Some of you may know, I'm doing a clutch/flywheel install to the SVT...
With the tranny out, I decided to figure out how to tighten up my shifter action. With my mileage, there is noticeable side-to-side play at the shift knob...even with my Tri-Ax. (Forward and backward action is reasonably tight, albeit spongy...this will be covered in part II of the HOW TO).
You should be able to do this mod without any problems with the tranny still in the car...but it won't be really easy. You'll need to pull the intake/MAF and likely the battery too. You likely won't need to pull the shifter cables though, so that's one less thing to worry about.
Here is the Getrag shift linkage...
On the linkage actuators on the transmission, there are two distinct actions...in and out (shift knob left/right), and back and forth (shift knob forward/back). To translate the side-to-side shift action into in-and-out, there is a 90 degree pivot.
If you look at the above picture, you'll see a black square Nylon 'slider', that runs back and forth in the groove and is used to push the linkage in and out. Every time you move your shifter side-to-side, this piece wears inside the groove.
If you remove the top two bolts on the linkage boss, you can remove the in-out pivot...
If you take a look at the black nylon slider, you'll likely see wear on the fore/aft sides...
Lets see how far it's worn...
Worn sides...
The untouched sides...
It doesn't seem like a whole lot, but trust me...almost 4/10ths of a millimeter HERE, translates to a whole lot more once this play goes thru the pivot and thru to the top of the shift knob!!
The beauty thing about this black nylon slider, is it's originally designed perfectly square...which means (and here is the best part!), you turn the nylon piece 90 degrees...
...and mount it back in place. Your done!! (Well, bolt it back to the tranny...)
This no-cost mod EASILY took out 80 or 90% of the play that was there...
Not bad for $0, huh??
Upon closer inspection, the pivot pins on the linkage look sleeved...and there IS some play (and corrosion) in the pins...which accounts for the remaining 20 or 10% of play...
In my future HOW TO's on this project, I plan on drilling out the pins, ream the linkage, re-sleeve them with custom bronze bushings (maybe bolt them back together instead of pressing them in?) and eliminate 100% of the play. I might even use bearings at all the critical pivots.
Another issue that must be rectified, is the forward/back linkage at the tranny...it uses a huge rubber grommet, which accounts for the sponginess at the knob (it, however, doesn't have any pivot points/sleeves to wear out...it's attached directly to the mechanism).
The cable end that connects to THIS pivot, on my '02 SVT, uses no rubber grommets, so this mod alone, should fix the 'feel' totally.
I plan on making a bronze bushing/sleeve for this, which should be relatively straight forward...and this mod should make the shift action much, MUCH better!
Whatever mod's I do, I plan on making enough parts to make a bunch of 'kits' for the rest of you to do this as well...
Another cheap and easy upgrade for this would be a rectangular (instead of square) slider bushing, and made from a harder material, like bronze. Or alternatively, machine the slider groove wider, and instead of a bronze or plastic slider, use a small roller bearing instead, to eliminate all play and decrease friction...
I'll keep this thread updated!
P.S. I dunno how the linkage on the MTX is, but I imagine, in principal, they work the same...so this mod might also relate to that transmission.
With the tranny out, I decided to figure out how to tighten up my shifter action. With my mileage, there is noticeable side-to-side play at the shift knob...even with my Tri-Ax. (Forward and backward action is reasonably tight, albeit spongy...this will be covered in part II of the HOW TO).
You should be able to do this mod without any problems with the tranny still in the car...but it won't be really easy. You'll need to pull the intake/MAF and likely the battery too. You likely won't need to pull the shifter cables though, so that's one less thing to worry about.
Here is the Getrag shift linkage...
On the linkage actuators on the transmission, there are two distinct actions...in and out (shift knob left/right), and back and forth (shift knob forward/back). To translate the side-to-side shift action into in-and-out, there is a 90 degree pivot.
If you look at the above picture, you'll see a black square Nylon 'slider', that runs back and forth in the groove and is used to push the linkage in and out. Every time you move your shifter side-to-side, this piece wears inside the groove.
If you remove the top two bolts on the linkage boss, you can remove the in-out pivot...
If you take a look at the black nylon slider, you'll likely see wear on the fore/aft sides...
Lets see how far it's worn...
Worn sides...
The untouched sides...
It doesn't seem like a whole lot, but trust me...almost 4/10ths of a millimeter HERE, translates to a whole lot more once this play goes thru the pivot and thru to the top of the shift knob!!
The beauty thing about this black nylon slider, is it's originally designed perfectly square...which means (and here is the best part!), you turn the nylon piece 90 degrees...
...and mount it back in place. Your done!! (Well, bolt it back to the tranny...)
This no-cost mod EASILY took out 80 or 90% of the play that was there...
Not bad for $0, huh??
Upon closer inspection, the pivot pins on the linkage look sleeved...and there IS some play (and corrosion) in the pins...which accounts for the remaining 20 or 10% of play...
In my future HOW TO's on this project, I plan on drilling out the pins, ream the linkage, re-sleeve them with custom bronze bushings (maybe bolt them back together instead of pressing them in?) and eliminate 100% of the play. I might even use bearings at all the critical pivots.
Another issue that must be rectified, is the forward/back linkage at the tranny...it uses a huge rubber grommet, which accounts for the sponginess at the knob (it, however, doesn't have any pivot points/sleeves to wear out...it's attached directly to the mechanism).
The cable end that connects to THIS pivot, on my '02 SVT, uses no rubber grommets, so this mod alone, should fix the 'feel' totally.
I plan on making a bronze bushing/sleeve for this, which should be relatively straight forward...and this mod should make the shift action much, MUCH better!
Whatever mod's I do, I plan on making enough parts to make a bunch of 'kits' for the rest of you to do this as well...
Another cheap and easy upgrade for this would be a rectangular (instead of square) slider bushing, and made from a harder material, like bronze. Or alternatively, machine the slider groove wider, and instead of a bronze or plastic slider, use a small roller bearing instead, to eliminate all play and decrease friction...
I'll keep this thread updated!
P.S. I dunno how the linkage on the MTX is, but I imagine, in principal, they work the same...so this mod might also relate to that transmission.