MTX75 shift tower mod

[Spiral]

Does anyone have a couple pictures of the keyed shift tower? I have a pretty good idea what I need to do but I would like to see one so that I can replicated it.

 

[Spiral]

My question is, is it worth trying to modify the contour shift tower or buying a Focus tower and adapting it to the contour. I wanted some pictures to get an idea because I had sent in a RFQ to Terry Haines awhile ago and have not heard back from him so I figured I would do it myself. I figured a ME with a full machine shop should be able to pull something off.

 

[blu_fuz]

There is nothing better about the focus tower. There was just a thread on this a couple days ago.

 

[Spiral]

I just saw that...

 

[morbid]

There is nothing better about the focus tower.

I think it looks a little better than the Contour one. But not worth the extra work and $$.

 

[Beans]

Bolt doesn't break and drop down into the trans.. That's better :shrug:

 

[blu_fuz]

Dunno really, ask BrApple.....

 

[BrApple]

Bolt doesn't break and drop down into the trans.. That's better :shrug:

yeah but it can still break. plus it uses bushing like the later style tower, which, imho, suck when compared to the early tower that used roller bearings. just read up on FCO, Terry has posted all about it.

 

[Spiral]

I got an email back from Terry... Ill just be sending him one of my shift towers

 

[CKtour98]

The Focus towers do indeed shear the boltheads off just like Contours, it happened to my 2000 ZX3 4 times before I permanently fixed it. What a pain in the @ss though lol

 

[99Mystique ATX]

At some point I need to send him a spare one to be rebuild so I can drop it in the cougar...

 

[Beans]

The Focus towers do indeed shear the boltheads off just like Contours, it happened to my 2000 ZX3 4 times before I permanently fixed it. What a pain in the @ss though lol

Pretty sure they changed the design in the later models, i think they might share the shame shifter in a 2000

 

[CKtour98]

Early Focus towers were a bolt, then they "updated" them with a pin thing and those towers ended up failing as well (sheared bolt)

Onlt the SVT models didnt for obvious reasoning (Getrag tranny)

 

[KAOS_3.0]

I'd still like to see one welded to know for sure if it's a bad idea...

or maybe just replace the bolt with something harder? that would be too obvious...

 

[CKtour98]

I'd still like to see one welded to know for sure if it's a bad idea...

or maybe just replace the bolt with something harder? that would be too obvious...

My friend fully welded his tower (no bolt) and has no 0 problems since. Terry Haines said the oil eventually breaks the welds loose and bam, broken tower...but he hasnt had this happen or had any signs of it weakening.

I had my Focus tower modded- not by TH but by my uncle whos a welder- he used a grade 8/9 hardened bolt, covered in locktite and then welded it as well into the tower and I never had a problem after that either- this setup saw agressive driving frequently too, not a hiccup either. Worked mint..there was no way that it would break, the transmission would explode before it broke..

 

[KAOS_3.0]

yeah, thats basically what I've been thinking all along, but terry (the guy who charges a lot of money to do it his way) said it was a bad idea way back before I started boycotting FCO due to my personal belief that it's nothing more than a revenue generator for a select few guys there with shops...

not that all guys with shops are like that, just a few. and I'm not saying those people are necessarily bad folks, just that they have their own best interests in mind...

I do have a spare tower in storage though, and I think I will be trying this on it so I can shove it in when I finish my trans...

 

[Spiral]

I will post some pictures this weekend. The bolt in question as far as I can see is in static, pretty much just holds the fork selector in place. I am going to grind two notches in it and add two fillet welds on each side. The bracket where bolt is fastened to is not a powder metal part, it is an alloy steel so this should hold with no problems. I have welded the cam sprockets to the camshaft on my Taurus which is under dynamic load and the welds are on a shear axis, to this day I have had no problems at all with this.

I will examine it more tomorrow before I get started, but i am pretty sure my thoughts are correct on this.

 

[KAOS_3.0]

post some pic's when your done. also write up a how too including welding wire/settings used so we can replicate the process if it works out for you...

thanks!

[edit] I also suggest you use a stronger bolt, as the head shears off of the OEM bolt, and thus welding the head down will do nothing more than switching to the roll pin focus tower, the head wont drop in the trans...