HOW-TO: Make an ebay short shifter even shorter for an 8G

[GOOSEY2099]

Well I finally decided to make my shifter as short as possible. The general Idea is that the longer the rod is on the bottom, the shorter the shift will be. The instructions said that 15% reduction will not require any modifications and that’s how I had it since the day i installed it. Now the 45% reduction will require serious modification to the shifter base. Procedure takes about 30min, 1 or 2 people, (4) 1/8" washers, dremel and a compatible eBay short shifter to do this.

STEP 1: Take you center console apart, unbolt the shifter and the shifter base. You really don't need to disconnect the cables here.

http://www.vertsoft.com/roman/extrashortshifter/1.JPG

STEP 2: Using a dremel, remove the piece of plastic as shown here. You could cut from the top and then flip the base to get it from the bottom.

http://www.vertsoft.com/roman/extrashortshifter/2.JPG

http://www.vertsoft.com/roman/extrashortshifter/3.JPG

STEP 3: Assemble everything back together. Use a lot of lithium grease. Now in order for the shifter cables not to hit the floor you need to offset the base up by 1/4" inch. We used 2 washers here between the shifter base the car. Original bolts were used for this job.
http://www.vertsoft.com/roman/extrashortshifter/4.JPG
http://www.vertsoft.com/roman/extrashortshifter/5.JPG

In conclusion I love this 45% reduction. It’s a little bit difficult to shift now but in overall the distance between 3rd and 4th gear is about 2 inches.

A Thank You goes out to Angel(Sleepervr-4) for actually dremmeling this out.

[fatal1]

pics of it sitting in the console....great tutorial

[GOOSEY2099]

Yours aint even this low, you could still make it lower with this.

[Sleepervr-4]

A Thank You goes out to Angel(Sleepervr-4) for actually dremmeling this out.

No problemo amigo

[bmaddock]

REVIVAL!

So when you did this, how did it make the shifting more difficult?
I'm considering doing this but figured ask questions before i cut haha.

[GOOSEY2099]

just make sure everything is well lubed. Don't forget the fact that you can always go back.

[bmaddock]

Ok, and is that 2 washers under each of the 4 base bushings? Or just the rear 2?

[Jeffylou87]

I'm not understanding how removing that little peice of plastic will reduce the throws.. Am I missing something?

[bmaddock]

From what I understand, all the removing of the piece does is allow for when you offset the base with washers, the shift line won't hit????? Goosey can probably clarify a little better....

[panda]

im confused lol.. how does it actually make the throw longer? and how does putting those washers on it create a longer throw?

[Johnathansgalant]

haha what ur doing is lowering the shifter making the rod at the bottom longer therefore lowering the cable which will hit that plastic piece. He cut the piece because the cable would be rubbing it when shifting.. I dont actually know what he did but i assume its adjustable or he welded it but essentially the rod at the bottom is what makes the throw long or short -- the longer the rod on the bottom the shorter the throw and vice versa -- anyways his rod was extended downward i would imagine -and since there is not much room for it to go down u must raise the whole shifter assembly and then remove the plastic to allow the bottom cable to shift properly and not rub... by the way i said rod... hahaha

[GOOSEY2099]

^Exactly... The reason i had to raise the console is because the shifter i have has 2 settings on it. 1 is what we can normally run and the second one would make the cable hit the assembly. BTW I have a b&m ebay knockoff short throw shifter. As Angel put it one time "its like playing PS2 when shifting my car"

[spdracr]

can we use the evo short throw shifter or just the eclipse ??

[Jeffylou87]

It's all the same..

[fatal1]

^^yep

[panda]

haha what ur doing is lowering the shifter making the rod at the bottom longer therefore lowering the cable which will hit that plastic piece. He cut the piece because the cable would be rubbing it when shifting.. I dont actually know what he did but i assume its adjustable or he welded it but essentially the rod at the bottom is what makes the throw long or short -- the longer the rod on the bottom the shorter the throw and vice versa -- anyways his rod was extended downward i would imagine -and since there is not much room for it to go down u must raise the whole shifter assembly and then remove the plastic to allow the bottom cable to shift properly and not rub... by the way i said rod... hahaha



thanks for explaining that.. now the next question would be.. what happens when he goes to banging the hell out of the gears and he cracks/breaks the plastic piece that he cut because they put it there for a reason.. lol..


i said banging !!!

[Johnathansgalant]

hah - well hes still got some in the back -- its more of a guide piece but the cable is already so stiff i doubt u need all of it... as a matter of fact the cable does not rest on it per say it is right above it and clipped to the plastic in front so it really shouldnt impact anything

[GOOSEY2099]

nothing happands, I've been banging all the gears with 1 finger for over 2 years now. Its the best thing you can do for free so to speak.

[bmaddock]

Ahh can NOT wait to do this. Hurry up ebay shipper. Oh and thanks for clarifications again.

[GOOSEY2099]

http://www.mitsustyle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19267

[fatal1]

just did the mod finally...the cutting was a bit of a pain only because the cutting wheel i use on the dremel is a little big to fit in like 2 spots...where it didnt get though i just finished with a razor knife...the whole mod took about 30 min...

first gear is a little harder to get into...aside from that as roman said the throw is much shorter and the shifter itself sits a lot lower...however, even with the armrest there it is still very accesable...

just for reference i have a v6 and have a b&m short shifter

[GOOSEY2099]

you shouldn't have a problem getting into any gears, are you sure the shifter is not hitting the bottom?

[fatal1]

it is just barely touching where it would go into first...i tried the washer but the stock bolt was just too short, going to the hardware store in a little bit and will fix that...

[GOOSEY2099]

you NEED longer bolts

[fatal1]

yep...i know, thats whats at the hardware store lmao