Gearstick

[Guest salty_monk]

I have the handbrake in the passenger footwell (handy I know... ) so that doesn't get in the way when driving but I find the gearstick much too long to be comfortable & I nearly clobber my passengers!

 

I know the mod to turn it into a quickshift & will do this eventually but it actually only moves the shaft down by 7mm.

I want to take about 2" off of it for it to feel right, has anyone done it??

 

How does the gearknob fix on? Threaded or just glue? I thought I might remove the knob, cut the stick & glue back on (or turn thread back on to the shaft).

 

Any thoughts??

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

[Guest TerryBarry]

I've shortened mine by extending the threaded part of the shaft by about 35mm then cut 35mm off the top.

Only problem is that the gearstick tapers - increasing in diameter towards the bottom. I carefully filed it down until approx parallel and then ran a die down to extend the thread.

The quality of the new threaded area is not too important since the original knob has a plastic insert.

Finished item illustrated - could shorten more if necessary when road tested.

[Guest robin]

I've done this on several of my other cars as i used to be in the "barry boy" brigade before i got a life. Its quite a popular mod.

I threw the original gearknob away as I already had a nice aftermarket jobbie to fit. Simply cut the shaft to the length you feel most comfortable with and the new gearknob attatches to the shaft by either one, two or three grub screws. Job done!

[chris n]

Dan

if you dont want to cut a new thread on your gearstick you could look for a gearknob hex drive fitting and just bolt it on.

This is the way i went when i shortened my quickshift.

 

Chris

 

 

BOO :boohoo: Robin got there first

[Guest paul boatman]

I'm with robin - throw the gear knob away -cut the stick to suit your requirements and fit a shiney new knob from the local accessory shop which is fixed with grub screws.

 

The original knob looks sh.t anyway

 

good luck

[Guest Ant]

I thought I might remove the knob, cut the stick & glue back on (or turn thread back on to the shaft).

That's pretty much what I did. The thread is fairly arbitrary as it's a tapered plastic thread inside most gear knobs. A trawl of any scrappy usually reveals a selection of round knobs, as opposed to the larger square moulded "modern" type. I think I cut about 2 inches from the stick, but I can't remember for definite now.

 

Ant

[Jon Bradbury]

Monk dude,

 

I thought the Super Spec had the Ford MT75 gearbox? All these guys have a Type 9 which does not have the little reverse gate lift thingie under the gear knob.

 

If you have one of these gearshifts, it'll be harder to shorten because there's a hollow tube (the stick itself) with a rod going through it which lifts a pin to allow you to select reverse. If you get my drift.

 

The rest of this prattle assumes you do have the lift shift as fitted to the DOHC Sierra. I want to shorten mine as well, but for now have opted for a quickshift mod that replaces the bottom part o the assembly with one that has a longer tail (works as per the well documented quick shift mod). Total cost : about 15 quid plus postage. The gearstick needs to be replaced if your welding isn't too great. That means some barry boy accessory from Demon Thieves or - perish the thought - Halfrauds. Although I have been in there - just to scope out the stock if you know what I mean <ahem> and not seen anything. I suspect it would be expensive.

[Guest daveg]

Dan

 

I cut that blob out and welded the top back to the bottom

 

I have also modified the handbrake so I can easily reach it and keep it in the right place

 

Dave

Batt in front, handbrake in passenger footwell and exhaust at 90 degrees...Richard would be proud

[Guest Battery Bill]

Batt in front, handbrake in passenger footwell and exhaust at 90 degrees...Richard would be proud

Crawly Bum lick

[Guest Ianz]

You could always lower the gearbox by a few inches,this would have the same

affect,or perhaps raise the seat a bit!!!!!!!

[Guest rizla]

theres always one smart alec

[Guest Battery Bill]

theres always one smart alec

2 Now you are here

[Guest rizla]

no not me bill im to fed up to be smart

[Guest salty_monk]

Not SS. Don't know where that idea came from. 2b with type 9 so will get the hacksaw out & get an aftermarket.

Might even get the RHE "black interior styling kit" at £18.

Will think about doing the quickshift mod later, at the moment I'm more concerned with getting the rad & seats sorted

[Guest Guy]

Dan, if you do fit a knob with grub-screws and a plastic coller use thred locking compound on it, they have a habbit of falling off!