What I spent my (Shift-y) Saturday afternoon doing...

JakerJaker familEE
in Engine & Drivetrain
Well everyone says there's no short shifter sold for the Wagovan RT4WD, so I decided to make my own. I remember reading somewhere a while back about the Prelude boys being in a similar predicament. There was a thread that I read that had pics and info about how they did theirs. I don't know where the thread is, but I saw enough to remember how to do it.

It's been about 15 years since I did any MIG welding, but it's like riding a bike. I picked up a used Miller 170 amp MIG last week for a song. Better still is that I split the purchase 3 ways with 2 of my co-workers, so I ended up out of pocket only $170. I then proceded to spend another $250-$300 on welding gear (Helmet, welding coat, gloves, stainless steel brushes and an extension cord to plug the welder into the dryer outlet that's just the other side of the man door from the garage into the house).

I added 1" to the length of the rods under the shifter, so I know that it's going to be rather short. The longest I'd done in the past for the rod shifters on the FWD Civics was 3/4", and those made the shifting rather tight. Maybe I overdid it with 1". We'll see. I'm also pretty sure this won't fit under the shifter console, but I'll deal with that later.

Anyone think the welds are good? I think I got some pretty decent penetration. My only real concern is the length I added to the bottom of the center rod. There's not a lot of material there. I built it up a bit with an extra pass all the way around the joint, so I'm pretty sure it will hold.

Have a look at the pics. Comments welcomed.

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Comments

  • stephenstephen Senior Wagonist
    Looks good. I wish I could weld....
  • skinnyskinny Senior Wagonist
    If it works would you be willing to do others?
  • noahrexionnoahrexion Wagonist
    I was thinking of doing the same thing with mine (though not as much as you). About 2 months ago I fabbed up some new bushings for my shifter and was thinking how easy it would have been for me to weld up a shorty.

    Thanks for sharing!
  • badpennybadpenny Band Wagon
    That looks great, I need something similar for mine, actually, not a short shifter at all, all I want is an 18 inch extenstion that has a mild curve to avoid hitting the dash. I set a ways away from the console anyways I hate reaching for the shifter, I like it to be within my grasp.
    582.jpg
  • ricefighterricefighter Wagonist
    i liked what you did mang. actually i just like the short throw not the long stick shift. ill do mine someday. thanks for sharing your idea.


    wagon..............4ever...................
  • skinnyskinny Senior Wagonist
    how was the 1 inch extension doing? You were saying it was longer then you would norm do?
  • JakerJaker familEE
    It'll be weeks before I can test the new shifter. The car is about 18" off the ground right now with nothing under it to hold it up (no suspension, no drivetrain, etc...). The project is progressing nicely though.

    I've made short shifters in the past for the FWD trannies and the most I ever extended the bottom part was 3/4" to prevent interference with the exhaust. Don't have to worry about that with the RT4WD shifter, as the cables run inside the car through the firewall to the tranny. We'll see.
  • lucskywalkerlucskywalker Wagonist
    just some info, you can have a long shifter with a short throw, its whats under the pivot point not whats above it that counts :wink:
  • JakerJaker familEE
    The part above the pivot also affects the throw. If you hand is 18" above the pivot, it has to move further to change gears than if it was 6" above the pivot.
  • skinnyskinny Senior Wagonist
    Haha its simple physics people.
  • shenrieshenrie Council Member
    Good on ya. If I wasnt so rough on trannies as it is, I might follow your lead. Nice work man!

    We did a long shifter like the one posted above 7-8 years ago when we first built our hatch for autox. However, instead of just lenghtening the shifter, my boss raised the whole shift linkage. He modded it so the linkage came inside right about where the cables do on the rt's. He jsut wanted the shifter closer to the steering wheel so you didnt have search for it during a run. It actually works really good...not all that sightly, but works well, lol.
  • JakerJaker familEE
    skinny wrote:
    Haha its simple physics people.

    ???? What are you getting at?
  • Eagle BeagleEagle Beagle familEE
    Yeah, get back in line
    for free...

    you can get back in line for free

    i'm listening to CaCO3
    :mrgreen:
  • jb2wheelsjb2wheels Wagonist
    badpenny wrote:
    582.jpg

    The Kakabox shifter - looks goofy (not poorly built) but works great I hear.

    I just finished reading the fantastic Kakabox build thread. If you have a couple of hours to kill, it's a good read.

    http://www.redpepperracing.com/forums/i ... opic=20659
  • Tatty90EE4Tatty90EE4 Wagonist
    i'm def interested in hearing how this goes. let us know of any updates Jaker...
  • deceptakhandeceptakhan Wagonist
    Awesome job man! If it works you should consider making these on the side, maybe a group buy?
    Jaker wrote:
    The part above the pivot also affects the throw. If you hand is 18" above the pivot, it has to move further to change gears than if it was 6" above the pivot.

    Not so much. What really affects it is the part underneath. I have a circuit hero shifter extender in my db2, about as biig as that shifter pictured here in the race car. My shifts are still much smaller than stock with a skunk2 short shifter. Maybe half as much even though the knob is next to the shifter wheel.
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