Has anyone tried to remove the leather boot around the shifter and fit it with a chrome dipped 5-spd (and reverse) shift gate like the older Ferraris?

With the silver trim around the gauges this could look very good - especially if you tip the shifter with a solid chrome or carbon fiber ball as a shift ****.

If there are pics out there, please post them. If not, does this idea interest anyone enough that I should work on a prototype?

It would look like the pic below except with 6 slats, not 7 (stupid mazda - 6 spd would have been NICE)

 

Unless you have driven a Ferrari with one, or another car with a slotted shiftgate, I wouldnt do it.

If you look at the car reviews for Ferrari's they always complain about the shiftgate being annoying. Either it be missing a gear or just hitting it.

You should test a car with one first, IMO.

 

Im pretty sure you would need to replace the shifter lever too because ours tilts when you shift it. the pattern would look somewhat like a star if you used the stock shifter

btw, triple post :P

 

Sorry about the triple post. Thats what you get when you are at work pluggin away at a message board and trying not to get caught

 

Check this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...shift+AND+gate

 

the hole would be a square. the shifter doesnt move far enough. our shifter is better than a ferrari.

 

As i noted in the other thread:

"I made a few "gate shifters" for my FD with a waterjet i used to draw parts for and ran into a few problems.

1. The stock shifter is about 1" diameter where the gate would be . I removed the original shaft and replaced it with a ~3/8" rod

2. After that the entire gate opening was only about 1" wide by 2" high max. so i couldn't even make a real gate. Just a little rectangle.


All i can figure is that in cars that have gate shifters either they slide along the gate instead of pivot like ours or they have a pivot point that is much lower than the gate location on the center console.

I hope that made sense"

 

Don't know about you, but my theoretical top speed of 205 mph combined with nicely spaced gears for any driving occasion is plenty fine with me. 6 speed is too much shifter rowing IMO.

 

I've driven cars with gated shifters and it is nothing too special. In fact, if you try to watch the the shifter go into its slot you will likely miss the shift.

The key is to behave as if there is no gate there and it feels natural.

It seems a senseless exercise in making the car look like something it isn't. I thought only black hood and fart can ricers did that.

 

Not to mention that with the high mileage motor mounts and differential bushings on most FDs, the shifter moves a considerable amount on acceleration and deceleration.

 

Your second comment is right. In essence a gated shifter requires a long shifter, otherwise there is not enough "movement" of the shifter to actually ride through a gate.

And as jimlab said you either want the gate acutally attached to the tranny so the gate/shifter positon is locked in place, or you want a rear/mid transaxle so the shifter is not attached to anything that will move

A gated shifter on an FD won't work if you merely attach the gate to the center console; the shift mechanism of the tranny will be constantly moving around in relation to the gate.