MY1PATH Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Been looking arround to do this for quite some time. 4-4.5" inches may not seem like much when you visualize it but when its the distance form 1st gear to 2nd gear it can fee like allot compared to some cars. I mis-shift 4th allot when I'm gettin on it, I think I'm letting the cluch out too early for my reach. So, in seeking more driver comfort I went at it. I looked arround and I happend to have a few stock and aftermarket shifters for a chevy T56(for a z28 camaro) laying arround so I got to understaing the differances real quick. A true short throw shifter has a longer arm below the pivot pont and the pivot point is raised equal to that longer ammount. Its that simple. the cheater method is to run a shifter with a shorter top(or just cut it) which shortens the throw but also lowers the knob. Now for the hard part; how much to extend? my friends camaro with the currnent short thorw is too short for my liking so lets shoot for a compomise. say 3" between 1st and 2nd. Well I had to re-learn trig (sorta) to get the number .75" For those of you who want to read the gable about the math its below the pictures. ONce I decided on .75" I went about with some plans. I got a spare pathfinder shifter to play with (thanks riotpunk!) I wanted to use .75" aluminum plate but its 70-80 bucks a squre foot and I only needed 1/4 that much so I took a 1/2 plate scrap and bonded a piece of .125" aluminum to each side(.5+.125+.125=.75) I cut to shape and picked up the 4 corner holes and then cut the bottom piece of the shifter and had .75" piece of 1/2" hex stock welded in. Lastly I bent the sifter towards me to be more comfortable. Last night I installed the assembly with longer bolts I had to beat the floor pan back a little with a punch to get the wrench in there. It works great so-far, It feels good. Theres too much snow arround to see if it cures my mis-shifting in 4th but I think it will. now for those of you with body lifts and shifter extensions this mod (using .75") could reduce your throw even more(1.5-2" reduction?) because your topside was extended which increases throw. Ok now for the pix(click to enlarge); If you don't Like my combo pics you can view the indvidual shots HERE (I don't have my measuremnets with me so bear with me). the distance the shifter moves inside the tranny(s)* and the length of the botom portion ( creates angle x at the ball. Now angle x and the length of the top portion (L) make t, the distance the knob moves. (I'm not gonna write out the trig here) so if "b" becomes longer "x" becomes smaller which makes "t" shorter. I kept pluging numbers into a trig calculator for "b" untill I could make "t" equal 3 inches on the calculator. once I had my number I rounded down to .75" because its an easier measurement to work with. *"s" is always the same because the tranny will not change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowTied Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Good work - how does it run? Now that you have done it, anything you'd do different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitemedoughboy.com Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 i was thinking about the same thing, but was going to use some grey pvc sheet stock for the spacer, i already shortened the shifter by about 3" so i could use a longer shift handle and keep the length about the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted December 21, 2008 Author Share Posted December 21, 2008 Good work - how does it run? Now that you have done it, anything you'd do different? yeh, I woulda done it faster lol. It feels good on the shifts. It requires slightly more force to get into 5th & reverse but thats to be expected because the the return spring has a longer lever to push against to with. Every now and then I try to push it all the way to the dash before I realize, "thats it, I'm In 3rd I don't have to push as far anymore" But really I think .75 was the perfect amount for my comfort zone and the more I drive it the more I like it. I may still bend the knob a little closer but the throw seems dead on for what I want to feel. I can't wait for the roads to clear up so I can really get on it, I'll have plenty-o-chances when I drive down to Cali early January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Good job!!! I have knuckle dragging monkey arms so I never had a problem shifting my 5 speed and now I have an auto... Still, I like to see people figure things out like this... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Nice work man! It's always good to see someone innovate and create what they want instead of just asking everyone else for how to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 thanks yall, the roads finally cleard up enough to drive it the way I like (when I wasnt stuck behind some slow minivan who was scared of the snow on the sholder.) and I gotta say I really like it. It feels just right and I haven't mis-shifted 4th (yet). I'm Lookin foward to my road trip with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 I'm Lookin foward to my road trip with it. UPDATE: over 15,000 miles. 700+ nonstop(cept 4 gas) on the way down I'm really happy with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 nice good work consider selling them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 you want one? Material cost is about 80-100 bucks for a 1'x1' bolck of 3/4" or 1" plate aluminum. (thats why I metal bonded scraps together) I can't do too many projects @ work but if you like I can get the material and bring my spacer to a mill shop as a template. If you get 4 ppl in on it... 1x1 is enough to make 4. and then ad the cost of macining and welding (no idea) my guess is a minimum $75 commitment from each person if it turns out to be less then ajustments will be made, if it looks like its gonna be more I'll dbl check w/ ppl b4 proceeding. don't forget the need for cores or spare shifters to be choped and weled. OR if somone on here has the tools @ home (or more feedom @ work) and wants to do it for less they've got all the knowhow from my pictures; make a template and have at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Just to lower costs for someone (mcmaster-carr www.mcmaster.com has 6061 for under $60 and since its not structural i don't see any complications with using this material): Part Number: 8975K151 $53.53 Each Material Multipurpose Aluminum (Alloy 6061) Finish/Coating Unpolished (Mill) Shape Sheets, Bars, Strips, and Cubes Sheets, Bars, Strips, and Cubes Type Plain Edge Type Square Tolerance Standard Thickness 3/4" Thickness Tolerance ±.010" Length 12" Length Tolerance ±1" Width 12" Width Tolerance ±.084" Material Certification Without Material Certification Temper T6511 Hardness 60-95 Brinell Yield Strength 35,000 psi Flatness Tolerance Not Rated Temperature Range -320° to +300° F Specifications Met American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) ASTM Specification ASTM B221 WARNING Hardness and yield strength are not guaranteed and are intended only as a basis for comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Does the spacer material need to be aluminum, or some sort of metal? Could a high density plastic be used? (BTW, hope you don't mind, but I shared this thread with the peeps on the NOAS foum.