CAE 180° Install Notes
Disassembly- when removing the shifter arm from the clevis, there are two metal foil shim washers.
Be careful not to damage them.
I had one that was damaged by CAE during factory assembly, it was tough to deal with when reassembling.
- Balance of disassembly is straight forward.
Layout for new M5 x 0.8 tapped hole for 1-2 adjuster set screw.
- see the pic with my bench notes on dimensions, but you can pretty much eye ball it.
- Accuracy is not critical for function, but for aesthetics you want to have things lined up with the other holes.
Drill & tap –
- Drill Bit 4.2mm, 135 Degree Point; recommend shallow point due to softness of aluminum.
- Highly recommend using a drill press to keep hole square.
My neighbor has one that I use, but he was away & I did mine by hand.
Its OK, but not perfect.
- Use a taper tap (M5 x 0.8) and do not pass it all the way through.
You want to have some taper to the threads so that the set screw is firm to screw in. (like originals)
Reassembly –
- The hardest part is dealing with the shift arm shim washers at the clevis. They slide in with a little lube on them (very little).
You need to wiggle the shift arm while GENTLY feeding the shim into place.
Once the shim was partly across the hole, I used a small screw driver to continue feeding it into place.
After the 1st one is in place, insert the clevis pin part way to keep it in place while you do the other side. (repeat procedure)
- The other thing I did was run the Reverse lockout cable through the middle of the shifter for a cleaner look (personal preference).
It was very straight forward.
The only reason I can think of for keeping it on the outside is so that it doesn’t interfere with shifter operation.
….seemed to be OK from my initial test.
AKG Shift rod clevis angle –
- The OE shift rod can be used as is if desired.
- The AKG shift rod needs to be modified to match the clevis pin angles of the OE shift rod.
I had thought of adding slightly more angle, to cant he shifter towards the steering wheel more.
I decided against it in order to have max adjustment capabilities.
- See pics re home made angle gauge. Very simplistic.
Tape on the wall beside vise with original (square) mark.
2nd target mark taken from BMW shift rod.
I used a short length of all thread mounted in the clevis as a pointer.
- I don’t have the welding equipment & acetylene torches that I once had.
I made do with a simple propane torch to heat up the shift rod shaft.
I heated it up for about 10min. and it was fairly easy to change the angle.
Not seen in the pic is a pipe sleeve that I used over the end of the crescent wrench handle.
- Upon examination after cooling down, I can see no signs of any metal fatigue or stress. Heat seemed to be sufficient