chstitans42

I have a 1985, and while it is fun to drive, I know it would be MORE fun to drive with a short throw shifter. All that I can find are for the 6-speed 89-96 cars, with no luck for mine. What has everyone here on the forum done?
Thanks!

c4cruiser

The only thing in the way of a "short shifter" was a pair of shorter shifter levers that attached to the two safts that come out of the trans side cover. Most of the accessory catalogs had them but they may be hard to find now. Try ZIP or Corvette Central.

The design of the shifter unit is such that it sits in a recess in the trans tunnel and is accessed from inside the car. There were no replacement shifter units (like a Hurst Competition Plus) for the 4+3.

Tom400CFI

You could pretty easily modify your stock trans/shift levers by drilling new holes for the rods, closer to the pivot points.

Might be able to adapt THIS to an '84-'88...but WOW...look at that price.


.

chstitans42

Wow, yeah not worth the $$ for that shifter. Anyone have a template on drilling new holes for the rods? step by step instructions would be nice

c4cruiser

Those are incredible prices. I had a Hurst Competition Plus shifter in a '78 Corvette and I think I paid all of $169 for the shifter including the labor cost for the install.

The OEM levers could be duplicated using shorter steel stock but it will be important to make sure that any offset on the levers so the rods will clear must be duplicated. Then measure the holes in the OEM levers and drill the new pieces.

chstitans42

Im sure it would be simple to make new levers, but how much shorter do you go?

mtwoolford

Summit sells the same thing for $333.00; of course these mount directly on the transmission (a big part of the reason they are so direct and precise) and require "modifying" the tunnel and console (fear not the sawzall!!!); to me that's a really small price to pay for being able to use one of these superb shifters.

Tom400CFI

^Mounting the shifter to the trans is the way it SHOULD be done. Mounting the shifter to the body is



It's trial and error. IIIWM, I'd start by drilling a hole in each arm, just inboard of the current hole...then try it and see how it feels.

c4cruiser

Because the Hurst shifters bolt to the trans tailshaft on a "regular" 4-speed, you would have to fabricate a bracket to somehow mate to the 4+3 tailshaft housing. The OD unit tailshaft doesn't have any way to bolt things to it.

I would think the Hurst shifter would sit in roughly the same location as the Nash shifter so cutting up the tunnel and part of the console may not be that big of a deal as long as whatever hole was cut would be sealed up so nothing would get inside the cabin. Moving the OD switch should be easy as all it would need is a single pole momentary switch. Maybe even one of the Hurst shifter ***** that has the nitrous/line lock button.

mtwoolford

oops

C4+3=/=C7

In the Corvette Central catalog I got in the mail a couple of months ago, it listed the 4+3 short shifter for $20. I don't see it on their website and can't confirm that they actually have it, but there's a good chance that they carry them.

chstitans42

Any pics of the catalog? Part number maybe?

brushmor

It's part number 534267 but the website says it's discontinued.

vettpapaw

Did this to my 88 worked great!

WVZR-1

This I believe will get you some results:

http://issuu.com/corvettecentral/docs/c4_catalog/149

QCVette

As said above, Corvette Central --- Discontiued

I tried Ecklers --- Discontinued
I tried Mid America --- Out of stock

I saw the link below that still lists them and lets you add them to the cart, but I would contact them to see if they really still have or can get any of them.

http://www.corvettepartsworldwide.co..._3_p/34395.htm


Good luck.

BigMikeC

At some point in the past, I seem to remember someone had the schematics to have the shift rod linkages made. I would love to get a set of "blueprints" so I could fabricate those little doohickeys myself or have a machine shop cut them out. They are officially unavailable at this point.

rfn026

The "short shifter" parts that were available didn't really work out for me.

It's basically all about physics and leverage. The two levers shorten the distance you move the lever but they also increase the force needed to move the lever. This is like the old rock and a stick cartoon. Or, "give me a lever long enough and I can move the world."

There really isn't much to gain and a lot to lose in this modification.

I'm going back to stock before the next rack event.

Richard Newton
C4 Rear Suspension

KYC4

Hey Richard I've been looking for a set of these for some time for my '88. If you plan on not using them moving forward I would like to get them from you if possible, sir.

Many thanks,

Lee

mtwoolford

This doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. I googled "85 corvette short throw shifter" and found multiple linkage arms for sale...20 to 35 dollars; the point is, assuming the pictures were accurate, some had quite a distance between the slot and hole, and others were noticeably closer together...so I would compare what you have with whats for sale ...mostly on ebay and try that before starting to drill and experiment trial and error on your existing shifter arms.