Dave's shortshift

[DeeAitch]

OK – after getting fed up with the stock shifter, possibly the worst Lotus ever released? (yes, worse even than my + 2 5 speed shifter ) I have been looking at some of the options previously tried and how some OE manufacturers who use cable shifts make theirs work i.e Honda! (not to mention getting a challenge from someone close to our hearts last year at Donny!)
I have now made a bolt on jobby for the fore / aft shift. I’m on my third prototype which has been on my car now for less than 1000 miles so it is relatively untried (1st proto lasted 3000 miles without any problem and this one is stronger)..
The fore / aft throw 1st to 2nd and 3rd to 4th is reduced from 165mm (total movement) to 130mm – figures from my car, yours may be in better or worse shape depending on mileage / use. The ‘feel’ is much improved due to the added counterweight, see pic.
I have further reduced the throw to 110mm by shortening the lever so my knob sits lower and it feels great, ooh er! Some may not like this tho’ as the handbrake gets in the way when applied.
I have also modified the cross gate but this is not bolt on – involves drilling a new hole in the lever and fitting a new clevis pin pointing down instead of up - not a difficult mod if you can get the lever off the shift box, mine was a sod. It's then a Barsteward to get the cable on . Throw on cross gate is reduced from 70mm to 45mm (35mm with chopped lever).
In addition I have tightened up the lever ball joint with 6 thou of shims – mine was a bit sloppy after 90k and who knows how many in outs.
Please note that as this mod is at the gearbox end the loads on the gearlever and cables are increased. Fore / aft is fine in my opinion but the cross gate load against the 1st / 2nd bias spring may be too much for some. Therefore if you have potential issues with cables breaking this is probably not for you. I accept no liability if your cables are not up to it!
My cables are S2 as far as I can make out and there is enough lateral movement in these to allow fitting with the stock mounting bracket. A sample is currently being tried on a car with AB cables – feedback soon!

I could probably get a batch of the fore / aft brackets knocked up, together with all fasteners, in 304 Stainless if there is sufficient interest but it may be too expensive for what it is, otherwise details freely available to Forum members if you can't work it out from the pic, with the usual copyright proviso. i.e. For trackuse only , no liability implied or accepted & I will hunt you down if you try to make a profit on e-bay or the like.
I wasn’t going to post this until I had tested it for a lot more miles but there have been a few recent discussions on the topic so I though you might like to see what I had done. Also I think someone else (Brian maybe?) was ahead of me developing something at the lever end which would be easier on the cables and I didn’t want to spoil their fun! It would no doubt look better as well!
Sorry for the long post!

Dave

[F1 LOTUS]

I wasn’t going to post this until I had tested it for a lot more miles but there have been a few recent discussions on the topic so I though you might like to see what I had done. Also I think someone else (Brian maybe?) was ahead of me developing something at the lever end which would be easier on the cables and I didn’t want to spoil their fun! It would no doubt look better as well!
Sorry for the long post!

Dave

Go for it Dave!
I understood you were already doing something, so I've done nothing other than think about it If you need any help on the manufacturing side I'll be happy to help if I can
Brian

[Matt RI]

So.... Excited....

I will look forward to hearing how the trial with the AB cables go, Dave- that is what I have. But yes, this thread has caught my attention as a shorter throw has been something I have coveted from the start. Please keep us informed of the costs/installation instructions. You know I am interested.

Thanks for your time and effort!

[Costas]

I am gonna be checking this thread!

Sh4rk

[F1 LOTUS]

...cue the theme from Jaws...

[Houdini]

Got the AB cables as well and will be watching.

[ESM]

I confess, its me - I'm the AB cable test person.

I got a gearbox out of a scrapper a while back to replace the one I had in red car (crunchy 3rd syncro). It was perfect apart from a bent arm on its shift unit (I don't know the proper title, I mean the small box bolted to the gearbox that the cables connect to). As a result the shift unit from the original box was re-used when the replacement gearbox was fitted and the shift unit with the bent arm ended up in a cupboard. Recently Dave was generous enough to offer to straighten up the damaged arm and fit his short shift kit to it.

Being a coward of the first water I got Chris Foulds to install it. First off - it is compatible with the AB cables. No problems were found attaching the cables. However, the car stuck in gear after a couple of shifts. They removed the shift unit and on comparing the internals of the modified unit and the one they took off they observed that they were different! So they transplanted internals from one to the other, refitted and the problem was solved.

The reason for the incompatibility is puzzling. The modified shift unit was originally fitted to that gearbox, so unless they transplanted the internals on the occasion that gearbox was installed as well, it should have worked. Another possibility is that the event that bent the arm caused some non-obvious internal damage. I told Chris all this and he is adamant that the problem was down to design differences in the internals. I suppose its not important so long as the original shift unit is modifed and refitted to its gearbox.

I've only driven about 200 miles with it so far (much of that on motorway) so I can't give any idea of long term reliability but so far I'm very favourably impressed with the feel of it. I found a big benefit of the AB cables was the improved definition of the H shift pattern, the combination of this and the short shift really gives a sense of precision. You wouldn't guess from using it that its a cable shift at all. The throw is much reduced and the extra force actually helps the whole thing feel more solid. In my installation the crossgate weight is quite consistent with the fore-aft and wouldn't trouble anyone. However, I had a very easy shift with the AB cables so the baseline force was possibly different. The only time I notice having to apply force is taking it out of 5th, for some reason that require a bit more of a tug than any other shift. Although, it might just be that I haven't reprogrammed myself yet and after cruising for a while the first shift catches me unawares.

