Just wondering if anyone has attempted or successfully put a short shifter on a 86. and if you have pictures?

 

just seeing before i end up spending money for something that might not work.

i'm pretty sure there is no short shifter available for these cars.

 

But really, they are not hard to make. Is your goal a short shifter or a short throw shifter?

 

Short shifters are not that great. It just makes the shifter harder to reach... A short throw shifter moves the pivot point of the linkage to reduce the distance your hand has to move but maintains the height making it easier to reach. I have done this on my swapped car. Simple project if you have a welder and a grinder. Pretty well impossible without it...

 

this is your stock shifter.

 

 

Now the goal for a short throw shifter is to move that pivot point away from the ball. So cut through the weld making sure not to destroy the rest of the shifter lever. like so...

 

 

Then just weld it on. Make sure you note where the bracket actually sits and you don't put it on backwards or some stupid crap...

 

 

paint and install!

 

 

This reduced throw by about half I'd say compared to my wagon. Replacing the shifter bushings and the ball socket goes a long way as well. These bushings are the same as newer gen bushings for imprezas and stuff.

Edited January 5, 201214 yr by Zefy

Yeah. Shorter throw. But how do you do this if you don't have welding equipment?

Yeah. Shorter throw. But how do you do this if you don't have welding equipment?

 

Pretty much you don't, it's kinda key in modifications such as this....

I mean I have seen these. But not on a older car... It's pretty much the same your doing with welding just not sure if it would be worth it.

 

http://www.perrinperformance.com/p/148

Nope wont work, linkage is different.

Those are real nice if you own an Impreza but they won't fit the GL shift linkage. Much easier and cheaper to make your own. If you don't have the equipment then pay someone that does - still be cheaper than buying stuff off that site.

 

GD

To zefty. How far did you move the pivot point from the stock position? Like a inch (more or less?)

i moved mine about an inch. but it didn't go back into a gen2/3 vehicle so you should double check how far you can move it up without the linkage hitting the shifter trim.

 

The aftermarket shifter on my impreza is to high and it hits the trim. easy fix (bend the trim) but mildly annoying.

 

This is a very easy experiment mod. No exact measurments. Just give it a whirl and see what happens. Pretty much impossible to screw up.

I redrilled new holes about a half inch higher up in the bracket on an EA82 once. It was a noticeable change, but I would have liked more. But pretty good for a free mod.

I redrilled new holes about a half inch higher up in the bracket on an EA82 once. It was a noticeable change, but I would have liked more. But pretty good for a free mod.

 

actually thats not a bad idea. Taking that concept one step further, you could just cut a couple pieces of metal, say 2.5" x 1" and make a little adapter which would achieve the same thing.

 

like so...

 

 

Sorry for the crappy ms paint but I think it gets my point across...? You would need to add another bolt or something to keep the bracket from rotating around on you and obviously my picture is not lined up properly but the concept stands. You would also need to add a couple washers to take up the added gap of putting a bracket on the outside of the shifter. Or you could do an offset bend if you wanted to make it super fancy.

 

Should be doable with a hacksaw and drill... You'll probably have to play around with this a fair bit to make it perfect but should yield similar results to what I have done.

I got the old go wagon shifter and did exactly what you did, had to cut a little of the body since I was raising it about 1 inch. And got it welded. Works great! Pretty easy mod, gotta say!

 

Thanks for the advice everyone

I really like that idea of just making an extension on the existing bracket. Then you could drill a couple holes in it to make it adjustable. Someone could make a lil cash if they made these into kits.

 

There might be an easy way to bend tabs onto it so you wouldn't need an extra bolt to keep it from rotating. Perhaps if it were mounted on the inside of those brackets rather than the outside.

I really like that idea of just making an extension on the existing bracket. Then you could drill a couple holes in it to make it adjustable. Someone could make a lil cash if they made these into kits.

 

There might be an easy way to bend tabs onto it so you wouldn't need an extra bolt to keep it from rotating. Perhaps if it were mounted on the inside of those brackets rather than the outside.

 

Hmmmmm..... I could make something like that.......