The ball end at the bottom of the lever.
I ground a small flat across the lathe center hole.

When the lever was fully seated, it held the pivot ball up off the pivot bushing a bit, & that lowered it just enough.

 

I just got mine finally installed, sanded the bushing, and ground down the bottom of the ball... think it was about 1/2hr from start to finish. Man is it short... gotta relearn the shifting now, but I love it. With just the bottom half of the shifter my hand is at the perfect height for using my carputer screen... good find bud and thx for the write up.

 

thanks for the additional info, i haven't had much time to do more research on it lately.

 

very nice write up Karack. now here's my question, will the s5 shift **** fit on the Miata shifter?

 

damn...i guess i gotta get one too then. you all seem to be having lots of fun with yours.

 

Yes, miata and s5 use the same thread, as I use a miata **** in my s5 car with stock shifter.

 

Just did the install a couple days ago. Great writeup, followed the steps and worked great the first time. I did, however, drive it on the super short stick and I found it very hard to find first gear. I also found it difficult to put it in 5th and reverse. At one point I hurt my arm trying to get it in gear and had to have my friend put it in reverse for me. I am also using the JDM tranny, so it tilts slightly to the right, so that also might be why I had a hard time. With the taller shifter on it works great though.

 

well damn i might have to do this cheap mod

 

yep it fits the S5 but not the S4 directly, it also fits FD and RX8 shift ***** so basically anything S5 and up.

 

wasn't someone selling the 5 spd rx8 ***** a while back? i wouldn't mind getting one of those

 

so have you found out any more about the rattling noises? I would love to ditch my shifter for a shorter one as long as i know about the rattling potential...my car rattles enough in the winter time, plus being a vert you hear everything around you....

 

i was just thinking... could you not just use a regular miata shifter, and kinda get something b/t the super short shifter, and the stock fc shifter? maybe an equivalent to a MT FC shifter but cheaper....just food for thought...

 

I guess it could work. Not sure about the fulcrum point though. On second thought, the stock Miata shifter might use the same fulcrum point as the FC because the Miata short shifter uses a higher fulcrum but includes the spacers and fits the FC, so if the short shifter fits, the stock one might too. I wonder if anyone has done it before?

 

sorry if this is a stupid question but cant you just attack the shifter with a saw and a tap&die?

 

that won't shorten the throw, just the shaft

 

just scored mine off ebay

 

fellas if the miata shifter is installed correctly it won't rattle. Mine doesn't rattle.

 

I believe he was referring to the Mazdatrix shifter

 

It's already been said the rattle is car specific and not directly related to the shifter.

 

I installed my miata ebay shifter about a 11 days ago. I sanded about .030" off the o.d. of the bushing, but did not take anything off anywhere else. It was a little stiff at first going into reverse and fifth, but after driving for a few days it has started to loosen up or maybe I'm just getting use to it. Very good upgrade and was only $40 shipped from ebay.

 

No rattle

 

We've found that the best way to combat the rattle in any short shifter is to replace your tranny mounts. Usually that's all it takes to fix em. I'm willing to bet that 90% of people on this board have shot tranny mounts.

 

So does the plastic collar on the bottom of the shift ball need to be used..? I am still a tad confused on that part. Is that collar used if you have a S5 tranny or just if you have a S5/Miata shifter? I have a S4 tranny and was just wondering if I need to use that plastic collar when changing shifters.
Thanks for any help/advice.
Swany

 

Does anyone know of a shifter **** that fits the super short style shifter? Or is everyone just using "universal" shift ***** on that application? Also who knows of a good universal that does not slip off with in a week?

 

i don't think there is any shifters with the thread size for the base shifter, if you use a universal shift **** try to get it down on the threads as much as possible, the force required to shift with the short short shifter tends to stretch the threads on the shifter unless you can get the shifter to see lower on the shaft.

try adding some light weight wheel bearing grease to the shifter bushings and if you have the nylon sleeve style try taking some material off the bottom portion of the sleeve so the shifter is seated fully.