I would like to shorten my shifter, both length of the stick, and the distance for the throws. I'd rather do this myself, is there any quick and easy way to accomplish this? Cut some from the top and weld it into the bottom? Is the pivot point moveable perhaps?

Since the shifter is something that is used very often in a car, I really like a good feel, is there any bushings or what not that can be replaced to upgrade the "tightness" of the shifts? Any thoughts at all? THanks guys!

 

take the shifter out and cook it for a while in the oven. When you get it nice and hot move the shifter ball up a little (1/2-1" depending on how short you want the throw)...thats the cheapest way to get a STS.

oh yeah you will need some welding gloves and more to keep from burning yourself on the hot metal.

 

I may have to try this....

 

Wouldn't that make the entire pivot ball soft? If so, in moving it, you could take it out of round.

If you used a propane torch and heat the metal portion of the shifter just above the pivot ball - the heat will cause just the center portion of the ball to melt and you can easily slide it.

 

na that thing stays hard as a rock...no problems at all.

 

welding near it makes it melt...

 

yeah but welding near it gets it a lot hotter than 150* (I think thats the temp I used...maybe 200*) and a torch will probably get it hotter as well.

 

im having a REALLY hard time wondering if your being sarcastic or not... because i would like to try this also

 

he is serious
there are also aftermarket shifters that you can get
pacesetter stillen and b&m(for a 4th gen fits with very slight modification)

 

who me? I am dead serious...think about it. The only thing that makes a STS is the pivot location of the ball. You move the ball up and it not only shortens the shifter but also makes the throws shorter.

 

this is what im talking about lmao in the oven part?! whaaaa?

 

why is that funny? The oven gets things hot so you cook it and make it hot enough to move the ball. People cook headlights (me included) to seperate them all the time.

If you use the oven you get a good even heat including the ball and shifter handle. If you use a torch or other then you will not get a good even heat and could melt the ball.

 

i just dont understand the ball moving part... isnt plastic or rubber?... not metal the busching idk what im talking about man i havent really gone into my car yet and know things like this what would i be doing exactly is what i want to know

and yes i htink the oven part is very funny

 

I think it's made of nylon.

 

you move the ball up toward the top of the shifter 1/2 to 1 inch depending on how short you want the throws...it really is simple as that.

The ball is made of some type of hard plastic...maybe nylon like goon mentioned or maybe something else...not sure but after you move it its fine and says in place once cool(at least for me since I did it right).

Still not getting why you think its funny to put parts in the oven. Have you never had to improvize on anything? If you have another solution I am all ears. Just use whatever you want to heat it up enough to move it. I just dont think a torch is a good idea because of the more intense heat...but if you want to try it thats up to you. It may work great but I havent tried it so I will not recommend it. I only recommend what I know works and is safe.



Actually since I think about it...I think you just need to buy a Stillen or another manufacturer and install it...simple and done. If you are having that much trouble understanding what I am saying doing you probably shouldnt try it. Not a flame just an observation...and I would hate for you to mess it up or burn yourself.

 

ok yeah i understand thanks

i dont think ill try it... its a deffinate important part to mess up and im not all that good with cars

thanks

"lol at the oven part more"

 

As much as I hate to bring up an old topic, this one needs an update. I did a little surgery on my shifter, going by what Michael said. Everything went smooth until I put the shifter back in. Changing the pivot point on the shifter causes it to arc significantly forward. The shifts are short and perfect now but my hand smacks the radio every time I shift up. If you change your pivot point you have to compensate for the arc by straightening out the bend in the shifter. I doubt you'll be able to bend it so break out the metal working tools.

 

wait.... are you sure you put the rod in facing the right way? unhook the shifter rod, spin the shifter lever around 180deg, and reconnect it... i think you just put it in backwards... if you did.. hell it happens to the best of us

 

HA! You know dude, I spent so little time thinking about what I was doing and so much time trying to work out a solution to the "problem" that it never occurred to me that maybe I had put it back in wrong. Thank you! I probably would have wound up cutting the damn thing in the morning.

 

here's a pic to show what it should look like

 

Ok, spin it around and that's what I had, lol. Got it straight this morning, though. Thanks man.

 

don't forget to install your intake and battery inside the car as well. lol! sorry cape i had to do it buddy. i need to do this to my car as well.

