Shorter Gear Stick (6 Speed)

Right..

Wish me luck, because today I am going to attempt shortening the Gear stick on my 156 V6...(6 speed with lift up reverse)


I've done this to my Twinny long ago, so that Pogo Stick in the V6 has been driving me nuts ever since i got it!

It looks more complicated for the V6, but definitely doable...

Aiming at taking 35mm off, which should be just enough to make fast change from 2nd to 3rd, and 4th to 5th a little more precise then current.

good luck

Don't forget the piccies of the process.

So far so good.

35mm taken off the gear stick. Also 35mm of the plastic handle, and glued back together again. You can see by the circle marking where i sawed it off and put it back together again.

Now the glue has to harden for 24hrs.

You really need to grind the two surfaces on the plastic handle to a complete even and flat surface, or it will end up crooked.

if u sawed it thru and then glued it back, arent u concerned the gear lever will snap when u attempt a hard shift?

redd

Originally Posted by Peter K

So far so good.

35mm taken off the gear stick. Also 35mm of the plastic handle, and glued back together again. You can see by the circle marking where i sawed it off and put it back together again.

Now the glue has to harden for 24hrs.

You really need to grind the two surfaces on the plastic handle to a complete even and flat surface, or it will end up crooked.

Peter,why dont you get a complete short shifter kit made up for the car?

I have one thats being made for my car by my my mechanics CNC machines and this will give 30% less gearstick throw and mean shorter/faster gear changes.

I would not be fond of putting a gearstick that is glued back together into my car.Sounds a bit iffy.

@ Redd: The gear stick is not glued! It that plastic "holster" No real stress on that other then the lift/spring press

@AD

Why should I pay some mechanic..? I much prefer doing small things like this myself, plus the satisfaction of doing your own mods is far superior to just sticking something premade on


But this is already more complicated then i first thought Because of the wider shoulder on the metal gear stick, i have to rebuild that plastic holster completely. Saw it to bits again. Put it back together and build a new internal guide for the top part. Finally refinish/grind it all plus spray paint... Not really as easy as i first thought!

Should be nice in the end though

Originally Posted by Peter K

Right..

Wish me luck, because today I am going to attempt shortening the Gear stick on my 156 V6...(6 speed with lift up reverse)

Aiming at taking 35mm off, which should be just enough to make fast change from 2nd to 3rd, and 4th to 5th a little more precise then current.

One of the things that I didn't understand when I got my Alfa was why had they made the gearstick so tall....still don't
Interesting to see how you get on.

I chopped 50mm out of my 147 gearstick and attached a black leather Sparco gear knob.

More feel to each gearchange,this is now being replaced with the CNC machined short shifter gear kit.

I had to buy a completely new 147 gear shifter unit so that it could be copied/designed with the use of C.A.D and then the redesigned short shift kit could made on the CNC machines.

Peter,all I will say is that I just hope that when you are gearchanging that the glued together gear lever doesnt break off in your hand.Best of luck with it though.

Peter - sorry if Im getting the worng end of the stick (haha) but why?
Youre not going to reduce your gear change times by reducing the length of the stick unless you lengthen the ammount below the fulcrum point and reduce the ammount above it.

if its purely that you cant stand the fact that it looks long then fair enough as it does look long compared to the one on my GTA

Originally Posted by ukoldschool

Peter - sorry if Im getting the worng end of the stick (haha) but why?
Youre not going to reduce your gear change times by reducing the length of the stick unless you lengthen the ammount below the fulcrum point and reduce the ammount above it.

if its purely that you cant stand the fact that it looks long then fair enough as it does look long compared to the one on my GTA

Intersting point... As mentioned, i am not doing this to get faster gear shift, but to get more precise gear shift action. The 2nd to 3rd, and 4th to 5th gear shift movement is veeeery long, and feels quite inaccurate when done quickly.

Admittedly it's been a few years since i had basic mechanics, but as i read your argument, it does not really apply here.(Not in real life anyway)

a)I presume the Gear stick is a Class I lever, and the Effort in this case is not a constant, but the final Load is.

b) I can apply plenty more Effort at my own discretion, and the Load is not anywhere near my maximum effort.

c) The increase of Load which comes from moving the point of where Effort is applied closer to Fulcrum, is so small, that it should not slow the actual movement of a Gear change down.

d) The Lateral travelled distance required to perform a Gear shift, decreases as the distance from point of Effort to Point of Pivot(Fulcrum) decreases.

