friday, i took out my old crusty OBX (ebay) shifter, and installed a new fantastic KartBoy shifter

 

I thought they stopped making those

 

they did a special run for apex motorsports - http://www.apexr1.com/kashbuset.html

i think he still has some left, too. the one i got is the "mazdaspeed" version

 

I'm confused by the options being "Protege/P5" and "Mazdaspeed" when the two have the same threading and such. Was the 'mazdaspeed' one just made ridiculously short (appearance-wise) so that it 'looked' better than the stock one?

The oddball as usual being the MP3 shifter (same shaft size and threading as most autotragic mazdas)

 

As soon as its actually home & i have time... usually, i'm @ home, its gone... i'm gone, its @ home haha

 

You just need to train your wife how to work on the car!

 

you are right on the MP3 being the oddball, and the fact that the protege5 and the mazdaspeed have the same thread. HOWEVER, the mazdaspeed (and the MP3) was supplied with the "short" shifter lever. the mazdaspeed lever has a deeper shift ****, and requires a longer thread to boot distance. the mazdaspeed **** will NOT work on a protege5 lever, but the protege5 **** will fit on a mazdaspeed lever. does that make sense? its really hard to explain unless you've seen the two next to each other.

 

I knew that as well.. but how does that affect the aftermarket shifter? the only reason the msp **** doesn't fit on the P5 lever is because of that isolator extension installed on the rod.. but obviously the kartboy doesn't have that piece.

I didn't remember there being a separate option for the Mazdaspeed Protege on the kartboy site

 

thats a picture of the TWM shifter for reference....

at the top of the shifter, you see the flange where the shift boot would sit? on the mazdaspeed, the portion ABOVE that is longer, and goes deeper into the ****. thats why the protege5 **** will fit on a mazdaspeed lever, but the mazdaspeed **** won't fit onto a protege5 lever.

now, if you are running an aftermarket ****, you can get whatever shifter you want. if you want to use the stock protege5 or stock mazdaspeed ****, you have to get the right shifter. if you want to run a mazdaspeed **** and you get a protege5 lever, you're screwed. (no pun intended) also, as far as i can tell, this is only an issue with the Kartboy lever and the TWM lever.

it was never an option on the kartboy site, becuase i thought he "stopped" making them before the mazdaspeed came out. (lack of interest in his levers, or something like that)

 

Not true. The thread pitch is different

 

This discussion again?

Nik's right.

 

MP3 thread: M8 x 1.25
every other mtx Pro: M10 x 1.25

 

what Josh said.

i have both Protege and Mazdaspeed shift *****, two threaded OBX *****, and i've had an OBX generic shifter, stock shifter, and now a Kartboy "Mazdaspeed" shifter, and all the ***** fit on all the shifters. (except the mazdaspeed **** on the stock protege shifter)

 

+1million

 

i hope you're not being sarcastic, becuase i intend to show this to my wife she says i'm always wrong