Gear cable change

[Geordie]

Hi all
After my first year of m100 se turbo ownership ,I’ve completed a few simple mods with success ,I have a 1000 ml trip booked around Scotland next year and after reading some posts on gear cables ,I have decided to fit short shift mod ,but after some inside info on which cables to fit ? If I’m correct S2 cables are an option ,I’ve noticed PNM and SJsports supply them but with a difference of around £50 ? Is there a difference in these cable sets and will they suffice ,or should I be looking at other options ,also any tips on fitting
Cheers in advance

[dapinky]

It's no good asking me - I'm still on the original SE cables, and they've been working a short-shift for the past 15 years without a problem!

(That said, others have had the cables fail as soon as you look at them)

Things to bear in mind - the only real difference between SE & S2 cables is the adjustment fittings/procedure - but as that is the part which fails on the SE ones, it is certainly an 'upgrade' item in itself. Just because the SE cables look okay doesn't mean that the plastic bits are either going to last for a day or a lifetime..... it is one of those parts that you can't assess for wear - they just break at some point (or not).

If you go for the short-shift unit from John Callahan, then you need to specify which cables you are using, as some of the end fittings were changed to work with his upgraded cable sets.....

.... which means that if you get the unit for SE cables, and then change to S2 cables, you'll be okay - but if you later fit the upgrade cables, there will be an issue at the gearbox end.

It is up to you where to spend the money, but I have never heard a bad review of the complete cable/quick-shift kit from JC (that said, I've never personally fitted one, so can't comment).

The only arguments for and against are the actual benefit of the quick-shift...... most people seem to love them, I'm not fussed either way, and won't be fitting one to the project car.

[Fredjohn]

I went for the short shift and love it. It has 3 different settings, I use the middle one. John Callahan is the only current supplier of this option.
BUT, I decided to get his cables as well. Much better engineered than either the SE or the S2 versions.
In my humble opinion I would recommend you get his cables as well as the s/s. Worth every penny.
And it's all with full instructions and doable by any half decent DIYer.

[Geordie]

Hi all
Thanks for reply,my kit (so I am led to believe) comes from Dave aeitch (Dave hall) all I purchased was the mechanism - no cables
Cheers

[dapinky]

The original short-shift was created by Dave Hall, and that is the version I own (well, the second iteration of it, and the one he made for a group buy).

I would suggest fitting it to the cables you have and see what happens! - in the mean time, if you see a S/H pair on offer, consider grabbing them 'just in case'. However, if you want to fit new cables, the S2 versions will see you right, but may not be as nice as JC's versions.

Remember, if you go for S2 ones, you will also need to get the gearbox bracket and the nuts to fit them...... similar to if you find a pair of AB cables, which is unlikely these days.

[lotusflasherman]

ahem ... I beg to differ Dave, the original was by Bill's Isuzuperformance of St Louis, USA. He reengineered the cross shaft lever and bellcrank lever, shortening both, and supplied them in a replacement alloy quadrant box and replacement abutment bracket so the cables were correctly aimed at the new pivot pin positions. The result was a very small throw shift, both fore & aft, and across the gate. Much shorter than the "dumbbell short shift" on my other M100 that also added weight, not lightness! Trouble was after driving the "dumbbell short shift" car for a while I'd often go from 2nd to 5th, missing 3rd, until I got used to how short that shift was.

I had it in mind to reengineer my old quadrant box as a "not quite so short" version of Bill's.. but one of those "one day I might get round to it" jobs.

Anybody fancy doing their own ?

lec 871c.jpg

lec873c.jpg

lec874c.jpg

lec876c.jpg

lec878c.jpg

Fairly obvious which one Bill supplied and which OE one came off..

[dapinky]

Phil,

I stand corrected

Until your post, I have (had?) never heard of Isuzu-Bills kit - although I do know that he did a variety of 'early adopter' modifications for the Impulse groups, some of which were transplanted to the Elan.

Doing some research, it was available before I got my first Elan, and wasn't really a 'big' thing and didn't gain much traction. As with all things, it probably got far more attention in it's local area, so I would expect that there are more Fed cars with it than UK cars, despite it being a smaller market share.

(I fully expect to be inundated with guys saying "I've got one on my UK car" now I've said that!!!)

Hopefully, my other points are still valid though.

[lotusflasherman]

No worries Dave, now you have 'another gem' to add to your extensive knowledge of M100's.

Bill's website show it about halfway down his Transmission page, but has been flagged as "".. currently unavailable" for many years, decades maybe! -
Bill's Isuzuperformance -Transmission

I think I bought it to go on my first Calypso SE bought '95 but that 'died' in '99 before I had fitted it. It's on the PB replacement that was SORN'ed when L100' became my daily.
Looking through Bill's info he says gear knob movement is 2" left to right, 2 1/2" fore-aft. Very tight! I have a set of John C's excellent cables in a box earmarked to go on that car to add a bit of extra freedom and precision to that change. Seem to remember he sent me 3 sets, to reduce my shipping costs, because my spare OE cables weren't lasting long as the plastic end bits had gone very brittle.

I still think modifying the quadrant box selectors is the most elegant solution to a better gearchange, though maybe not as much as Bill's.

[Tuga2112]

funny how no one has given the "keep in mind swapping cables is a complete PITA" warning yet.

just to repeat myself (again) my car came with SE cables. which failed many years ago. i swapped them with S2 cables that came from (if i recall correctly) HJ2's spare kit
as far as dificulty to get a job done. the only thing i recall being that hard was removing the intake plenum. (obviously you will consider HG change harder but in my experience, the plenum has to come out to do it anyway)

I also have a short shift kit that came already installed in the NA and the stick both is harder to move as well as refuses to spring back to the middle, i dont know if there is a problem with it, or if its intended to operate like that. but i certainly rather drive with a factory setup than that