5 Speed too far back in tunnel?

[Stevenola]

I’ve read all the posts I could find on 5speed installs and engine mounts and haven’t found a solution so here goes. I’m using the Blunt Ultimate kit, I’ve lined it up for a test fit for the support bracket drilling and have noticed the shift tower is a little too far back in the tunnel hole. 
 

I have seen that the engine can be manipulated side to side but not front to back? 

 

I have the engine tilted down a little to accommodate the fitting of the tranny but I don’t think raising it back up will help center it forward. The tranny is pretty straight in the tunnel, just too far back, it could stand to be moved 1/2 inch forward or so. Any thoughts?  TIA

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Stevenola

[conkitchen]

shift tower positioning: 

 

When I do the 5 speed conversion, I take the old tower and customize it fit the car once the trans is mated to the engine.  

 

Honestly it don't look too bad, albeit shifted to to the passenger side.  

 

But what do I know, 

[Stevenola]

I can take care of the passenger side shift, it’s the sitting in the far back of the hole that concerns me. Or is it ok to have it this far back, any console shift surround issues?

[conkitchen]

your console is an AC set up so things are wonky to begin with as those were dealer add-ons made by a few different companies.  

 

That being said, if I was you and it bothered me so, I would modify the shift tower to account for the 1/2" lateral spacing.  If that can be done or you have the means to. 

 

While I'm no 2002 supreme expert, I do play one on TV and stayed at a Hoiliday Inn Express.  

 

Don't over think it, these cars were hand assembled using machine stamped parts at the factory. Nothing is 100% in alignment.  

 

Of course others will chime in and that's when it get real confusing. 

[tech71]

57 minutes ago, Stevenola said:

I can take care of the passenger side shift, it’s the sitting in the far back of the hole that concerns me. Or is it ok to have it this far back, any console shift surround issues?

Looks pretty good to me.

If you can shift it sideways you will get some clearance between tower and tunnel, It will work.

Even if you cant get it centered it will still work but you may need to clearance the tunnel hole a little.

 

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by tech71

[ray_]

I'm no conkitchen, but I'd button everything up and then enlarge that hole if I were inclined.

 

No one is going to see that in any event, after the shift boot is on.

 

Cheers,

 

p.s. awaiting your post about the driver seat not being centered with the wheel

[Stevenola]

Although being a little far back may help with preventing 5th gear from hitting the shift console, my concern now is that it will hit in 2nd and 4th.

 

The tunnel is a little too tight for the rear support bracket so I am going to have to cut it down some to fit, then I will loosen the motor mounts and see if anythig shifts in my favor.  Then I will mount the tranny as high up as I can while still having some head room while keeping as much distance between the lower half of the fan and the radiator.  Right now with the tilt of the engine I've got about 3/8" clearance before it cuts the radiator.

 

If nothing moves then I will cut some more metal hopefully not much because I want the shift surroind console to stay put flush up against the ac console.  So much going on for such a "simple" upgrade!

 

How close should the rear top of the shift tower be to the tunnel metal? 

 

Ray, I'll get to the seat/steering wheel in due course!

Edited May 1, 2020 by Stevenola

[ray_]

3 minutes ago, Stevenola said:

 

 

How close should the rear top of the shift tower be to the tunnel metal? 

 

Ray, I'll get to the seat/steering wheel in due course!

With a stock tower, this should be nicely mashed.

 

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part?id=2511-EUR-10-1966-114-BMW-1600&mg=23&sg=15&diagId=23_0774&q=23411200937

[chargin]

2 hours ago, conkitchen said:

Don't over think it, these cars were hand assembled using machine stamped parts at the factory. Nothing is 100% in alignment.  

 

What he said, Looks fine to me after the boot is installed you'll never notice 

[rcf925]

I put a foam donut between trans and tunnel so I don't get any metal to metal contact

[conkitchen]

1 hour ago, ray_ said:

..... the driver seat not being centered with the wheel

 

Wait, what? 

[rms_sandiego]

So many things to tweak... 

 

Remember that the position of the gear shift lever is also dependent on the length of the selector rod (that goes from the bottom of the shift lever to the back of the tranny). The lever arm on the top is ~4x the length of the bottom so each 1/8 of an inch or so you shorten the selector rod relative to the shift tower will move the gear shift back 1/2 inch or so...  I did my own welding and didn't finalize the length of the selector rod until everything else was in position so I could get the gear shift knob exactly where I wanted it. 

[Stevenola]

I loosened the motor mounts to see if anything would straighten for me. Nada. So I am going to grind off the edge of the left shift tower isolation mount about 1/8” and keep the other as is. Being on axes, this will swing it back into the center without screwing up the geometry of the dogbone too much. I’m using the lower half of an early 320i shift lever so it should give me a slightly shorter throw and hopefully also clearance up on the surround console.  It comes with the foam donut so I will get the top of the shift tower compressed against the donut and the tunnel, this will bring the shift lever hole a little more forward and I’ll measure for the rear bracket holes and call it fitted.  I could use the bracket to pull the tranny and engine a little to the left but I’d rather have the engine resting where it wants to be and not load it. Then I get to take it all out, put the clutch in and do it all again, yay!  Having a couple long guide bolts in the bell housing to line up the incoming tranny is a great tip. Thanks for the advise. 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Stevenola

[man_mark_7]

Not to add another variable to your equation, but I was recently reading about how important it is to keep the driveshaft lined up with the output yoke of the tranny to keep loads off the quibo. I would guess that the output shaft / driveshaft alignment will be more important than where the shift tower ends up.

 

I'm going to pull my driveshaft and output yoke tomorrow to, hopefully, fix an output shaft seal leak.....

 

Good luck!

[Stevenola]

I’m more concerned with the shift lever hitting the console than the driveshaft alignment, there’s lots of adjustment available there