Function First - Shift Right 987 Gear Shifter Kit
Discussion
Hi,
Anyone have any experience of this kit?
http://www.function-first.com/products/engine-tran...
I've just ordered one from the US, I'm now waiting for it to arrive. Hopefully I can fit it over the Christmas break, if it arrives in time.
I'm curious to hear of anyone's experiences with it. Failing that, I'll report back with my own once it's fitted! I wanted to tighten up my gearshift, it doesn't have a very good feel to it at present.
Dan
Anyone have any experience of this kit?
http://www.function-first.com/products/engine-tran...
I've just ordered one from the US, I'm now waiting for it to arrive. Hopefully I can fit it over the Christmas break, if it arrives in time.
I'm curious to hear of anyone's experiences with it. Failing that, I'll report back with my own once it's fitted! I wanted to tighten up my gearshift, it doesn't have a very good feel to it at present.
Dan
Johnniem said:
Dan, am I right in thinking that this just tightens up the gear lever and bushes rather than providing a shorter shift? If I were to do anything it would be to get a shorter shift.
JM
Yes, looks that way. Apparently this kit can be used with the Porsche short shift kit too. JM
From what I can make out, it replaces the triangular piece, which is plastic as standard, with a metal piece with bearings built in. As well as the metal bushes front and back.
Standard...
Shift Right
This is the metal triangular part:
This is just what I assume, so don't take it as 100% correct. I'll be able to post a comparison when it arrives and I take mine apart.
Standard...
Shift Right
This is the metal triangular part:
This is just what I assume, so don't take it as 100% correct. I'll be able to post a comparison when it arrives and I take mine apart.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Hi,Yes, my thoughts are similar. Nothing wrong with the throw, it just needs tightening up a bit. Mine does feel particularly worn. I believe the GT3 shifter adds metal bushes, but not the bearing part.
Wasn't planning on changing the cables, that looks a lot more complicated with removing seats and carpets etc.
This kit doesn't look particularly difficult to fit and the instructions are good. I'll be doing it myself, it's one of those types of jobs that I enjoy doing.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
PS. It was your post which led me to order the kithttp://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Picked up my 2.9 cayman this weekend, gearshift is good but could be more precise. Something closer to a type R gearbox would be nice.
I've got an OPC warranty so can't stray away, but does the official short shift kit make it more precise and not just a shorter throw? What are the problems with the cables that I hear about?
I've got an OPC warranty so can't stray away, but does the official short shift kit make it more precise and not just a shorter throw? What are the problems with the cables that I hear about?
JackReacher said:
Picked up my 2.9 cayman this weekend, gearshift is good but could be more precise. Something closer to a type R gearbox would be nice.
I've got an OPC warranty so can't stray away, but does the official short shift kit make it more precise and not just a shorter throw? What are the problems with the cables that I hear about?
I believe the standard 997 shift shift kit uses all the original bushes etc. Just a shorter throw. The GT3 shifter is a shorter throw and uses metal bushes, but not to the same extent as the Function First kit. I've got an OPC warranty so can't stray away, but does the official short shift kit make it more precise and not just a shorter throw? What are the problems with the cables that I hear about?
zed4 said:
I believe the standard 997 shift shift kit uses all the original bushes etc. Just a shorter throw. The GT3 shifter is a shorter throw and uses metal bushes, but not to the same extent as the Function First kit.
Thanks, not sure I'll bother then if it is only a shorter shift. Although the Porsche description states it might be stiffer in cold weather, that suggests maybe the bushes are different?
Finally got round to fitting this a couple of weeks ago. Sorry for the delay!
It's a really good kit, very well designed, I can tell a lot of thought has gone into its design.
First up is to remove all the interior trim around the centre console. There's a lot!! (Please excuse the state of my garage floor!) This was all pretty straight forward, the only difficult bit was pulling off the gear knob, it was incredibly tight!
Mark the position of the cables in the adjuster to help with refitting.
Once all the trim is out, it's time to remove the shifter and get it on the bench. You can see the white plastic bushes at each end of the shifter and the white triangular plastic yoke. These are the parts which wear out and create play in the gearstick. There is also play present, simply due to the actual design of the bushes. At the factory the shifter is fitted to the housing and the bushes are then push fitted in to either side. Locking tabs hold them in place. As they're push fitted, there's going to be a small amount of movement for them to lock into place in the first place.
Now I had to remove the round white plastic bushes. The instructions said to simply cut away the locking tabs on the bushes. This proved very time consuming, and I also found that I couldn't rotate the bushes to get to the other side as the instructions said I would. In the end I resorted to a combination of a knife, side cutters, a small flat screw driver and my Ryobi multi tool with a very small drill bit. The drill proved most successful, as I could drill into each tab to weaken it, and then snap it off with a small screwdriver. Being careful not to damage the black shifter housing. I had to work from the top and from the bottom to get all the way around the bushes.
