This might be of interest to anyone who purchased a car with an aftermarket short shifter.
My car came with an Agency Power short shifter and linkage. It always felt very notchy, difficult to get into certain gears and felt like it wasn't completely in gear. The throws were very short but changing gears was slower than in my 944 due to the notchyness.
I've never heard anyone say they preferred the 996 shifter over any short shifter but I wanted to know what the original one felt like.
I purchased a used oem 996tt shifter and alignment tool from eBay and installed it today.
Shifting is now so much smoother and the car is way more fun to drive. The shifter just slides into gear with way less effort and I can now shift quicker than before.
I'm not sure if the issue was with the Agency Power parts but I'm sticking with oem for now.

 

I did the same thing. I removed a Schnell short shifter and went to a stock GT3 shifter. It works much better.

 

..and you'll find the oem 997ssk an improvement still. sometimes porsche does get it right. though a numeric wouldn't bother me a bit. most issues have to do with misaligned cables and ill or inconsistent fitting aftermarket parts. i bet it was the linkage never being quite right. so surely the oem would be smoother.

at least it isn't old gear oil, causing the notchiness.

 

I suspect it was the alignment that was off a bit since the alignment tool doesn't fit on the AP short shifter and it had a different linkage so I'm not quite sure how they could have properly aligned it.
I would stick with any of the oem shifters (996SS, 997, 997SS, GT3) since the alignment tool works with them.
I did change the transmission oil before changing the shifter so see if it would make a difference. It felt slightly smoother moving the shifter around neutral but no improvement in and out of gear.

 

ya, you know your stuff, and i think you're right about the cables is all, so they probably didn't line em up properly. it happens. notch is awful, though. i'd have swapped it out too. and if i ever get even anything remotely notchy, i drain the trans oil but the 997ssk is pretty "decent" though 1/2nd will always be a *row* lol

 

Just a quick note, a B&M shifter installed incorrectly. (aka Backwards) works alot better then the normal installation it just sits funny.

I would prefer stock as well.

 

My car came with an AP shifter that was installed by the PO. It never felt quite right to me so a few weeks ago I spent some time with it.

First, I noticed the plastic washers that go on either side of the lever at the pivot point were slightly worn so I made a plastic shim to take up that space they left.

Next, I filled in the divots worn into the white block that handles the L-R movement.

Then, I drove around with the center console off and got the cables adjusted just right.

A VERY important adjustment is that of the set screws that set the body of the shifter front to back. If there is any play there it will make the gear placement less predictable and tougher to get in. The reason is as you move the shift lever forward or back it will move the whole body in its bushings which will move where the ball sits in the white block that handles the L-R motion. So play there will effect L-R alignment when you move the shifter forward/back.

I'm pretty happy with the AP shifter now. I even sold the 997.2 GT3 shifter I bought to replace it.

 

Thanks for that info. Glad it's working for you. I'll have a look at the AP shifter I removed and see if I can tighten everything up and maybe try it again. However, I'm probably in the minority as I prefer a longer, looser shift than a tight, rifle bolt like shift.

 

or even an OEM 997 with mounts and porsche race linkeage cable all the way back to the tranny, it made a HUGE difference when we put this all in. Car shifts so nice and feels so good going into gear (oem linkeage cable was popping off, leaving me with either 1,3,5 or 2,4,6. Not fun and zipties to secure her in).

 

Where were your linkages popping off, at the shifter or at the tranny? I noticed my linkages were zip tied at the tranny end. Found it strange that it needed to be zip tied to hold it there.

 

did you use cup cables? or aftermarket? or oem. i only ask, because if i do end up with a numeric.. i was going to use their cables as well. i just snapped the 997ssk right in w no adjustment needed at all.
TIA.

 

en route to the back of the car (tranny), the carrier that holds them in place was allowing the piece (which kind of looks like a golf ball, if i remember correctly) was allowing it to actually pop out, the thicker linkage cable really really fixed that problem, never had an issue since then....and WOW does it make a difference in the actual driving experience (so much better).

it would pop out under normal movement (not under load nor boost), was annoying when it first happened (at a car show) and we had to push the car back into a space and then i drove it in 1st and 3rd gear up the street until we got it on a lift. Once i saw what was going on and it happened again it was a 2 second fix to push it back to place and then i ziptied it and never had the issue ever again.

just incase you want to really make the move versus the zip tie's

http://www.uspmotorsports.com/Drivet...VTcaAlqt8P8HAQ