I recently did some work to my shifter and came up with an Idea. I think a shift gate would look really cool on our Contours and it probably wouldn't be that hard or expensive to have made. A Peice of Aluminum with slots cut out for each gear. I realize the stock shifter is not that pretty so i was thinking of a soft metal sleave that slips over the shifter to cover up the ugly grossness. I don't have the means or connections to start a group buy but I think this is something we should look into. Anyone think we can make this work?
the picture in my mind is something like the ferrari shift gate. is that what you thinking about?
perhaps someone can photoshop a picture so we can all get a really good idea what we are looking at. i think it may look cool provided it is done right and possibly even combined with a short shifter.
I thought of this about a year ago but I'm pretty sure the shift tower sits up too high and it will not work. Pop the ring off that holds the boot down to the console and you will see what I am talking about. Plus it would be at the base of the shifter just above the pivot point and the movement is very little. The gate would be tiny. With a custom console you may be able to make something work but it would have to sit about 2" higher and would be hard to make it look decent.
Good luck though...
Scott
If you can do this, I will certainly be interested in one. That being said, I too thought of this a while ago. When I started measuring and really looking at things, I came to realize that (as scott said) the movement is very little and there is actually overlap in the area where the lever itself travels. To try and explain: Think of where the lever is while shifting into first and third, and the left and right sides of the lever. When you slide the lever into first, the right side of the lever overlaps where the left side of the lever goes for third.....make any sense? By all means look at it yourself and see if you can come up with somehting, I have the B&M and maybe it would work with the stocker or somehting. The only 2 options I saw were to either create a raised platform (I didn't think that would look too hot) or to do a simple hole. I went with the latter and currently have it on my car, unfinished, in stainless steel. best of luck.
i already tried to make one. i made one for a civic and i worked because of the angle and throw. for one the angle and amount of throw is too close to the shift tower and your gate would look like a wide rectangle. not enough clearance inbetween gears to place a strip of metal that would be benificial. i think it would be more in the way and ruin your shifting ability. but it would be very easy to make your own out of aluminum if you really want to try. all you need is a center punch and a drill. chain drill your gates using a center punch so you get a very near perfect hole alignment and file it smooth. then paint black or something. make a riser from the center console and it might work great.
I've never really understood how a gate would make it any easier or more precise to shift. The shift goes where it's supposed to go when you move it--first to second, second to third, etc. How would a gate, even if it would work, improve that? It seems to me that it would make it harder to shift, like you'd have to think where to move the shifter so it would go in the proper slot. If I'm going thru the gears, which I do on a fairly regular basis, I don't want to think, "am I in the right slot, did I move the shifter over far enough but not too far?" Too much work. Plus I've got the B&M short shifter--how would a gate make life easier for it? The only one you have to screw with is reverse, who needs a gate for that?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against new ideas. God knows we need them. I just can't see how this would help anyone, let alone our cars.
exactly..... maybe it helped vin diesel double clutch so good!!!! looks kinda neat though.
You have all brought up good points. That's why these groups exist. Also, I have something to say about The Fast and the Furious. I thought it was a blast! It was point blank with cars. I made sure to stop listening whenever they tried to teach me something, but anytime there are fast cars racing, it's cool. And that's the way it is.
