Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Performance short shifer

^ LMFAO!!

on a side note, i'm going to be doing an automatic to manual swap and i was wondering if i could/should use a tranny out of a post 98 so i can get a genuine short shifter and if cable is better than rod or vice versa?

thanks

btw: sorry about the hijack

I wish I had a rod shifter. A cable shifted tranny will have parts more easily available and yes, short shifters are already made for them.

OOOOOHHHHH! so, I cut the shifter in half, then I weld it where I want it on the bottom end of the shifer!!!!

no there is no welding involved in making the short shifter for the pre-98. the short shifter you bought for the 98 WILL NOT WORK, GET RID OF IT. you must use the shifter that came in your car. cut it down to the desired height and reinstall. make sure you take out the cable that runs down the center of the shaft. doing so will remove the reverse lockout so you can then install whatever shift knob you want. dont worry you will still have the reverse lockout in the transmission so you still have to go to neutral before you can go to reverse. removing the one on the shifter does not hurt anything.

Cutting the shifter just makes it shorter. It doesn't shorten the throw.

i sent you a email

well if your shortening the shifter, the throw is actually shorter above the fulcrum point (at the knob/handle), just not below. we just did a similar shifter shortening to my brothers 97 escort, and it feels much better. it is also rod shifted like my 96 tour. we were thinking about further shortening the throw by lengthening the bottom side of the shifter connected to the rod, wich would give you the "true" short shifter mechanical advantage as you called it.

however, we did need to cut a couple inches out of the middle of the top half and weld back together. striker, how did you shorten yours? are the threads far enough down the shaft that you can cut to length and just thread a knob on, or did you use a tap and die?

too bad shifters arent as plentiful and as easy to install as they are on my mustang. still fun to work on the cars improving different aspects though.

no i just used a shift knob that has set screws instead of threading it on. however if you wanted to use a shift knob that threads on im sure you could use a die to put threads on it. it might be a little dificult finding a die that large though.