reverse switch?? the clip in the picture? i don't think so...

well what happened was after all the trouble of trying to get that clip pushed aside and then finally getting that orange bushing out, i realized that i didn't even have to get it out. the plastic bushing that came with the shifter just needed to be sanded down a bit and then that fit inside that orange bushing. it would be too small to fit without that bushing..i wasted a lot of time on that.

SO, in case anyone else encounters this, don't waste your time and don't take that orange bushing out. so this write up in this thread isn't accurate for all FCs shifters...

other than that it seemed to turn out fine...for some reason though if i tighten the 3 bolts all the way down, it is too hard to shift, so i have to loosen it a bit. i don't know if that is normal or not...

 

Greetings...
I installed my short shofter but didnt attach the white plastik thing at the bottom...
( i attached the pic).IS this a problem???The shifter rattles and has some freeplay at any gear.Should i install this plastik thing or not???

 

yes you should, it will take up all the slack you have in the shifter

 

after about a year the plastic insert in the large ball socket finally wore out from daily abuse, i decided to weld the whole groove shut and re-grind it for a solid metal slot rather than the plastic insert, the inserts look like the standard ones on mazdatrix should fit just fine if any of you ever need replacements and can give feedback on them.

while i had it out i noticed the witness marks from when the shifter initially rattled(it only rattled for about 2 months when i really was on it in lower gears), there was 2 witness marks where the tapered portion down to the smaller ball socket was hitting the edge of the shifter mechanism, this could be cured by moving the shifter up or modifying the taper on the shifter mechanism bore for more clearance. also i noticed on the bottom of the smaller ball socket there was some hammering going on, it looks like the shifter bottoms out in the neutral gates, a little modifying there as well would give more clearance but again moving the shifter up a small amount would cure that but the main problem we seem to have is the shifter being stiff, i added some wheel bearing grease to the large ball socket before installing it this time and it helped quite a bit for initial break in again.

the shifter doesn't rattle and still feels nice and tight after about 20k miles, the only issue i had with it was the rattling which i got over and went away on its own(only really rattled on hard accel in 1-3) and the worn shifter slot bushing which allowed the shifter to twist a little over time but welding it should permanently take care of that issue.

 

There is not much slack..just a little...i have the stock plastic thing still installed in there...
Is this plastic thing impossible for the rattle or just for the slack???
Thanks.

 

bump

just installed my miata shifter, its awesome a lot better than the stock one and the throw is a lot shorter too. its stiff but im sure it'll break in, def a good buy for about only 40 or so bucks total.

 

Well I removed the shifter, it was sloppy and felt notchy.. Maybe if I had sanded the base as the instructions directed it would have felt better. Oh well, perhaps I will try it again later.

 

Here is the one I just got.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda...mZ150018195824

Its the exact one I bought a year ago from Karak`s first link. The first one is in my `86 GXL and works very well. It took a couple thousand miles to loosen up some. The rattle has disappeared. I chased down a S5 stock **** for it since the "universal" **** I got at first just sucked big time.

This time I found a differant ****. It has pretty good weight to it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWN%3AIT

new one (**** and shifter) is for my new TII.

Just thought I`d share the links.

 

Did anyone else have trouble sanding down that collar bushing? I sanded for about 30 min and it still didnt fit. And I'm pretty sure I have the assembly wrong. It still kinda works

 

i sanded it with a delmel tool and it took prolly 30 mins, but i finally pushed it down pretty hard, and did that a few times till it would move pretty easily. still love the throw its starting to get broke in now. love it!

 

Ok i found a "ghetto" sollution to all the rattling and free play of my short shifter.
All you need is some duck tape and a few really small balloons.
What i did is this...i wrapped the spherical bottom of the shifter with some duct tape...then i covered it with a small part of one small balloon (u can figure out how much).Then i wrapped the balloon with ducktape again and then i covered it with one more balloon and so on till it fits perfectly to the hole of the gear box.
I know its a silly solution but i guaranty that i have no rattle at all and the free play is minimised.Good luck!!!!

 

I forgot to tell you that the final cover of this whole thing should be a balloon...and make sure to cover the whole thing with transmission oil after u install it....

 

I also forgot to tell you that i did this whole ghetto thing because i dont have installed the white plastic cover that covers the spherical bottom.If you have installed this properly u dont have to do this.

 

Ok...
FORGET ALL MY PREVIOUS POSTS in this topic!!!!!
The ghetto solution disindigrated after two weeks and the short shifter started to rattle again.
But i totally and finally fix it.
What you have to do is to find an elastic heavy duty cylidrincal cover for the spherical bottom.I found something like this in my friends workshop.
The outer diameter of this cover must be 18-18,5mm in order to fit perfectly( that is correct if you havent removed the stock white plastic ring.Then you just install this cover on the shifter and then in the gear box.
Now my shifter doesnt rattle at all and i believe that it is even better than the stock shifter.
good luck

 

how do i get around this clip?, how do i install the shifter with this clip?...

does it go on the left side of it or the right?...

 

Archangels:
simply push the clip aside. it behaves like a spring. don't push too far though because the clip will come loose.
the bottom ball w/ bushing of the short shifter goes under that clip.

A WORD OF ADVICE, which was not mentioned in this thread. if your shifter has that orange bushing thing, as seen in that pic, DO NOT remove it. simply insert the bottom ball of the short shifter (that has its own plastic bushing that you will need to shave down slightly).

 

i broke the plastic bushing for the bottom of the shifter, it cracked so i placed it in the hole and poked it in with a screw driver, then went to install the shifter and used a rubber mallet to have it seat inside the bushing....

sound legit?...

the clip was pissing me off so i was kinda forceful with moving it, but it's not loose or anything, or bent....

what the hell is the clip by the way!?

 

that clip snaps ur shifter back into position after u bring it back to neutral

 

at 100 I can't hear my racing beat exhaust over my miata short throw shifter.

I want to kick whover told me about the miata shifter in the *****.

 

this might help:
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/how-i-stopped-short-shifter-rattle-548352/

 

That clip is to center your shifter when the car is in neutral.

 

is my shifter supposed to be on the left side or the right side of the clip?...

right now it's on the right side and it does NOT come back to center when i release it in each gate....

is the hook part of the clip supposed to be around the shifter itself?...

 

doesn't matter which side i don't think, as long as it is on top covering the lower ball.

 

the j-hook wire should be to the left of the ball socket.

 

that would explain the shifter returning from the 1st and 2nd gear gate but not 5th and reverse....

if it was in the middle of the "J" with it holding the shifter, wouldnt it spring back from both gates?...