ChiliPepperGarage

One of my few complaint with my car is the wobbly, wide throw, less than positive feeling stock shifter. Then on Sunday I saw my buddy Scott who just picked up a '99 Porsche 996 with some mods including an aftermarket shifter. One of my complaints with P cars is the shifter too but this one was super tight with a very short and positive throw, much like the Hurst I had on C5.

Anyway, my folks live in Carefree, AZ and it is right next to Cave Creek where the ZF Doc is located. I has headed over yesterday for Thanksgiving week and gad made an appointment with Bill, the ZF Doc to install and new shifter. When I go there they were working on a ZR1, swapping out the cams. Turns out Bill does all kinds of work on C4s, not just the trans stuff.

I dropped my car off and was going to wait for it but Bill let me use his LS1 powered C4 (with ZR1 wide body rear) so I could see what the new shifter was like. Boy, what a difference between it and the stock shifter! One of my concerns with it was that it was going to be like the stock on, just shorter. That is not the case. It is not only shorter but way tighter and firmer. This is the way they should have come from the factory!

When I picked up my car it was of course, the same as Bill's car. I am VERY HAPPY with this shifter and highly recommend it. It feels like a completely different car!

Bill also gave me a bunch of tips about my car such as the clutch master cylinder being cast instead of a DOM one and a couple other things I'm going to change out.

I also wanted to mention that my LT4 car feels about the same as the LS1 car as far as power, maybe even a tad quicker. Bills car has a stock LS1 so I guess 340HP?

The steering on the LS1 car feels slighter lighter which I guess can be attributed to the about 100 pounds less weight over the front.

His car has a Corsa exhaust too and sounded great, especially going through the gears with the windows down. So now I have to do something to my exhaust system.

So again, highly recommend this product and if you are within driving distance to Phoenix it is worth it to make a trip to see Bill.

I am now looking forward to driving my car on some twisty roads just so I can shift gears!

Here is stock vs ZF shifter.

mike100

I think the camaro LS engines from that era were 300-320 hp although they may have been playing the underrated game back then a bit too since the vette one was 345 hp.

I took a week off of work to visit family when I had him go through my ailing ZF- totally worth the drive from California.

mtwoolford

what a lot of people don't realize is that ZFdoc offers a complete rebuild for the entire shifter mechanism...not just merely replacement of the shifter stalk (ala Hurst); and yes he shortened and rebuilt my shifter mechanism and it was one of the best bang for the buck mod's I've done to the car.

MyOtherCar

and how many buck$ did this "bang" cost you?

whalepirot

After sprinkling some ZF Doc dust on my car, my elation matched the OP's.

Yes, Bill does much more than trannies as I also learned.

dtana

I was going to ask as well..............though not necessarily using those exact words.

OP............So how much shorter is the short shifter than the original?

mike100

About the same as the Hurst one. It is not overly stubby for the sake of being short. It is functionally shorter.

Goldcylon

Been running this mod for years. I love it. Paired with his ZF DOC cyro treated transmission build it is the way it should have came from the factory.

ChiliPepperGarage

This^.

I did not measure the original so I don't know the difference. I can throw a tape on the new one later and let you know what it measures then someone with a stock shifter can measure theirs and post it.

The shifter itself is $190 ($185 plus a couple bucks for a couple miscellaneous parts). I also got the beam plates which helps stiffen up the drive line.

I had Bill install it because I'm lazy and didn't feel like dealing with it! Plus, after talking with him and discovering that he has a lot of knowledge and experience with not only the trans but C4's in general I felt confident that he would be able to adjust it perfectly which he did.

PLRX

The short shifter makes a big difference from stock. I have the B&M in my 96, and I love it. I love it more than the MGM in my C5Z06.

Speaking of Corsas, you will love the Corsa Cat-Back Exhaust. I think it is the most expensive exhaust C4 system out there, but I promise you will not regret it. I chose magnaflow, and I regretted that decision many times. You will have no drone with Corsa.

wfd1739

ChiliPepperGarage

I loved the sound of the Corsa. I prefer the stock rectangular exhaust tips but I can live with the Corsa tips. I'm not crazy about the trash can sized mufflers hanging in the back though.

I am thinking I'm going to do muffler eliminators for now and see if I can live with the drone. If not, I'll bite the bullet and get the Corsa.

bogus

don't do the elims here in CA... all you need is to drive that thing through some wealthy enclave and get a ticket for being too loud.

1993C4LT1