Rookie question about custom shifter postions
02-01-2008, 05:54 PM
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Rookie question about custom shifter postions I have a hybrid 3rd gen with an ls engine. It is connected to a t56 gto trans. At this point the engine and trans sit in a somewhat stock location in the car. Shifter position is near perfect for a third gen and the engine just barely misses hitting the firewall.
In the near future I will be setting the engine back as far as practical in the car. This will entail cutting the firewall making custom engine and trans mounts plus a different subframe. Complete overkill I know but I want to hit that perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Im thinking I can go maybe 6" rearward with the engine and tranny.
My problem is shifter location. The stock location will now be 6" too far rearward. I was thinking of machining a custom shifter handle that kinda resembles a bent shifter handle. The bend would be about 6" long. Here is my lame text representation.
_________I
I
The bottom I would represent where the original shifter handle bolts to. The portion of the shifter that connects with two bolts. The long line is 6" and the top I is the shifter grip or ****. It would be a sturdy quality machined shifter and would give me my shifter location back. Can anyone see any problems with doing this? Is there a better way to do this? Buying a custom tranny may be the answer but this is more affordable right now. Thanks for the help.
In the near future I will be setting the engine back as far as practical in the car. This will entail cutting the firewall making custom engine and trans mounts plus a different subframe. Complete overkill I know but I want to hit that perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Im thinking I can go maybe 6" rearward with the engine and tranny.
My problem is shifter location. The stock location will now be 6" too far rearward. I was thinking of machining a custom shifter handle that kinda resembles a bent shifter handle. The bend would be about 6" long. Here is my lame text representation.
_________I
I
The bottom I would represent where the original shifter handle bolts to. The portion of the shifter that connects with two bolts. The long line is 6" and the top I is the shifter grip or ****. It would be a sturdy quality machined shifter and would give me my shifter location back. Can anyone see any problems with doing this? Is there a better way to do this? Buying a custom tranny may be the answer but this is more affordable right now. Thanks for the help.
02-01-2008, 10:41 PM
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I'd think the lever action on that might make for some "ineresting" shifts, (the handle would move up and down). Maybe a lever at the forward postion with a pushrod style going back to the shifter.
02-02-2008, 12:22 PM
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Yea I was afraid of something like that. I'm not very knowledgeable about the lever effect this type of shifter would have. I was worried that maybe the weight of the new shifter would tend to pull the trans in and out of gear without any driver input. The weight may bias the shifter to naturally move on its own.