Dave's shortshift

[Monty]

John supprised u had to remove the selector, thought it would of been possible to fit the shifter with out removing it especially with the new revised part

[John_W]

Monty,

If you know what you're doing, yes probably.

However I had never seen the beastie before, so wanted to get it onto a bench to assess the situation.

John

Edited to say:
I still think it's best to take out the unit, as you have to remove three pins from the old arms for re-use, and I'd feel happier doing that on a bench & vice rather than in situ.

Two of the pins were held in by rusted nuts which required quite a bit of force to release while being held in a vice and one of them locates in the alloy casting and required gentle tapping out with a hammer while supporting the casting. If you do the work in situ there is ample opportunity for bending the arms or cracking the casting while trying to take out pins which have been in there corroding to their hosts for 15 years.

Now that I have already done the job once and know that the pins are now non-rusty and well lubricated, I might be tempted to do it in situ. However I'll never have any need to do it again as (unless you are Dave) this fitting job is a "one-off".

John

[DeeAitch]

Monty,

If you know what you're doing, yes probably.

However I had never seen the beastie before, so wanted to get it onto a bench to assess the situation.

John

Edited to say:
I still think it's best to take out the unit, as you have to remove three pins from the old arms for re-use, and I'd feel happier doing that on a bench & vice rather than in situ.

Two of the pins were held in by rusted nuts which required quite a bit of force to release while being held in a vice and one of them locates in the alloy casting and required gentle tapping out with a hammer while supporting the casting. If you do the work in situ there is ample opportunity for bending the arms or cracking the casting while trying to take out pins which have been in there corroding to their hosts for 15 years.

Now that I have already done the job once and know that the pins are now non-rusty and well lubricated, I might be tempted to do it in situ. However I'll never have any need to do it again as (unless you are Dave) this fitting job is a "one-off".

John

That's why the install instructions say :
"It is feasible to install this conversion without removal of the Control box. However this is not recommended, as great care must be taken to avoid imparting undue forces on the mechanism during the install. Any undue force may result in irreparable internal damage to the shift mechanism."

Mine was a pig to remove in situ first time round and you certainly don't want to risk breaking the casting

[Bobc]

Dave,

Is it too late to be added to the 'Upgraded bellcrank (lazy fitters) list' please?

My cables have just broke so when the new ones arrive it would be good to install the short shift at the same time.

Many thanks,

Bob

[DeeAitch]

No Bob, it's not too late I had to get quite a large batch made to keep the cost of the laser cut blank within reason.
PM your address (if it has changed) and confirm interest and I'll get it off to you the next day.

Cheers

Dave

Dave,

Is it too late to be added to the 'Upgraded bellcrank (lazy fitters) list' please?

My cables have just broke so when the new ones arrive it would be good to install the short shift at the same time.

Many thanks,

Bob

[Elanlover]

Well, I took the plunge and removed the selector box I just couldn't get the nuts to loosen off the pins no matter how much penetrating oil I sprayed on it. This may not be a big deal for most of you mechanic types but for me, this was major surgery. My hands were sweating and the constant fear of doing irrepairable damage to the car was on my mind. Bolts came of very easy, box slid off and the gasket looked brand new. Helps when your car has 3,500 original miles I suppose

Put Dave's kit on after wrestling with the mech on the vise for 20 minutes and reinstalled the box. I must say, I was suitably implressed with my ability to not screw it up. I've now downgraded the procedure to "day surgery". However, I couldn't find the torque settings for the box in the service manual. It must be in there somewhere but before I start an intensive read I was hoping someone might have those settings handy.

Thanks!

[DeeAitch]

My manual, section FF p35, states 19 Nm (14 lbf.ft)

[Elanlover]

Thanks Dave, just went and looked it up myself. One line. Argghhhh. I was looking at the section where they first talked about the housing and they never mentioned it there.

[Candles]

Just fitted and tested the kit with the Mk2 bellcrank and AB cables/bushes. The result is nothing short of a miracle. The gearshift feels like a normal car!

Well done, bravo etc to all the engineers involved!

Candles.

[Ekapol]

The gearshift feels like a normal car!

Did you also shorten the shift shaft by 1"

[paulwatkins]

Dave, could you please add me to the list for the bellcrank upgrade?

Let me know cost and how to pay and I'll get it to you asap.

Cheers, Paul

[Elanlover]

Just had the car out for the first time this weekend AND with dave's shortshft kit along with some plastic bushings to replace the stock rubber ones. At the risk of repeating everyone else, what an immensse difference! Great work Dave, it really feels great. Will need a couple of weeks just to get used to the car again! Also shaved off about half an inch from the top of the stick as well.

[Ghost]

Hi Dave,

My short shifter kit arrived today.
Thanks for the fast delivery.
I hope you received my payment via Paypal, and it has not gone to some disrepitable establishment in Asia!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again,

Steve (Ghost)

[DeeAitch]

I hope you received my payment via Paypal, and it has not gone to some disrepitable establishment in Asia!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Steve, payment arrived AOK

[algirdas]

Dear Dave:

I can only echo Blair's sentiments. Your MK II short shift kit has transformed my car. Mind you, I am running stock cables, no solid bushings and standard length shifter. Only change to the transmission was filling it with Redline MTL.

I'm content with it the way it is. I have a set of AB cables and solid shifter mount bushings and will install those parts simply because I don't trust the originals very much and I know they will fail just outside of Pig's Knuckle, Arkansas if I leave them in.

Once again, good job!

Sincerely,

Algirdas

[Dico]

Fitting and test drive complete!

AB cables and nylon bushes allready installed. Ist and 2nd gears are as slightly stiffer than the other gears (which are spot on), maybe a touch more adjusting required. Strangely, there was no sign of any 5th gear crunching that usualy occured if care isn't taken.

Cheers Dave

[DeeAitch]

Strangely, there was no sign of any 5th gear crunching that usualy occured if care isn't taken.

I used to have this on my original gearbox. Originally I put it down to a worn syncro ring, although I thought it was strange it was only on 5th. Would have expected a more frequently used gear to go first.
However my original proto shortshift removed this crunching completely, which I found odd at the time.

[Candles]

Same. Bizarre! I had really crunchy selection of 5th when I installed the 'box I rebuilt. I put it down to my having messed up the re-assembly. Then I installed the shortshift kit, and it is as right as rain. It must be something to do with throw, but I can't think what!

Candles.

[chris.t]

Thanks dave for the speedy delivery, Shifter arrived today. Will be fitted when i get back from LeMans.

[DeeAitch]

Some great feedback from you guys over the course of this project
Here are a few of the better ones

“I have had the kit installed for some months now and its superb
It gets 10/10 from me”

“what an immense difference”

“The result is nothing short of a miracle. The gearshift feels like a normal car!” (My favourite )

“The combination of the AB cables, solid mounts, and short shift is nothing short (no pun intended) of making a huge difference in the fun factor of the Elan.”

"who the hell needs Bill with quality kits like this one made by a true Elan owner"

“No more rubbing elbow to the centre console when you can wrist-shift”

“You wouldn't guess from using it that it’s a cable shift at all.”

“The short-shifter is definitely a big improvement.”

“Your MK II short shift kit has transformed my car”

All this has inspired me to commission another batch of full kits which are now available.
I’d like to restrict this thread to technical discussions in the future so for anyone interested in purchasing a kit I’ll start a new thread in the ‘Elan products for sale’ section, see here or you can keep a watch on fleabay.

A big thanks go out to all of you who have stuck with me on this project.
Bet you can't wait for the next one!



Dave