RCR40 Shifter w/ZF 5D-25-2

[Rod Dittmar]

I'm having a little trouble understanding exactly how this shifter works. Namely how to get it in reverse gear. I was assuming that, because the shifter shaft seems to be spring loaded, it would need to be pushed down and then pulled back so that the pin on the shaft would clear the boss on the shifter housing (see pics attached). However, that doesn't appear to be the case with mine because the shaft isn't able to be pushed down. I either have 1st through 5th gears with no reverse, or I can adjust the cable at the ZF and get reverse along with 1st through 3rd, but no 4th or 5th. Hoping for some help from someone who has a functional one of these. I'm going to post this also on the RCR forum with the hope that Fran might see it and respond.
TIA, Rod

 

[Chris Kouba]

Hey Rod,

Your assumption is correct. The lever should be able to be pushed down. There should be a tab on the side of the shift lever, right about where the upper arrow in the 2 arrow pic. When you push down on the lever, this tab (more of a pin actually) will pass under the portion of the shifter which it hits when not compressed. This is your reverse lock out.

The gear map you have on the shift box itself is accurate if your bellcrank is properly installed on the selector shaft of the trans (should be pointed up).

The lever may be sticky for some reason, but it should push down as you are thinking.

I will PM you my number if you'd like to chat about any of it. There are also a few other tricks I've used to get mine optimized (also a ZF/2). The shifters are a little finicky to set up, but once they are, you're in great shape.

 

[Rod Dittmar]

Chris,
Thanks for the feedback and verifying my assumption about the shifter shaft. I can now investigate to see why it isn't compressing. Afterwards, I'll call to discuss your 'tricks'.
Rod

 

[Rod Dittmar]

Update: After a bit of sleuthing, I discovered the problem was with the aftermarket shift knob I had installed. Not understanding initially how the up/down movement of the shifter shaft functioned, and in order to orient the knob in the proper position, I had put some spacers inside the knob.
Those spacers blocked the movement of the shaft. I put the original RCR knob back on, and with a little more adjustment at the transaxle, problem solved. I now have ALL the gears including reverse. Yet another chapter closed in "Fun with the 40"
Rod

 

[Jean-Marc]

To continue on this subject, I am moving the stick shift from center to right. My car initially was built to be driven by an english person in England. I am transforming the car for race track, keeping the driver seat on the right and moving the stick shift on right too.
I have trouble with the cables. My gear box is a ZF25. I reinstalled the cable that goes on the back of the gear box and because it has to make a large loop, there is no problem. But for the other cable that arrive on side of the gear box, it seems now too long. May be I may try to make waves in the right back box, or the other option is to buy a new one.
Does somebody may explain me where is the normal pass for the cable with the right mounting shift ?

 

[Alan Lofurno]

Jean-Marc,

I have a right hand drive RCR. Its possible that you need different length cables moving the shifter to the right hand side. I will attach a few pics to show how mine is set up.

Hopefully the pics load in correct order. I have named them numerically though to help.
1) View of my shifter box and cables in the cockpit
2) Shows both cables going into the bulkhead pass through just left of where the the driver's seatback would be.
3) You can see both cables coming out of the access/opening in the chassis. The one you are asking about that moves when you move the shifter fore and aft and mounts to the side of the gearbox is the top cable coming out of the access hole. You see it snaking towards the engine and it then snakes left and has a straight shot to the gearbox. The cable that actuates when you move the gear shift left and right and mounts to the back of the box is at the bottom of the picture - appears to go just past the coil over spring.
4) Shows both a bit closer
5) Shows the cable that mounts to the back of the box going under the chassis to the other side of the engine.
6) Shows the fore and aft cable heading under the CV joint straight back to the side gearbox mount
7) View of same cable from rear of the car coming under the CV joint
8) Shows the cable that mounts to the back of the box coming out on the other side of the engine and its looping to the back of the gear box
9) View of back of box

Hoping these views may help.

Alan

 

[Paul Proefrock]

Alan,
How would you describe the quality of the shifting? The one we are playing with is extremely difficult to shift however the car is not running and we don't know how much influence that would have over being able to go in and out of gear.

We notice some 'slop' in the small 'L' lever inside the shifter housing. When L-R cable is released back at the transmission, it shifts in and out of gears, depending which gate you're in pretty smoothly.

 

[Jean-Marc]

Alan, I thank you a lot taking the time to make photos of the installation on your car. I was planning to do exactly the same path, but to have your confirmation is nice. And now, the conclusion is clear, I need to buy a new shorter cable. Fran told me to contact directly Cable Shifter in Arizona.
About the difficulty to shift Paul, I had the same feeling with the shifter in the central position, but when the car move it seems easier.

