So I'm under Miranda's skirt last night peeling off her heat shield, and I realized I'm uncertain on pulling the shift rods off the ***** of the shifter. How to go about this? Tool? Strongarm 'em? Are there detailed directions somewhere? HALP!!

Thanks ahead of time!

Peace and MINIs

Me

 

I used a bar to hold the rod against the box. Then pried them off with a crow's foot. It took some experimenting before I got it. Just be careful what you pry against, allot of plastic there...

 

Cool, seems pretty straightforward... Hopefully I'll finish up tonight.

Thanks for the info!

Peace and MINIs

Me

 

So did you get it?

 

Hey Tim, how you like the craven speed short shifter? NM just came out with their Short Shift Adapter. I'm deciding which would be better.

 

I'm still in process, actually... I can only work a couple hours at a time at night, and I've been being very careful.
Got the shifter in last night, waiting on my mod job on the dust cover to dry, then putting everything back together tonight!

Peace and MINIs

Me

 

I haven't seen the NM one, but I am very happy with my Craven kit. It's SO much better than stock

 

Very nice...I'm going to get mine next week along with the BSH OCC. I might need your advice if I run into trouble installing them.

 

No problem, any time

 

Mine's installed and fully functional. I used the Cravenspeed model that only offers three positions rather than the infinitely adjustable one, and took her for a quick test-spin last night.

Overall installation was relatively straightforward, though it took quite some time for me for a number of reasons, mostly based in logistics. Reassembly went very quickly and easily. I left the shifter boot on but loose, with 5 or 6 inches of the shifter exposed; having the boot like that reminds me of a Triumph GT-6+ I owned a lifetime ago. I may go with the cup down the road.

Rather than remove the dust cover, I cut out a fair chunk of it with a Dremel and used heat-resistant aluminum tape to fill back in, giving the now somewhat lower shifter rod space to move but not compromising the cover itself. The tape is $7.50 at Home Depot in the HVAC ducting section and worth every last penny as there are now about a dozen different uses I have for it.

Cons
- I ordered a shift **** with it, and it sucks. It's uncomfortable, cheap-looking, and needs to be heavier... however it was only an additional $20 or something, so it will be fine until I find one I really like. My bad. It would probably feel right at home on a Civic (not faulting Civics, just saying).

Pros
- Adjusted to the middle position the throw is noticeably shorter but doesn't require a great deal more effort.
- "Feel" is more precise, though some may describe it as notchy. The stock shifter always felt a little vague to me, and I like the feedback from the new one.
- Hits reverse with a definitive flick of the wrist, which the stock shifter (probably due to the aforementioned "vague" feeling) seemed to have issues with... you had to hunt for it.
- I like the (probably unintended) adjustability that the set screw on the shift **** offers.

Overall I'm very pleased, this is a great improvement for $150.00 including the ****.

Thanks for the help, 09MellowJCW!

Peace and MINIs

Me

 

Which shift **** do you have ?

 

http://www.cravenspeed.com/index.php?productID=36

We hateses it, we does, but I had to have a shift ****.

Peace

Me

 

You can always get the adapter and retrofit the stock shift **** or get the JCW one.

 

I adjusted mine to the shortest length and is rough to shift. Not sure if it's because of the bent socket rod.

 

Hey Andy, mine shifts fine. Just a little more effort required to make the shifts with it adjusted all the way down. It's negligible. I think the bent cable might be screwing you up. You did re-grease all the sockets, right?

 

I think the Craven Short Shifter is one of the best mods for a R56 MINI. The stock shifter seems buttery, and this makes it feel like a sports car again. If you bent the end that may be part of your problem for shifting, cause it does take more effort when short but still not too bad.

 

Hey Tim, I did greased all the sockets. Do you want to meet up some times next weekend ? I wanna compare your and mine, to see if I really need to replace the bent cable. Hey Way, how do I remove the cable? is it just screw in like a bolt on the other end ?