short shifter question.....
 

Hey i just wanted to know what people had to say about the MK-1 short shifter...if its worth $90....and just what people know about it...so feel free to say anything! Thanks!...heres the one im lookin at on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ayphotohosting

I bought a miata mx5 short shifter for $45 and with a little sanding it was in. You make the decision. There is a write up on it in the archives.

yeah i read all the archives n shit on people gettin the mx5 short shifter....and was thinkin bout it...but i dunno i kinda already bid on this...ha....whats the difference would u say between them i mean like performance wise n shit?

I don't get all that stuff about short shifters... I mean, it's only a shorter shaft!
I just removed the shifter, cut a segment in the midle of it, welded it and put it back in place. I had to replace the bushings :P.

Yeah uh, no.

It's NOT just a shorter shaft. Shortening the shaft shortens the throw only so much...the shortening of the gear engagements is all in the bottom.

The real short throw shifters aren't actually any shorter at all. They just have a different pivot point. The bottom part, below the bolt-in plate, is longer, while the top part is shorter. To make up for the difference is why they put that large metal donut in the kits as a spacer, along with longer bolts. I just bought a 90-97 Miata shifter and installed it. It actually feels BETTER than my Mazdatrix that I had in my 87 TII, and for 1/4 the price shipped. It's ultra-tight, and has great positive engagement. I replaced the bushings at the same time, which only made it feel better. The only beef i might have had with the Miata shifter vs. the Mazdatrix is that the miata shifter didn't come with any boots. However, I had just replaced the inner boot and just swapped it onto the new shifter and it worked out well. I mean, if you don't do a lot of racing, there's no huge benefit other than a much better (in my opinion) feel and engagement. It made my GXL easier and more fun to drive, and took all of the slop out of the shifter. You do have to do about 5 minutes worth of sanding on the Miata shifter's bottom-most bushing, but it worked extremely well. Better than stock in my opinion. Another point to consider is that the Miata shifters have the same thread pitch of an s5, so if you have an s4 with factory shift knob, you'll have to replace it.

So lxk199, which shifter did you pick up exactly? I've been looking for one for a while.

Mmm, yeah. Sorry my bad. I searched and you are right guys.

I picked up the Miata shifter that pops up on eBay every once in a while for between $30 and $40. You have to make sure its for an NA chassis miata (90-97). Definitely worth the $50 shipped. Just remember to replace your boots/bushings as necessary, and the shift knob issue.

Look at this auction. This is the one I bought. See the bushing at the very bottm of the shifter, on the smallest ball? That's the one you have to sand down and take about 1mm off. The bushing on the upper, larger ball wasn't used. I used a factory upper shifter bushing (without spring), as it fits better and has a notch to match the alignment pin. I didn't use a lower bushing at all, as the inner collar replaces the need for one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MAZDA...QQcmdZViewItem

I had the shift knob issue as well, and I just used the knob out of a miata.

Yup, same thread pitch as an S5.