Wow......that's nice. Great job!!!!

The raw material was excellent. So it was easy...

F

All in one file
 

I put this together into one file .
I'm hoping to instal my shifter next week after the 24k service.

I hope the attachment gets posted......

Sorry file is too large 500k.......

If someone wants a one piece PDF format of Gomez's intructions PM me

I used this guide to install mine. I must say the guide is great. Took me like 45 minutes to do the actual install once I had metric tools :b

I have to say, this shifter is outstanding. The shifts are short and extremely precise. I dont think I've ever been able to do a 1-2 shift this fast. 5/6 will take some getting used to as the travel is so short from neutral, but that's never a bad thing.

Great work Richard. Thanks for the guide, gomez.

Getting mine this week, can't wait to put it on. Should have it for the road trip!

Got mine and love it. Thanks again for all your help Richard!!

Just installed my Short Shifter
 

Hi All,

Recently installed my shifter and I must say EXCELLENT! After Hymee's exhaust, this has got to be the next best modification to do to your RX8.

After fitting my short shifter I noticed a very tight (close) clearance between 3rd and 5th and 4th and 6th gears. I also used a very light grade grease which gave an "unpleasant" feel when shifting from 5th to 6th.

So what I did is I loosened the 3 bolts that hold the plate to the gearbox, checked for sideways movement and found probably 0.5mm of travel (in the two dowel pins and matching locating holes), and retightened the 3 bolts whilst applying pressure to the shift lever in the right hand direction. Upon assembly I probably gained about 1.5mm extra side freeplay in the shifter and I am more comfortable with the feel now. I also re-applied a thicker grade grease (especially on the reverse lockout tang where it butts and slides against the 3 bolt plate side edge) which also helped the over all feel of the shifter.

The grease I used is CASTROL APXT Hi-Lo temperature, enhanced thickness grease. It is Blue in colour.

I know there is not much in it, but there is a difference between a razor blade and a scalpel!

Joe

Hey Gomez,

I just finished this and thanks for the instructions, but the difficult part for me was the tang or tab. I was reading this as lifting or pulling the tab towards the inside of the console. That was a mistake. After about 15 minutes of being gentle and not breaking my car, I desided to push to the tab to the outside (direction of the passenger door) and shazam it came off.

Bill

I agree, it is confusing. I struggled too the first time.

Fabrice

hey gomez, does all this stuff work for automatic too? like how u remove the pannel and stuff. cause im making my auto rx-8 into a show car and i need to change the auto stick to make it look like a manuel. sound dumb but can you?

You really need to change push left on the tab to push toward passenger door for LHD or driver door for RHD models... thank god i read the entire thread before i tried being more forcefull...

Hi guys,
i got the shifter and installed it today. The shifts are extremely precise and extremely short.
i wouldn't use the word "silky" though as the shifts are very "clicky" and lock into place...

One thing some of you can help me on is that -- w/ the shifter installed, at the low gears and high rev bands, there seems to be a whirling noise from the gear box or shifter area... much more than the stock used to make. My girlfriend actually said "that doesn't sound right" although i think it sounds manly. .. However, the sound is actually a "whirling" sound, and i can't quite describe it. Also, the clicks of the shifter are pretty loud...

Is this normal?

Help!

I definitely have that whirling noise... I think that's the big drawback to the shifter... 3 days later and its still driving me insane... Almost to the point of pulling the shifter out... I'm going to buy some dynomat extreme and see what I can rig up to dampen some of the sound...

Unclip the upper cover and remove the green cotton wadding from under the shift boot. Reduces the gear noise by about 60%, IMO. I believe it works by allowing the shifter to rest free of pressure supplied when the knob is screwed up tight against the shift boot. This pressure holds the shifter against the selector in the top of the box and transmits gear noise into the cabin. You'll notice that resting your hand on the shifter when driving increases the gear noise in a similar way.

Removing the wadding and unscrewing the knob a little allows the shifter to find a static stability, free of forces holding it against the selector.

I know it seems bizarre....but it works.

You can further reduce the noise by moving the white ring down on the shifter. See this thread for more info.

Gomez.

If you remove it, does it seem to be much hotter?

funny thing, but since I've done the shifter and removed the green thing the leather boot actually feels much cooler... and I'm in the middle of the same weather you're in Jenkines (Arlington)

Sweet! I will have to do this one then!

Are you saying that your car has noise??
Also didn't you work on a car belonging to a girl on the forum. Did her car have noise???

I have a customer coming over in an hour from now and I'm going to try is car and he mine. He has not complained about noise though.
Fanman if your listining let me know if you think your car has noise.

yeah we both have noise, we just don't like to complain :D

The girl you are thinking of is Dazygrl, she had that problem with the spring.

I tested three cars yesterday. One was a new install and one a long time owners.
The other one mine. They all sound the same. Only the new guy said he had noise.

sounds like it just depends on the car...hmmm....

