I have a Hurst short throw shifter. Man is it stiff. I have to use some real muscle to shift, especially into 6th gear. Can it be adjusted? Is the C6 shifter easier?

 

Mundo

The very first thing that you need to do is make sure that your tranny fluid is fresh. You will be amazed how new fresh fluid helps shifting. You have an early tranny that cant use synthetic ATF butAMSOIL has a very good fluid that is compatable with your tranny synchros. If you dont want AMSOIL, just get some fresh Dextron ATF in there.

Next in line is making sure that the shift box is properly lubricated and aligned.

After the above is taken care of, make sure that your clutch is fully disengaging. If the clutch is draging, it will make shifting more difficult.

Bill

 

Thanks Bill,

I recently had the tranny fluid changed and the clutch fluid. Does the shifter have an adjustment?

Mundo

 

The HURST shifters have springs that can be changed out, allowing for some adjustment. If you don't have the extra spring sets, you should be able to obtain them from HURST, which is now part of B&M...

http://www.hurst-shifters.com/c.7230...r/default.html

Some have been successful in using hardware store springs, but that may take lots of patience and trips to the store.

Unfortunately, it's the nature of the beast with some shifters to offer more precise shifting at the expense of being more stiff. That's why many now elect to use the C6/Z06 shifter.

 

The OEM C5 and C6 shifter does NOT have gates in the shifter. There are TWO types of aftermarket shifters. Shifters with internal springs that (when removed from the vehicle) the shift handle will return to the 3rd-4th shift gate. The other type of shifter does NOT have any springs or gates in the shifted and the handle will flop around and does not return to any position. All shifters have different leverage rarios that make shifting more difficult the shorter the shift throw.

The transmission has all the shift gates and return springs to give you the feel that you get when you shift. The early C5's 97-2000 has very weak 1st-2nd gate to the 3rd-4th shift gate return springs and many C5ers have found that out by shifting from 3rd then back to 2nd at 6000 rpm and lunching the valves.

2001-2004 improved that spring rate and helped resolve that issue. I use a KIRBAN shifter and it provides EXTRA spring force to provide better insurance to prevent that issue.

YES,,,there is a couple shifter adjustments that you can make. One is a neutral adjustment. Put the shifter in neutral. There’s a coupling aft of the shifter box that connects the box to the trans shift rod. Loosen that connector bolt then there’s a small metal "L" shaped rod that slips into a small hole on the front snout of the shifter. If the shifter is in neutral, the rod will slip into that hole approx 1/2". Once the trans is in neutral and the shifter is in neutral, tighten the coupler bolt.

Make SURE that the FOUR fasteners that secure the shifter to the shifter housing are TIGHT!

There are also two large bolts that secure the shifter box to the torque tube. They should be tight and secure.

 

Here are pictures of the shifter removed from the shift box ZO6 Shift box shown):



In this picture you can see the L shaped pin, the coupler and the shift box fsateners. Your will have rubber isolators if its not a zo6.

The next picture shows a close up of the L pin inserted into the nuteral alignment holes:



BC

 

I have found that the majority of aftermarket shifters are short throw (30-35%) with shortened shifter arms to match. This enhances the effort and notchy feel for me. Realize that the feel or performance of any shifter is very subjective.

I recently removed the C6 (late 2007 Z06) from my '01 Z and installed a C6 Hurst (391 5086) to which I to did not like . I modified the shifter arm by extending it two (2) inches . I now have a shifter that has increased its throw from 35% down to approx. 10% ( similiar to the OEM C6 shifter). This affectively reduced the effort to shift.

I changed the bias tension springs to the lightest combo and modified the M12 detent bolt by machining off .062 ( which is what the original Venom bolt specifications were). Now the I have a more precise, positive shift , with much less of that notchy feel.

I use Redline synthetic AFT as well.