days. The linkage is much better and Im not knicking reverse now when going from 1st - sweet.

Still need to have a look at the clutch setup as its a bugger going into 1st from standstill and reverse is even worse. Im hoping I can adjust the cable as Im not looking forward to an engine out job.

WHen I put the gear lever assembly back together I had a choice of pressure springs. The earlier ones (<73) seem to be shorter but stiffer and the later ones seem to be longer but softer.

I opted for the earlier ones but maybe should have gone for the later as its quite hard dropping into 1st/reverse?

What say you learned ones

Hi Kevster,

Welcome to the wonderful world of the 914 gear change. Pleased to hear that you are back on the road again. The problem with 1st and reverse may be helped by some clutch adjustment and it also may be that the very lack of the same over years has caused the syncro ring to be badly worn, we have all been there. You can renew all the bits with the tranmission still in the car though, Auto Atlanta do a complete kit of parts for this, not cheap. I'm sure Mittelmotor or Pelican would have it as well.
Good luck and practise your double de-clutching, it does help.

Thanks for the advice - interesting to hear you can swap bits out without removing the gearbox, I guess you can take the rear cover off and pull the innards out that way?

I'll try the clutch adjustment 1st and see how that goes.

kevster wrote:I'll try the clutch adjustment 1st and see how that goes.

Definately do that, I did mine and now it shifts really smoothly, almost like butter

update - I've now refreshed the trans oil and adjusted the clutch and its even better!

Just drove up to Epsom to do the brighton breeze (saw Bootsy's bus but no Bootsy - don't know if he saw my '14 parked at the end!) and it drove much better than when I bought it.

As we left Epsom there was a guy that had approached the roundabout directly outside the camping ground in a fresh looking split bus only to hit the mud on the road and career off scraping a street sign down one side before hitting a tree and stoving the front panel in.

How would you feel turning up to a porsche event where 600 cars are leaving in convoy only to wrap your pride and joy round the start point

Nightmare : poor bloke, how to take the shine off your weekend in one easy step.