What kind of noise are we talking about? I have some, but like Jenkins said I didn't want to complain. And I wasn't sure if it was normal or not. :o

I think the noise is standard. It is just not a huge thing like some people say. There is no rubber in the shaft so some more transfer of gear whine is going to come through. It's no big deal, lots of cars like Ferrari and others have solid shafts. It just adds more flavor of mechanical connection with the driver. :rolleyes:

I guess that's why I don't notice it at all as I'm used to Ferrari. ;)
Pretend it's Italian. :rolleyes:
People say it's worse when they lean on it, that is true because you're pushing the shift fork against the syncro holder. The noise you hear is the wearing out of your transmission, don't do it. :( Leaning your hand on the stick while you drive is maintenence waiting to happen. If you use it right it will last for the life of the car, otherwise it's your money. Keep your hands off, rest your hand on the hand brake. Maybe that's why they call it "hand." ;)

Nice to hear from you again Dazygirl. Where do you hang out I never see you?
I think you should get together with Rx8girl on the Australia forum. You'll like her. :)

I was thinking about taking the upper part of the shaft and wrapping it in a mass loading sound dampener to see if it'll cut out some of the upper frequencies...

I think I'm just more sensitive to the frequencies that are coming out... I'm getting used to it slowly... but i hear enough whirring and high pitched frequencies everyday at work in the dental office...

would it help to wrap the shaft from the threads down to the white with dynomat?

You guys can try that but remember that taking out the stock insulator reduced the noise???
It seems that putting stuff in there loads the stick against something.
Littlejohn has found results by lowering the white ring and thus the boot on the shaft. I made some longer white rings so it can go even further down but have not noticed anything different. I have a couple of those out being tested but no real feedback yet that shows an improvement.

If everyone keep trying things we might find some help. That's where the removal of the green fuzzy came from.

BTW, Dazygirl and Jenkins crew have you removed the green fuzzy??

I have not removed anything green and fuzzy from my car and rest assure if I ever see something resembling that description, it's getting yanked immediately. :D

I will help you get it out, it is just thst insulation.

I don't remember insu-oh yes, now I do. I'll see if I can make the attempt tomorrow.

Look back to post 64 of this thread. You can see the green cone thing in the boot. Remove. If you find a green fuzzy thing and it has legs please kill it. :eek: ;)

I'm with Gomez... it seems very bizarre that removing insulation would reduce noise... has anyone removed this and found that it doesn't help? Can the removal procedure be reversed (just in case)?

No to the first question....yes to the second!

Dazy baby, just try it. everyone else has and it works. In fact I'm trying to think of something to do with all those green things left over. ;) Probably can't as I've been trying to find something to do with all the 35mm film cans for years now. Same problem of waste going to waste. :D

As one Texan to another Dazy... I assure you it works... its just that green fuzzy stuff ... VERY easily returned to stock...

The sound will still be there... just greatly reduced...

Can someone post a before and an after picture to see the difference?

Csaba

No. It is impossible to visually detect the installation of this shifter. The gearknob sits 5mm lower, that's all. A plan view of the shifter would show that the 1st to 2nd throw has been reduced by an inch. 3rd to 4th and 5th to 6th the same.

Gomez.

Ok, Jenkins took the green stuff out tonight. I'll test it tomorrow and update with the results.

yeah, please let me know.

My faith in Gomez and Richard Paul has paid off. :D There is almost no sound at all now coming from the shifter. The noise used to be noticable when going from gear to neutral, especially second gear, but now it's quiet and seamless.

I still don't get how it works, but that's why I'm a liberal arts major. :p

Sweet! Thanks Tiff!

Thank you, but the credit really goes to Aussie LittleJohn who discovered this. Fear not, I'm an engineer and have a hard time with this trick. :rolleyes:

Anyway glad it worked for you and it confirmed what I had already heard. It's just that we need to test stuff done down under because gravity works different there. Thus it effects the brain in a strange way. ;) :D

Anyone try cutting off the top 5mm of the green stuff and reinstalling?

Great DIY. I love the short shifter. The car feels right now. In fact I am a better driver with the shifter, I am in "no mans land" so much less. The car feels right. best purchase ever.

Richard Paul you sir are amazing.

Yeah.....this shifter should come standard!

I installed mine the other night.

I have had the console off numerous times before, so that was no problem.

Took less than 20 minutes to install, and it took me that long cause I had to remove my LCD screen and stuff:

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=443349

Anyways, I love the shifter

Very short, and feels much more precise.

It is NOT as smooth as the stock shifter, but more notchy and kinda stiff. Overall I like the feel of it though.

The gear noise doesn't bother me either. I'm the kinda guy that likes a little bit more noise (just think of it as communication with the car), so IMO that's one of the best parts of the shifter. It's just a really cool sound, plus the "ca-chunk" when you shift really fast that the stock shifter didn't have quite so much.

Awesome product, highly reccomended.

I've got good news for you Got m4xx 21 - the shifter gets smoother after a few months. I had mine installed in April and it was pretty rough at first. Now it's as smooth as butter. :D Have you tried removing the green stuff? It lessens the cabin noise (even though you like it :D ).

also if you switch to syntetic trans oil it is like butta very accurate butta.

beers

Gomez, are you out there? What say you add to the DIY a note about removing the green thing? It has been talked about but people reading just the DIY don't get to see it. :(

you know that is something that has bugged me. i didnt have the green thing to remove. i get a little noise, but only noticable with radio off and windows up.

beers

It usually gets stuck up inside the boot. Look for it. You can tell without taking it apart by squizing the boot. If you can't feel the shaft then it is in there.