Shifter: Solid or Rubber mount??

[Jorgo85]

I'm currently looking at making a short shifter for my EF. I've taken the gear stick out and found a rubberized mount where it joins to the gear box. I was wondering what the pros and cons of having a solid mount (metal)..... :eclipsee_

[Christiaan]

Umm, underneath that shifter is a ballbearing type linkage that goes into the gearbox.

I can't see any advantage to a solid mount?

[sphell]

I'm sure someone told me that solid mounting it is noisy....could be wrong though.

[DEVL-XR]

^^sound like that could be true, you'd have to find out for sure tho.

EFXR65spd: when ya finish post pics and tell us how ya did it. i want to know!!

[Jorgo85]

Originally Posted by sphell

I'm sure someone told me that solid mounting it is noisy....could be wrong though.

I've got 2 Type R 12" subs and 2 sets of Type R 6.5" splits to drown that out. Noise isn't an issue. What I'm worried about is breaking synchro's and ****. All I'll be doing is making a shorter gear stick (so it reduces throw) and putting a hand made billet aluminium knob on it. The rubber mount is on the bottom of the factory gear stick and has two bolts connecting it to the selector on the top of the box.

[Plunkett]

I just though it was there to reduce vibration from the box? The selector will still be mounted by the same 2 little bolts so I don't see how it would improve or hinder anything.

[Rollin]

It will probably make your shifting more direct, but also more notchy and you will get more transmission noise up through the shifter, which you have said you dont care about.

Something I have noticed is that the rubber insulator you are talking about seems to differ between vehicles - I've driven some E-series where the shifter feels like the bolts are loose, even though I've just tightened them, and others which feel VERY direct...I suppose the amount of improvement you see will depend on if you are starting with a squishy insulator or a hard one...

[niko]

if you have ddecent rubbers you shouldnt notice a difference

[Kilma]

Mine is a solid mounted BPT short stick. does the job. It is a bit louder than rubber mounts, but it feels so much more solid and I love it. I will see if I can find some pics where someone has done it as well.

[SupahStah]

Ive got a solid mount gear leaver...
Pros of Solid: Easier to find gates, easier to change, better for the 1/4mile, dont wear out.
Cons of solid: Noisier, rougher sliding in and out of gates (on the hands) no difference for the gear box itself.

Pros of Rubber: Smoother changes into gates, stock, quiet.
Cons of Rubber: They wear out, harder to find gates.

Well, thats my take on it... I perfer the solid heaps more, Though I did mention noisier, you dont notice it unless the car is off... I also have a shorter shifter.

Hope this has helped,

SupahStah

[Jorgo85]

The new shifter is in the car. Just got a bit more polishing to do on the knob. Not that knob. BradensEBxr6, What I have done is taken a piece of 20mm dia. 316 stainless steel round bar(solid) and turned one end down to 10mm dia. about 50mm long and cut a M10 thread on it 30mm long. On the other end of the stick, I cut up the centre of the round bar about 40mm to create a flat surface to mount to the selector and I have put a small S bend in the stick. I can't tell you how long I cut the round bar because I didn't measure that. Was a "that looks about right" thingy. I will post some pics when I've finished "knob polishing" and I work out how to use photobucket

[Jorgo85]

Also if you make your own, you'll need to replace the two bolts at the base of the stick because the factory ones don't have a long enough thread. When you replace them, make sure they're high tensile so they don't snap. High tensile bolts usually have 8.8 stamped on the head.

[EDXR65SPEED]

I know a bloke who just removed his shift lever via the two bolts and cut the stick in half. Then put a thread on the end to screw the OEM knob back on. Looked good.

[SwarvJarv]

Originally Posted by EDXR65SPEED

I know a bloke who just removed his shift lever via the two bolts and cut the stick in half. Then put a thread on the end to screw the OEM knob back on. Looked good.

Thats what im doin when i get my new gear stick...:

[niko]

but that's just literally shorter, with the same strokes.

[Jorgo85]

Shorter stick means shorter strokes. It all pivots from one point. The longer the stick, the longer the radius, the longer the throw.

[efgiar]

that rubber is to stop vibration on the stick from the gearbox, its a crap load better if u take it out and run the stick solidly mounted to the box