The search for a better shift

[jdrahush]

I've been experimenting with different elements of the shift components trying to get a better feel. There has been a lot of forum members discussing different things you can do, so now that I have fiddled around with them a bit I thought I'd share my experiences.

First of all I tried to remove my linkage counterweight which a lot of people said would give a better feel. After this the shifter felt much lighter which was nice, but whenever I would shift (especially quickly) it felt like there was a barrier going through the neutral zone. Not good. Wungun then suggested I try a weight shifter, so when TWM Performance had a cyber Monday sale I bought an "A6 Leopard" shift knob with a Satin finish.

http://www.twmshiftknobs.com/shiftkn...hiftknobs.html

Much, much better. The the TWM knob felt so much better than the stock one and the extra weight helped me get past that "neutral gate", or whatever you want to call it. Yet I still wasn't totally satisfied. There was still more difficulty shifting gears then I wanted. I had read about people drilling out the counterweight and reinstalling washers to add back half the weight. So I reinstalled the counterweight except with about third of the weight.

At this point I noticed the white nylon square on the counterweight arm was completely worn through in the middle. I called Steve at Tousley and he said they can't really get any parts for Getrag. In order to solve this I got a stick of Delrin and had it drilled out in order to make a sleeve which goes over the rod which goes through the counterweight arm. Here is a picture of what I ended up with:



I needed to get rid of the shavings and trim the pin but you get the idea.

I should also mention that there were some wires which were interfering with my shift linkage, counter weight, etc... so I made sure to use cable ties to get them up and out of the way.

This made it much better. At this point I was flying through gears and it felt great! Still... one has to ask the question... could it be even better?!?! Yes. Yes it can.

SHARPMACHINE was talking about creating a brass slider to replace the nylon one. Here is the thread:

http://forums.focaljet.com/svt-headq...ugh-shift.html

My little nylon one was completely worn through on one side. So I created an aluminum one to replace it. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before I reinstalled everything. I took it out for a test drive today and it really helped firm things up and helped the smoothness of the shifts from 2nd to 3rd and 4th to 5th. Awesome.

I don't know if this will be of any help to anyone but I thought I'd try to pitch in.

[FORDSVTPARTS]

That's a great idea on the sleeve for the counterweight arm

Any thought of making more of the little shift blocks?

I wonder what the best material for that would be?

[jdrahush]

Thanks Steve, I was trying to decided whether I should make a sleeve or another square but when you mentioned sleeve to me on the phone I thought, "If Steve says it, it's gotta be the best way." lol

I could make more little blocks fairly easily, the only PITA is drilling them dead center because my drill press is old and wobbles a bit. I'm not sure what the best material is, I used aluminum because that's what I had at my shop. I wonder why they used nylon in the first place? Mabye I'm missing something?

[COSVT03]

It's a wear point and they probably wanted the little block to wear instead of the metal casing so it could be repaired.
But thanks for the great info!

[FORDSVTPARTS]

It's a wear point and they probably wanted the little block to wear instead of the metal casing so it could be repaired.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Pretty much this, the only issue is that the part isn't available so it's up to the person that owns the car to make something that works.

I did overhear a guy from a local shop come in to the front counter recently looking for a part of an SVT shift linkage so I went up front to help and it turned out that the nylon block was GONE, I showed him some pics and sent him on his way.

[jdrahush]

I wonder then if I should make one out of delrin or nylon in the interest of longevity?

[COSVT03]

I wonder then if I should make one out of delrin or nylon in the interest of longevity?

I can not believe I didn't think of this last night. That is a great idea. The hardest delrin possible would be best. And as far as drilling center on anything, CENTER PUNCH IT, problem solved stop the bit from walking.

[jdrahush]

Perhaps then I'll try to grab some this week and try again. Centerpunch... I knew that... that's what teachers college does, it beats the contractor right out of you lol

[jdrahush]

Ok I ordered some Delrin and I'm going to make a couple of these this week. Does anyone actually want one if I'm able to make a bunch?

[COSVT03]

I would be more than happy to take a test drive with one of these, I would be very interested to see it compared to my stock piece.

[ssmy]

I might be interested in one or two.

[FORDSVTPARTS]

Ok I ordered some Delrin and I'm going to make a couple of these this week. Does anyone actually want one if I'm able to make a bunch?

I'm in

[jdrahush]

I would be more than happy to take a test drive with one of these, I would be very interested to see it compared to my stock piece.

It'll only make a difference if your stock one was really worn like mine was.

[COSVT03]

No- I mean if I take it out and bash it with a hammer. Other things like that. I wonder what grade of plastic the stock part is made out of.

[jdrahush]

Today I went and bugged my supplier for my delrin and they finally cut me a piece. So I spent this afternoon making some little blocks (work has been really slow). It was a little bit of a pain getting it dead center and after a couple tries I had to switch to pre-drilling with a 1/8 and then going up every other size in my index. That seemed to do the trick and I think I got some decent prototypes. The picture below from left to right is delrin, stock, and aluminum.



I was a little off on the aluminum one but it still seemed to work great. I've got a delrin one in right now and after a couple days of running it I can send out a few.

Here is the delrin and stock side by side. Note the stock one was completely worn through. Also if you look at the very top you can see the lip that has formed. I think the width of the lip is the original width, which means mine was really worn all over.



I think these should hold up for a while because the delrin came in 3/8 thickness which is a *hair* too wide and I spent 15 minutes with a file to get it down a freaking half a mm... Crazy durable. The aluminum didn't last half that long.