B&M Short-throw shifter...
Before Install: 1st and 2nd gear Stock
Compare: Pivot change, and for new shifter, a spacer is included which is about half inch tall (not pictured)
After Install: 1st and 2nd gear B&M "SHORT THROW" shifter
Conclusion: SHORT THROW? UH-UH The travel of shifting is the same, but its more stiffer and more accurate. The loose shifting is gone. Im happy about that and I dont have to second guess if its in gear or not. As for short-throw... its baloney as far as Im concerned cuz I proved it by measuring the throw from 1st gear to 2nd Gear and the spacer still lifted the whole shifting unit which means the pivot never really changed. Rate from 1 to 10, I'd give it a 5.
Is it worth the money? Id' say yes if your car is meant to drag race from time to time. If not, then I'd suggest you cut off the stock shifter about 1 to 2 inches and save yourself the money. Thats what I did before on my white cavalier and I loved it. The throw was shorter for sure before I got rid of it and installed the B&M with SpeedRacerZ. This time, Im thinking of cutting off about one inch of my new shifter so its a true short throw. Who knows...
Questions?? Comments?? Suggestions??
just from the pictures it proves it shortens the throws. I see a half of a inch, maybe a little more shorter (in just the pictures). Also this is the first time I have actually seen the shifter for the 95-99. I have driven one, but never seen it. I have the B&M for the getrag and love it as well.
FU Tuning
the thing is the lower part of the shaft is what matters its roughly a half inch longer causing the the throw to be shorter even though measuring doesnt show that
Guys... I made a mistake... I showed the wrong picture...
For the pivot change examples... here is the 2nd photo i meant to post (ignore the one shown above)... This is how it looks with the spacer between the top white shifter unit and shifter bracket unit... the spacer raises the white shifter unit about half inch, give or take and the lower part that hooks up to the shifter cable... is the same, which explains why the travel is the same, maybe half inch shorter like John Higgins states, but not that big. The pivot of the ball moved up with the spacer which sorta defects the whole "short-throw" concept down the drain. DAMN IT... wished i took some pics stock assembly and B&M assembly to compare...
Here is the correct picture (no spacer shown.. sorry, use your imagination)
The only reason why I even bother bringing this up is because I noticed in Import cars for Honda Civics and Nissan 200SX, the travel is shorter and the pivot was moved up but the location WHERE the pivot part is supposed to sit is the same as stock WITHOUT any spacer. Nothing was raised like the spacer did on my shifter unit. If you havent compared stock and aftermarket on those two cars, then you wont understand what im talking about. Their shifter unit was shortened in throw by maybe 2 inches give or take.
Im not trying to start a flame war, im just merely trying to show what I've learned.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Thursday, February 22, 2007 10:09 PM
Yes... i forgot about the spacer... hrm... i do know that my shifter feels tons better after the install... so if i had to look back at it im glad i spent the money to make the shifter "feel" better. The geometry of a shifter is not something that is easy to play with to get right. I know with my NVG swap ive been playing with a few things and a 1/4 inch change in any part of the shifter setup can make a HUGE difference so what may not look like much may actually be a ton different. Also dont some imports use a mechanical shift linkage if so it could deffinatly play a role in the "shortness". Thinking about it we really dont have much room to lengthen the lower part of the shifter being that there are mechanical limitations to how much room we have. hrmmmmm...... my shifter is slightly catching when going into 5th and i need to fix that asap so we will see this weekend... maybe ill take some pix.
I totally understand what your saying, but for me just looking at the pictures of it installed (and before) proves it does what it is suppose to. I realize a half a inch does not seem much, but for this it really is. With our set ups you are not going to get it where you can only move the shift a half a inch to be in gear. I think it is good you took the time for these pictures. I want to do the same for the getrag.
FU Tuning
i would honestly say cut about 2 inches off of the B&M and it would improve feel even better. ive driven an 02 z with one installed and it was night and day difference between my stock CUT 97 z24 shifter i had at the same time. too me it seems like the older cars have way more slop stock than the newer cars.
what we did on my 97 z24 was pretty substantial. we gutted a 96 grand am gt's shifter assembly (its spring loaded-unlike ours)
and welded braces onto the shifter box (this stiffened it up so frickn much) and then cut the grand am gt shaft down like an inch tall, then welded a 4" hurst shaft onto it and put a custom made billet t-handle on. believe it or not, the grand am spring loaded part added a ton of feel and made it shift so much easier. ive always wanted to mate a b&m shifter with what we've already done to it, i think it would be even better.