 

[Alan Lofurno]

Paul. My set up shifts very well - once it was adjusted correctly. I had issues with adjustment at first but Chris Kouba (who has posted on this thread before) was able to help. Now that I understand the concept, it’s is quite easy to adjust. I do remember however that I needed to remove some material on the aluminum under tray because their was interference with the ball socket on the “left right” cable and the tray when you moved far right to grab fourth or fifth. For what it’s worth, I have been told that right hand drive with right mounted shifter offers the freest travel for the cables. - Alan

 

[Randy Folsom]

I have a Quaife QBE62G transaxle and the RCR 5-DS-25 ZF shifter. I can’t figure out how the cable brackets are attached to the transaxle (or if they are even the correct pieces). The bosses on the transaxle do not seem to match the brackets. The instructions are for a ZF.

Are there Quaife specific parts I need to get?

Hoping for pictures and guidance. Thx much.

 

[Neal]

The shift rod assembly is removed exposing the internal shift rod. The cable bracket mounts to the rod assembly holes and the Paul and bellcrank mount to the rod. The other cable bracket mounts across the rear of the trans as in you pics. I’ll post a couple pics later today. Hope it makes sense…

 

[Randy Folsom]

Thx much. Looking forward to the pictures.

Is there anything I should know before removing the shift rod assembly? Hoping hidden springs don’t cause parts to go flying around the shop.

 

[Neal]

 

[Neal]

Not sure about removal as mine was already installed. The bracket for the in/out bolts to the rear of the case using the two lowest bolts

 

[Randy Folsom]

Thank you. It appears the provided brackets are for ZF and don’t fit the Quaife.

I will probably go with Olthoff Racing‘s solution. It is my understanding it is specifically designed for the Quaife.

 

[Chris Kouba]

Randy,

That looks like it's set up for a rod linkage. Without seeing what's in that little attached box, I would still safely say that the cable shift won't function with that as it sits. Feel free to call if you want to chat about it.

Chris

 

[Randy Folsom]

Chris,

Thx much. I called Bill at RCR. He confirmed RCR does not have brackets for the Quaife. Fortunately, the shifter box and cables should work with the Olthoff linkage kit so I ordered that. The Olthoff kit works with the existing box on the Quaife, so no need to remove anything.

Cheers, Randy

 

[Randy Folsom]

I received the shifter linkage kit from Olthoff. While they say it works with Quaife, I’ll be darned if I can figure out how.

I managed to get the push-pull working. That’s not too bad, but despite assurances from Olthoff that no modifications are required other than a notch in one of the case webs, the only way it will work is to cut 1” off the transaxle’s shifter rod.

The rotation the other hand is simply not possible with the provided components. The shifter’s long cable has a total travel distance of 1-1/8”. The shifter shaft rotation is 30 degrees from stop to stop. If the cable travel is the base of an equilateral triangle then the distance from the center of the shaft is about 2-1/8”. The provided lever arm has pivot holes at 4”, 3-5/8” and 3-1/4”.

I thought just drill another hole 2-1/8” from the shaft center. Then I made a new bracket to hold the cable at the angle needed to reach the new hole. Unfortunately, there is no practical way to angle the shifter cable down to reach such that the cable is not also pointed upward into the headers. Love the smell of burning plastic in the morning.

Below is a picture of the Quaife installation instructions. I bet they have never installed this contraption on a Quaife since they can’t even provide a picture of a completed setup. They actually drew on one of the brackets.

As it is now, I probably have to buy a replacement shifter shaft and chalk up buying the Olthoff to a $500 dollar lesson learned.

I know these Quaife are used by a lot of builders and SPF does it all the time. If anyone has a shifter solution for a LHD car I would greatly appreciate if you would post it here.

 

[Markus]

Hello Randy,
Not sure if the following is of any help....

I have an SPF and a RBT 5 Speed with cable shift also from Olthoff - in theory it should work the same way than your Quaife.

Generic setup (Sorry need to clean up
)


Shifter all the way to the left (reverse/first)


Shifter all the way to the right (fourth/fifth)


Rough measurement of travel of shift cable ~ 35mm


Regards
Markus

 

[Randy Folsom]

Hello Randy,
Not sure if the following is of any help....

I have an SPF and a RBT 5 Speed with cable shift also from Olthoff - in theory it should work the same way than your Quaife.

Generic setup (Sorry need to clean up
)
View attachment 142144

Shifter all the way to the left (reverse/first)
View attachment 142145

Shifter all the way to the right (fourth/fifth)
View attachment 142147

Rough measurement of travel of shift cable ~ 35mm
View attachment 142146 View attachment 142148

Regards
Markus

Thx for sharing the pictures. How much travel does your rotation cable have? And how many degrees of rotation do you get at the shaft? I am to manually rotate the shaft about 30 degrees by hand (15 up and 15 down). Do I need that much movement to select gears?