Just saw this for sale..has anybody bought from this guy or this short shifter?

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb...771876800.html

 

This is the wrong section.

Looks like an eBay short shifter if you ask me.

 

try this one,instead of that cheap Ebay stuff.
https://www.rx7club.com/west-sale-wanted-classifieds-195/mazdatrix-short-shifter-84-88-a-982271/

 

I would but it is for a 88..i responded to that thread.. I wish it was for a 91

 

Why not buy the S4 shifter and then buy a $5 S4 shift **** from someone else?

 

Is the shift **** the only difference between the s4 and s5 short shifters

 

it sux my car came with it, never liked it

 

I'm curious as to exactly how the Mazdatrix part is worth four times more than the "cheap eBay crap".
I've been running an eBay "Miata" short throw shifter for several years with out rattles or issues...

The shifter isn't really a precision part and as long as it's not made of paper mache or something, I don't see much difference.
In either install the critical step is shimming the bushings to get good support, the shift lever itself is almost irrelevant.

 

yes

 

I was thinking the same thing.. What makes the Mazdatrix part more expensive? I am sure there is a reason and I am wondering what that reason is

 

the difference could be that one is built down the street from Mazdatrix by a small machine shop , they pay local taxes and insurance and what not, and the other is built in a mega factory overseas by 10 year old girls.

 

I was thinking more toward quality of the product but that is a valid point.

 

not even saying one is better then the other, just why one might cost more.

I have to charge more for what I do for a living versus someone working out of their car.

 

You pay extra for not wondering if the POS your looking at on ebay, thats made in china, will work in your car or not.

If you hafta scrape that hard to get a mazdatrix short shifter, rethink your finances.

 

For the +$100 savings, I could live with a bit of uncertainty.
Then again, I'm pretty good making things work...

 

It's the same thing as going to Walmart, paying $5 bucks for a gallon of Mayfield milk, or paying $2.50 for a gallon of Walmart brand. You'll never know the difference, but you can tell everyone you spent a lot more "for the good stuff!"

You pay for the name. You are paying to advertise. Most people aren't going to be saying "Yeah! I got this bad *** short shifter for $15 on eBay!" but if you spend $300 you bet your *** you're going to brag about it. It's called marketing. And truth is, people are impressed by name brands.

 

I would say its a bit different than that.

I dont see the nice rubber seal like on the mazdatrix one, that right there is a red flag to me. Where else did they skimp.

Ive had C's and mazdatrix short shifters as well as a miata thing and some ebay crap. They ARE different quality wise.

Seem more like buyin some sketchers vs nike. When I find stuff like this on a car I bought I know there is more skimp crap somwhere on the car. Never fails. Hocky pucks work GREAT for motor mounts but I would never admit to using them

 

That cute little rubber seal is just a stock RX part, Mazdatrix sells it separately for $31.
Put it on the "crap" eBay shifter and I'd bet you couldn't distinguish from the Mazdatrix part.

BYW, I think hockey pucks make great engine spacers but are nowhere near as good as a real mount because they do nothing to isolate the engine.

 

So i know this is an old thread, but when i was searching the forum i couldn't find a single answer to the question...

"Is there a difference between the Mazdatrix Short throw shifter, and the eBay short throw shifters."

****The only reason im posting this here is because this thread was the one that i thought actually addressed that question. And im a total noob when it comes to this stuff, and this is a question i had... This is just based on me VISUALLY inspecting the pictures ****

Mazdatrix...
[IMG]<a href="http://s798.photobucket.com/albums/yy262/Srustam20/?action=view&amp;current=ShortShifterb.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy262/Srustam20/ShortShifterb.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>[/IMG]

eBay...
[IMG]<a href="http://s798.photobucket.com/albums/yy262/Srustam20/?action=view&amp;current=ebayshortshifter.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy262/Srustam20/ebayshortshifter.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>[/IMG]

So by having those two pics together, i came to the conclusion that the reason the Mazdatrix shifter would be a better shifter to have, is because the distance from the very top of the big ball where it pivots, to the very top of the shifter, seems to be a lot shorter then the eBay one... Which makes the the shift "shorter". With this shifter, i feel like i would be able to "slam" Gears harder, when power shifting and what not...

And also, I have a feeling that Plastic ring around the very very bottom of the of the shifter has a tendency to break apart after time... ( Found a bunch of rounded plastic pieces in the area where the shifter goes when my tranny wouldnt shift. they were stuck causing the shifter not to move.

So based on this this information, this is MY reason for buying the Mazdatrix Short Throw Shifter!

(Which i just did!)

Thanks!!

 

^ Keep in mind leverage. Short shifters have less leverage to the shift block compared to stock. So the Mazdatrix version will take more "muscle" to shift. Not an endorsement of either, just an observation.

Bottom line, the observation "the distance from the very top of the big ball where it pivots, to the very top of the shifter, seems to be a lot shorter then the eBay one" could actually be an argument in favor of the Ebay version.

 

I have a miata shifter on my fc. Noticed a couple things i like better than mazdatrix.
One is the shifter itself is two piece, the weighted end can be unthreaded to either make it stupid short (I dont recommend) or you can make a short throw shifter with a longer than stock lever pretty easy.
It still makes the ratio less but puts the **** closer to your 6 o'clock so your hand doesnt have to move as far to shift and get back on the wheel
Second is with the smaller ball end you can eliminate shifter rattle on all cars.
I used brass pipe that fit perfect while i had a bronze bushing turned down, the brass pipe still fits tight with no rattle
Oh and the mazdatrix shifter doesnt have a weighted end and is shorter than stock height, both make it harder to shift.
The first time i used a mazdatrix it was hard to shift and kept missing third
And its like $100 less for the "crap" off ebay

 

Bottom line, you get what you pay for is true more often than not.

 

But not in this case IMO
Ive used both and prefer the cheap one.
I did slightly mod the shifter to accept both stock bushings and use the rubber seal (shifter as pictured only has bottom white seal and no seal)

 

True enough although there are two other factors I rarely see mentioned that can mitigate the leverage disadvantage.

First is to pay special attention to- and shim, if necessary- the bushings (not the cup at the bottom but the two that cradle the pivot ball). I found that simply dropping the bushings in place and bolting down the retaining plate made the action stiffer than it should be. A selection of thin plumbing washers from Ace allowed the bushes to be adjusted till the movement remained smooth and glitch free when the retainer was fully tightened.

Second, any short shifter, be it eBay or Mazdatrix, benefits from the heaviest shift **** you can find. My personal favorite is a Nismo part but anything with the proper thread pattern will do.

 

Not to but in but, personally I bought an fc with a short throw kit and HATED it!!! I went back to stock. It shifts smoother and just feels better to me. And besides what the heck is the benefit anyway?!?! A short throw??? Big deal there's no reason you can't shift the speed short or stock. I guess it comes down to what you like best. But I prefer a smooth shift over a hard forceful shift any day.