I just installed the Helix short shifter. Seen so many positive comments about it I was shocked that when I tried it out the shifter needed excessive force to shift. As it stands I'm not happy with it. I'm 210lbs, 6ft, lift weights so I'm not faint of hand and I expected some extra effort to shift but what I've got is just riduculous more that 300% increase. The heat sheild is clearanced - the only thing I can think of is the instructions asked to bend the shift cable a little and maybe I somehow botched that or this is how it is and I'm the odd one out for not liking it. I will probably remove it and go back to stock unless someone can advise as to how I can reduce the shift force required to be less than 150% of stock force.

 

Sounds like something is not just right. If you put the dust cover back on, it would be rubbing unless you modded it. Mine requires a bit more force but nothing like what you are talking about, been running it for about two years with no problems.

 

The helix instructions say to leave off the dust cover - so I did. I noticed the excessive force required for shifting even before putting the heat shield back on while car was still on jacks so I dont think its related to clearance.

 

Not sure what to tell ya then except to take the heat shields off and get someone to sit in the car and do some shifts while your underneath making sure nothing is binding. Might give Helix a ring and see what they say too. Mine was firmer (which I like) at first but in just a day or two I didn't even notice it. Good luck!

 

I installed a cravenspeed short shifter and the instructions were severely lacking, but the shifter works great. I did not touch the shift cables except to remove and re-install. Exactly how did Helix say to "bend" the cable? Any bend of the cable that goes back into the sheathing is likely to bind. It may bind now even if you go back to stock.

 

Sounds as if something is not right. I installed mine at the same time as a whalen **** and can not say that the effort increased with that combination. One trick I used was when reforming the heat shield was to be sure that I deformed it enough to get max clearance. Then to be sure that I had no contact with the resinator I took an old leather belt (about 3/16 thick) and louped it around the resinator and worked it back and forth to be sure I had clearance between the heat shield. That worked like a charm. I have no interferance with the heat schield and shifter and no noise.
Steve

 

check this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ion-issue.html

i'm sure the solution is in there.

 

Give us a call WLSH BST and we'll walk you through it. Your shift effort should not significantly increase: something's funny, and I don't mean ha ha funny.

 

I appreciate the advise. I think I will have to take it apart again and see if the shifter cable is kinked too little/much and see if I can fix it. I may be a week before I get the time to do that - will report my results when done

 

check that the rigid cable-end isn't bent and binding inside the cable housing...

 

I agree something sounds off. I've installed a bunch of these... and have it in both of our MINI's. Yes, there's an increase in effort, but it shouldn't be that much.

 

My first thought. You might have bent it too far in.

My own experience was only about a 25% increase in force over oem (used the hand dyno)

 

Mine was has hard as you discribe yours right after instal, after a week: smoothe as silk. I figure I had twisted the cable maby 1/2 a turn and it took a little while to unwhine itself in the sheat. 3 years on, and it is still a little stiffer than stock, but still a 2 fingers shift job. Love it!

 

When I was installing my B&M shift kit I noticed both shift cables grommets were not in place. It looked like they never had been. This allowed the cable housings to flex - housings moved before cables moved. Pressed grommets back into the clips. The shift effort with B&M kit ended up the same as before upgrade with positive shifts. Much better than my version of "stock". It is worth checking out once the heat shield is removed.

Good luck,
Kevin

 

It took me until this past weekend to find time to redo the install. There were some kinks in the cable and housing, probably as a result of the extreme force required to get the cable off the shifter rod. I potched about until things seemed to ease up and now I'm content with the shifting. In the limited space offered under jack stands the instructions could have been more helpful in suggesting how you get the cable off the rod without bending anything there's probably a good technique, but it felt like I was doing a 600lb deadlift to get the thing off.

 

For all the SSKs I've installed, I used a pair of channel-locks leveraged against the box to pop the calbe off... trying to be careful not to break the plastic... since then, I've purchased the MINI cable-remover tool (found out about it when researching a clutch job). I haven't used it for installing a SSK yet, but I kinda can't wait to try it... Keep in mind, Helix does the install with the car on a lift... makes the job a whole lot easier... Even with my scissor lift (which doesn't give clear access), it's easier since I can sit under the car inside the lift.