Fitting a short shift...

I have just purchased a Short Shift for my 996 C2 and have removed the gear lever and leather bit and am now stuck! Can anyone give advise and tell me if I need to remove the consol? Also the new shifter appears to be bent to the left rather more than the standard lever. Could it be for a left hand drive or are they the same? Many thanks. Dean

You need to remove the console and do a lot more. You can get the B&M instructions on line. If the lever is to the left then you got a Chinese knock off. Remove the nut and pull out the pivot shaft. Then reverse the lever 180 degrees. Read the link and make sure the white plastic cup bushings are a good fit. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=11426

Appreciate your help, thank you! I can not find any instructions on the net to fit the short shifter and would appreciate a link if you have one? I have turned the shaft 180 and it looks more like the original. I had to unscrew the shaft out of the housing after I removed the nuts. The bushes are not exactly tight but I don't have an alternative other than leaving the original part on the car. many thanks again. Dean

Let's see if this link works. http://www.bmracing.com/media/products/pdf/67.pdf You will see that the B&M only uses 1 set screw but the knock off comes with 2. Otherwise it is almost idential to a B&M.

Just finished fitting the shifter and it was an easy if involved job that was good fun on this nice sunny morning in London. I must thank Tool Pants for all of his help as I would not have managed it without his link to the B&M site which had the instructions. It would appear that all the units sold on Ebay have the lever fitted 180 degrees out and it is a sinple job to change it round so I don't understand why it's not fixed when you receive it... MMMmmm copy right perhaps! The throw is significantly reduced specially in reverse gear or is it just mine thats is this way and it makes for a nice drive with a close shift on the box. I paid £50.00 for mine and don't think I would have paid the £200 price plus fitting for the real thing. Again sincere thanks to Tool Pants you are a gentleman Sir! Dean

There is also a link to the B&M site, and fitting instructions for the Porsche short-shift on the Technical pages.

Thanks Richard, been overwelmed by the kind responce from all on this forum! Glad I sold my 360 and am having a great time with the Porsche... Dean

After all of the fantastic help I received on this Forum with regard to the Short Shift I have just fitted... I don't like it and am going back to standard! I had to order a new linkage complete with lever and cage as I had to cut the old bushes out to remove the lever and they can not be bought seperately or refitted once removed by force or so I am told. The gear change went from silky smooth to hard and notchy with a very small movement required to change gear, Yes I know that's the whole point but the problem is that it takes longer to change gear when you have to push harder than the standard system. Probably ideal for racing or track cars! A few mates said they liked it and I was mad and should keep for a while to get used to the difference but! the other half has a Boxster and that is even smoother than the 911 and I used that to get parts during the fitting... big mistake huge! So I now have "FOR SALE" a short shifter fitted and complete with the cage so no need for all that hard labour in doing it yourself and you can allways change back as YOU! will have the original one that you did not have to hack about to fit the shifter. If anyone is interested please send me an email I would like to get £100.00 for it complete with cage, as the new cage cost me more than that but hey make me an offer... If it's not broken don't try to fix it, that's being said lot's around my house at the moment. Might be shiftin sumfin else if she carries on... Thanks again for all of your help. Regards Dean

This is no an untypical response from someone who has not tried a short shift first. That is why I tell people to try it first. I would have told you the same thing. Drive it for a few weeeks and see if you adjust to it. You are use to the original shift and the short shift is a change.

I have heard the same and would suggest a longer trial period to see if you can get used to the feel of the new gear change. After all that hard work, it seems a shame not to give it a longer test.

Is that the reason the Porsche unit is £200 and yours was only £50 do you think? Regards, Clive

Hi Clive, I went to the Porsche centre at Guildford and tried a Genuine B&M short shifter that was fitted to a customers car, not on the road but just a feel of the shift, and can quiet honestly say that there was little or no difference from the one that I bought. Yes for £50.00 from Ebay... actually £52.00! Oh yes plus postage too. The conclusion is exactly what Tool Pants said and that was that it would be good to try one first as the whole aspect of gear change changes, regardless of who made the shifter and the cost. It's logic that to acheive the same distance at the bottom of the lever with a shorter distance at the top that a compromise must be made in some way. In my opinion it is that any little notches previously there are just amplified. My intention was not to rubbish the product but just to give an opinion and suggest that it's agood idea to try before you buy and perhaps not to be a pin head like me and ask people who know on say a Porsche forum. Some of us never learn I did the same thing with Tubi exhaust and hated it nearly as much as the neighbours so I had to get the original refitted to the car. Appreciate your comments and I will, rest assured check with you guys prior to my next purchase. Am thinking about a set of 28 inch wheels... naaa forget it! Kind regards Dean

Interestingly I just noticed this on Ebay about a Short shift and it made me feel much better... Description Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item. [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif"] Item Specifics [FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif"] Condition : Used Manthey short shift gear lever for Porsche 911 / 996 (all variants) This was fitted to a customer's car for a grand total of one day, so it is nearly new. It was removed because the customer preferred the original, longer, shift action. It is made by Manthey in Germany and you can read about the spec at www.manthey-motors.de ; it is an aluminium assembly made using the original Porsche gearchange unit, and has a 22% shorter throw. It was developed for their racing programme, according to their web information. New, it retails for about 400 GBP once VAT and carriage to the UK has been paid for. Sold on behalf of the customer with a realistic reserve. Who are you come own up and join my club ??????????????? Dean

Can you provide a link for the Manthey short shift on ebay? Never seen that flavor of short shift. But I did find this on the Manthey site.

I spec'ed the short shift on my car this time round and to be fair felt very much how you do Dean. However I have persevered with it and after a few months it has become alot easier, Yes not the silky smooth feel of the standard car (the 997 I have found to be a massive improvement over the 996) but I am now convinced by my purchase. Its not for everyone thats true, but I now do find the pleasure from it being fitted. I'd suggest you leave it on the car for a short while longer, you have nothing to lose... it'll be worth just as much in a few months time... garyw

The item number on Ebay is 280092002478 and I have been advised that they will take £300.00 for it when I asked the question regarding a buy it now price... Good luck, but remember to try one first! Dean

Interesting. Similar design to this one, but this one retains the stock shift lever. Never seen the Manthey version in the US.

Been away on Holiday... did the Manthay short shifter sell on Ebay and if so how much did it go for??? Still gt mine fitted and I am going to try it for a little while but it aint lookin good! Cheers Dean

Dean, The Manthey SSK is not of the same quality as the el cheapo £50 item you bought. Andy Fearns was the eBay seller, a knowledgeable chap - hence the min reserve on the item. I have the Manthey SSK and it is a fabulously well engineered piece of billet ally which eliminates all the freeplay in the gearchange and also rids the weak plastic components Porsche used on the original gearshift as a way of cutting costs [ ]. I have seen what happens when the plastic disintegrates when the car is on the move... to potentially disastrous consequences [ ]. The Manthey SSK is far better than the B&M unit that reduces the throw by too great a margin (B&M is -35% IIRC, whereas the Manthey SSK is -22%). Imho. If anyone wants to try the Manthey SSK, they are welcome to give mine a go.

Well if it is still available I could be interested at the right money... Please ask him to contact me and we can have a chat if that is possible. [email removed] Mobile 07 801 801 001 Many thanks Dean