I recently replaced my B&M Ripper shifter with a Callaway, I thought the B&M shifter was too stiff. The Callaway is just right much smoother not as notchy, still planning on doing the anti-venom mod to make it even better.

 

I don't mind the crispness of the aftermarket shifters. I just don't want to fight it to get into reverse ! As I mentioned in my first post, I had a ripper in my SS Camaro. It was smooth, crisp and short throws.. very nice. But for whatever reason I can't seem to find that in a C5 Vette shifter.

And what is this Antivenom mod I keep hearing ??

 

[QUOTE=willBC5;1558604599]I don't mind the crispness of the aftermarket shifters. I just don't want to fight it to get into reverse ! As I mentioned in my first post, I had a ripper in my SS Camaro. It was smooth, crisp and short throws.. very nice. But for whatever reason I can't seem to find that in a C5 Vette shifter.

Anmd what is this Antivenom mod I keep hearing ??[/QUOTE]


There is a large bolt at the top of the Tranny which holds an internal spring and a check ball. The internal tranny linkage has a hole which the check ball enters into at the neutral point, and I believe at each of the gear shift points. This provides a "stop" which alot of people call the notchiness.

The actual Anti-venom mod is a bolt which does away with the spring and ball, thus removing the positive stop feel. The problem.... it is a $65 item The next best is to take 13/16 brass washers. They are sold as seals for oil drain bolts. By removing the stock bolt and adding two or so washers, you lessen the spring tension on the ball which smooths out the stops. Thus reducing the notchiness. If you Search Antivenom mod, you will find the details.

Here is the link

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ight=antivenom

 

I did install the softest springs provided and the shifter went from stiff to sloppy ! So I replaced the original springs back into the shifter.

I've also seen something about loosening the 3 torx bolts holding the shifter housing and realigining it or something like that. I'll have to look into that as well as this "Antivenom mod".

Maybe I'll just re-install the Breathless Shifter and try all this other stuff and see if it works. Alot of what I've read states that the shifter loosens up after a few week or months.

And sorry but I'm not spending $65 bucks for a BOLT !

 

I might have missed it, but have you tried alligning your shifter? It made a huge difference with my B&M Ripper. There are two "steps" the basic allignement and the **** one... **the following is copied from another post**

Shifter adjustment

Once you remove the trim bezel and rubber isolation boot, you will see this.
Simply put the transmission in neutral with the Ebrake on, loosen the 3 Torx fasteners, 2 on the torque tube and one on the pinch bolt for the shifter rod.
Drop the pin into the slot and retorque the fasteners, all 3 to 30 N.M or 22 ft lbs. The 2 torque tube fasteners first, then the pinch bolt. Pull the pin back up, that’s it.

Use an allen wrench or drill bit if your pin is missing…



This made a big improvement, but I occasionally would still get hung up getting into first. I took apart the console again and noticed that even with the alignment pin "in' and all 3 torx bolts loose the shifter "box" still had about 2 millimeters play forward and back. In other words you can tighten the shifter box after you push the shifter box to the front part of this play or to the back part of this play. I decided to try pushing the shifter box all the way forward, tighten everything and drive the car. This made my first gear selection problem COMPLETELY disappear BUT now second felt a bit "crunchy" going in and 3rd and 4th gear were not as easy as before. So I tried moving the shifter box to the back of the possible play and drive the car. My first gear problem came back worse than ever, but the rest of the gears were relatively smoother but not perfect.

I was back to square one... So I took a break, and when I came back i decided to totally remove the shifter box and analyze this problem. Once I removed the shifter I noticed that there is a half moon shaped cut out on the shift shaft that the 3rd torx bolt goes through. This cut out prevents the shift shaft from completely coming out of the clamp if the bolt got loose, and is obviously, exactly where the bolt is designed to go through the clamp.

