Which Quick Shifter ?

[Ian.G]

Hi Folks,

the throw on my Hachi's gearstick is very 80s but its not exactly precise.

I am looking to replace the mechanism with some form of quickshift.

The two that I know about at the moment are:

1. TRD - £152 + shipping - 33% decrease in throw - including nice TRD gearnob.



(its the middle item)

2. T3 (Techno Toy Tuning) - $160 + shipping from USA - 50% decrease in throw - no gearnob included



Any reduction in throw is a good thing - but which do you guys prefer. ?

Or are there any others I've missed (of course the DIY chop and weld option).

[20vWill]

Chop n' weld is a waste of time. Fensport ones are of this make-up.

Either TRD or T3 is best, though if you go for T3 ask Gabe for a RHD core (or send him yours and he'll give you a $50 discount), since I think the LHD shifters sit differently (for LHD driving position) and obviously 99% of his cores are from the US junkyards.

If you don't want to be without a shifter, I have a spare RHD shifter mechanism that you could send as a core if you need it.

I've got the TRD unit and it is great, just rattles a little sometimes. This isn't a problem though and is hardly noticeable in a stripped-out AE86 with ITB's...

Worth putting in some MT90 at the same time as the short shift will amplify any notchiness already in the 'box. The Redline MT90 will help smooth out the shifts.

[Ian.G]

Hi Will,

How long does stuff from T3 usually take to arrive in the UK ?

Reason I ask is I also need to order a de-cat pipe for my car.and they happen to sell those (I wonder how much more responsive it will be with the cat off ?) maybe you could suggest somewhere else to get one - its a trust manifold and apexi N1 exhaust.

I also need to check my front struts to see if they have the roll centre adjusters to remove the bumpsteer - if not I'll need those too. Maybe they won't be required because of techo spirit dampers ?

I'm just thinking how I can reduce the shipping costs by trying to get things from the same place.

[20vWill]

Ian,

Orders from the US will normally take about 6-8 weeks by economy shipping, though you can get express mail very quickly but very, very expensive.

De-cat pipe - Simple, just find a custom exhaust place eg Longlife, Powerflow etc and take the car there and they'll make you up (and fit) one to suit your manifold/system from stainless steel. Should be very cheap.

Whatever dampers you've got makes no difference. If you have a lowered ride height/cut-and-shut strut case, you need to get an RCA of similar magnitude, ie for a -40mm ride height, a 40mm RCA is ideal. I run a BV NCRCA which is 40mm high in combination with a 40mm cut strut case. It's pretty much perfect.

[Ian.G]

Ah...I was thinking that for the cat pipe.

I know where the local powerflow people hang out in Derby. The cat pipe isn't exactly complex on a hachi so maybe they will get it right. I've seen a few messy powerflow systems in the past but there aint' much to get wrong here. I can't imagine how loud its gonna be without the cat - should help the throttle response too I guess. The cat is probably burnt out now anyway as its flaming out real big on gearchanges car is so old it dont need a cat anyway.

Sounds like I need to take a front wheel off and take a look at the strut - the RCA sits on the bottom of the strut yes ? Will try and check at the weekend.

I will figure out where parts shipped from TRDSales.com come from - if its gonna be 8 weeks for them will prob go with a T3 shifter and the updated bushings.

[KristianAE86]

i have my own made shortshifter - cost me about 5 E

works PERFECTLY.

why - honestly - pay a fortune for something an mechanical workshop will help you fix for as litte as a cake for the afternoon tea ?

[Ivan141]

True...a short shifter kit is just 2 spacers. The nice thing about the T3 kit is the new bushing, but you can get a new OEM one which probably does the job equally well.