Please help..those who removed shifter extension on P5
 

I'm heating it up and the rubber adhesive wont burn or budge!!!!!
I'm just putting a small flame....Gimme more pointers please!

Forget it I got it out...
 

This is the way I did it :

I put the flame at the bottom of the extension where the adhesive comes out and basically held the small flame for 15 min....Don't forget to put a cold and wet, clean rag around the main shifter tube to prevent the excess heat from reaching the plastic bushings....

I would save your money and buy a true short shifter. All your doing is removing leverage. Throws will be the same.

Yeah, they're real cheap. Like $140.00plus ship from Tripoint. Getting mine next week.

Rishie

Don 668
 

You are absolutely right....And for now that's all I want : I want to get the lever shorter that's it...

I'll agree.... the shifter is to long! Hate to torch my new car though

Cheers

what are you using? I used a propane torch and it took about 30 seconds. heat the bottom past of the extension and then put a screwdrive in the hole on the extension, twist and pull up and viola.....shorter shifter. You'll need a new knob but the boot is just fine. if you email me i can send you some instructions to print out that I have. I would recommend the mp3 knob if you can get it. The boot is the same as in the MP3, it will look nice with the knob.

Got some pictures
 

Here's the shorter shifter (the new threaded extension technique). It's about 1.5" lower....Enough for me.
Oh yeah, and that's also me doing donuts in the company's parking lot...
[IMG]d:\car\P5_2.jpg[/IMG]

:confused: do you think the shifter on P5 is the same as on DX model 1.6L , if yes, i might interested to buy the product from tripoint motorsport. i guess it should be a better way to lower the shifter.

Save your money and just remove the extension. The shifter is just a lever with a fulcrum, so changing the length of the lever on either side of the fulcrum has equal but opposite effects. A $100+ after market lever might make allow for an even shorter throw, but one would need to compare the lever lengths to be sure. The after market lever will likely reduce the angular displacement when changing gears, but may not reduce throw as much as just removing the extension.

I’m very happy with just having the extension removed, because my main problem was with the shifter hitting the passengers knee in 5th gear. Also, I can highly recommend the B&M leather and carbon fiber shift knob. It matches the car’s interior perfectly, and feels great. The set screw mounting of the knob allows for some height adjustment as well. I even made a custom leather shift boot to match, cuz the OEM boot was a piece of crap. It’s sweet set up now, and only cost $20 for the knob, and $10 for scrap leather from the furniture store.

The B&M has a shorter top part to the shifter ie: "removing your extention" but the underside is lengthened as well resulting in 2" less throws. Plus I would see the benefit of a better quality part.

Dont get me wrong.... I see the value of what your doing, saving money to put somewhere else makes sense, I just think a true short shifter would work better.

I'm sure it is a better quality part, and if the lower section is longer it would shorten the stroke more than just removing the extension. I just think its not really necessary, and more people would opt for the cheap easy method. I also wanted to point out I'm happy with it, and you're right, I will wait and spend the money on something more worth while. I'm still waiting on someone to make a SS header, and If that doesn't happen soon I may end up spending the $700 on the Mazdaspeed pipes, and need that extra $100.

Either way you go though, a leather shift boot will make the biggest difference in driver satisfaction. The stock boot just doesn't fit well afterwards, and at first I tried resewing it. But the results were crap. The $10 for the leather and $2 for the machine needles, may be the best money I'll spend on the car. I tightly stiched the top 2" of the boot to the lever, so now I normally hold the lever below the knob when shifting. The large dia of the stock lever feels just right for this, and the stroke is plenty short for me. Anyway you gotta have leather in both hands when you drive.