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I was thinking that as well GG b/c most of that is good up to a reasonable temperature but I think the issue would be not over torquing the bolts or the plastic cracking over time which could get a little ugly I think unless you carried a spare shifter and snap ring pliers then just swap it back out to stock quickly... steel would be cheaper but may be more costly in tooling and what not and i think the weight savings between aluminum and steel for a part this size is negligible Cheaper aluminum can be purchased at scrap yards I know in Harrisburg NC there was FOILS Inc and you could pick something like this up for $1.25/lb so maybe $20 may and you could probably even score some 2024 or 7075 (which would be overkill) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Does the spacer material need to be aluminum, or some sort of metal? Could a high density plastic be used?- I considered plastics and composites but shy'd away because I did not want to worry about how the combination of oil & heat would interract with them. also tolerances are not as precise, if you torque dwown on it the shfter bushin might sit too low in the tranny.- HOWEVER, if you could find a hard block of nylon, that would prolly be a good solution. machines easy, good on heat and oil an doesn't compress too much. I belive the shifter bushing and shifter socket are made out of nylon. (BTW, hope you don't mind, but I shared this thread with the peeps on the NOAS foum.) - SHARE AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE! I searched long and hard b4 doing this and hopefully somone else will not have to. all I ever found for the w/d21 was ppl cuting their handle shorter or using a 240/300zx shifters which are just shorter handles. I did not want a shorter handle to obtain shorter throw, I wanted a shorter degree of throw with the same handle. So I looked into how other vehicles did it and then did it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Great job! I was thinking about how to make a short-throw for mine (it was #473 on the to-do list, but I was thinking about it). If you could get the price down to more like $45-$50 I'd get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 get more ppl in on it and more affordable material, (nylon looks good on ebay) and I might be able to drive the cost down. but I'll need commitment before I buy materials. so far It seems like 2 ppl are interrested. I may wind up using anything from .75-1" instead of the original .75" depending on what I can get ahold of cost wise. I think 1" shim will appoximate a 1.25-1.5" reduction in throw whereas the .75" makes for about a 1" reduction in throw.(based on a stock length shifter.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 Delrin would be a good choice, UHMW PE, Nylon also. If people are interested we can put this together. I can source materials, draw up a print and even machine the base plate... Do you have dimensions?? A 1" thick 1'x2' piece of UHMW PE is $60 and I'm guessing it is enough for 8 base plates... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 yes, each base takes up about 6"x6". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Posted January 16, 2009 Share Posted January 16, 2009 That is awesome. One more detail to make the pathfinder perfect. Id be intrested but would need it sent to canada. I dont have any donor parts as my pathfinder is my daily driver but I could look at a wrecker. keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 (edited) That is awesome. One more detail to make the pathfinder perfect. Id be intrested but would need it sent to canada. I dont have any donor parts as my pathfinder is my daily driver but I could look at a wrecker. keep us posted. That Makes 3, I think(Edicer?, JJ & Johannes) I guess I gotta start figuring how to make them more affordable. I have 1 spare shifter that can be used in exchange for a core if we get this started up. I'm sure whoever winds up making it will ship to canada just fine. Edited January 17, 2009 by MY1PATH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Ok, so who is a handy enough welder/fabricator to do the shifter lengthening/bending?? So far we have $10 for the riser +shipping (I won't charge for a small quantity run like this). Any one going to a junk yard able to grab a few shifters to get the ball rolling? Jacobs, can you supply dimensions for the riser and shifter mods that I could CAD?? I guess this would be a Jacobs short throw shifter... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 Ok, so who is a handy enough welder/fabricator to do the shifter lengthening/bending?? the bending is not necessary, but only takes 30 sec on the tube bender @ work. lol the core I have to offer is also bent if anyone wants thatone they can. Jacobs, can you supply dimensions for the riser and shifter mods that I could CAD?? I guess this would be a Jacobs short throw shifter... B I cut the base per-sample and just whole-sawed a big hole in the center I didn't take measurements but I was careful to notch some space for the casing shapes on the sifter plate as well as make sure the base was able to keep a return spring in place. I'll have to pull it out this weekend and take some measurments, appearantly I gotta put sealant on it anyway right B? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman2989 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Brilliant. Just Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linkinpark Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Yeah I would buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RF600 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I am going to try to go to the wreckers and see if there any shifters that i can snag. Does it matter the year? Like most things is it 90-95? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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