RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

nope, you have to see how the 5th and reverse spring works, it is not visible without disassembling the back half of the tranny. there is a plunger under the pivot arm that returns it to center from 5th/reverse and the J hook returns it to center from the 1/2 position. if the hook is on the wrong side it will try to keep the shifter in the 5th/reverse gates so it is on the wrong side.

Archangels

alright, that makes sense now....

but, why doesent my shifter return to neutral if i let go of it in the gates?...

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

because the spring is on the wrong side holding it there? not sure i understand what you're meaning.

Archangels

OJ

it would make sense if it was on this side of the "J" or "hook" because it looks like it would clip inside the bottom of the "J"....

Flash

iTrader: (2)

Okay, he just explained it. One of your return springs are not working. Either the top visible one for 1-2 gear return, or the other one that is underneath that you can't see.

And NO the shifter does not go inside the "J" as you call it. It's more like a half paper clip or "U". If you try to force the shifter into the spring it will break as it is not large enough.

Archangels

there's another one under that clip!?

lebowitz

Ok i have installed the shifter..Its awesome, nice and tight.. Alot of people are sanding down the plastc peice though.. this will weaken it tremendously.. what i suggest is too bore out the metal that it goes into.. this seems to be the correct solution.. nice and snug.. Hey many people who have seen mine want one but they all have turbo's.. the turbo hole is much bigger.. does anyone know if they make one for the trubo or make a plastic peice thats a little bigger

lebowitz

Ok i have installed the shifter..Its awesome, nice and tight.. Alot of people are sanding down the plastc peice though.. this will weaken it tremendously.. what i suggest is too bore out the metal that it goes into.. this seems to be the correct solution.. nice and snug.. Hey many people who have seen mine want one but they all have turbo's.. the turbo hole is much bigger.. does anyone know if they make one for the trubo or make a plastic peice thats a little bigger

86gxl_fc

FYI, i kept my old honda civic (92) shift ****.. and used that, the threads matched up perfectly for my shift **** i bought of ebay. so i stuck to it. i believe its the same one as yours, it looks exactly like this short shifter.

rogrx7

iTrader: (11)

I thought the shifter was identical turbo or non

86gxl_fc

i'll take a picture of my shifter tommorrow. so happy!! my engine was already streetported so i dont have to go through hassle.. sorry off subject, lmao. i'd suggest giving it a whirl, just go to any local junkyard and pull a couple of shiftknobs, i mean they wont charge you more than a couple of bucks. thats what i did at first, but then i found my old civic shifter and slapped the puppy on. =D

lebowitz

im talking about the hole in the tranny that the whole shifter goes into... in turbos its slightly larger, so the blastic piece on the shifter is to small....

this is the bomb *** shift **** =
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MAZDA...97488166QQrdZ1

nice and heavy and it says 6 speed

clokker

iTrader: (2)

The **** is nice but it's more impressive that you managed to retrofit another gear into your box...a writeup is called for.

slo

iTrader: (1)

I installed an old FB shifter that I had laying around the garage in place of the miata unit, the results: I can hear my exhaust again.

platinumyama32

will this one work? im gonna go through with it....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/90-97...QQcmdZViewItem

Falcoms

Well, I have been running this short shifter for about a year and a half, and now it's got so much slop in it from the cheap plastic bushing for the guide screw breaking down that it binds. It even sticks in 4th gear because a large chunk of said bushing has broken off. The chrome plating is cheap, and when I opened the gear selector box, the gear lube was purple-ish silver, and filled with plastic bushing. My reccomendation: Save your money and buy a good quality short shifter.

wiL87

thread resurrection =)

so i did the miata short shifter today, even though i bought the thing a long time ago. the one i bought came with an extra thing. it had everything else, just the extra uhh iono



this isn't the exact one i bought but it had that.
at first i put that extra thing on top and screwed everything down because i didn't know about the cover gasket. this didn't work out because when it was lightly tightened, the shifter would not move at all, no free play whatsoever.
then i used the cover gasket and lightly tightened that as well and it was the same.
is it not supposed to be tight? the only way i'm able to shift is if i hand tight it. if i use any tools to tighten it, the shifter will not move.
did you guys use all the hardware? - crush washer and regular washer? i can't tighten it every once in a while when it gets lose, but it won't shift if i tighten it... did i do something wrong or am i just not suppose to tighten it?

clokker

iTrader: (2)

No, you should be able to tighten the three bolts and have it still work.

My eBay "Miata short throw shifter" required a LOT of fiddlef*cking to get right...

First, did you have to sand down the bottom nylon bush to get it seated in the hole?
If so, maybe it got tapered and isn't going all the way down.

Next, make sure that the pivot ball is actually seated on the lower tapered bush.
Mine wouldn't and I had to shim the bush up to get proper contact.

Now install the thick aluminum spacer making sure that the locating pin fits the slot in the shifter's pivot ball and place the upper tapered bush over the ball. Cover with the plate/gasket (the piece you have circled) and tighten the three bolts down.
If tightening binds the shifter you'll have to make a spacer to raise the retaining plate...I used various different thicknesses of gasket material till it was right.

At this point, the shifter should be stiff but workable and will loosen up a bit after a few days.
You may need to go back in and reshim (I did).

Be sure to add oil in the shifter housing.*

You'll want a heavily weighted shift **** to counteract the loss in leverage.
I used a Nismo part (#32865-35F00), which is almost perfect save for being a little tall, so I machined the top of the shifter to allow the **** to screw down further.

You'll also want to make sure all your shifter boots are in good condition- especially this guy...

...as it makes a world of difference for rattle control.*

If all this seems like a PITA- it is, but the payoff is worth it.
With my elbow on the console, I can shift using just wrist and fingertip movement and the feel is very positive and precise.


*Wait to add the oil and this boot till you're happy with the setup.
You'll probably be installing/removing the shifter several times to get the shimming correct and it can get messy if there's oil everywhere and you'll save wear and tear on the boot if you only install it once...

wiL87

alright i checked and fixed it but didn't really follow the writeup. the ball did not COMPLETELY sit on the lower bushing but the shifter didn't go down anymore. there was no room.
through trial and error, it worked WITHOUT the new upper shifter bushing (from mazdatrix). it worked fine and shifted easily when TIGHTENED, with the original shifter bushing. I don't think the upper shifter bushing is really necessary.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

At the very least I'd shim the lower bush so the pivot ball does make full contact.
If nothing else, I'd suspect this would help with "shifter rattle".

HEYTOYOTAGUY

have the miata shifter in my fb and it wasnt so hard to install i just sanded the bushing enough so that i could force it in the hole and thend it was installed..the only thing was it seemed to be lacking a top bushing so i used one from the old shifter that was in good repair and voila it works great no binding or anything best bang for the buck $45 no shiming required but i dont know the difference in an fc

FD_Kevin

Do you think you can do the same setup for a FD3S?

TomaSoft

Thanks for all this info.
I'll try the cheaper solution too.

tuto88t2

which miata shifter would fit a 93 tranny?

Archangels

bringing this back from the dead, can you purchase the nylon cup that goes on the bottom of the shifter (because of the smaller ball) seperately?, mine's torn and broken and made shifting sloppy, i need a new one!...