Has anyone here seen the MP3 knob and shift boot? Its very nice and it uses the same boot that is on the Pro5. The Mp3 does not have the extension like the Pro5 but its shift knob is much taller. Once you remove the extension and reinstall everything else then you need to push the boot down in the cavity below the shifter tunnel. Looks exactly like it does in the Mp3; clean and purposeful.

so let me get this strait, you held a flame underneath the extention (silver part) and sat their for around 15 mins? did you use something like 2 hex keys to torque it out or what?, the extention would get pretty hot if you held a zippo their for even 5 mins

i still can't get it out, i only got a zippo (no blow torch), what kind flame did you use? pencil torch?

Has anyone actually measured the difference in stroke?
 

Just wondering if anyone has actually measured the difference in stroke for the OEM style shifter, to the Modified OEM shifter? Also, I was wondering, are you removing the counterweight under the boot? Once you have removed the extention, are there any threads or do you have to use an aftermarket style knob?

And I'm curious how this or like threads re extention removal have passed me by, must have been busy :wackit:

re:
 

Look dude dont know your location but go to walmart or sears or somewhere like that and get a propane torch about $20 30 sec is all it takes with what you are using you'll never even come close to removing it.

Re: re:
 

lmao, ahh screw it, i'll just get a kartboy shifter

Holy shit, I finally did this shorteing thing, and its pretty sweet. Of course I had to try with the lighters at first just to see. Major exercise in futility. SO I borrowed this dude's propane torch and burnt the shit out of it, and the extension slid right off. It looks and feels great, the throw feels good too. There is no way in hell I would ever justify blowing chedda on some aftermarket short shift kit. Unless you plan on doing some serious racing (highly doubtful in our cars), the thorw is plenty short enough now for quick daily driving, save yourself some money. Why spend good money on somehting that could be put to a good use, ya know sumthin like Jack Daniel's or weed.

Re: Re: re:
 

I agree.. you will love the throw... but that my opinion.

RC

Just torched it!
 

I love it. I took the extention off with my friends torch, then I cut the rubber back that's under the extention, dremeled out the inside of the stock knob and pushed it on. It looks awesome. The knob doesn't budge at all.

100% satisfied and free, gotta love that:D

Does your hand hit the e-brake handle when shifting into 4th with the extension removed? How much of the shifter actually extends into the extension?

That depends on how you like to hold the shift knob. After I first removed the extension I put a pistol grip style shifter on and found I was always shifting holding onto the top of the knob which was abouth the same length as the original setup. I decided to put the factory knob back on to shorten the stick. Since the shaft of the shifter rod is thicker than the threaded part of the extension, I used my dremel tool with a coarse sanding drum to remove enough material in order to run a die down it and create some threads for the knob to bite into (about a half inch). I beleive the size is 10mm x 25 threads but don't hold me to that. Take the extension with you if you are going to buy a die to get the right thread pitch. Also I had to dremel out a bit of material from the inside of the knob because there is a shoulder in there that gets in the way if you only have a half inch of threads. The throw is nice and I find that in second or fourth I can rest the heel of my wrist on the handbrake handle but it has never gotten in the way of shifting. My guess is that it's at least two if not three inches shorter now, with the original knob. A buddy of mine with a current Mustang GT (with a nice short throw installed) commented on how nice the shifting was in my car (he even thought it felt pretty quick considering the HP/torque numbers). It's a good free mod, IMO.

Jeff M

I myself removed the extension. But if I had the money I would've gotten a good quality "real" short shifter. This is only temporary, free and it does look nicer and feel shorter.

i am 20fs BTW, i got the kart boyshifter and man... that is the best thing i have bought for my car!!! i love it!! worth every dime! even got a kartboy sticker!
________
Cheap airsoft speed loader

homeade vs. aftermarket
 

My brother has a Volkwagon Passat VR6 and just paid $175 for a short throw and it feels almost identical to mine.

Thanks for the help. I removed mine today and the shifts are more defined. I usually hold the shifter by the top, so the e brake handle wasn't getting in the way like I originally thought. BTW, it took me about 20 minutes of heating to get it off. That's with a pencil torch. The smell of burnt rubber should disappear in a few days. :D