Extended Shifter Project

[low_psi]

I've never been happy with the stock height or throw of the MSP shifter so I decided to make something a little more track friendly. I cut up a stock P5 shifter, thanks Moeed, and added extenstions to both ends. Stock MSP lever ratio is ~3.8:1 whereas my extended shifter has a ratio of ~3.1:1. Not a huge change but space limitations underneath the car kept me from getting too crazy. This change results in over an inch of decreased travel from 3-4gear though.

To finish off the new shifter, a delrin knob will be made. I didn't want to make it before I knew the shifter would work.

 

[urbanbiker]

it definately makes sense if your tracking the car... its gonna be one fugly boot to get that covered up though P

matt

 

[Tom03es]

Awesome! Way to think outside the box.

 

[njaremka]

nice job - while you were welding thing up, you should have made it angle more towards the driver, too

 

[urbanbiker]

If you look at most of the rally car shifters (i know they are neumatic) they are within inchs of the steering wheel so you dont have to take your hands way off to shift. This is using the same idea, I think its great

Matt

 

[Tom03es]

^^ Yep, and the hand brake is at a different angle as well making it easier to grab.

 

[CitizenPro]

Lol...

Nice job Marc (thumb) I always wondered why u didnt come up with this before since u track so much.

 

[low_psi]

Thanks everyone. It retains the bend in the stock shifter so I may turn it so it leans towards the front of the car, but it's one easy cut and weld from being clocked towards the driver. I would like it taller but I don't want to get to radio height.

I've made alot of small changes to the car so it'll be fun to play on the track and see how they work out.

 

[gavin_leslie]

Not bad. Here are a couple other options...

http://www.fastlineperformance.com/shifter.htm

Although its made with Honda products in mind(the shifter ball is slightly different from the diameter of the mazda)it can be made to fit with minimal modification of the cups and the linkage mount.

What I did was to use this product...

http://www.prdonline.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=30

in conjunction with this product...

http://www.circuithero.com/products.html (shift knob extender) to achieve a similar effect.

In the end I achieved shorter throws than stock(although marginally so), with better leverage and a shorter distance moving my hand from steering wheel to shifter. I would have actually sprung for a FLP shifter as its a "better" product, but since I had the PRD shifter for a while it made more economical sense to simply get the extender. I imagine anyone who already has a short shifter can get the benefits of using the shift extender as well.

FYI: The extender is threaded for a 10mmx1.5 pitch. The PRD shifter was treaded at 10mmx1.25 pitch. A $2 die fixed that.

Gavin

 

[Rainman]

Nice work. This would be a great mod for a track car. Info like this is the reason that I love this forum so much.

R

 

[xelderx]

Looks great man. I drove a '77 Rabbit that had an extended shifter so I barely had to move from the 10" (yes...very small) steering wheel. It was a little less precise than is optimal, but the Rabbit's pivot point is lower than the Protege and the end of the shifter was right beside the center of the wheel making the upper shaft very long. It served the purpose considering 99% of the time you are only making 1 shift for AutoX.

 

[Ryoga28]

You could save some time by buying a SEIKOSANGYO SHIFTER EXTENSION from http://miataroadster.com/

 

[low_psi]

Just adding an extension above the pivot point will not help reduce the throw though. I'd only seen the fastlane and circuit hero products, always good to have another one for people to choose from.

 

[low_psi]

Installed the finished shifter and knob tonight, I'll post up pictures tomorrow. Drove home from work(50miles) with it and I'm happy with the improvement. Need to stop reaching for the floor though

 

[dmitrik4]

very nice work. i'm surprised it still fits with such an extension of the lower pivot arm.

 

[CitizenPro]

Need to stop reaching for the floor though

Hehe, i bet. Post those pics mang! Did u get it professionally coated, or hit it up with spray can dood??

 

[low_psi]

very nice work. i'm surprised it still fits with such an extension of the lower pivot arm.

I had to cut the heatshield and roll it back. Hopefully the plasitc bushings don't melt!! I'll make an aluminum replacement bushing if I have to.

Charles- I rattle canned it, maybe I'll get it powder coated one day... not much for looks though

Anyone know if the Kartboy/CS shifter bushings will decrease the side to side travel of the shifter? Do the OEM bushings compress too much? 1-2 and 5-R is a long reach laterally. 3-4 is just fine though. Still thinking about changing the shifter bend so that the top of the gear selection is more forward. Still have a week before it hits the track so I have plenty of time to decide.

 

[dmitrik4]

i didnt notice any decrease in travel w/ my Kartboy bushings, but there seemed to be a little less "play" in the shifter.

 

[low_psi]

Small update. The shifter started to pop out of 5th gear a few days ago. I cut .75" off the bottom portion and it didn't help. Swapped the stock shifter in and still didn't fix it. I will be pulling the 5th gear assembly out this weekend for inspection.

I found a few threads where people had the same problem, but a cause was never found. Just something to think about for the DYI'ers. I believe extending the shifter too much causes lack of synchro engagement.

My tranny has 68K, about 25K since I welded my LSD, and 2K+ on the extended shifter.

 

[low_psi]

Update, shifter wasn't the culprit. The main shaft lock nut had worked its way loose. Took 25K though... Will be reinstalling the extended shifter tomorrow.