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HybridZ

Question about shifter "springs"


Lazeum

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Not sure how to call those "springs" if there's any.

There's no wobble on my lever. I've got brass bushings installed a long time ago, lever ball joint bushing is also ok.

 

My question is about the force/load that should push back the lever to neutral position between 1st/2nd and 5th/Reverse.

I can feel a good spring effect towards 5th/reverse but none between neutral and position between 1st/2nd gear. It is very loose.

 

My trans is a FS5W71B. It is now out of the car.

I was able to remove the return checking spring close to the lever. It is in very good condition. I can also see a groove on the striking rod. I can see a secondary groove being machined along the main one. Because of this "secondary" groove, the plunger does not provide any spring back effect in one direction. 

 

FS5W71B.thumb.jpg.17e7b488d57ce228b626936c4d9b3bc1.jpg

 

Looking at the design of the striking rod, I tend to believe it was made on purpose but I may be missing something here. Should I look somewhere else on the trans? Is there a spring I've missed?

 

I daily drive a Miata nb2. I wish the Z would have a shifter as tight as the one from the Miata.  Any help or comment would be appreciated ;)

Edited by Lazeum
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I recently rebuilt my FS5W71B and I ran into the same situation. It's my understanding that there was never a return spring from 1-2 to center. I believe this was added with the C variant of the transmission found on the S13 and later, but I never got far enough to determine if the parts were compatible or if I could modify my transmission to have this behavior. 

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There's no return spring. Much of what you end up feeling in there is the check balls. If you want snappier shifting and have yours apart, just about the only thing you can "adjust" are those springs. That will control how "tight" the shifter feels going into a gear. I've never messed with the internals on the B series so I'm not sure if there's actually any adjustment to be made there.  

 

Unfortunately the design of the shifter is vastly different on the FS5W71C. While the tail section is the same bolt pattern and can be easily adapted to a B series bellhousing, the rest of the casting is completely different, and uses a much more modern shifter style. A C series transmission might be what you're after if you want NB2-esque shifting in your Z.

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The lever is tight going into gear. It is only loose going from neutral to 1st/2nd gears.

So I guess it is made this way by design. It gives me an anwser to why I can't find a way to make everything tighter.

 

It seems my option would be to look for S14 gearbox which is easy to find cheap in Europe (1 is avalable at 10mi from my place for 450€). I'll have to check if mods required are worth doing but that's a personal decision :)

 

Thank you for your inputs ;)

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If you are comfortable getting the B series bell housing machined to fit on the C series, the only other modifications you need to make are getting a new driveshaft and crossmember. If you're handy with a welder, the crossmember is a piece of cake, or you can order one from Techno Toy Tuning. Godzilla Race Works also sells conversion driveshafts, but I imagine being in Europe, you'll have an easier time just getting one build over there. 

 

I've been running a C series transmission for a while and really enjoyed the improved shifting, particularly after I upgraded the springs in it's shifter housing. Got nice and tight after that. 

 

Best of luck, hope you can get the shifting where you like it! 

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Thanks for feedback.

This will be too much modifications for the time being. My car is about to get a full frame off restoration - hence why my trans is out of the car now.

But I'll keep that in mind then for the future - we never know, don't we? It seems our cars are never finished. For the last 12 years of ownership, there's always something happening ;) 

 

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