280zx Short throw Shifter?

[DarrellBuddy321]

Okay so i have hit the search, looked in google, look in yahoo.. and zdriver forum is down, and zcar sux beacuse no ever posts... sorry if this is a repetitive question but damn...i cant find my answer

 

My question is, is there a short throw shifter for a Na 5 speed 280zx??

 

Please help me my eyes are burning from looking and topics that are not answering my question!

[technicalninja]

Need to know what year tranny you have. If it has the long mount ears you can redrill pivot hole higher and lengthen shift lever below pivot same amount. Early trans with short ears use a shift kit from Motorsport (as long as they are still available).

[DarrellBuddy321]

my z is a 1979 and produced in 1978...does that mean that it is an older tranny?

[JMortensen]

Your ZX has the later style shifter.

 

Here's my suggestion: go to the junkyard. Get a Nissan truck shifter out of any 70's or 80's Nissan truck. The truck shifter is WAY too long for a Z, so install it in the Z, mark off how much to cut off to make it comfortable. Pull it back out, cut off with cut off wheel (hacksaw would work here too I suppose). Install a simple MOMO type shift knob. If you have a press you can bend it too if you need, but it's probably not necessary.

 

The trucks have a very long shifter so they have to have a shorter throw, otherwise you'd have an extremely long throw on the end of the 2' tall shifter. When you cut it down and install into a Z, the throw is about as short as you would want to go. Any shorter and it would be very difficult to tell what gear you were in IMO. I bought my last shifter from a jy for $5.

[DarrellBuddy321]

Cheap fix! Thanx man! off to the junkyard

 

But just out of curiosity.. would the "Short Throw Shifter, 2/78-78 Z" work?

http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PRC02A

 

I have tendencies to mess up projects sometimes so it can b my last resort if my junkyard shifter doesn't work...lol

[JMortensen]

Yes, that would work.

[Guest ON3GO]

the one MSA sells for the 77-78 5-speed will work, just need to do a little modifying...

Chirs here in houston did it to his, very very nice!

 

mike

[olie05]

Your ZX has the later style shifter.

 

Here's my suggestion: go to the junkyard. Get a Nissan truck shifter out of any 70's or 80's Nissan truck. The truck shifter is WAY too long for a Z' date=' so install it in the Z, mark off how much to cut off to make it comfortable. Pull it back out, cut off with cut off wheel (hacksaw would work here too I suppose). Install a simple MOMO type shift knob. If you have a press you can bend it too if you need, but it's probably not necessary.

 

The trucks have a very long shifter so they have to have a shorter throw, otherwise you'd have an extremely long throw on the end of the 2' tall shifter. When you cut it down and install into a Z, the throw is about as short as you would want to go. Any shorter and it would be very difficult to tell what gear you were in IMO. I bought my last shifter from a jy for $5.[/quote']

 

When you install it into the z, you have to drill the higher pivot hole too, right?

[JMortensen]

Nope. Just plug and play.

[olie05]

how does it reduce the throw if it uses the stock pivot location? Changing the pivot location seems to be the only way to decrease the throw.

-Oliver

[JMortensen]

The pivot height doesn't determine the shift throw. The distance from the pivot to the ball (or the cup shaped bushing) at the end of the shifter does. The distance between the pivot and the ball is longer on the truck shifter.

 

I see why you would ask if you need to raise the pivot. You would think that the shift linkage is solid and that you would need the higher pivot to hook up a longer shifter, or else it wouldn't fit. For whatever reason this is not the case. It just plugs in. There is no interference, and no vertical pressure on the pin that goes thru the shaft.

 

I would think that the shift linkage inside the trans moves up and down a little bit because no matter what shifter you have the ball is going to be lower in neutral than when it is in gear. But that is just a guess, I don't know for sure. What I do know is that the truck shifter works, and that it is a lot longer between the pivot and the ball than the regular Z shifter. I learned about the truck shifter from a Nissan Master tech, and I've used one since I got my ZX 5 speed ~8 years ago. All of my friends use this same shifter in 510s and Z's as well. So that's probably 12 transmissions over the years (Z, ZX, 4 speed, 5 speed) using this shifter. None has moved the pivot.

[slownrusty]

There was a guy selling them on eBay for $70 came with new bushings too. I bought one for my ZXT and fit and works perfectly. I have not seen him sell any more since the summer.

 

Yasin

[FI_JUNKY]

so would this truck shifter method work as well on my 83 zxt?

[Gollum]

Ditto that. I might do that for my 81' ZX. I think it should work as it's that style of shifter. It's just a rod with a ball at one end and a hole in the middle for mounting it.

[GrayZee]

so would this truck shifter method work as well on my 83 zxt?

 

 

a 83zxt "MAY" have a T5 Borg-Warner trans, which is a totally different animal. However there are probably alot of aftermarket options for that tranny.

[evildky]

for the ZXT you have the T-5 so you can use the short throw shifter for mustangs or camaro's

[Thumper]

You can take a shifter from a 240z-260z 4-speed and put it into your 5-spd 240z-280z car. It has a longer fulcrum and will reduce the throws. If you have a 280zx n/a 5-spd then you need to cut the 4-spd right about the pivot point and weld the straight 280zx shifter onto it in order to have the shifter in the correct location. I have done this in my 280zx and my 260z. It makes a big difference. If you have a 83' 280zxt t-5 tranny you can use a B&W short shifter for a 89-3 mustang 5.0 tranny. Good luck.

[srgunz]

You can take a shifter from a 240z-260z 4-speed and put it into your 5-spd 240z-280z car. It has a longer fulcrum and will reduce the throws.

 

Not in my case.

I put a 78 5 speed in my 72 Z. I tried using my 4 speed shifter and could not engage 5th gear. 1 thru 4 worked great. We pulled the gearbox to inspect and all was perfect. I finally found a 5 speed shifter and saw it was different length below the pivot. I installed it and problem fixed.

[Gollum]

So you cut the 4 speed just to put the shifter in the correct locaiton in relation to the diver correct?

 

If I understand you right...

 

4 speed shifter

_0

_|

-/

|< cut here?

o

|

o

(had to use spaces to make the kink work...)

If I understand you correctly you cut just above the pivot? Is the 4 speed too long? Why not just cut and weld the 4 speed shifter?

 

I'm really thinking about doing this. It would probly be much cheeper than buying a shifter. So how much does it reduce the throw?

[FI_JUNKY]

so how can i be sure i have the t5 transmission? where do i look and what do i look for?