legacycentral bbs

Hey ive been digging through the old posts about this but my 93ss has really bad play in the shifter and im wondering if this kit will suffice?
http://cgi.ebay.com/GFB-WRX-SHORT-SHIFT ... dZViewItem
are there any other parts i will need to make this work? thanks

IIRC you'll need WRX tranny parts like the clutch

How would different shift linkage require a different clutch?

It doesn't.

If it's for a WRX, it won't work. The lower ball diameter is different as is the actual connection between the shifter and the linkage to the transmission.

You would need a WRX shift linkage AND this peice in order to get it to work.

I've found most short shifters feel like shit.

The Subaru (SPT brand) short shifter feels great. But, it's not too cheap. And, as BAC said, you would also separately need to buy the WRX's coupler joint from the linkage into the transmission. If you have more questions on that solution then search the forum and/or the main www.legacycentral.org site.

To answer your other question, if you want to fix the play you need to replace bushings. There are lots of bushings in that linkage. You can look at a parts diagram at the dealer and start ordering. You may have also lost a centering spring.

Most short shift kits don't replace the whole linkage. The SPT-brand short shifter replaces everything.

I'd have to agree with Phil. I haven't been real happy with any of the short shifters I've tried on my car. I've tried both the SPT/STi and Kartboy.

I've had tried the SPT on WRX's and they felt ok.

I must disagree with the group on this particular agenda. I'm using a WRX kartboy shifter on my ss, with no problems whatsoever. All you have to do is grind down the ball end of the shifter(name?) so that it allows the plastic ball off the stock shifter to fit over it. Then drill a hole for the pin to fit into. Its not hard at all but with a bench grinder it takes patience. O and as for my gramma and punctuation. i just plain suck at it so im sry

I thought of that for the ball diameter problem but I believe you will still need to deal with the width of the shifter where the shift rod linkage bolts on. On my 95 Legacy, the width is much narrower than the short shifter and so either the shifter or the bracket must be modified unless you get the WRX shift assembly. Of course then you need the different U-joint to adapt to the transmission....

im curious to know exactly why you guys dont like short shifters??? details people. some things you dont like people can live with and should consider

OK

Even though I was arguing the "mine feels good" side of the discussion... In general I wouldn't spend money on short shifters because I think they're basically a non-functional upgrade. I don't think shorter throws really take seconds off the clock.

I actually got the SPT shifter for a simpler reason - because it replaced all the shot bushings in one fell swoop AND because I had a bunch of free Subaru bucks that had to be spent at the dealer. So, as a repair item that cost me nothing it was GREAT.

Don't get me wrong, I think mine feels really good if that's the info you're looking for. I'm not sure why L777 and BAC say what they do. Throw is WAY WAY shorter. The feel is crisp, direct, and immediate. Also, with the magic of levers, the shifter is actually pretty close to stock height - just shorter throws. It's easy to use even for my sister-in-law who was learning stick for the first time. I can't really think of a disadvantage.

I will say that no matter how good the shifter is, it's still just a middle man. Your hand is really communicating with a Subaru tranny... so it's not going to feel like you're driving an S2000. It also won't fix a bad synchro, so my 1-2 shift still takes seconds. But it is still a great feel upgrade over most things you've driven before.

But, my bottom line is that I wouldn't normally spend money to just cop a good feel .

PS - Actually, I would agree with BAC that most short shifters probably feel like crap if you only replace part of the system. If you just replace the shift lever (like many systems do) and you don't replace all the bushings (hidden at various places around the stock linkage) then I bet it would be terrible... possibly worse than stock.

MikeC5 wrote:I thought of that for the ball diameter problem but I believe you will still need to deal with the width of the shifter where the shift rod linkage bolts on. On my 95 Legacy, the width is much narrower than the short shifter and so either the shifter or the bracket must be modified unless you get the WRX shift assembly. Of course then you need the different U-joint to adapt to the transmission....

You can get the older style GC shifter. I believe it is narrow like your 95.

azn2nr wrote:im curious to know exactly why you guys dont like short shifters??? details people. some things you dont like people can live with and should consider

I didn't like them because they just didn't work/feel right with the transmission. The shifting was very very notchy...more so then your normal subaru feel. Effort was increased quite a bit more. And before I get shit, I'm well aware that effort will increase and notchiness will increase with a short shifter. Yeah I know...it's inherit in the design. However it was much greater then say a WRX with the SPT SS setup.

I tried both the SPT SS setup...which replaces the entire linkage, AND the kartboy SS with the WRX shifter linkage. While the Kartboy felt slightly better, it still had the issues I mentioned.

All the bushings had been replaced with kartboy bushings....so those were not the issue. For one reason or another, my transmission doesn't like short shifters.

I am more then happy with the stock WRX linkage and kartboy bushings. The throw is not that much more. I've got measurements of how much more the throw is. It's nothing.....on the SPT it's around 1/4" reduction in throw at the very top of the shifter ball. The Kartboy is a little more because of its reduced height. To keep things equal, you'd have to take measurements at the same height between the Kartboy & the SPT. I don't think I did that.

The other issue with the linkage is that damn joint. The newer style joint is a POS. I've since replaced the crap bushings in the joint with solid nylon bushings. The feel is MUCH better. I feel pretty comfortable saying that any one of you would be happy with the way my current shifter setup feels. It's no Honda race car, but it's pretty damn good for a 15 year old subaru transmission.

you mean the joint on the shifter itself???

have you used a counterweight shiftknob to assist with shifter feel???

I mean this joint
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... ges/joint/

It's obviously different then the older ones, which I think you can take apart and replace individual bushings. But that's why I did this
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... intcustom/

Counterweight shift knob? You mean just a heavier shift knob? Yeah I've got one....can't say it changed things much.

I really didn't care for how much more force was required to put the trans in gear with the short shifter. You had to really force it. With the stock linkage it slides in better. It's still not butter, but feels nicer.

what exactly did you do there??? im not sure i folow to well. i just ordered that part today at th delearship as i just bought a wrx linkage for my 1.8

I cut off the head of the rivot, used nylon collared bushings in place of the poly bushings. I used one small nylon washer as a spacer, and just stuck a hex headed screw through and used that instead of the rivot.