New Adjustable Short Shifter

for the past few weeks i have been talking with a company that sells an adjustable short shifter for the Focus about using that shifter in the contour. I told them we used the Steeda shifter with a riser plate like the SVTF. these shifters supposedly have a shorter throw than even the Steeda shifter:crazy:. so last friday i finally ordered one up with the SVTF riser plate instead of the reverse lockout delete (figured i could make something work to hold the boot up).

it came in and i installed it yesterday. everything went smoothly and it fits and shifts wonderfully. the only problem was that the riser plate is just a little too thin. its about 3/8" thick and it needs to be about 1/2" -9/16" thick, nothing a couple washers couldnt fix temporarily. im going to talk to them about the feasability of changing their plate to be the right thickness so that it works for both the SVTF and the contour. the best part about this shifter is that are NO WELDS TO BREAK. it consists of 3 machined pieces, the upper handle, the lower handle with pivot ball, the lower ball. the lower ball bracket is pressed onto the lower handle.

on with the pics:

each piece packaged seperatly. they even send allen keys for the new bolts and a torx bit to remove the old bolts. (sorry for the blurry pic)


installed at full height 3rd gear


full height in 4th gear


lowest height in 3rd gear


completly installed. i used the reverse lockout from my 97.




can someone with a Steeda/FRPP shifter measure the total distance the top of the shifter moves (without the shift knob) from 3rd to 4th? I need to find my tape measure and i will get some pictures to show how short the throw really is.

any links to it?

SVTF shifter. you can see the bolts and riser plate.

00-mid02 Focus shifter. you can see the reverse lockout delete that normally would come with the shifter

Didn't something change with the shifters in the late Contours? Just thinking compatability for all 98-00.

todras said:

Didn't something change with the shifters in the late Contours? Just thinking compatability for all 98-00.

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yes, the shifter bases went from the metal one in 98-early99 to the plastice in late99-00. I have a 00 and i just swapped shifter bases with a local CEGer who has a 98. I havent tried it but you could probably also bolt in the 00-mid02 focus shifter base and not need a riser plate at all. the last option for the later contours would be to do what is done for the Steeda shifter and thats to cut out the plastic bottom and then install a plate on the bottom of the car.

nice find striker!

Any ball park price ideas yet?

CSVT_2004 said:

Any ball park price ideas yet?

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$139.95 plus shipping. includes the shifter, riser plate, new bolts, instructions, grease, zip tie, tools. i will talk with them about getting the riser plate issue fixed and then i will ask about a possible group buy. if we get enough interested people maybe we can get the price down some.

Looks good. I personally wouldn't want any shorter of a throw than my Steeda/FR shifter, I even thought about switching back to stock since I seem to break stuff with short throw shifters.

Here's a link to C-F-M that sells them I know: http://focus.c-f-m.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=295

With my 00 I had to lift the tower up some with a piece of plexi-glass I cut out to the shape of the shift tower. That gave me enough clearance that the shift cables just barely touch the foam on the floor of the car. I had to trim some of the shift tower too with a dremel to get enough clearance during shifting.

Edit: Nevermind, now I see striker's links were already to c-f-m :troutslap:

glad to see you got it and it worked daniel! was there any modding neede at all for install besides the riserplate?

icysvt said:

glad to see you got it and it worked daniel! was there any modding neede at all for install besides the riserplate?

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youll have to cut a notch for the centering spring (just like for the Steeda/FRPP. i left it off for the time being but i do plan on putting it back on at some point. no modding needed other than the washers (which im hoping they will just cut the riser plates out of thicker material)

i dont remember cutting a notch for my spring to work with the Ford Racing Focus Shifter

yamaha racer 686 said:

i dont remember cutting a notch for my spring to work with the Ford Racing Focus Shifter

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you should have had to. that is why i was asking about this one

Yeah a buddy of mine with a svtf has that CFM ss shifter and loves it, he got it when they first came out.

Do you know if this will work for a 2001 cougar? I know it will for the 99-00 but the 01-02 has some different parts in the shifter. Thanks
Bill

starjammir said:

Do you know if this will work for a 2001 cougar? I know it will for the 99-00 but the 01-02 has some different parts in the shifter. Thanks
Bill

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what parts are different? i cant seem to find anything stating that the 01-02 cougars have anything different in the shifter base than the 99-00s

I dunno, I was reading this on NECO... http://www.newcougar.org/forums/how-tos/1989-installing-short-shifter-2001-cougar.html It says it a little different for the 01 cougars. I read that the 99-00 requires the riser plate, while the 01-02 does not.

starjammir said:

I dunno, I was reading this on NECO... http://www.newcougar.org/forums/how-tos/1989-installing-short-shifter-2001-cougar.html It says it a little different for the 01 cougars. I read that the 99-00 requires the riser plate, while the 01-02 does not.

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thats the same as the 00 contours and the 00-mid02 focus. it might even be the same shifter base as the focus, in which case you wouldnt even need a riser plate at all.

Ok, cool. Thanks

you might have to do it like you would the Steeda/FRPP on the 00 contour. cut out the plastic bottom of the base and then put a plate underneath the car. should give you the extra room needed. if not then a plate to raise the base up a little would be needed.