 

lol that was during the original 5spd swap last feb. i kept those things inside so they wouldn't get rained on (pulled my a/t during the rain). I still have the intake.... but matt ran over the battery with 'his' maxima and it split open and burned a bunch of grass on the lawn.

but my god... the stock-length shifter was a PAIN to get in without removing my non-removable catconv. I'm going to pull it and install it from the top this time around... so the pivot will be higher up. hopefully there's enough clearance to make a very substantial height increase. because the length of the shifter and pivot position (relative to stick) are important.. but the location of the pivot relative to the seat height is more important. ever driven a RX-8? Or a Miata? The shifter pivot is REALLY high up and it's awesome.

 

i have a spare shifter... somebody before me already hacked 3" off the end of it.. but i went ahead and pulled everything apart, and the shifter lever is in the oven right now..... unlike everyone else, i'm moving the ball down, toward the bolt hole. Why? Cuz if you move it up, you're gonna make the ratio of top-to-bottom smaller.. so you won't have as much angle. I like having a bit of angle so i'm moving my ball the opposite way. But with 3" lopped off, it'll still have shorter throws overall. I'm gonna jb-weld a short bolt onto the end of it that matches the threads of my stock shifter **** so i won't have to get a gaudy-*** aftermarket ****.

and VERY SORRY i have no pics... my camera goes through batteries like nothing i've ever seen! my rechargeable batteries bit the dust a few months ago (i blame the charger )

edit: so... um. i tried it in the toaster oven at first. BAD IDEA. too close to the heating element... and uh... the ball started melting. so i dremelled it back smooth again (let it cool down, reassembled the entire shifter socket thing and it still moved around fine. phew ), and popped it in the big oven. 40 minutes at 200*F, nothing. upped it to 275... let's see if that loosens it up a bit.

edit #2: OK.... so after 2 hours of slowly increasing the temp... i got a bit ballsy and went for 400*F... TOO MUCH!!! 350 for about 20 minutes (after the rest of the time that i had it chilling at whatever-other temperature i had it at) should do the trick. I got a bit more melting than i wanted, and a tiny bit of bubbling. it's cooling down now... more dremel action once it's cooled down. then a test fit in the socket, and should be good to go.

edit #3: found some batteries... so there are now some pics http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u...ort%20shifter/ notice the light spots on the ball where i had to dremel down a few uh, bubbles that formed when the vynil stuff got too hot and started boiling i guess. but it looks round enough to work.. besides the mounting socket is spring loaded anyhow so even if the ball isn't perfect it'll still do alright. just waiting for it to cool down so i can put it back in its socket with a fresh smearing of grease.

 

finally got around to test-fitting my custom STS yesterday since i've got the car torn apart for everything else (coolant flush, PS pump replacement, motormount reinforcement, injector replacement)



I thought i messed the ball up in the heating process (up one post) but after smoothing it with the dremel it came out just fine. Remember, unlike everyone else, I moved my ball DOWN, instead of up, because i don't like the way that most short shifters only move like 2* left or right when selecting gates. So i wanted alot more angle, but the shorter stick still shortens the overall throws. However, moving the ball down actually moves the stick up, reducing clearance from the place where the shifter rod attaches and the support rod above it. i could go into 1/3/5 just fine, but couldn't get into 2/4/R at all... well, here's why



turns out i took away TOO much clearance... so the lip of the rod's yoke is catching on the nut that holds the support rod to the big rubber bushing in the shifter base. It's REAL close, so all i gotta do is grind the lip down, and i should be free and clear. I also swapped shift rods for a better one, cuz the pivot joint at the end was all but seized on the original rod i took from my parts car last february. and i replaced the rotted squishy bushing at the end of the support rod. (graphics made in PowerPoint XP haha. totally not what it's meant for, but if it works, it works, right?)

EDIT:
ground that sucker down today. still not QUITE enough clearance. but the nut i had on there was taller than the stock one was, so i put the stock nut back on and put a washer on top of the support rod to pull the threads in (which are now DEAD flush with the bottom of the nut), and i have all my gears back

still cuz of the other work i'm doing on it but everything felt good, not too hard to get into gear or anything. just got to put a bolt on the top of the stick to thread my shift **** on with, or find some other non-permanent method of gettng the **** to fit without wobbling or being gunked up inside.