Installed short shifter: my elbow hurts!

[zbillster]

I've been drooling over this for a month and finally got to install the following into my MP3:

TWM short shifter (chosen for shorter throw than Kartboy)
Kartboy shifter bushing
Knobmeister.com wood knob
Redline MT-90 tranny fluid

Searched the site for advice before and afterward, was careful not to overtighten the bolt under the shifter, and was expecting more effort to shift with the lower mechanical advantage. Love the positive engagement and short throw, but ...

... I may get tennis elbow from using this thing! Should I really slap on the grease on the shifter ball, or loosen the bolt a bit? It takes quite a bit of effort. Tends to "stick" in 2nd and reverse sometimes.

Think I can get away with a can of silicone grease and a spray nozzle so I won't have to mess with that snap ring again?

 

[zbillster]

What gets broken in ... the bushing or something on the shifter?

I will try to pop off the snap ring and just pull it up a little bit to spray some lithium grease all over the ball and such (without getting under the car).

 

[MP5Raycer]

I got a question

i have the black mica P5 and when i took the boot off the shifter adn the shift knob .. i see that aluminum adapter that was added to the shift rod from the factory and man let me tell you .. that sucks trying to get off ..i had me and my neighbor going at it with two brand new set of channelocks and twisted the s*** out of it adn still cant get the b**** off .. because once you get it off you get a factory shortshifter and no need to buy one ... so does anyone know how to get that adapter off

 

[njaremka]

try a propane torch.

be warned, there are no threads under the extension. you will need to thread it, or get a knob that will work without threads.

 

[MP5Raycer]

kool thanks man but are you sure i will need to heat it to get it off ... i mean there isnt a way to pry it or spin it loose ??

 

[njaremka]

kool thanks man but are you sure i will need to heat it to get it off ... i mean there isnt a way to pry it or spin it loose ??

i think you demonstarted already that there isn't, right?

 

[MP5Raycer]

smart ass LOL .... yeah but i wanted to know if anyone else has tried and if successfull what did they do

 

[20ESGUY]

Tried but, no luck. Even tried heating it with a oxycetelne torch with a rosebud tip at work, still couldn't get it. Just get a shorty, by the time you add up all the hours spent tring to get the factory extension off, you'll have paid for a short shifter probably twice.

 

[MP5Raycer]

I also just got off the phone with mazda again and the dumbass shop foreman tries to tellme that it is one solid unit with no extension peice .. he is such a f-ing moron .. I was telling him that i can spin the top piece and the bottom does not move .and also the black rod from the linkage goes up into the aluminum adapter and is lined on the inside of the adapter with some foamish adheasive i believe and he kept repeating "i got the service manual and it is a one peice there is no color differance or no separate section .. so told him that he is a ******* moron and that i would proove it to him at 5:00 when I get out ... he said he would be glad to see me then hehe we'll see what the s*** bags got to say then

 

[njaremka]

i haven't seen any one try this since true short shifters started being offered. at least a year. a torch is what was done back then.

 

[fastdrvr23]

smart ass LOL .... yeah but i wanted to know if anyone else has tried and if successfull what did they do

From what I tried on my old PGT, it won't shorten the throw that much, it will just shorten the height of the shifter. The part that actually shortens the "throw" is the part under the car, where it pivots... I am probably making no sense what so ever, but it didn't do anything worth a damn when I tried it on my old car...

 

[KYREDP5]

From what I tried on my old PGT, it won't shorten the throw that much, it will just shorten the height of the shifter. The part that actually shortens the "throw" is the part under the car, where it pivots... I am probably making no sense what so ever, but it didn't do anything worth a damn when I tried it on my old car...

Correctamundo...The ony thing that will really make a diffrence is raising the pivot point.

 

[zbillster]

Damn, who stole my thread??? :wtf:

 

[zbillster]

Update on original thread

OK, popped off the snap ring (which gets easier once you've done it a few times) pulled her up and coated it like crazy with white lithium grease. Originally I gave it a medium coat with dielectical grease (it's what was lying around).

It's a little better, but I'll wait and see if it does truly "break in."

 

[mark@kartboy]

When we were developing our shifter, we tried out a competing lever and found the lower portion, where the linkage attaches, was too wide. This caused the plastic bushings to be pushed out and bind on the linkage. The center ball moved very freely, but shifting was a nightmare. We ended up filing down the faces of the metal lower portion to make it work. Then we quickly made one of our own that worked, and tossed the purchased one quickly. Whether this has been resolved with the competitors lever is unknown. Just buy ours.

Thanks

Mark

 

[zbillster]

Actually reading over the online reviews here from people who have tried both side by side, the TWM and Kartboy shifters have about the same effort, so that probably ain't it. But thanks for the tech insight!

I think the big problem is going back and forth between the CRX and MP3 ... the CRX shifter/clutch is like buttah!

 

[mark@kartboy]

The one we had, not the TWM, was not to the point of sore elbow, but broken wrist.

Changing the mechanical advantage will certainly change the force required for gear engagement.

Think of it like a free Soloflex.


Mark