short shiff kit

[dixhuit]

I am thinking of getting a short shift kit. Has anyone any recommendations as to the best one, or what to avoid/bad experiences .
All comments gratefully received
Simon

 

[sawood12]

Get the ones that replaces the mechanism on the top of the transaxel rather than the modified lever 'kits'. The one on my shopping list is the kit that Jon Mitchell has made up. He also does a kit that replaces the ball joint at the bottom of the lever with a more robust setup that will give you further improvement over the stock setup.

 

[steve 944t]

I have the rear linkage from Jon Mitchell on my car. It is certainly an improvement over the very tired original. Jon does 2 versions - one for the road (which I have) and one which is more track orientated. I still have some play in the gear lever so will be purchasing one of Jon's revised levers shortly aswell.
The linkage is a DIY-able job, but is very fiddly as one of the bolts holding it on is completely out of sight on the top of the gearbox. In the end I gave up and had it done last time the car was at RPM.

 

[333pg333]

You have to be prepared for the downsides to these short shift kits. I've had a few and while they definitely do shorten up the throw, you will find that especially in your cold weather in the UK that they will be hard to syncronise and at times feel very bound up. Fun for all the double shuffles and heel and toeing, but ultimately I found that in terms of speed of shift that if you replace the original parts you can actually change as quickly or even faster than with the SSK. Go figure?

 

[dixhuit]

Where do you get the John Mitchel kit from and any idea of price. This is for my track car so its well warmed up. Every track is a good 100 miles from where I live.
But the Short shift must be better than the standard box. Although my engine is a blueprinted S2 , I still run the original 2.5 box and gearing.
Thanks 33 ..... so you rate new parts just as highly.
Simon

 

[steve 944t]

http://www.jmgarage.com/ You will have to ring or email to get details, as most of the links on the website dont do anything!

From memory the rear linkage was about £130-ish. I have to be slow and precise changing from first to second, but from there on the changes are very good. There is adjustment on the JM linkage so I should probably play around with that, but as that means removing it again I am unlikely to bother. Certainly not an issue on track anyway.

 

[Hilux]

Cut down your gear lever, same effect and cheaper.[8|]

[]

 

[Diver944]

I have the JM Roadshifter on my Turbo and a new OEM linkage on my S2. Both made a tremendous difference over the old worn linkage and the Roadshifter is definately taughter than standard. Mine has a little difficulty selecting 2nd, 4th and reverse but there is adjustment which will be done.

I tried a Raceshifter and it was like a rifle bolt gear change with hardly any movement between gears. I thought it would be too extreme for my wife and opted for the Roadshifter.

 

[333pg333]

I had both the road and race shifters. I wound up going for the stock one, with new parts and to be honest in general it's better. We maybe could have fiddled around a bit more with the race one, and I did enjoy it's 'rifle-bolt' shortness, but it really crunched into 2nd gear from 1st at times without warning and that was enough. You can also cut the lever down a little and while this isn't the 'same' it does help the feel a little. My mechanic has this and it feels fine.
...might be looking at a different box altogether soon though....