What I did was I installed the shifter box back with only the 2 torx that hold it to the tunnel finger tight and left out the 3rd torx completely. I took a flash light and shined it down the hole.
where the bolt goes in the clamp. It turns out that the cut out on the shift shaft can be a millimeter forward of the clamp or a millimeter aft of the clamp and the bolt will still go into the clamp fine and you can tighten it in any of these positions. Thus the 2 millimeters of play.

I made an educated guess that the cut out on the shaft should be EXACTLY aligned with the hole in the clamp (not a bit forward or back even though the bolt will still fit)
so I aligned the cut out on the shaft so perfectly that when you shined a light down the hole the cut out on the shaft was not even noticeable. You could just see a perfectly round hole. I then tightened the 2 torx on the torque tube to spec and checked to see if anything moved. Nothing moved and the shaft cut out was still perfectly aligned with the hole in the clamp that holds the 3rd torx. I carefully placed the 3rd torx in the clamp and since the it was so well lined up it I could tighten it with my fingers (up to a point of course) then I carefully tightened it to spec (22 ft pounds) trying not to place any down pressure on the bolt, just rotational pressure enough to get to spec.

Buttoned it all back up and WOW. All gears went in perfectly. First smooth as silk, second smooth with no crunch, third and fourth with one finger, fifth and sixth smooth.

After this, I changed the transmission fluid to the Redline D4 ATF you guys recommend, and that made the shifting even smoother.

 

I support the Anti-Venom Mod as well. Not the $65.00 bolt but the washer mod. My thoughts are that the after market shifters have built in stops, gates, springs whatever... and so does the tranny using a detent and ball with that bolt applying pressure. Combined the shifter and tranny are fighting one another makeing it harder to shift then it needs to be.

Most guys like the feel of just one washer, some two. For less then a buck you can experiment... IF you don't mind getting dirty that is!

 

No this has been the most informative post I've seen ! Thanks bud !!

Now, where "exactly" is this bolt I need to put washers on ?... passenger side, drivers side ??

Thanks for all the help !!

 

Up on the passenger side near oh hell here....

 

Hey you're more then welcome!!!! Just pass it along to someone else in here who might need it someday. That's what I do...

 

so it's the bolt directly below that cable or rod on the picture ?

 

That's actually the tranny's vent tube and YES that's it!

 

Thanks for all your help ! I'll be sure to pass this info on to all my vette buddies !

You've really been a BIG help.

Looks like I'll keep the Breatless Shifter and work out everything else !

 

 

I have the HURST, Was notchy when installed. Here's what I did:

The notchy-ness will reduce with use. Give it at least a month.
There is a bolt in the side of the tranny that can have a washer added. Look for the post. It HUGELY reduces the notchy-ness. Width of bolt affects the degree of notchy-ness.
I also changed the tranny fluid to amsoil. This helped immensely.

Bottom line. Hurst is short and fast. Now really smooth.

My wife has no prob's a nymore.

 

Am I the only one that likes the notchiness of my shifter (Hurst)?

 

No, I like the notchiness of your hurst shifter!

Actually I like that same feel in my Ripper. You know where you're at... I did the above mods PLUS cut my shifter springs down 1 1/4 turns to ease the effort NOT the notchiness per say....

 

When you're the bangin' gears, there's "nary" a notch................

 

I just have to say I LOVE the signature picture of your C5. Definetly wicked.

Friend of mine put a B&M short shifter in his 2000' 6spd, and it's definetly short and notchy. Hard to get use to at first, but wasn't a pain at all. I'm considering going that route when I convert my A4 to an MN6.

 

Okay... I'm back again ! I've had the Breathless installed for about a month now along with the other mods and fixes suggested by you guys.... I'm not happy with the shifter.

I have one more question... anyone tried the C6 Z06 shifter yet ?? Is is truely and short throw shifter and REALLY compares well to the aftermarkets ?

 

I think that your best bet is the c6z shifter. It doesnt have as a short of a throw as another aftermarket one, but isnt as stiff or notchy as most of the other aftermarket ones are. Good Luck!