Once that's done, I could remove the shift lever itself. I then removed the plastic yoke and threw it away!
Metal yoke installed...
The metal yoke is bolted to the housing with a bolt that runs through a spacer that runs right through the centre of the yoke bearing. This is to make sure that the plastic isn't squashed if the bolt was over-tightened. The metal yoke has a bearing, rather than a hole, so it moves freely and smoothly with no resistance or play.
Then I inserted the new metal bushings at each end. This is a really clever design. One bush is the exact right size, it fits in from the outside and over the shifter shaft. A circlip is then fitted to a groove in the bush on the inside of the housing to stop the bush from being pushed back out. The other bush pushes in and is secured with a circlip. However, the second bush has a large grub screw in the end which pushes against an inner bush and then up against the shifter shaft. This allows you to remove any slop or play in the shifter with an allen key. You just screw it in until any movement has gone, but not too tight that there is resistance in the shifter. The large grub screw is held in place with a smaller grub screw on the top of the bush.
Then I just put everything back together. I took it for a test drive and discovered that one of the cables needed adjusting from it's original position. I think now that there's no play in the shifter, the cables don't tolerate any mis-adjustment. I moved the cable back one thread and it felt so much better. Remember to slide the locking cable covers back over the cable adjusters!
It's made a huge improvement to the feel of the shifter. It's so much smoother and more precise. It has the solid metal feel, rather than the vague wobbly plastic feel before. I'd highly recommend the upgrade. I took my time, and stopped for some food halfway through, but I reckon it took me 3 hours to do. I could do it much quicker a second time around.
Hope this post helps someone looking to upgrade their shifter.
Dan
It's a really good kit, very well designed, I can tell a lot of thought has gone into its design.
First up is to remove all the interior trim around the centre console. There's a lot!! (Please excuse the state of my garage floor!) This was all pretty straight forward, the only difficult bit was pulling off the gear knob, it was incredibly tight!
Mark the position of the cables in the adjuster to help with refitting.
Once all the trim is out, it's time to remove the shifter and get it on the bench. You can see the white plastic bushes at each end of the shifter and the white triangular plastic yoke. These are the parts which wear out and create play in the gearstick. There is also play present, simply due to the actual design of the bushes. At the factory the shifter is fitted to the housing and the bushes are then push fitted in to either side. Locking tabs hold them in place. As they're push fitted, there's going to be a small amount of movement for them to lock into place in the first place.
Now I had to remove the round white plastic bushes. The instructions said to simply cut away the locking tabs on the bushes. This proved very time consuming, and I also found that I couldn't rotate the bushes to get to the other side as the instructions said I would. In the end I resorted to a combination of a knife, side cutters, a small flat screw driver and my Ryobi multi tool with a very small drill bit. The drill proved most successful, as I could drill into each tab to weaken it, and then snap it off with a small screwdriver. Being careful not to damage the black shifter housing. I had to work from the top and from the bottom to get all the way around the bushes.
Once that's done, I could remove the shift lever itself. I then removed the plastic yoke and threw it away!
Metal yoke installed...
The metal yoke is bolted to the housing with a bolt that runs through a spacer that runs right through the centre of the yoke bearing. This is to make sure that the plastic isn't squashed if the bolt was over-tightened. The metal yoke has a bearing, rather than a hole, so it moves freely and smoothly with no resistance or play.
Then I inserted the new metal bushings at each end. This is a really clever design. One bush is the exact right size, it fits in from the outside and over the shifter shaft. A circlip is then fitted to a groove in the bush on the inside of the housing to stop the bush from being pushed back out. The other bush pushes in and is secured with a circlip. However, the second bush has a large grub screw in the end which pushes against an inner bush and then up against the shifter shaft. This allows you to remove any slop or play in the shifter with an allen key. You just screw it in until any movement has gone, but not too tight that there is resistance in the shifter. The large grub screw is held in place with a smaller grub screw on the top of the bush.
Then I just put everything back together. I took it for a test drive and discovered that one of the cables needed adjusting from it's original position. I think now that there's no play in the shifter, the cables don't tolerate any mis-adjustment. I moved the cable back one thread and it felt so much better. Remember to slide the locking cable covers back over the cable adjusters!
It's made a huge improvement to the feel of the shifter. It's so much smoother and more precise. It has the solid metal feel, rather than the vague wobbly plastic feel before. I'd highly recommend the upgrade. I took my time, and stopped for some food halfway through, but I reckon it took me 3 hours to do. I could do it much quicker a second time around.
Hope this post helps someone looking to upgrade their shifter.
Dan
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