rx7.com sells the original bushings for our shifter to correct any play that happens over the years. my shifter is quite wobbly, so i was thinking about purchasing these and hopefully it will fix the issue.

however, since i'll be opening up the shift boot anyways, i thought that i may as well get a short shifter while i'm at it. if i put in a short shifter, would i still need the original shift bushings to correct the play?

 

Any chance you could measure the height of your shifter?
Just wanna no if mine is stock, cos ive seen some pics of shifters that look way taller then mine...

 

the stock shifter is a bit tall, if you feel that yours is lower, then you probably have a short shifter. i can't measure mine right now cuz i'm at work.

 

AFAIK most short shifters do not come with new bushings. You use the stock bushings on the new short shifter. I have the Gotham racing short shifter which did not come with new bushings, but I would recommend getting them. Some have claimed that it has eliminated rattling as well.

 

I just installed a Mazdaspeed shifter bushing. It's aluminum versus the nylon OEM one. Shifter is MUCH tighter than it used to be.

 

ah ok thanks. so i will need to purchase new bushings regardless to eliminate the play. does anyone have experience with the one they sell on rx7.com? for $15 bucks, does not seem like a bad deal!

 

what are the other choices? ray at malloy? and where can i find mazdaspeed ones?

 

I recently put in a Mazda Trix short shifter. It came with all the new bushings. whne I pulled the stock shifter out, the bottom bushing was MIA. Needless to say, the shifter is much tighter now. It feels 100 times better.

 

does the brand of short shifter make a big difference? mazdatrix has them for 200, but ebay has a ton of generic steel ones for much less. not trying to be cheap, but if it really is just shortened metal i don't see the point in paying a premium for it.

 

The shifter itself is not shorter, but the throw or amount you have to move the shifter is less. They change that by moving it's pivot point up. I got mine from the 7stock raffle. (Bought it from the guy who won it for $100)
It almost seems worth trying one of the Ebay ones out. As cheap as they are, if you don't like it at least you didn't spend too much.

 

well i just picked one up for 35 shipped off ebay, i don't think it comes with any bushings so i'm looking to purchase a set of those next. i'll post back when it's installed and let you guys know if they're legit

 

update:

i received the short shifter and just finished installing it. the lower bushing that came with it was too large to fit inside the transmission, so i used the bushing repair kit from rotary performance to replace it and it fit perfectly. first impression is very good, almost zero play, very stiff, and the throws are at LEAST 40-50% shorter compared to the stock shifter. overall i'm very pleased with this product, as the total cost was only 35 bucks shipped (plus another 25 for the shifter repair kit from RP). i would highly recommend this to anyone thinking about getting a short shifter but doesn't want to shell out 100-200 bucks.

one thing that concerns me is that after driving off, i noticed a puddle under the car, it smells exactly like the fluid (oil?) that was used inside the shifter when i switched it out. my car has never had a leak before, so i thought it was strange that it would suddenly leak out after i put in a short shifter. should i be concerned?