Short shifter quandry

eBay £28 anodised blue ones look exactly the same as all the other ones of that ilk. The 997 one is obviously oe Porsche. Has anyone fitted the blue one that you see on eBay dirt cheap. I'm curious why other seemingly identical ones are so much more expensive?

Yep I fitted one and really liked it BUT it was never quite right, I always wanted a little more precision plus it was tricky to get into reverse. I swapped it out for one of Alex's modified ebay shifters, so much better!

I started with one of the cheapo ones off eBay. The quality of the bearings is very poor and there's too much play in them and some of them tend to fail on the poor quality needle bearing in the middle. So many other members on here found the same problem and coerced (mainly Phil :grin: ) me in to providing a solution.

Ahh I see. Thanks for the info. I've just bought a Tequipment gear knob and handbrake lever I'm sending to Royal to get trimmed to match the steering wheel. I'm not 100% decided yet but considering while I'm in there replacing the mechanism.

Thanks for the info and reply.

Could you tell/PM me what you charge for your solution? Just curious at this stage, but may well look at this down the line :?: :thumb:

I fitted the later GT3 version with the metal bearings and it made a massive difference. Randomly, the state of your engine mounts can make a difference with the gear change (and handling!) I have my old shifter available if anyone wants it for a modest sum - ripe for conversion with one of Alex's shifters and keep your old one as is! Ian

Finally got round to fitting the shifter you sent me Alex. Imagine my surprise when saw it already had SSK fitted and looking the same. However as you mention, middle bearing failed and sloppy lever along with loose plastic bushes. Your modded one now fitted and it's like a new gearbox and car - thanks again and another recommend for your shifters!

:thumbs:

Funny you should mention this, as I bought one from Poland on Ebay. It looks and feels really well made and not sloppy at all, but needed greasing up before fitting. Apparently, some of the Chinese ones are a bit sloppy and don't seem to have the shim/washer each side of the main shaft as mentioned in the reviews, so I picked this Polish one which did and was under £30 delivered in a few days. With work being chaotic, I've not had time to test drive it yet, so time will tell. It did feel like I could select 8 gears not 6 from the test without the engine running, but maybe that's just me not being used to the short throw. I've tried first and reverse on the drive and it seemed fine. Just didn't have the time to move the Campervan and Jag to get it down the drive for a test drive. I had to butcher parts of the standard one to remove it, so if it's not for me, I'll look for a 997 shifter as a replacement.

The ones from Poland are the same ones off eBay (If they're the same ones from Poland I've seen). There's 4 different ones that come from China that are mostly on eBay. The only noticeable difference is either the colour of the Anodised housing and the material that the end shafts are made from - either Brass or Aluminium. But they all have the same flaws I eliminated with my modd'd version. I'm currently looking at doing an adjustable leaver so the throw can be set to the desired feel........watch this space.

I await your finding with much curiosity :?:

Well, after much deliberation I've bought a 997 gear linkage. I really wanted to try it and see what it's like compared to the 996 one. If it's still not what I'm after I will be buying one of the ones from Alex and putting it in my 996 housing.

I've driven mine with one of the Ebay specials and it feels pretty good to me. A lot tighter and more positive than the sloppy standard one I butchered the plastic bushes to fit this.

I was very sceptical about fitting a SSK but bough one of Alex's kits. It took a bit of getting used to but now I love it. It's definitely a worth while mod :thumb: