where can i find a short shift kit for my 79

 

I'm really interested in this too. Racingbeat only has '81 and up I think, and I haven't found anything else for '79s. Thanks if anyone has any info.

 

They already *are* "short shift". They have a longer below-pivot length than the FB shifters, and they're not *that* much taller.

 

Maybe ill just chop out a mid section in the stick and weld the top to the bottom.

 

Please leave it alone. It is one of the Very cool parts that makes it an SA and not an FB. All it needs is a pistol grip to make it the best.

 

thats what i did lol

 

a pistol grip? hah. I just love the feeling of a short shift.

 

I might have to cut and weld one of mine.

 

This SA shifter is a horrible design. You CANT shift fast to 2nd as you would with a fb. If you need to shift faster then mod your hole so you can use an FB tranny.

 

There is a guy selling short shifters on ebay that supposedly work on 79-85. I emailed him several weeks ago to verify that it really would work on my 1980 SA. He never replied back.

I really want one.

What's the difference between the shifters on a SA and FB anyway? Are the transmissions different?

Can I just swap in an FB transmission so that I can get a short shifter?

 

Double post.

 

I guess all those times I would upshift to 2nd while doing a burnout (holding the brakes even!) so quickly that the tires didn't have a chance to slow down when the clutch was disengaged, were just my imagination?

 

Right.. thats why I even has this confirmed from a ITA 7 driver having the same problem, being when you try to hard and too fast it kicks back at you. I've done it more times then I can remember. so go ahead and bs me, since I drive mine everyday.

Also you cant get that short shift kit he's claiming because your shifter would be to far forward to put it in gear. The fb's have thier shifter about 4'' towards you so the lever is straight rather the up, out and up again.

 

If there is a problem then it can't be a shifter issue, since they both work exactly the same way.

Maybe if you tried moving the lever until it engages a gear instead of going only halfway in...

 

I've never been able to shift my trannies fast other than the 3rd to 4th shift.

 

That's the one I generally have problems with. My bellhousing must be misaligned (input shaft not concentric to E-shaft, this sort of thing does happen).

I've hardly been able to shift the FB tranny at all (either the FB tranny or my SA-tranny-with-FB-tailhousing abomination) until I lengthened the shifter. One of these days I'm going to *fix* that little problem.

 

Jeff20B, your shifters are all pretty much like pick up truck shifters being in the pre-7 era correct? Also dont you have a repu. Oh I've been meaning to ask about that pic you showed me of the wires jumping where the voltage regular went, I cant figure out the combo to make it work like stock, just with no volt meter. I also noticed the picture was pre-7 .

 

You need a continuity tester to see which wire goes where. I figured I could just jump them to use the existing wires that went to the old alt's four way plug. Installing a T shaped two way plug was easy.

I have six pre '78 ribcase trannies and one '79-'80 smoothcase. I could actually shift the smoothcase kinda fast until it started wearing out. I eventually lost 1st.

 

! ! ! ! ! !

 

mazdaracing.com has a "quick shift kit" on their website its $169.95 i was thinking about getting it for my 79

 

Looks nice and short. Does it really fit all 79-92?

 

It couldn't possibly. The '79-80 shift lever is different enough that you can't swap. The pivot locator groove and pin are in a different position, for one thing. (If you could put an SA shifter in an FB trans the bend would go forwards and hit the radio even in Neutral, if you put the FB shifter in an SA you'd have a similar problem) If they got around that problem, by having two grooves perhaps, they they have to deal with the physical difference in length between the SA and FB shifters below the pivot - the SA shifter is longer, try to put it in an FB trans and it will bottom out before the pivot seats. Haven't tried putting an FB shifter in an SA trans but I suspect the ball on the end would pop out of the shifter block when you go for 5th or Reverse.

 

Three five speeds and three four speeds (one is a short style '73 top mounted starter tranny).

Check your PMs.

 

Either way, it's six N/A removable bellhousings.

 

You got that right, and four have been removed and reinstalled already. Actually, the fourth is sitting on my 20B for test-runing purposes.