Ergo it should theoretically be possible to make faster gear change times by shortening the stick.

To speak in regular tongue, i think the 1997-2002, 6 speed gear stick was intentionally made tall to make the gear shift action feel softer and smoother then what a shorter stick would offer. AR always has to satisfy the masses, and not a few Nutters like us

Hmm - the technicalities of it are lost on me, but I understand it from a practical poitn of view having made my own quickshift for the lancia.

On a gearstick the ratio between the distance between say first and second above the fulcrum, and the distance that effort moves the lever below th efulcrum is fixed. If you shorten the gearstick you will indeed reduce the distance required for a first to second change, but you wont reduce the effort needed under the fulcrum point.

Generally speaking, quickshifts chage the ratio to acheive a faster and more precise change. So in the example of my lancia I removed an inch from above the fulcrum, and added an inch below. The distance required to change from first to second dropped from around 3/4 inches to 2 inches, but more importantly the 'feel' is changed completely by the change in ratio.
To accomplish this I had to mount the fulcrum point up an inch higher (using bushes and a new higher fulcrum pivot) and the whole assembly was then strengthened as the new ratio moves the stresses from their original positions:
http://www.evocars.com/siteimages/quickshift.jpg

Hope that makes sense, of course a metal type change as per my lancia is much easier to modify than the plastic ones traditionally used in newer cars (plus I dont have a problem with the lift up reverse thingy )

Yeah, i've tried a short shift in a Delta Integrale, only 2months ago. There is no comparrison in what i am doing, and a genuine short shift kit. With a short shift kit, gear change is littelrally done with a flick of the wrist!

But as mentioned many times before, a real short shift is(currently) not made for the 156 , otherwise i would have bought one long ago. And a one off custom job makes no sense with local labour costs.. My estimate would be 10-15 working hours at £75 /hr ~ £750-1000... i know the Integrale short shift kit costed something like £50 ?

Its not that the kit is cheap - its the labour to fit it thats the problem (as it means removing the shaft thats bolted to the gearbox.
To make mine I simply bought another gear assembly from a Thema for £20 and butchered it..... maybe the same could be done with the 156?

This is where we need those guy with Eper to come in

Most likely several models from the FIAT company shares the component?

Maybe a gear shift assembly from a 2002-2005 model can be fitted to a pre 2002? The new gear stick is shorter i believe.

Not straightforward! I think I've discovered that the gearsticks are unique to Alfa's .... one for Twinsparks, one for V6 and one for GTA.

The body that it located in is similar across the Fiat range though. This is basically just the balljoint at the end of the stick which will then connect to the operating cables, etc.

Assemblies appear to be car specific ... so no easy swaps from the looks of things.

Is there a picture of the part on the EPR for the 156 & for the GTA?
If you could post it we might be able to assess more on whats going on underneath he fulcrum point......

Like these? From left: V6, GTA, and TS.

In all of them the gearlever is a different part number, but a lot of the parts are the same. Haven't checked all of them .... but the "body" (#9) and lever (#16) are ....

Excellent! all are different, but on all the parts needed are the same...

All you need is to add half and inch or so to the below ball joint bit of no. 1, and add a spacer of the same size (half inch thick) between 8 & 9. Bobs yer uncle - quickshifter......

Then cut the gear stick down by the same (or more if you like) ammount down and attack the lift up collar section...

there will need to be some 'fettling', ie the connector at the bottom may need to be bent /welded forward slightly to get it to align (had to move it forward by half a cm on the lancia one), and also may have to ream out the hole in part 8 to give enough clearance for the new pivot point or the rod coudl hit forwards and backwards (again, had to do this in the lancia).

Can you give me the part numbers (and if poss the list price) for 1, 8 & 9 on the GTA pic please? if its reasonable I may have a go

Attached

Not sure if the drawings are to scale (doubt it), but the bottom end of the GTA stick looks longer than the V6 version ... but could be my eyes ... must go to Specsav ........

Cheers Gazza!

So this is what Im thinking for a quickshift on the cheap....
Combine this with the modification Peter K is doing to reduce the length of the lever and reverse selector.

Gazza can you also let me know the part number and what the price of the parts marked 16 & 2 please?