ITS Shifter Question
 

Maybe I missed something in the Transmission section of the GCR, but it makes no mention of the shift lever except that it may be bent above tunnel or floor. Now, if I want to install a short-throw shifter in the car, I'm afraid that it's technically not legal since there is no mention of such a shifter allowance, or did I miss something?

...like the Mazdatrix short throw? That's a nice setup. I have not found anywhere in the GCR where this is legal for IT and I've looked. If it doesn't say it's legal, you know the saying... it's not. Do you know how much a complete OEM replacement setup is? If I recall it's not cheap and about the same cost as the Mazdatrix.

GCR says you must run the stock shifter but you can change the shift knob. This kind of defeats IT philosophy of keeping cost down by minimizing mods when you can get a superior shifter (Mazdatrix short throw) for the about the same cost as an OEM replacement but are not permitted to do so.

The shifter isn't really so bad IMO with good bushings. The OEM knob sucks balls and contributes to the long throw. Find a knob that threads all the way to the top of the ball. This lowers the knob a couple inches and goes a long way to shortening up the throw. It's also legal. I used an aluminum knob from a B&M kit for the Contour. Liked it so much that when I sold the car I kept the knob.

Can't we e-mail the rules committee and petition them for an allowance or something? If I have to, I'll tear down the fences!!!

If you follow the IT forums much, I think you'll find opposition to this by most of the IT community. Do you see how freaked out people get about the ECU proposal? Rule creep and rule changes, they don't want it... "it increases the cost to race". I think the response you would get would be "not consistent with class philosophy". Bring it up on the IT forums if you want, but I think most would be against it.

Personally, I am fine with the ECU changes and I'd like a short throw shifter to be legal! Maybe I should run Prod or maybe that's why I am drawn to NASA more right now.

...yeah but aren't those bushings pretty expensive if I recall?

It's been a while since I dealt with the SCCA GCR (NASA went to a slightly different rules set now), but as I recall you can bend the shift lever or you can cut it. But you can't replace the whole assembly with an aftermarket piece.

The guy who rebuilt my last transmission told me that the stock piece was better in the long term for transmission life, as it slows your shift down a bit and prevents you from trashing it. Could be bs, might not be, YMMV.

Me, I'm tired of the $900 tranny rebuilds so I'm trying stock back on.

PaulC

You can't cut it, but you can bend it. You can't replace it, but you can replace the knob. Although a short shifter with a higher pivot provides a shorter throw, it also gives you a great opportunity to beat the synchros. As weak as these gearboxes are anyway, I wouldn't recommend it. It won't make you go faster. It will probably let you rebuild your transmission more often.

Make sure the shifter bushing is still in the "cup" of the transmission where the shfiter fits, there are frequesntly lost during rebuilds/replacements. As long as it, and the bushings on the shifter are good, the shifter itself is fine. Save your money for another test day. Or a new set of tires.