Got one of the short shifters off of ebay. Ended up getting the MK1 Shifter. I havn't installed it yet, but I thought I would lube the pivot ball and the housing with some high temp grease. After taking the shifter apart I noticed that the pivot ball is constructed of nylon, not aluminum.
In reading about the B&M shifter (which this shifetr is a knock-off of) I noticed that the B&M has an anodized aluminum pivot ball.
I know you get what you pay for, but what do you guys think about the pivot ball being nylon?
Should I be worried about the pivot ball breaking and dropping into the tranny, or am I being too cautious?

I am alomost ready to put this thing back on ebay and pay the money for the B&M.
What do you guys think?

 

I wouldn't worry about it, many low-popularity companies that make short-shifters either use a nylon pivot ball or a nylon bracket that goes around the pivot ball. Either way both parts have a tendency to break. Unless you have adhd like me and get REALLY into the racing and shift really hard... don't worry about it. I've had a buddy that snapped his shifter rod at the pivot ball, not sure if it was nylon though(but of course it wasn't aluminum/metal). But it wasn't from ebay, it was off an online car performance site. People might be like "man wtf you're hella stupid! put that **** back on ebay!" I bet majority of them haven't even experienced the actual product. I wouldn't worry about having snap so easily.

Jeremy

 

Thanks for the input. I am not worried about the shifter rod breaking; the rod seems to be one piece. The nylon pivot ball itself on my unit slides over the shifter rod (2 different pieces). My thought is that the nylon ball may deteriorate with MORMAL use and cause paritcles to end up in the tranny where an aluminum ball may do so. I was just wondering if anyone else has pulled their similar shifter aprart to find the same nylon ball and wondered about the same problem happening. Should I be worried, or should I just install it and take it out later to see how it is hokding up?
When I pullled my shifter out of my old FC I noticed that it was one peice (pivot ball and shifter rod) and I noticed that the ball was kinda chewed up. If that were to happen to this nylon ball, I would think that it would send pieces through the transmission.
Thoughts?

 

BTW, I am waiting for the backlash of people who are going to rip on me for buying a B&M knock-off. I try to buy the best stuff out there for the car, but this seemed like the same thing as the B&M for half the price. Spending unnecessary money is not in my game plan or budget either.

 

Let me know how it works. I'm trying to be cheap on that and braided brake lines right now.

Baby is due next month so..........

 

Congrats!

Jeremy

 

Anyone know if the B&M pivot ball is made of aluminum? Is the entire shift mechanism metal? The more i think about it, metal on metal would probably be a bad thing.

 

I use the ebay one...Its good I guess. I haven't ever driven another car with an aftermarket short shifter so i don't have much to compare it to. I'll tell you what though...there are no silky smooth shifts thats for sure. It is pretty notchy in every gear with just everyday driving. works well when oing through the gears hard though.

 

I have the B&M, the pivot ball at the end of the shifter rod is aluminum since it is all one piece, I have a nylon bushing at the end of the pivot ball though. Haven't installed it yet so don't know how it is.

-Rob

 

I have the B&M with the stock nylon bushing,...which should be installed no matter what shifter you use.Unless otherwise stated by the company. Otherwise you will have a very annoying rattle and slop, that will make you think the shifter is a POS.

malloy sells them dirt cheap if yours is ground into little pieces like most are by this point in there life. If it is ground up, try the best you can to get the pieces out of the hole where it sits.

 

Maybe I have been using the wrong terminology, I was not referring to the stock bushing or the bottom ball on the shifter lever that snaps into the stock bushing.
I was referring to the (middle) ball on the shift lever that is housed within the shifter mechanism at the fulcrom. Is that peice on the B&M shifter anodized aluminum or is it nylon also?

 

can't say for sure, never had a itch to take it apart for no reason. maybe someone else who has done that will chime in. Sorry, I work on the If it aint broke don't fix it policy. I don't take things apart for uneeded reasons

 

I operate under the same policy. I took the unit apart to grease it up before I installed it.

 

I've got the authentic RE-Amemiya short shifter and love it. I haven't driven another FD so I can't compare it, but you get what you pay for

 

I would think it would have to be nylon like the stocker or Mazdacomp like I have, as it is pivoting wear item, and it would be difficult to keep that area lubed properly to prevent metal-to-metal contact (hard anodizing would do little to prevent wear) and the resultant metal chips in your transmission. Nylon particles are more easily digested by the tranny.

 

Thanks. That is what I was looking for.

 

I have the Ebay one as well. I used the stock (nylon) ball insert (guess since the stock one is nylon the aftermarket one should work as well) the only difference would be the type of nylon used, if it's different than stock then you could wind up with a different result or out come. Jack