Hello,
I'm thinking of installing a short throw shifter while the car's up on jack stands. I'm seeing a few "ebay specials", along w/megan, manzo, ralcorz, fidanza, etc... which all look like they came out of the same factory

These all seem to be the same design. I can't quite tell if the pivot point is longer (shorter throw) however or just a factory replacement w/a shorter shifter height. The only exception appears to be the "torque solution" option & the spendier cravenspeed. Can you all confirm which shifter you got & confirmed has shorter throw?

 

As a warning, when you install a short shifter (it's longer past the pivot point BTW) you must cut out the lower housing and expose the shifting mechanism to the elements. Given the negative, I've never been able to reconcile the positive.

 

^^^ Agreed. Mine had the B&M short shift kit (SSK no longer available) installed when new. I was aware it had an SSK but not what type until recently, thinking the bottom of the shifter box was OEM. Instead, that was part of the kit which did protect the mechanism from the elements but in the process lost sufficient clearance to utilize Milltek's resonator pipe (another root cause discovery only recently). As a consequence, I'd prefer the OEM shifter which would then allow using the quieter exhaust since my car has 4:1 headers and more. An SSK being yet another example of "be careful what you wish for"...

 

Are there 2 different versions of the shifter box? A black and a white I think. If you have a white box the shifter seems to be cheaper and easy to find. This might be different there as I'm in the UK

 

??

gluing an extension box seems rather elementary tbh. I wonder if anyone's modeled one to be 3d printed...?

Yeah, I think most of the ones I'm seeing are these B&M replicas. Your box seems rather tall, I saw someone here get away w/something much shallower. Good catch though, I just installed a catback and need to check clearance.

Did your B&M rattle at all? Did it have the aluminum mount bushings installed? I'm curious to know how just the solid mount bushings work out as well.

 

There are. Mid-model yrs. got revised cabling and mechanism. It's supposed to be better but there appears to be more options for the earlier model yrs. This is also what's confusing me perhaps as I'm eyeballing pivot point lengths by google images and can't quite tell which model I'm looking at.

 

If it wasn't clear, the B&M SSK on mine isn't a clone nor was anything else installed early in 2006. This Pelican Parts installation article shows both OEM and B&M components, which might be helpful to you: Installing a Short-Shift Kit, noting the OEM shifter box and B&M SSK shown was the earlier version.

 

heres the exact one I installed in my r50 with 6speed swap.
I have the white shifter box, not sure if it matters. I don’t have a number for you regarding how short the throw is, but I can measure if you want. I do not however have a “before” measurement.

my goal was basically to shorten throw and also remove the slip in my steering. This shifter alone got rid of a ton of slip though I believe new cables would get rid of what little u have left.
install went easy and the item looked to be machined just fine. It is physically a bit shorter than stock too.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/32399671446...mis&media=COPY

 

I was looking exactly at that one. It says the shaft is 6061 aluminum, is this true? I'd rather have a steel one.

did you have to cut out an access window to the bottom cover? I think this is a somewhat fool proof way to tell if the fulcrum is extended. Just so it's clear, I realize some shifters have shortened lever. I don't really care to do that, I want a short throw shifter which extends the lower fulcrum

 

I should have cut it out but I did not, I just used heat and made enough clearance to fit the cover, though it does not fully clip back in on the rearmost side of the bottom cover…. Which leads me to believe it is making contact.
I ended up wrapping the bottom of the shift box with insulated thermal tape anyway.

 

is the shifter aluminum or steel?

 

I've got an Alta in mine, and I love it. You can see a detailed install in my build thread.

 

sorry it is aluminum

 

I don't think those are available anymore are they? I tried looking but found none.

I see. I'm guessing there's a couple of oz's to be gained there. I'm not super worried about "breaking" the aluminum just the extra assist the steel would provide on a shift. Kind of why some drivers use a weighted shift ****. Any drawback you notice to the Al lever?

 

I used a ebay ss shifter , then attached an adjustable stalk to it and then a weighted shifter ... BEST SHIFTER IVE EVER used in a mini SO FAR !!!! But I have yet to experience a coolerworx shifter but that's next on my list..
i also installed a universal arm rest then which my arm sits on and the shifter is then exact height with my arm so I don't reach down and fush around for it. It directly off of my wheel too. Very easy to grab and slam gears.
i have a cravenspeed shiftwell cover on now but in tgat 2nd pic you can see my arm rest id installed..which i absolutely LOVE btw ...

 

I know the pivot ball is a different size between the 2 versions. There not interchangeable, I ordered a cheap short shifter online but 99% are designed for the white body shifter box, which if I remember right, has a smaller socket for the shift stick. If you Google it all, I'm pretty sure they call the 2 versions 'condition A' and 'condition B'. I used just the solid bushings out of the kit that bolt to the car and couldn't tell any difference.