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DIY Project 51
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The current choices in the short shifter market are the B&M Racing , TWM Performance and the stock Tiburon shift lever.
The Tibby shifter while being much less money isnt really a short shifter. It's
just a shorter shaft above the pivot point that lowers the knob. The B&M and
the TWM are true short shifters with the length of shaft below the pivot ball being longer than stock. The TWM shifter has the shorter throw and a lower knob height of the two but there isn't any numbers
as to how much less throw or knob height there is. I was worried about lowering the knob height as my arm is
already resting on the storage compartment top while shifting. I got excited when I found the Shark Racing Adjustable short shifter . I love things that are adjustable and I thought I could
raise the shift knob to where I needed it. It turns out that it wasn't a concern. I was somewhat reluctant to order from Shark after hearing from others who had had
problems with them. I sent them an e-mail asking about there product and they
e-mailed me back the next day saying that they had them in stock and could ship immediately.
I placed an order over their web site and got a confirmation immediately and another stating my order was shipped the
next day. I received it in only 13 days.
The shaft is threaded and can be moved up or down on the ball
then locked with a lock nut that is on top of the ball. Moving it down lengthens
the shaft below the ball pivot and shortens the shift through while lowering the shift knob. Raising
the shaft does the opposite. The shifter arrived with no instructions but the B&M site has a great set of instructions. I knew there would be problems with the speed nut at step 6, so
I got a replacement before I started. The part number from Hyundai is 46773-39000
and it costs about $1.00. Speed nuts are not designed to be removed or reused. Removal usually damages the pin more than the nut itself. If you can get the old one off, you got very lucky.
Installation was very simple and the B&M instructions are very good. It lists the tools needed and goes step by step with pictures. Once I got the stock shifter removed, I could compare the two. The Stock shifter is 10½" long overall, not including the shift knob, which adds another inch, with 3 1/16" of that being below the pivot point. The Shark is only 9½" long overall with up 4 ½" below the pivot point. With the Shark adjusted full down, the through is only 3 3/8" with a knob height of 5 ¼". The side shaft is the same as the stock shifter.
I noticed a
problem when I adjusted the shaft to the full down position. The Shift cable
limits the downward travel of the shaft by rubbing on the white plastic frame that holds the shift mechanism. The shift movement fore/aft and side-to-side movement starts to feel stiff.
I cut away a little of the offending plastic with a pin router attached to my trusty Dremel tool. With the plastic cut away the shaft could be lowered right down to where the shift cable end was hitting the frame bottom. When you can't shift into fourth, you have gone too far.
___________________________________________________________________ Here are the before and after pictures of stock vs. Shark: ___________________________________________________________________ Probably the neatest thing about the Shark Racing Adjustable shifter is you can make the adjustments without having to remove the console or any of the mechanisms. Just lift the boot, loosen the lock nut with a 17mm wrench rotate the shaft up or down and re-lock the nut.
Ok, now it's time to drive. I adjusted mine to a 4" throw with a knob height of 5½". The difference is amazing. This may be one of the best mods I have made. The transmission seems to be much more precise and the shifts seem to just snick into place. The short throw really picks up the speed of shifting and the lowered height of the knob turned out not to be much of a problem as shifting now takes a flick of the wrist, and not a whole movement of the arm. The knob also stays further away from the center console. The effort to shift is a little greater, and there is still some stiffness side to side so I may raise the knob up a little more. The car seems more fun to drive and shift. In conclusion, I think this is one of the best short shifter kits available due to it's adjustability. You don't need to worry about if it will be too short a throw, or if it will be too much effort to shift. I would recommend the Shark Adjustable Short Shifter to anyone! - Elantrick |
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