I've noticed quite a bit of interest in a short shifter so I made one just to show that it can be done for $4.00
That's $4.00 Canadian so like 32 cents US
Anyways.... I made this in about two and a half hours... but two of those hours were spent making a new shift knob out of carbon steel on my lathe..... so the short shifter modification took less than 30 minutes.
The total length of my Optra shifter from top to bottom is about 13" and the new shifter is now 11"
So I reduced the length of the shaft by 2" which is about 15%
I will post the total throw length in a few minutes.... I'm going to install the short shifter first measure the throw from the top of 3rd gear to the bottom of 4th gear (total travel of your hand between shifts)
Then I will measure the throw with the stock shifer.
It was easy.... I just cut the plastic with a hacksaw with about 1/16" to 1/8" on the top and bottom (see the picture to see where I cut out the plastic)
Then I used a soldering iron to melt the plastic together.
I then used the chunk of extra plastic to give me a reference for how much to cut off the metal shaft.
Then I cut it with a hacksaw and wham it was done... it's just that easy.
I was talking with Tom and it should be easy to order shifters in from Korea and modify them into an inexpensive short shifter with a nice Isotta knob.
I would however not do the "weld the plastic together" process.... I could make a stainless ring to go over the top of the other piece so that it looks really good.
I will show you guys later... once I get some time to make the "pull back" ring.
My carbon steel knob weighs way too much so I bought a nice Isotta knob off of Tom today... I will post pictures of it in my Optra when I get a chance.
Erfinder wrote:I was talking with Tom and it should be easy to order shifters in from Korea and modify them into an inexpensive short shifter with a nice Isotta knob.
You should definately do this... cause I need a short shifter badly... I'll buy yours if you have any intentions on selling it
Well.... I put on the Isotta knob and now that I've fitted it the total length is only 10.5" so the total difference between the stock shifter and the new one is 2.5".
I was amazed at how little play there is now.... especially side to side... I never thought about it but it reduces movement up/down and left/right.
There is noticeably more force required to shift gears but I like it because it gives better feedback and feels tighter.
I think it's going to take a few days to get used to it..... the shifter is quite a bit lower so it feels wierd when I go to grab it.
AcingTeam wrote: You should definately do this... cause I need a short shifter badly... I'll buy yours if you have any intentions on selling it
The one I have doesn't look very good.... it was only $4.00 at the local scrap yard but it had a couple cracks in the plastic (didn't notice in the scrap yard) so I had to fix it up by melting the plastic together.
I basicly just did it quick to see if it works.... and now that I know it does work well I'd definitly pay more attension to making it look nice.
I will talk to Tom tommorow and we will try and come up with a "pretty" shifter.... I want to throw out the top plastic piece of the shifter and make a piece out of stainless.... and have it thread onto the lower plastic piece.
This would be a very nice looking shifter.... all you would see would be stainless steel and the knob.... all the plastic would be hidden underneath the leather shifter boot.
The stainless thing won't cost much... perhaps $10.00 at most and it would make it way easier to put them together.
I will have to see what Tom figures is the best way.... he will be selling them... not me... I don't have time to do this stuff.
Tom's been working on the Lathe for the last couple of weeks at my shop so he should be able to make really nice stainless parts with no problem.
You will have to talk with Tom (360 Dynamics) I'm turning the project over to him once it's finished.
As usual I have very little spare time.... so just like the ignition driver.... I have to turn it over to someone.... and since Tom is skilled in electronics and machine tools (lathe) I'm sure he will be able to handle the production of these items.
Tom's a good buddy of mine... I don't do this stuff for money.... I give it to him free of charge so that he can get his company going ( which is a benifit for all of us )
I'm more of an inventor.... I like making stuff.... I really don't like spending hours and hours making things for other people.
I used to put together Computers and stereo systems (mostly tuned subwoofer enclosures) but I found that I was spending all my spare time doing stuff for other people for not a whole lot of money.
In the end I decided it was too much hassle and when problems occured I was allways expected to go out of my way to fix everything.
For example.... I sold a computer to this one guy and he kept on getting a virus from people he knew ( he ran executable programs )
Needless to say I probably went over there ten or fifteen times in the first year before I told him to go to a local computer store and have them fix it. He paid me each time but I hate trying to piece together systems after a heavy virus hit.... he lost all his files on his HD three times!!! and each time he almost blamed me for not being able to fix it. In the end he got the hint that I was tired of helping him out and spending the better part of my weekends re-formatting his Hard drive and re-installing all his programs and operating system.....near the end I installed his operating system and programs on a spare drive I had kicking around..... so when he got hit by a virus (or erased program files because he didn't know what they were for ) I could just transfer my entire hard drive onto his so that I didn't have to go through the pain of reinstalling everything.
So perhaps this will give you some insight into why I don't want to have anything to do with production of the parts I design....
Erfinder wrote:
This would be a very nice looking shifter.... all you would see would be stainless steel and the knob.... all the plastic would be hidden underneath the leather shifter boot.
The shifter idea indeed does look very promising, and I did like it very much (which perhaps I didnt show this morning when Chris presented me with his new invention).
We possibly might be able to obtain complete shifter assembly as a brand new unit, but this is something we would need to investigate further.
I found one little hitch...... I can't shift into fifth gear.... the Lemans shifter has a little plastic knob on the side that has to be removed to work with my Optra shifter assembly.
You can see the little yellow round plastic piece on the second picture I posted... the Optra shifter has a thin piece sticking out around 1/8" where as the Lemans shifter has a thicker piece lower down and an extra chunk of plastic extending outwards.
If I simply shave off the little yellow knob thing it will be the same size as the Optra.
I guess this explains why the right to left movement was so much less Oh well.... it's an easy fix.
I don't know if the Lanos needs this knob removed or not..... I will investigate further.
It should just take a couple of seconds with a dremel tool to fix it up.
