Taking a stock ms3 shifter and making it a short throw?? Maybe by doing some cutting/grinding/welding.. would it work? I have a spare thats lying around so i figured i could at least give it a try. All ideas are accepted. Even the ones where your gonna tell me im wasting my time and i should just buy a real short throw.
tried this with stock shifter?
- Thread starter Moody
- Start date
Enough said, But you would have more satisfaction if you did it yourself. Im sure if you chopped it down to size (1.5-2" shorter) and cut and welded the linkage for the throw it would be the same.. If needed somone, or i can, give you the dimension for the throw location on a STS.
If i had a welder i would go for it, but i dont so i bought one instead, cobb sts
Good luck wth this, and if you decde to go at it take some pics.
Thats what im going for. Nowadays, you can buy anything thats already made-to-order, pre-fabricated, and ready to bolt up. I like a little bit of inginuity every now and then. But if you would like to give the dimensions that would be great.. maybe save me some time .
This should be a good read for you.
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123661188&highlight=Rotus8+%2B+short+Shifter
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123661188&highlight=Rotus8+%2B+short+Shifter
that is the link i was referring to!
Well, it would make the linear throw shorter, but the angular throw would be the same. That's partly semantics, and partly not...
But yes, the best modification to any shifter is to adjust both the length of the shaft and the distance between the pivot point and cable attachment points, such that the location of the shift knob and the linear distance the knob moves between shifts are both optimized.
That said, there's no real reason you couldn't simply shorten the shaft like you first suggested. It likely would just not be as much of the improvement you're looking for as a good aftermarket part.
Very true and i understand it completely. but with the shorter shaft it would improve it slightly and at the same time i would replace the shifter bushings. So wouldn't that change the feel enough to get me satisfied for a while?? Im not really looking to mess up anything. I know my parameters.
Hard to say. When I had a mazda3, I originally had a TWM short shifter, which primarily shortened the shaft. I really liked it, until I got a chance to try out the Mazdaspeed STS, which only shortened the shaft a little, but worked mostly with the cable attachment points to shorten the throw.... I much preferred the MS part, but both were better than stock IMO.
I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time on it, but if you have the welder and you have the spare shifter, I don't see any reason not to at least give it a try.
For what it's worth, these opinions are coming from someone who also gets a good deal of satisfaction from tinkering and DIY work.
I wouldn't spend a whole lot of time on it, but if you have the welder and you have the spare shifter, I don't see any reason not to at least give it a try.
For what it's worth, these opinions are coming from someone who also gets a good deal of satisfaction from tinkering and DIY work.
Last edited:
i did mine a few days ago it feels so much funner to drive now. the modification does take some finnesse though, the ring needs to be grinded off the shaft so that the knob can sit down lower. i got a small grinder and ground off the small tack welds under the ring and then removed it, then chopped an inch or so off the top off the shaft leaving only a small amount of thread left. i then drilled out the oem knob so that i could force the knob about an inch lower than stock and also used some loctite to ensure it never loosens up.
