After reading about all the goodness of the QFord shifter bushings on the Aussie forums a while ago, I decided to finally upgrade my shifter bushings. All these years, I've been using stock shifter bushings. None of them broke, but while the B&M short shifter I'm using greatly improved shifting, there was still a bit of a dull feel. I bought these bushings from QFord in Brisbane, Australia. It comes as a complete kit: 6 bushings, a bolt, and a nut. The nut and bolt is for replacing the riveted pin that connects the pivot fork on the tranny's end of the shift linkage to the rest of the shift linkage. It must be cut off/drilled out in order for you to replace the bushing. Mazda doesn't want you to replace the bushing and therefore there is no officially serviceable part! And since Kartboy no longer makes anything for the Protege, I also decided to get the RR-Racing shift stabilizer urethane bushing after experiencing myself how much better it is with the Kartboy bushing on a friend's car. The TWM bushing is more expensive, so I was trying to keep the costs down plus I like to justify the fact that the RR-Racing bushing is red, which matches the rest of the parts under my car. 
Anyway, here's the bushings:
For the pivot fork, you must cut off the rivet. Drilling out also works but you run the risk of drilling into the bracket. One side is the popped side (thinner), the other side is the rivet pin side (thicker). The thinner side is on the driver (left) side of the linkage when oriented right side up. It makes better sense to cut off the thinner side as there's obviously less metal.
It's still a real b**** to destroy the rivet to get the pin out. There was enough metal left that the pin wouldn't come out after cutting the rivet. I had to resort to using a small bolt on the cut end, and a socket on the other end and using a C-clamp to press it out!
Once it's cut, you can take out those crappy orange bushings and insert the green QFord bushings. I used the same torque spec as the rest of the shift linkage bolts. It is essential you lube the bushings on the inside, the outside, and the flat spot facing outwards. These bushings have grooves in them that trap grease, which is helpful for a smooth operation.
And installed!
You can find these bushings on ebay. QFord has their own ebay store.
Thoughts: I drove the car around the block. Redlined it a few times after I got everything warmed up. The more I drove the car, the better the shifting felt. Shifts are now snappy and I could really feel the "gears going in". The shifter feels more like a RWD car now. Heal and toe down shifts are also very responsive and lots of feedback felt through the shifter. This upgrade will take getting used to, but it was definitely worth every penny!
Anyway, here's the bushings:
For the pivot fork, you must cut off the rivet. Drilling out also works but you run the risk of drilling into the bracket. One side is the popped side (thinner), the other side is the rivet pin side (thicker). The thinner side is on the driver (left) side of the linkage when oriented right side up. It makes better sense to cut off the thinner side as there's obviously less metal.
It's still a real b**** to destroy the rivet to get the pin out. There was enough metal left that the pin wouldn't come out after cutting the rivet. I had to resort to using a small bolt on the cut end, and a socket on the other end and using a C-clamp to press it out!
Once it's cut, you can take out those crappy orange bushings and insert the green QFord bushings. I used the same torque spec as the rest of the shift linkage bolts. It is essential you lube the bushings on the inside, the outside, and the flat spot facing outwards. These bushings have grooves in them that trap grease, which is helpful for a smooth operation.
And installed!
You can find these bushings on ebay. QFord has their own ebay store.
Thoughts: I drove the car around the block. Redlined it a few times after I got everything warmed up. The more I drove the car, the better the shifting felt. Shifts are now snappy and I could really feel the "gears going in". The shifter feels more like a RWD car now. Heal and toe down shifts are also very responsive and lots of feedback felt through the shifter. This upgrade will take getting used to, but it was definitely worth every penny!
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