2nd/4th/6th position neutral 1st/3rd/5th
| Click here for a 3.5 meg QuickTime movie of the short shifter in action. |
This page details my solution to the need for an inexpensive short shifter that looks stock. After looking at how
the shifter assembly works, how the cables are routed and where in the car everything is mounted, I decided
that I wanted to approach this problem from a different direction. This is the best $20 I've spent on the car.
Since the shift lever on the transmission has plenty of clearance around it and there is enough room for
change in the way the cable is located between its mounting bracket and the shift lever, I decided to modify a
stock shift lever by moving the cable mounting pin closer to the selector shaft. Doing this would have the
same effect as moving the cable mounting connection up on the shift lever without having to touch anything
inside the car.
Using my 14" chop saw, I carefully cut the pin off at a 45 degree angle to match the shape of the arm. I did a
little bit of grinding to make things line up well and get it prepped for welding. A local welder buzzed it together
for me. You can see from the pictures that the pin was moved about an inch closer to the pivot point. I was
basically making a guess as to what would work well. "Well" in this case was to shorten up the throw of the
shifter without increasing shift effort too much. Since I would be reducing leverage, there was going to be an
increase in effort, I just didn't know how much. Turns out after replacing the clutch, there is hardly ANY
noticeable increase in shift effort!
Before installing the new part, I put the car in first gear and then measured the distance from the face of the
A/C control panel to the front of the top part of the shift knob - the little bulge above your index finger when
gripping the knob. I then measured to the same point with the shifter in second gear. After making the change
I made the same measurements. The results are:
1st gear center 2nd gear Total throw
Stock: 4 3/4" 7 1/2" 9 3/4" 5"
Modified: 6 1/8" 7 1/2" 8 7/8" 2 3/4"
So, the modification certainly achieved the first goal as the shift throw was cut almost in half. Overall, the
shifter now makes me think of one that would be found in a high end European race car like an F1 or Indy car.
The shortness of the throw was actually more than what I had wanted, but after driving the car for a while like
this, I'd never go back to stock. I'll take a movie of the throw so that you can see how it moves. In the mean
time, here are some pics of the stock and modified levers:
the shifter assembly works, how the cables are routed and where in the car everything is mounted, I decided
that I wanted to approach this problem from a different direction. This is the best $20 I've spent on the car.
Since the shift lever on the transmission has plenty of clearance around it and there is enough room for
change in the way the cable is located between its mounting bracket and the shift lever, I decided to modify a
stock shift lever by moving the cable mounting pin closer to the selector shaft. Doing this would have the
same effect as moving the cable mounting connection up on the shift lever without having to touch anything
inside the car.
Using my 14" chop saw, I carefully cut the pin off at a 45 degree angle to match the shape of the arm. I did a
little bit of grinding to make things line up well and get it prepped for welding. A local welder buzzed it together
for me. You can see from the pictures that the pin was moved about an inch closer to the pivot point. I was
basically making a guess as to what would work well. "Well" in this case was to shorten up the throw of the
shifter without increasing shift effort too much. Since I would be reducing leverage, there was going to be an
increase in effort, I just didn't know how much. Turns out after replacing the clutch, there is hardly ANY
noticeable increase in shift effort!
Before installing the new part, I put the car in first gear and then measured the distance from the face of the
A/C control panel to the front of the top part of the shift knob - the little bulge above your index finger when
gripping the knob. I then measured to the same point with the shifter in second gear. After making the change
I made the same measurements. The results are:
1st gear center 2nd gear Total throw
Stock: 4 3/4" 7 1/2" 9 3/4" 5"
Modified: 6 1/8" 7 1/2" 8 7/8" 2 3/4"
So, the modification certainly achieved the first goal as the shift throw was cut almost in half. Overall, the
shifter now makes me think of one that would be found in a high end European race car like an F1 or Indy car.
The shortness of the throw was actually more than what I had wanted, but after driving the car for a while like
this, I'd never go back to stock. I'll take a movie of the throw so that you can see how it moves. In the mean
time, here are some pics of the stock and modified levers:
Short Shifter for the AW11
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