I own the george brown speedster. I can't shift the damm thing.
What the trick.
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I own the george brown speedster. I can't shift the damm thing.
What the trick.
What the trick.
Familiarity, patience, smoothness. Are you sure that all the linkage is adjusted correctly?
First gear is stoplight only. It is also an unsupported gear, so limit the entertaining tire-smoking starts, depending on the torque of the engine. Double clutch all downshifts.
These are extremely picky about adjustment. A millimeter either way makes a tremendous difference. The shift bushings are cheap to buy new, the one at the base of the shifter sometimes looks whole, but when you take it out it is actually cracked. Time for a new one.
When properly adjusted, the detent is pretty strong and you should easily avoid picking up reverse instead of second as you swing across the dogleg.
These transmissions like to be shifted with a light and deliberate hand. Hold the knob as if it were an egg and deliberately place the egg exactly where it is supposed to go.
When all is adjusted and mechanically sound, these are quite fun to drive, though they will never feel like any good shifting modern car including a modern Porsche.
angela
These are extremely picky about adjustment. A millimeter either way makes a tremendous difference. The shift bushings are cheap to buy new, the one at the base of the shifter sometimes looks whole, but when you take it out it is actually cracked. Time for a new one.
When properly adjusted, the detent is pretty strong and you should easily avoid picking up reverse instead of second as you swing across the dogleg.
These transmissions like to be shifted with a light and deliberate hand. Hold the knob as if it were an egg and deliberately place the egg exactly where it is supposed to go.
When all is adjusted and mechanically sound, these are quite fun to drive, though they will never feel like any good shifting modern car including a modern Porsche.
angela
it like there is no shift gate
how do you know if the linkage is adjusted properly?
Its like Angela said...you have to be deliberate but not slamming the thing into gear.
I've taken my linkage apart a few times and being the backyard mechanic that I am it takes me a while to get it right again. I take the cover off the tunnel, in my IM the tunnel between the seats just lifts off, and you can see the coupler. I then mark the existing location of the coupler with white paint (or scratch it might do) on both the coupler and the shaft as a reference point. I then disconnect the coupler from the shaft coming out of the transaxle.
You should now be able to move the shaft from the trans both in and out and from side to side ..but don't force it. May have to rock the car to get it to where you can do this into all gears easily.
Then I select a gear, say 1st, using just the shaft on the trans...it should just click it place. If I remember correctly, first is left and back on the shifter which means that the shaft on the trans has to be to the far left (driver's side) of its travel and then pulled out towards the front of the car. I then reattach the coupler making sure that the shifter is in its proper position for 1st and then tighten it up. Then taking the shifter through the gears to be sure it is moving the shaft of the tran correctly. I check to be sure neutral is neutral by rocking the car. I check to be sure first is engaged by using just the starter to move the car in gear (disable the engine). Then I take it for a test run shifting as per Angela's post...delicately but deliberately. May need a bit of adjustment but this usually works fine.
Having said all that (and subject to someone else's experience as I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the word) something else must be wrong. Didn't George have that transaxle special built? I find it hard to belive that thing is not as good as a 901 could possibly be. Is the clutch stuck? has the shifter shifted? (loose on the tunnel) Cracked bush at the bottom of the shift rod like Angela says can cause reall shifting problems? Seems odd it just won't shift.
I've taken my linkage apart a few times and being the backyard mechanic that I am it takes me a while to get it right again. I take the cover off the tunnel, in my IM the tunnel between the seats just lifts off, and you can see the coupler. I then mark the existing location of the coupler with white paint (or scratch it might do) on both the coupler and the shaft as a reference point. I then disconnect the coupler from the shaft coming out of the transaxle.
You should now be able to move the shaft from the trans both in and out and from side to side ..but don't force it. May have to rock the car to get it to where you can do this into all gears easily.
Then I select a gear, say 1st, using just the shaft on the trans...it should just click it place. If I remember correctly, first is left and back on the shifter which means that the shaft on the trans has to be to the far left (driver's side) of its travel and then pulled out towards the front of the car. I then reattach the coupler making sure that the shifter is in its proper position for 1st and then tighten it up. Then taking the shifter through the gears to be sure it is moving the shaft of the tran correctly. I check to be sure neutral is neutral by rocking the car. I check to be sure first is engaged by using just the starter to move the car in gear (disable the engine). Then I take it for a test run shifting as per Angela's post...delicately but deliberately. May need a bit of adjustment but this usually works fine.
Having said all that (and subject to someone else's experience as I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the word) something else must be wrong. Didn't George have that transaxle special built? I find it hard to belive that thing is not as good as a 901 could possibly be. Is the clutch stuck? has the shifter shifted? (loose on the tunnel) Cracked bush at the bottom of the shift rod like Angela says can cause reall shifting problems? Seems odd it just won't shift.
Gene, don't bail on the 901 yet. It's a little weird at first but you will get used to it. I found them terribly vague and Angela's "egg tip" is very true. You don't bang it between gears like a Muncie. You feel your way into the next gear, usually with a split second pause to say "hi" to neutral enroute to the next gear. 915's don't shift much better, just a different pattern.
Find some expert help from a Porsche mechanic in your area in you're not mechanically inclined. If you are, then get a good book on early 911 maintenance (there are many- Haynes manual?) so the info contains the pre '72 901 transaxle and dig in and check things out. Like Brian said, you may find it's a simple adjustment error.
Find some expert help from a Porsche mechanic in your area in you're not mechanically inclined. If you are, then get a good book on early 911 maintenance (there are many- Haynes manual?) so the info contains the pre '72 901 transaxle and dig in and check things out. Like Brian said, you may find it's a simple adjustment error.
This worked like a charm. It was the driver not the car.
Hold the knob as if it were an egg and deliberately place the egg exactly where it is supposed to go.
Hold the knob as if it were an egg and deliberately place the egg exactly where it is supposed to go.
Gene you ROCK! You've mastered a skill with no one to show you how.
Good show man!
angela
Good show man!
angela
Only thing I hate about this is thinking about that damm egg all the time.
.... Which is one reason I decided to "downgrade" to a custom-geared VW transaxle (I supplied, from Rancho) when Henry built mine-- with a (admittedly ugly) EMPI shifter for $40, I can row away like the ham-handed flatlander I am, complete with reverse lock-out. Get enough torque (I'm still working on that, but I think I've got it), and 4 gears in a 1700 lb car should be plenty.
I had an original VW shifter, which is a cheaper version of what you are describing, in my second car-- and couldn't get it out fast enough.
Egg, shmeg. If it takes $500 to buy a better shifter, do it. I put a B&M shifter in my 540i within a month of buying the car, and it transformed the experience. Vague shifters are no fun.
I had an original VW shifter, which is a cheaper version of what you are describing, in my second car-- and couldn't get it out fast enough.
Egg, shmeg. If it takes $500 to buy a better shifter, do it. I put a B&M shifter in my 540i within a month of buying the car, and it transformed the experience. Vague shifters are no fun.