trochoid

iTrader: (6)

I can mod a shifter, but I also need a sacrificial shifter housing to go with it.

FBsliderseven

iTrader: (2)

i have an extra shifter, hmmm how much do u charge? and what do u need in terms of "shifter housing"?
thanks
josh

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

The shifter housing is the piece that the shiter mounts in. It is a seperate pice that bolts to the tranny. I chop it up for the spacer.

FBsliderseven

iTrader: (2)

hmm junkyard here i come haha.

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

FBsliderseven, how happy are you now with the miata shifter? Would say that the shift feel is worse than stock, equal to stock, or better than a stock shifter? Also, what brand is your miata shifter? Is it one of the ebay cheapies like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda...spagenameZWDVW

Or did you get a semi name brand product like OBX? Thanks for all your input on this. Hopefully it will help me make up my mind on what I want to do.

EDIT: Trochoid, what do you charge to make a shifter?

jarath

I bought the Miata short shifter, it works fine. The little bushing at the bottom needs to be ground down a bit... there needs to be a slight space between the top plate and the middle plate or its really tight... even fully crimped it does eventually losen up. Either way... it works well and I'd do it again for a couple of washers I'll take some pictures of what to do later since I need to open it up anyways.

StealthGXL

iTrader: (1)

Those OBX ones look like the cheesiest ones listed..

jarath

This was what I got:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SHORT...spagenameZWDVW

jarath

Ok so to help some of those trying to do the Miata short shifter but are unsure of how to overcome its small issues I have taken pictures of each step needed to make sure the Ebay Miata short shifter works as designed.

The Miata directions work up until you get to the part where the upper plate needs to be bolted down so here is a run down of each step you take after that.

Now, although the directions do not say to, I put a little RTV Gasket Maker on the buttom of my lower spacer to seal it since it may be exposed to some tranny fluid splash. Normally there is a gasket right there but that gasket just got lifted away and that spacer plate is now there instead. Follow the directions included in the Miata Short Shifter directions until you get to this point with the spacer installed:



Now, you are going to need to grind the outer diameter of this bushing down to almost half of what it is when it comes. I just used a small sanding drum with 80 grit to take it down all the way around in a drill press but sand paper will work also. This will take a few tries but should eventually be able to slip it in for a nice tight fit:



Next, head to Lowes and grab a bag of washers that will fit the screw that comes with the shifter but as small outer diameter as you can... it doesn't have to be perfect but what I used was a washer with inner diameter of 7 mm, outer diameter of 12 mm, and thickness of 2 mm:



You'll want to grab 3 washers and pinch them tight in a pair of vise grips and now its time to take them to a grinder (or whatever you have) to make one side look like the following. The reason for this is the top bushing from your old shifter will not fit properly with a washer in place so you need to remove one side so it will. You need these washers because the upper bushing sits about 1 - 2 mm too high and this overcomes that problem:



Next, go back to the installation and I suggest grabbing a few Q-Tips and push them in the bolt holes to make it easier to line everything up and keep everything in place. I also suggest putting a little grease down around where the washer will sit to keep it from moving around on its own while you are continuing but isn't necessary:




Next grab the shifter with modified lower ball bushing and slide it in place following the Miata installations directions... this should be a snug fit at the bottom and line up with the groove at the top. After the shifter is installed, put your modified washers in place over the Q-Tips with the flat spot you created toward the shifter:



After this, place your old upper bushing on top according to the Miata installation instructions but you will notice it sits about 1 - 2 mm higher than the lower spacer plate... that is what the washers you just installed fix. After the bushing is installed, put your upper boot with the gasket back on and the plate included with the Miata kit over the top of that:



Next, take 1 Q-Tip out at a time and replace with the bolts that come with the miata kit slowly tightening each one down until snug:



Now screw the attaching shift rod to the top of that and get your favorite Miata shift **** because the stock shift **** will not work:




Thats basically all there is to it. It follows the Miata instructions closely other than sanding down the lower ball bushing and the custom spacers you made out of washers at the top to accomodate the RX-7 upper bushing. I didn't get a picture of the upper bushing install but the Miata instructions cover that pretty clearly. Rather than using washers it would be better to use a plate like Trochoid suggested but I didn't have a plate and Lowes had washers I'm not concerned about fluid splash as its so much higher up and the bushings seal it really well. I did put RTV around the lower spacer plate as there didn't seem to be anything sealing that at all... not sure if this was a good design or not but either way its resolved.

Now I will say, the shifter IS NOT hard to shift when you do this, its very tight but very easy to shift (exactly like RX-8) and I've seen a lot of folks complain how hard it is to shift but after doing this spacer change I found it is not hard to shift at all. I think most people have trouble with the spacing and it causes too much pressure on the pivot.

Hope this helps answer some questions and breed some confidence in the Miata shifter... especially when it only costs $32

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Great writeup. This needs archived...