This HowTo starts with the shifter removed from the car. If you have a 9/16" die, you could do it without removing the shifter. I had to remove the shifter so that I could grind down the shaft with a bench grinder, in order to reduce the diameter to something small enough that I could use the largest die I had available, which was an M12.

In picture 1, a bench grinder has been used to grind down the shaft to a size that can be threaded with an M12 (or 1/2") die. In this picture, an M12x1.25 die has been used to cut a few threads.


Picture 2 shows the shaft threaded all the way with the M12x1.25 die. Probably ANY M12 or 1/2" die, with any thread pitch, could be used since these threads will be completely cut off by the M10 die.


Picture 3 shows what the shaft will look like as the M10x1.25 die is used over top the M12 threads. I.e. lots of metal shavings.


Picture 4 shows the shaft completely threaded.


Picture 5 shows the shaft preped for being cut off. I wanted to cut off 1" and I just happened to have some 1" masking tape, so the tape is simply marking what will be cut off. Thread the die on before cutting. The threads will be cleaned up when the die is removed. The picture shows a die and a nut, but the nut wasn't necessary. I cut off 1" with a Dremel, but a hack saw would also work.

 

In picture 6, 1" has been cut off with a Dremel. Before removing the die, use a file to debur the end and soften the first turn of threads. Removing the die will then clean up the threads.


I assume I will have to grind off the little "nipples" that hold the shift boot up, and come up with another way of holding the shift boot up.

I cut off 1". I think this is about the most that can be cut off and still be able to use the stock shift **** with the stock boot. I'm not just positive about this and it will be Monday before I can say for sure. The reason I say this is because the nipples that hold up the shift boot are exactly 1" above a bend in the shifter. If more than 1" is cut off, the top of the boot would be "cocked" and it wouldn't look right.

 

should have just done it my way

it was so easy and i wasnt even CLOSE to "melting the ball".

nice work though (although much unneeded)

 

Get a shift **** from an Evo. You will be able to use the "nipples" and the boot will butt right up to the shift ****. I have the Evo **** on my car and need to do just what you did here. I currently have about a 1" gap from **** to boot. Is it difficult to get the shifter lever removed from the car?

 

Tonyklem, how did you do it? Also, has anyone in here done their automatic? Is it pretty much the same thing or no?

 

Can you explain "If you have a 9/16" die, you could do it without removing the shifter"?

 

Since I did not have the proper size die to tap the unmodified stock shifter, I used a bench grinder to reduce the diameter to where I could use my largest available die, which was an M12 (~1/2"). With a larger die, you could tap it without removing it from the car.

You could maybe reduce the diameter with a Dremel tool and a "grinder" bit, and not have to remove the shifter from the car. I did not try this since my shifter was already out of the car anyway.

If you don't already have the dies and a die stock, taking it to someone to cut and re-weld is probably the way to go. I spent about $20 on two dies and a die stock. The advantage of using the dies is that (1) you can do it yourself, and (2) you can "sneak up" on the shortening process, starting with 1" and then going incrementally lower until it's "just right".

A 9/16" die and die stock will run you about $35. You could maybe get by without the $25 die stock by using a large adjustable wrench to turn the die. I did not try this because I don't have a wrench that adjusts to 1-7/16 (the outer diameter of the 9/16 die).

David

 

He cut/removed a section just above the ball and then welded the two pieces back together. If you know by exactly how much you want to shorten the shifter, this is probably the best way to do it. You could shorten by up to about 2.5" that way. With rethreading, the limit is 1.5" to maybe 2". Below that you get into the topmost bend in the rod.

With a short-shifter, you would not be limited to how much shorter you could go, because the aftermarket shifters do not have the "dogleg" bend.

 

This picture shows the "dogleg right" of the stock shifter. The little "nipples" the stock boot sits on will have to be ground off since the stick has been cut down.

 

i dont have a liscence for the next few moths so i wanna know how to cut down my PACESETTER STS

 

Do you have some reason to believe the procedure would be different from the one painstakingly described here? Or you can cut it and weld it back together. Or you can hack off the end and use an aftermarket shift ****. Use whichever method suits your fancy.