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if anyone is interested, i am going to offer my aluminum adjustable shifter kit i made for my car available for sale.
i designed the shifter to be easily adjustable without taking the entire shifter mount apart, to help fix some of the slop in your worn out shifter bushings, and to be indexable (looking down at the shifter handle).
the kit consists of the aluminum arm, a steel ball for the pivot, a steel end link with bronze bushings for the connection to the shifter linkage, and an o-ring to tighten up the slop in the pivot ball area.
to adjust the shifter throw, all you need to do is remove the 12mm through bolt on the bottom of the shifter that goes into the linkage rod and spin the entire shift handle and arm inside the car. you can adjust the throw to the shortest possible with stock exhaust like i did, or if you have more clearance, you can significantly shorten the throw. you can also feel free to fill your stock mount with poly or weld it up like some of the other guys on the forum at the time of install. my wife drives my car alot so i left mine alone for now.
the design allows you to rotate the bend in the shift rod closer to your leg so you do not slam the shifter handle into the passengers knee when putting the car into 5th gear. the threads on the shifter are the stock m12x1.25 so you can put your stock shift knob back on, or you can get whatever style shift handle you desire and use an aluminum bushing to install it as i did. i put a 30 year old hurst shift handle on mine that i got out of a muncie 4-speed chevelle back in 1986. ive been saving it for a long time.
this kit is designed for the average mechanically inclined forum member to install. not recommended if you do not own any tools or cant figure out how to solve mechanical problems for yourself. due to the wear on your shifter parts, some small adjustments may be necessary. i had to chuck the 12mm through bolt from my linkage up in a cordless drill and polish the rust off it to get it to fit through the bronze bushing. if your bolt is shot, you may need to replace it if the fit is too loose.
you may order the shifter unbent if you would prefer to bend it yourself. it would be located much closer to the steering wheel that way, or you could bend it closer to your arm for comfort in your street car if you are over 6 feet tall and have your seat all the way back. the way it comes bent, the shift handle is about 2 inches further back than stock when installed.
the point of making this for me was not to try to speed shift my car and break the sychro's or to reduce lap times. i made it to get rid of the worn out plastic bushings and their free play , and all the slop in the pivot ball area as well. i wanted to shorten my throw so i don't wear out my rotator cuff any more than it already is. i have put 315,000 miles on this car now, rowing that damn stock shifter what seemed like a foot between gears. now with my shifter linkage adjusted to just clear the stock exhaust, i only have to move the shifter about 4 inches from 1st to 2nd gear, there is a distinct click when it goes into gear, and there is no slop. you can still force the shifter handle to move when in gear due to the rubber mounts, but mine don't seem to be too badly worn out and my wife probably would throw a fit if i solid mounted the shifter and transferred all that noise and vibration directly to the shifter handle. i also particularly hated the stock shifter when on road trips and sitting in the passenger seat. i cant tell you how many times my wife slammed the shift knob into my knee on the highway while we were talking. no matter how many times it happened, i never remembered to keep my left knee away from that general area while she was driving.
once i get my new exhaust installed on the car, i will be adjusting the throw even shorter just to make the distance the shift handle travels a little bit less. i hate feeling like i'm driving a 1972 f250 with a granny 4-speed every time i get in my metro.
any questions or suggestions just pm me or ask here.
the shifter is going to be priced at 85 dollars US, shipped to the contiguous U.S.. paypal only. shipping quotes for other countries by P.M. please. this is 15 bucks cheaper than the only shifter i can find made for this car at suzukird, and i am offering free shipping for most of you. i am not getting rich here or trying to price gouge anyone. i'm simply trying to make smart products available for a little supported vehicle that i love, and make a very few dollars while doing it. i am not making the parts myself as i am currently disabled and cannot work. i am designing and testing the stuff i am selling and farming out the manufacturing and shipping services.
i will gladly help anyone with the install any way i can, with pictures, emails, pms, or phone calls. i am no self proclaimed expert, but i do have extensive mechanical experience. i have been a g.m. dealership tech since 1987, a toyota tech, a case heavy equipment tech, worked at a honda motorcycle dealer as a tech, and ran an install bay at bestbuy/geeksquad for 14 years. alot of those years i had 2 of those jobs at the same time. going along with the nature of my work, i have had access to lots of specialty tools over the years, and been able to build alot of cool stuff in my little spare time.
i seem to be not so good at taking pictures and documenting installs. the pictures here show the new aluminum shifter arm with my shifter handle bushing and jamb nut already installed, and the linkage end rod/endlink to connect the arm to the cars shift rod underneath. i forgot to take a pic of the arm assembled. there are more pics of the shifter in my shifter project folder in my gallery.
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File comment: the shifter arm with my shifter handle bushing and jamb nut already installed.
new shifter arm with bushing and jamb nut.JPG [ 80.34 KIB | Viewed 3529 times ]
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File comment: this is the pivot ball that simply screws onto the shifter arm
shifter ball.JPG [ 80.88 KIB | Viewed 3529 times ]
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File comment: this is the end link that screws onto the bottom end of shift arm and connects to cars shift linkage
shifter end link and jamb nut.JPG [ 89.04 KIB | Viewed 3529 times ]
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_________________ 93 metro 1.0/5spd/ac......parts manufacturing test vehicle [email protected]
Last edited by dethbrd on Thu Jan 14, 2016 8:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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