BEZ06

I've had a 2005 Coupe since December, 2004. The first thing I did was a skip-shift eliminator, 2nd Corsa Sports, and 3rd was a B&M. Then Honker, Kooks, Baer rotors......

When I got the Z06 last October the main thing I missed (actually the ONLY thing I missed) was the shifter, so I swapped it over to the Z.

I took a video of the stock shifter meaning to take a comparison video after the swap. I finally did it and they are both below. They are just while the car is sitting in the garage - I'm not driving, just trying to show the difference in the 3 --> 4 shift throw length.

I tried to get the camera viewing from the same aspect in both videos - I think it's close. My narration calls out a little different numbers than the camera sees - I guess my eyes were looking from a different angle than the camera.

With the B&M the **** seems to be about 1/4 inch lower than on the stock shifter - maybe 3/8 inch.

The B&M throw is a lot shorter and more positive. The 2 --> 3 shift is very easy with just a short straight push of the hand.

The 3 --> 4 shift seems to be about 4-1/2 inches for the stock, and about 3 inches for the B&M.

Probably the best mod I did on my '05 C6. It's something you enjoy every time you drive. You don't have to be pushing the car hard, accelerating fast, cornering hard - even if you're driving in traffic you can enjoy the shifter. When I got in the Z06 I knew I had to get the shifter swapped over, and it's great having it in the Z now.

Bob


Video of the Stock shifter





Video of the B&M shifter




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shindo97

VERY VERY NICE! thanks for the video brother!

Street gear

Thanks for taking the time to post that. I found it very informative.

Vindication

thats awesome.

vjones

Thanks for doing the video's.

How long did it take to do the install, and was it a hard install? Also, how much does it go for?

Thanks in advance.

Z06_Joe

Great tutorial. B&M should send you a check.

Joe

NKRZ06

Thanks for posting!

Very informative!!

BEZ06

When I first put it in my '05 Coupe almost 3 years ago it probably took almost 2 hours - the car was new, it was my first Vette, this was one of my first mods, and I was just taking my time.

This time it took less than an hour - I had just taken it out of the '05 and reinstalled the stock shifter in it in prep for selling the car, then I swapped it over to the Z06, so I was very familiar with what I was doing by then.

Forum vendor Corvettes of Houston has them for $189 plus shipping:

http://www.corvettesofhouston.com/pr...roducts_id=454

Butt.....forum member Donn'sCpe has one for sale for $125 shipped - that's a killer deal!!!:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1932457



With the stock ****, when I'd shift from 2nd to 3rd I was hitting the *****/switches on the air conditioning and radio - the throw went too far forward, was too long, and was kinda slushy.

When I got the '05 Coupe in Dec '04 there wasn't much choice. This is the same B&M used in the C5, but when you get it the instructions for C6 installation have you take out a bolt in the middle of the shift lever, remove the top about 4 inches of the lever, turn it around 180 degrees, and bolt it back on. A couple of guys who did real early B&M installations on their C6's ground down the top of the lever so it would take the stock ****. By the time I got one the company made a change to the ones they shipped so it will accept the stock **** (or aftermarket threaded ****), and that was a feature I liked.

I think now many of the other manufacturers designs can accept the stock ****. If I were looking now I would shop around and check out the Callaway, Hurst, Kirban, MGW, etc. MGW is the new guy on the block and do a search on the forum and you'll find guys love it. They have 2 different throw lengths available.

So.....I'm not selling the B&M. I just like it very much - especially the ability to use the stock ****. I'm sure they all do pretty much the same thing as far as shortening the throw.

All of them seem to suffer the same problem - they tend to rattle more than the stock shifter. With the B&M I never had a rattle problem in the '05 and didn't know what people were talking about. Since I put it in the Z06 I have noticed a very small rattle under hard acceleration at high rpm - but only when I have my hand on the ****. It doesn't bother me at all - especially when I'm driving aggressively and paying attention to other stuff and enjoying the sound of the Z exhaust with the butterflies open!!

Bob

BTW, here's a link to a video of the shifter in action when I had it in the '05 - it works exactly the same in the Z06:



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walterm32

I had an 05 z51 and did the same thing(B&M). You are right it was the best thing you could in that car. I just got an 08z and don't think I'm going to do the same thing. The stock 08z shifter is SO MUCH better than the stock 05 shifter was but I've only had the z for 3 weeks. Haven't missed a gear yet!

BEZ06

I haven't driven an '08, but my Z is an early '06 and it really benefitted from the short throw shifter.

Bob

Stingray23

Hows the road noise and tranny noise now?

walterm32

I know GM changed the shifter in all 08 corvettes but your right the short throw did make it easy to bang gears. The shifter in my 08 z seems somewhere in the middle of the B & M and stock 05 throw.

vjones

I agree, it does seem a little shorter than my last Z. My new Z is also an 08.

Also, thanks BeZ06 for the information on where to get it etc.

GMuffley

Thanks for taking the time to film the difference between the two shifters. A picture is worth a thousand words.

eurotrashkicker

Great presentation I think we can all agree we need something new from you each week. Get busy