Manual Shift Lever

[ted280sl]

Earlier today I had a discussion with a fellow 113 member. While discussing the nuances of 113's with a standard transmission he told me that another member stated that the manual shift lever should be bent towards the front of the car. Mine is bent towards the back. I have been happy with this arrangement but, if it is not as originally designed I can easily turn it around. I reviewed several magazines and books and am still not certain as to which way it should be installed. I was hoping that I could get some feeback from others on this topic.
Ted
1969 280SL Manual Shift currently bent towards the rear of the car

PS: I have intentionally not named names so as to protect the identities of our members but, I suspect you know who you are and may wish to step foward on this matter.

[n/a]

The BBB, MB Service Manual, shows the shaft bent forward, towards the front of the car.  I tried to attach an image, but it appears that pdf files are not uploadable.
Check out Fig.26-10/11
Best regards,
Don

[ja17]

Hello,
Yes, I believe bent forward is correct. There is a splinned slip joint at the main linkage rod end at the transmission. The fore and aft position of the shifter can be adjusted somewhat by loosening the lock bolt and adjusting the length of linkage rod at the slip joint.

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[A Dalton]

Foward bend.  Actually increased 55mm foward as of production date 11/65....

[Richard Madison]

Ted and Others:

Take a look at the photo in the link below showing the console and the shift lever...looks like the top knob of the lever is toward the rear. Is this the correct orientation?
http://www.mirbach.de/main.asp?main=auto_detail&ID=343&nav=0&subnav=1
Richard M

[A Dalton]

The tranny is in front of the shifter , so the bend in the shaft is foward.. Don't confuse the shaft fore and aft position [ dependant on gear selection] with the actual shaft bend geometry. The bend in the shaft is the amount and direction of the bend in the  shaft above the ball socket mount bearing in comparison to the shafts straight section [ below the ball socket...]

[Richard Madison]

Final question:

Is the lever in the attached photo correct or backwards assuming it's in neutral?

Download Attachment: dashapart.jpg
21.84 KB

Richard M

[ted280sl]

Richard,
  It seems that three of our fellow members are trying to tell us very politely that our shift levers are in backwards. I have already added reversing my shift lever to my "to do" list.
Ted
1969 280Sl w/ reversed shift lever

[JamesL]

Sorry Richard but looking at that picture, the least of your worries is the angle of your gear stick.

[Richard Madison]

Tosh:

Thanks for your concern but that photo is from last Winter when I was replacing the heater levers, tach and speedo cables, etc. All is back in beautiful order now. It was the only convenient shot I had of the shift lever so folks could me if it needs to be turned around.

Ted: you are giving up too soon, the jury is still out on this.

RM

[George Davis]

In the BBB, covering cars manufactured from 1966-73, page 26-10/6 shows how the gear shift is to be installed.  Figure 26-10/11 shows the stick bent forward.  Figure 26-10/12 shows the stick being vertical (viewed from the side) when in 1st and 3rd gears.



George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[Benz Dr.]

It may be bent forward but I put mine in towards the rear because the 5 speed box has a different shift pattern. First gear is way over to the left and the shifter would hit my knee ( I'm 6'3") and make it very difficult to drive. The shifter pointing towards the rear is better for tall people who would have problems with leg room.
When I bought the car it had spacer blocks under the drivers seat. I can only imagine that the previous owner was very short and had trouble seeing over the hood.

Dan c

Daniel G Caron

[Douglas]

The one question burning in my mind is how is it positioned on the "Janus Pagoda" that Tom Sargeant photographed?

Seriously though, if you look at the period brochures, you'll see the shifter clearly cants to the front of the car.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #018260