the reverse gate is a little annoying. i'm contemplating on removing it completely. a few thoughts...

i'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard to fab up something so our reverse "gate" is similar to newer nissans (like the sentra). where you push to the right... and you hit 5th/6th gear... but if you push harder to the right.. you can pull down into reverse. any creative ideas? home depot king?

OR... do i even need to replace the gate with anything? when you're driving a certain speed.. doesn't the tranny lock you out of 1st and reverse anyways? would it be driveable without the gate?

what do you guys think

 

From the other thread:

Could you possibly share some details so that others who are interested have some info? Thanks.

 

whats a reverse gate

 

Let me get this straight, you removed the reverse lockout and now you want to put something in that will prevent you from going into reverse when shifting to 5th/6th?

 

The thing that keeps you from shifting into reverse at 60 mph if you own a 6 speed.


I think it's driveable without the gate. I'm pretty sure there would be a noticeable difference between hitting 6th and reverse when shifting, and you would know what it was before you ever got it in the gear. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with the gate, and I wouldn't remove it. It doesn't bother me at all to lift it to go to reverse, because that's the gear I'm in the least. Not really sure what is to be gained by removing it other than a more annoying/difficult time shifting...

But hey, to each their own.

 

oh ok I understand why would you want to get rid of that?

 

yeah, if accelerate pretty agressively to, let's say, 60mph I'll redline 2nd gear and then I'll go straight to 6th...I don't really want to have to be careful putting it into 6th worrying whether it's the right gear or not...I think that taking out the reverse lock is creating more trouble than anything. Like you said, how hard is it to pull up on a lever? to tell you the truth, I don't even think about it anymore. It's just instinct to pull up on that lever. I do the same thing in my brother's 5-speed mini cooper...

 

I believe he removed the reverse lock-out because he cut his shift rod to make it shorter.

While this may not seem like a good idea to many of you, let's please keep this discussion on the details of the lock-out removal and NOT opinions as to why it is or is not a good idea. Thanks.

 

oh ok I understand now I guess I dont have to worry about it because im
5 speed not 6 speed

 

I like the feature on German cars where you push the shift **** down to be able to get into reverse.

But anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to get rid of reverse gate feature.

 

there are two pins you need to remove. both are visible (if you remove your shift boot of course). the upper pin holds a spring in place keeping the reverse gate down. the lower pin acts a place stopper (so the reverse gate can only go so high or so low)

I thought there was some special method to removing these pins, but there ain't. just get in there with a hammer, needle nose pliers, anything you can to bang or pull that thing out of there. I actually dremeled my plastic piece right across the notch where the lower pin is. this made the pin much easier to access. of course... i cut it with the intention of shortening it according to my shifter. after pin removal, the piece just slides out.

so after i test drove my car to see if i liked my shifter height, i started wondering if i even needed to go through the trouble of installing the reverse gate again. in fact, i even thought it'd be fun to fab up something else, rather than a lift gate. apparently i was the only one.. haha.

all in all, i'm happy with the removal of the gate and shortening my shifter.

 

My long-departed 1982 Datsun (nee "Nissan") 720 pick-up had the ol' push down on the shift **** to get it into reverse. That seemed to make more sense to me than what we have on our Maxes. On the other hand, why do we need a reverse "gate" at all? None of my other stick-shift cars (many brands) had any such device. I may someday defeat mine if it looks easy enough....

 

Oh are you saying the reason you removed it in the first place was because you shortened the length of the actual shifter? I was confused for a while there...In that case, where are the pics?? I remember hct67 actually cutting the top part off with the threads and the reverse lockout ring, and then he cut a section out of the shifter and used contact cement to re-attach the top part...I didn't want to do that for fear of it breaking on me one day. Your idea sounds much better, but isn't the lower portion of the shifter a lot thicker than the upper portion? how did you get around that?

 

yes yes that is why i removed the reverse lock.

haven't taken any... i'll try to get some up today.

yeah... after reading his thread, that was my original plan. and after previous negative experiences with epoxy, i'm brainstorming better ideas.

and yeah the lower portion of the shifter is thicker, but it doesn't get that thick for another good three inches. since i cut off two, i still had a good inch to attach the shift ****. After i lopped off my threads, i just picked up a tap and die set for $30, and set my own threads again. [12x1.50 i believe]