Guys, Im glad you all understand what Im trying to show here. Dont get me wrong, I love how the B&M shifter makes it more firm and accurate when I shift in gears. Stock shifting really sucks and sometimes I grind the teeth when Im not fully shifted in gear. That noise pisses me off. I have no compliants. I just dont like how they advertise it Short-throw when it really isnt showing much of a change. Thats all Im trying to say. Nobody like false advertisement. Nevertheless, it was a good experience and Im happy with this mod.
Quote:
I just dont like how they advertise it Short-throw when it really isnt showing much of a change.
I'm not trying to argue with you over this, but those picture proves it shortens the throws. Even if it is only a half of a inch it still does it. Between that half a inch and the firmness you like it does what it was designed to do. Of course on a getrag it seems better because the getrag is better inf actory form over the isuzu.
FU Tuning
short throw refers to the distance the lower point goes in a shift. it is designed to throw quicker and faster down low. up top the goal is to not notice a distance change in shifting. people who cut thier shifters down and consider it short throw are wrong.
My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again
also the claim of short throw is about 20-30%....when it only has a full travel of 2" 1/2" is in that range they say it lessens the throw..on another note i got my getrg short throw today!
Also looking at my shifter today that spacer is to give clearance to the lower part of the shifter.
lol..... Jason Jason Jason......
1. From your before and after pics, it shows a shorter throw (as John said)
2. From the side by side pics, you can see how the B&M shifter is 1/2" longer BELOW the piviot point, making the distance you have to move the upper shaft shorter to get the same travel out of the lower shaft.
3. With the spacer, it gives clearence for that longer lower section, and raises the shorter upper section to stock height. Changes nothing with distance the cables move.
You act like this is your first B&M shifter
SPD RCR Z -
'02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT -
'04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI -
'78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap
Oh Brian Brian Brian.... From my first post...
H A N Z E N R I D E R wrote:
Is it worth the money? Id' say yes if your car is meant to drag race from time to time. If not, then I'd suggest you cut off the stock shifter about 1 to 2 inches and save yourself the money. Thats what I did before on my white cavalier and I loved it. The throw was shorter for sure before I got rid of it and installed the B&M with SpeedRacerZ.
I never claimed it was my first shifter.
This time, I just observed it more in depth. I was expecting a short throw and short travel and I didnt get that impression on my first one, so this time, i decided to observe it more in depth with my 2nd time around with B&M.
SpeedRacerZ wrote:lol..... Jason Jason Jason......
1. From your before and after pics, it shows a shorter throw (as John said)
2. From the side by side pics, you can see how the B&M shifter is 1/2" longer BELOW the piviot point, making the distance you have to move the upper shaft shorter to get the same travel out of the lower shaft.
3. With the spacer, it gives clearence for that longer lower section, and raises the shorter upper section to stock height. Changes nothing with distance the cables move.
You act like this is your first B&M shifter
X2
what makes it a short throw shifter is the longer length below the ball
Bare with me here for a minute, as I don't have the B&M instructions........but what are those blue anodized spacers doing for you when installed above the shifter assembly? Looking at it, it seems they'd be used to space it up for whatever reason, cause otherwise they're doing nothing. I only ask this as my project car had them the same way yours are pictured and it made no damn sense to me-
yah they go hat way on mine as well..no clue why..just prolly to make it look pretty and make sure its B&M..even though there is copies now..phil
theres still not a generic for 95-99 though...
Joe Schulte wrote:Bare with me here for a minute, as I don't have the B&M instructions........but what are those blue anodized spacers doing for you when installed above the shifter assembly? Looking at it, it seems they'd be used to space it up for whatever reason, cause otherwise they're doing nothing. I only ask this as my project car had them the same way yours are pictured and it made no damn sense to me-
Thats where its supposed to be. it replaces the rubber bushings and holds the shifter unit in place better and doesnt wobble too much anymore.
/\/\/\/\/\/
Bingo... with the stock rubber bushings it would allow the whole shifter to move if shifting hard. With the blue spacers it keeps everything secure... if something is to move even a small amount it can result in a misshift. The shifting mechanism on transmissions is very touchy to movement and 1/8" is enough to keep you from going into gear correctly.
Gotcha! Didn't know they replaced rubber units.
