TeamSwift

here is the step by step of building your own short shifter, not really hard but gone at from a slightly different angle.

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Car's is about passion for the drive. making a dream into reality.

if you love it, that's enough for me.

Revolt, build, and rise above.

Metro, the NEW GTI.

If you use your head, ask a PRO, you can build anything you want to.

4 pics per post ?? ok, here's the rest then.

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Car's is about passion for the drive. making a dream into reality.

if you love it, that's enough for me.

Revolt, build, and rise above.

Metro, the NEW GTI.

If you use your head, ask a PRO, you can build anything you want to.

and the last ones, sorry i got so many, never done this before.

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Car's is about passion for the drive. making a dream into reality.

if you love it, that's enough for me.

Revolt, build, and rise above.

Metro, the NEW GTI.

If you use your head, ask a PRO, you can build anything you want to.

oops, hit submit, sorry, last one promise.

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Car's is about passion for the drive. making a dream into reality.

if you love it, that's enough for me.

Revolt, build, and rise above.

Metro, the NEW GTI.

If you use your head, ask a PRO, you can build anything you want to.

how's that? i looks pretty ghetto but it'll work for sure, combo this method with the idea i heard on this forum of moving the ball up to the first bend and you'll have to move the shifter one inch to switch cogs, SWEEEET !!! what you guys think ?


by the way, picasa is free online (photo editing software) and it's easy to use.

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Car's is about passion for the drive. making a dream into reality.

if you love it, that's enough for me.

Revolt, build, and rise above.

Metro, the NEW GTI.

If you use your head, ask a PRO, you can build anything you want to.

Looks pretty good, good write up.
But to be honest this isn't a true short shifter. Short shifter shortens the throw, this just shortens the height of the shifter ( or the amount of distance the knob is moving). Still, this is a pretty good mod, only thing I would add is that if someone does change their shifter to have a look at their bushings, if they're worn out, replace them.

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I miss Jomo BRING JOMO BACK


http://sierraclub.com/exxposeexxon

Actually, this is a true short shifter. If you read the directions, the section he takes out of the long end, is used to extend the short end.

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looks cool to me, the only thing I dont understand is: I'm assuming the ball is the pivot of the gear stick so how does the lengthening of the distance between the pivot and the linkage work? I dont know what the rest of the setup looks like so thats probably where I'm going wrong, just how does it still fit if theres a certain ammount of space between the ball and where the end that changes the gears and u make whats mean to fit in that space bigger? Obviously it works I'd just like to know so i can get a better idea of where evrything goes and what is in there since I currently dont know and like working these things out partly for myself

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I got a GTi!!!!!!:) oh so do most of you:( yay anyway:)!!!!

By lengthening the pivot to linkage section, you're increasing the rate that the linkage moves at the expense of leverage. The shifter will require more force to move, but now you don't have to move it as far. The linkage runs parallel to the exhaust, so there really aren't any clearance issues with this type of mod.

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yeh yeh I get what the mod does to the leverage distances etc just if you have a gear lever which is xmm from the ball to the linkage and you increase that ~35mm then what happens to the distance from the socket (I'm assuming the ball sits in a socket) to the linkage? or can the linkage be moved "down" by the lever and hav little or no conequence?

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I got a GTi!!!!!!:) oh so do most of you:( yay anyway:)!!!!

I was just under the car looking at the cv boots (currently undergoing first ever mechanical project on a car, replacing the drive shafts) and I saw where the gear stick comes through to the underside of the car, I now understand how it works, previously I thought that the lower end of the shifter went into a box like thing which then connected to the gearbox, I just saw how its simply a couple of poles and so they can be moved down without consequence, see told you I like figuring this stuf out myself, its gotta be one of the most fun things about mechanics, figuring it out on ur own, then admitting defeat and asking for help when u cant :p

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I got a GTi!!!!!!:) oh so do most of you:( yay anyway:)!!!!

just a short warning. i did this today ( i cut 2 inches though) and the bottom of the shifter now hits my exhaust. ( i have a 2.5" straight through) as in i cannot move it. i now have to modify my exhaust to be able to use it. doesnt really bother me though cuz i am aabout to custom design a new one

i had the same problem with hitting the exaust, but i acctually went through a different method to make it a short shifter.

The ball on the stick is actually welded into place, rather then cutting section, you can grind the welds, and MOVE the ball up or down.

as for it hitting the exaust, this is true, it will. when you shift to 1st or 2nd.
When i had my exuast put in 2.25 inch, they just added a TINY crush bend about .5 cm deep. Problem solved.

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wow, what a lot of work to save $10, the $0.99 ebay honda short shifters work perfectly and have a ballbearing lower pivot..

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'92 Swift GT, '94 Swift GT, '88 Turbo Sprint, '98 Swift ... all sold years ago

That $0.99 eBay bargain becomes $32 by the time it gets to me (down in South America) - on the other hand, I can get the cut & weld or the grind & weld done at no charge - I just need to take the shifter off and take it over to my buddy.

does moving the position of the ball infact work to shorten the throw? looking at the two (stock to modified) the ball has very lil room to move up b4 the bend in the arm. at mak like 1 inch. anyone tryed this b4?

kyle I believe did the ball move on one of his old cars, he said it worked well.
Bit of a job to grind the welds and reweld it though.
Most of us here don't have the welder or grinder to do the job, that's why the honduh drop in works cheaper.
Because we have to pay someone to do the work.

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"I love the whine of a turbo in the mornin" 1991 Sprint Turbo
"I also love the 7500 rpm scream of a DOHC" 2X 1989 Swift GTi's a 92 and Jr's new 93 GT

Keep your eye on the boost guage!
And I love this one!
"Dale Jarrett's crew chief" "Drive it like ya STOLE IT!"

And to think, I wasted my time by doing it this way.

http://www.teamswift.net/garage.php?mod ... age_id=614

I just chopped off the very top of the shifter. That made the trucker sized shifter into the short one you see here. Thereby effectively reducing the amount of distance my hand has to travel to get it into gear.

And yes, it is a little harder to get into gear at first. But you will get used to it the more you do it.

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Things that go "BOOM" in the night ! Hopefully not the 1.0.
Member#3307 ??

I can't see any pics but thats cause the thread is really old. Is there any chance that anyone has these pics or knows where they are?

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1985 Pontiac Firefly, 285843 kms and still strong.