As promised, B&M Short Throw Install Walkthrough
 

As promised, here is a walkthrough for you guys on the B&M shifter install in the boxster.

http://www.turbo911.com/showthread.php?p=1426#post1426

Doc,

Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge! It's guys like you that make this such a great, fun and informative forum. I know it must have taken a lot of your valuable time to stop and take all those great pics that really help inspire us novices to attempt a project we might otherwise pay to have mechanics like you do for us. Thanks for your generosity!

Thanks for the detailed information, time consuming, we understand.

It is my pleasure :)

Thanks as always Doc.

We appreciate your input here.

:cheers:

the gear box is the one thing I don't like on my 2000 S. I don't hate it but it feels kind of old school after having driven the S2000 a few times. My last car was a Miata and I really really really hated the notchy shifting and tried to mix all sorts of redline grades to get the notchiness to go away. At temperature it was great, better than the 6speed Boxster for sure, short throws and little resistance.
But on cold days that thing was like a rock in your shoe. Very distracting.

never having driven the B&M is it safe to say that you are shortening the throw by increasing the notchiness with the short shift kit?

Our local group does not do it the exact same way. And we have never removed the front center console for a short shift install.

We just let Madam No Fear go to town. The star of our DVD.

Like i said, you don't have to remove the front center console, but it makes it a little easier to put the center console back in if that piece is out. I have them down to 20 minutes in and out, even with pulling then front center console.

Yes, I have gone back, looked at the pictures and see that. Porsche also says that you need to remove the passenger seat on the boxster, but not a 996. Never did that either.

Never asked Aileen how long it takes to pull the parts in and out. Or I would get a slap.

But I do know how to put in a short shifter. B&M, and the other flavors.

Thanks for your help.

What do you see in the second picture of this post?

Besides Evo's Billet shiftlink?

Yes, one half correct.

The green thing. The plastic green plastic plate. What is the purpose?

The evo shift link was too easy, now that I think about it.

I must say, i have not seen the green plastic piece in any of the 25+ boxsters/996's that I have done, so I wouldn't know the purpose. Hmmm interesting.....

The green plate is on the 5 speed 986s but not on the 6 speed for some strange reason. B&M says to remove the plate if it is present. If we do not remove the plate then it gets hit by the black cable connector once the B&M is in.

The 986 has 2 part numbers for the shift tower. 1 for the 5 speed and the other for the 6 speed. The only difference is if it comes with the green plate. The plate has the 5 speed part number on it. But if you remove the plate there is the 6 speed part number under it!

Some 996s come with the green plate. I forget which ones, but I think the turbo and GT2. The C2/C4 does not come with the plate. None of the mechanics at my local dealer can figure out the purpose of the plate, or why the 5 speed has it but not the 6 speed.

You could say that. I ditched the B&M and went back to oem, too notchy for my tastes.

I know the TT996's do not have the plate either. I have done literally 25 of these between 996C2/4, TT's, and boxsters, and have never seen one. Very interesting. I don't know that i have done any 5 speed boxsters off the top of my head though.

How much notchier did it feel going from 2nd to 3rd? or was it notchier all around?

Here is a GT2 we worked on with the green plate.

2nd to 3rd wasn't horrible with shift effort(but still way worse than OEM) but harder to to smoothly find the gear as the path wasn't as direct as OEM. The shift into 1st and into reverse took HEMAN strength to go into to. It was almost comical. I don't know why any thinks this is an "improvement" over OEM. Whatever blows your hair back I guess.

Hi,

Agreed 100%. It's simple physics - Shorten the Throw and you lose a whole lot of Mechanical Advantage - the Shifter is basically only a Lever.

The Trade-off with virtually ALL Short Shift Kits is an increase in the Effort needed and a more noticable Notchiness. Any reports to the contrary are usually due to Placebic effect.

The only real place you can truly shorten the shift is at the Selector Forks inside the Transmission - can't do that for a mere $150...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

So how about if they made a long shift kit? You know instead of shorter they made it longer, kinda old school like in a late 70's 911? I might give that a try.
I noticed the shifter in GCT sits nice and high. I think I would like that in the boxster.

Hey Doc, I have this pain in my wrist whenever I am in gear. Forget the pain, but I'm more concerned about the gear. LOL.

I was wondering if the B&M will fix my problem. You see, when I'm in Gear, for example 3rd, I can move my stick left and right about 1/2" ( It really feels like 1-2"). It's like it's loose as if it were in neutral. Very annoying.


Do you think the B&M will take care of my problem?

That sounds like a cable is way out of adjustment. Both the stock shifter and the B&M should be tight side to side. If you want the cheap fix, i would pull apart your console and try adjusting the cables and test it out (you can make the adjustments with the shifter in place until if feels good, then put the console back together)

I have the same problem! But in neutral its tight. It also slips into gear without any play. However once in gear there is a lot of side to side play. Can that be fixed?

I've got a 99 coming in tomorrow with a stock shifter. I will play around with it and see exactly how much play is normal. Then i will compare it to Josh's, which has the B&M in it.

Hey Doc! I've really thought about this mod but I'm definately concerned about the shift action when it's cold outside. Given that it's just generally going to be cold more often than hot here - that's a serious concern for me. My standard shifter is notchy enough when cold - I really don't need to feel like I'm trying to punch through the dash.

Advice please!

As a counter point to all the people who seem to love the B&M short shifter read this thread

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/4441-vertex-schell-short-shifter-review.html

A short shifter isn't for everyone IMHO.

While a well adjusted B&M should not be any notchier than a stock shifter, it probably will not be any less notchy either. I would first try changing your gear lube to a 75w-90 synthetic (mobil 1, royal purple, amsoil, etc), i bet that will help your cold shifting blues.

Thanks Doc! It's really not that bad right now. I just want to make sure if I do go with the short-shift kit that it won't be alot worse.

Ok, i checked both cars out today, and I would say that the B&M has just as much play side to side as the stock shifter does. On the next car that comes in for a short shifter, i will play around with the cables and see if I can't work that play out of it....

Here is a good install link for the B&M Short Shift Kit:


http://www.bmracing.com/media/products/pdf/67.pdf

Any luck Doc? Do you have any updates for us? :D

2003 GT2 Shift Assembly
 

Has anyone installed a GT2 Shift Assembly in their 986? I was wondering if it would be an improvement like the 997/987 assembly. Thanks in advance.