Chris Foulds liked it too.

I wonder if the big throw of the original design was required to keep the stresses on the plastic fittings of the stock cables low enough to prevent fatigue failures - I can't see any other reason for it. The AB cables won't have any problems though.

All in all a proper job, well done Dave.

[Nige]

I look forward to the production details of this as I would definitely like to add a short shift to my growing pile of bits to fit! I might well go for the AB cables at the same time although I find the S2 cables are noticeably more positive than those in the NA.

[davidjt]

I'd also be very interested in a production version.

[algirdas]

All:

I have an idea. I purchased a used shifter while at Donington this year. My plan was to send it to AutoEurope for one of their short shift kits and then, someday, install it into my car along with a set of AB cables. I would be willing to get the conversion done and then ship the shifter to somebody in the UK (on the assumption that I get it back) to do some real time testing with the AB cables along with other short shift conversions.

What doest thou thinketh?

Sincerely,

Algirdas

[F1 LOTUS]

All:

I have an idea. I purchased a used shifter while at Donington this year. My plan was to send it to AutoEurope for one of their short shift kits and then, someday, install it into my car along with a set of AB cables. I would be willing to get the conversion done and then ship the shifter to somebody in the UK (on the assumption that I get it back) to do some real time testing with the AB cables along with other short shift conversions.

What doest thou thinketh?

Sincerely,

Algirdas

Sounds like a generous offer
Does Autoeurope modify the gearbox mechanism or the cabin end?
Do you have pictures of the parts you have?

[algirdas]

Dear Brian:

It is my understanding that they modify the "shifter" and understand this to mean the lever to which the shifter now attaches and the related mechanicals under the shifter gaiter or boot as we tend to call it. You send them yours, they modify it and send it back. It is also may understanding that they shorten the length of the actual shifter lever itself.

I'll try to take some photos this afternoon while I am out in the garage, assuming I can shink them down enough. Still haven't figured that out. I may have a mental block against it since we middle aged men don't want to hear or do anything that involves "shortening" or "shrinking".

Sincerely,

Algirdas

[algirdas]

Dear Brian:

Here is a picture of the part I am going to send to Auto Europe for the conversion. Again, it is $100 plus return shipping for the conversion.

I told the person I talked to at Auto Europe about LEC and he suggested doing them on an exchange basis if there is enough interest.

Sincerely,

Algirdas

[DeeAitch]

Algirdas, I'm slightly confused How can you take photos if it isn't modified yet?
I heard of the Autoeurope mod a few years ago but have never seen it - I did think it followed the old 'Bill's Isuzu' route tho' (For those that don't know this involved cutting and shutting the Gearbox end shift levers. I have pics somewhere if anyone wants to see it.)
I did contemplate going the same way but:
a) I wanted a bolt on solution (i.e. reversible if it all went ti*s up )
b) I wanted to be able to 'tune' the movement / effort / feel which I could do (relatively) easily with bolt on bits.

Modifying the gearlever end would be a better way to go in that it would be easier on the stock cables. However, having stripped my gearlever to shorten the shaft and shim the ball , I came to the conclusion that you couldn't reduce the crossgate travel with a mod at this end without a major rework of the mechanism.
I also felt that a Fore / Aft mod at this end would be difficult due to the proximity of the cables. It's also a balls-ache to get to if you are trying several options, and wouldn't allow any method of improving the feel.

BTW a simple modification of the gearlever, with a bolt on extension has been developed by someone on this site. IIRC it only modifies the fore / Aft throw but I've never seen any report on it.

[algirdas]

Dear Dave:

I don't know exactly what Auto Europe does to it. I was simply posting a picture in response to Brian's question as to what part would Auto Europe be modifying (at least that is what I understood Brian was asking).

I will post some pictures post modification as well.

Please don't lose sight of the fact that I am a complete idiot when it comes to this stuff and I just recently graduated from "Newbie" to "Tinkerer".

Sincerely,

Algirdas

[DeeAitch]

Oops - sorry, your (Nice background!) pic was added as I was compiling my message!
Please check that this is the bit they modify (and what they do to it - I've seen some others recently - not Elan - that charge a lot for nothing more than cutting and re threading the lever ) before incurring any shipping costs!
I'm sure I can beat $100 if they are talking about the other end

[F1 LOTUS]

I believe this is an LGM mod posted some time ago on the forum

[DeeAitch]

That's the one Brain. You can see from this shot the angle the cable has to go through to get to the new pivot point. Could probably be fixed with a minor 'tweak' to the bracket.
I had similar concerns at the other end but the change in angle proved to be within the cables limits.

[Monty]

I believe this is an LGM mod posted some time ago on the forum

Kev H did the same mod and i`m sure Sy has one fitted

[Candles]

Dave,

If it comes to manufacture, I'll be in for one. I like the look of your gearbox end adaption.

ESM:

The difference in the shift-housing internals between the two cars: What was it? I note that you have 'trouble' getting it out of 5th, and the selector mechanism has an interlock cam which prevents 5th-reverse selections. I wonder if this could be snagging slightly?

Candles.