|
Ron Stygar Carl Buckland Dale Beuning Forums Help
From RonStygar_at_aol.com Mon Mar 29 23:49:53 1999 At UUC Fest, NY, Ben gave me a set of his shifter arm (front two piece) oval Delrin bushings for my car. He asked me to check them out and let him know what I thought of them.
Here we go:
When I checked my garage queen, I was surprised at the amount of shifter arm play when you grab it from below and rotate it on its axis. Although a '96, this car has only 5,100 miles on it.
When you shift, side to side looking from above, the shifter arm side to side movement with the stock bushing is not that great. I was also concerned about buzz from Ben's stiffer Delrin bushings (less isolation). Unlike the stock bushing there is no need to lubricate the bitch of a clip pin (to get it in) when using the Delrin bushings.
To install the bushings you will have to remove the bitch of a clip.
Connect to: Once free, rotate the clip 180 degrees to the rear and it will pull right out. When you rotate it up 90 degrees or so, things get in the way and you cannot pull it right out on my 328. Install the Delrin bushings on the new clip (or the one from the car if you successfully removed it) that they come with. Align the bushings. Rotate one of the bushings 180 degrees. Select the position where the delta between the two bushings at the middle intersection is at a minimum. Install the bushings in the shifting arm maintaining this orientation. Check the alignment out, by installing the clip. Remount the front of the shift arm by installing the clip 180 degrees out of its normal location (rotation wise) as noted above. Rotate the clip 180 degrees forward and lock it in place. Push / pull down hard enough so that the clip locking tab engages the void / ledge in the transmission housing. If you can push the clip back up with a screwdriver from the side that you can see, no cigar. You really have to push / pull down. Pulling down on a screwdriver positioned horizontally over the top of the clip works for me. With the new Delrin bushings, the amount of shifter arm play when you grab it from below and rotate it on its axis is nil. When you shift, side to side looking from above, the side to side movement is also reduced but no totally eliminated. Keep in mind that the rear mount is still made of rubber. No shift lever buzz noticed. All in all a nice mod if that's what you want to do, and you can deal with the bitch of a clip. My guess, in the long run, it will keep you from having to replace the front bushing as often. Based on the dimensional inconsistency of the UUC bushings I've recently seen, I can no longer recommend the use of their product. You have no idea what you will receive when you order from them. If they could guarantee properly dimensioned stuff, I would purchase bushings from them. Based on the experience, I will be making my own properly sized ones for the stuff I do.
Ron_at_unofficialbmw.com FLY BMW Marlborough, CT |
