Homemade short shifter?

[HondaCivic4358]

I was wondering if i could just cut my old shifter about and inch to two inches???

[CZ-R]

It will look like a short shifter, but it won't function like one. On the aftermarket short shifters, the pivot 'ball' is at a higher point on the shifter making the 'throw' shorter between shifts.

[gsf1200m]

I did this to my civic a couple years ago before I bought a short shifter.
Its a little harder to shift after but it looks way better. I cut like 3 inches off. If you plan on getting a new shifter sometime anyway, i would say go for it.

[Jay eS Iye]

doing that will actually hurt your transmission b/c the shifter is made to be at a certain height. a little bit off will be ok but 3 inches is alot.

if you want a homemade short throw shifter, take out the shifter, cut the shifter in half below the pivot ball, weld in something the same size (i'vebeen told a 1/2 inch socket works well), and behold, you have a shorter throw shifter. you can then cut down the top too to make it a bit shorter if you want, but you may also have to rethread it

[gsf1200m]

I dont see how that would hurt the really hurt the transmission.
Even if it does, I had my car a year, had it cut for a year, now have had a short throw for a year, and my transmission still feels the same as the day i got the car.

[Jay eS Iye]

thats just what someone told me, i don't totally understand it but i've had more than one say it. but there is no reason to just cut the shifter except to look cOoL. if you want performance, do what i said or buy a shifter on eBay

[gsf1200m]

It just doesnt make sense to me cause the bottom of the shifter is still at the same height as it always had been. A short throw shifter will bring that height down and make the linkage more at an angle. I dont know if either of these makes a difference, this is just my observations. I agreed that the only reason to cut the shifter is to look cool, and it does do that. I would buy a new one becasue you get the performance and the looks, but if you want just the looks why waste money.

[blade34609]

I think its just easier to get one off of EBay for like 15.00 plu shipping lol.
Saves you a lot of work.
If your worried about EBay quality youc an get an APC of other brand name one for about 60 bucks.

[gsf1200m]

I think buying one makes more sense, but just taking a hack saw and cutting the shifter is much easier than getting under the car and putting in a new one.

[optimuscivic]

Originally Posted by blade34609

I think its just easier to get one off of EBay for like 15.00 plu shipping lol.
Saves you a lot of work.
If your worried about EBay quality youc an get an APC of other brand name one for about 60 bucks.

i would not trust APC's quality. but honestly a short shifter is not going to really help you out that much. just practice shifting.

[civicHBsi91]

short shifter is for feel, it does nothing for performance i dont care what you heard

[91civicDXdude]

GSF1200M

you dont know what you're talking about. a "short shifter" is not a short looking shifter, it is a SHORT THROW SHIFTER. extending the lever beyond the pivot point takes a shorter throw to shift gears.

I was the one who suggested welding in a socket. I have a friend who did that on his Del Sol VTEC and it is still going strong almost 2 years later. i dont care what anybody says, with the combination of his 8lb Fidanza flywheel and the ultra short throw shifter, the shift is marvelous.. the revs drop so fast that with a longer throw shifter you would be banging the hell out of the gears and grinding them to hurry and get the car in gear.

[gsf1200m]

I know the difference between a short "looking" shifter and a short throw shifter. I just read over my posts and I never said that cutting the shifter will make it a short throw shifter, and I never reffered to a cut shifter as being a short shifter, i think you need to read more carefully.

[jun_crack333]

i bought one of those ebay short shifters and i want to know will the shift knob be close the the console cuz i want it to be low i think it looks great but i don't want to have to deal with cuttin and all that shit

[91civicDXdude]

a good short shifter will be the same length as stock on the top. you want a longer lever on top becuase science states that a longer lever will need less force to move the opposite end.

I tried out some shifter that i thought looked and felt really cool, it was a ractive short throw that some body had chopped about 2" off of, well, it was hard as hell to get it in gear becuase the lever was so short.