I've been looking into getting better shift feel and a shorter throw, so I made a shifter similar to the one you can get from JNZ. It was really easy, cheap, and it has a shorter throw than a 1g.

I started with an upper and lower shifter arm from a 3000GT.

First, I shortened the upper arm. Sorry about the cell phone pics, its all I have here.





Next, I made a new pin for the shifter cable because the old one is too big in diameter and I didn't want to do a sloppy grind job on it. Cut out old, weld in new.



Next, I made new bushings. I made mine out of Turcite which is similar to Delrin, but is internally lubricated. It was more expensive, but it was worth it for the cool factor.



After making all the parts and checking their fit, I painted it flat black. It would have been cool to powdercoat it, but I don't have any and I wanted to get the project done. Here you can see all the parts laid out. I made a new metal insert for the lower arm because the stock one has a little bit of slop and I was already running the lathe. Notice the order of bits for securing the top to the bottom. I don't know if it came from the factory like this, but the wave washer at the back does wonders for taking out side to side slop in the top half (there wasn't any even with the stock bushings).



The lower arm is thinner than the stock one, so the bushings are made to position it correctly so the bottom aligns with the selector lever below. The thicknesses needed were around .150" and .350" I believe.



I don't have my car with me at school, so a buddy let me test fit the shifter in his 1g. Here is a comparison (not the best, sorry) between the rearward throw of the short shifter and then his stock 1g.




Here's how much this project cost me:
eBay: $30 for shifter (this is including shipping)
McMaster: $20 for the turcite (1' rod 1" diameter)*
steel, welding supplies, paint - free because I already had them

You can see how easy it was to reproduce one of the shifters JNZ sells for $150 at one third the price. And, if you match this with bushings for the lower selector lever, bearings for the cables on the transmission side, and shifter plate bushings, you will have close to the best shifter set-up around.

Once I'm home for the winter, I'll do a proper comparison between stock GVR4 and this shifter. Thanks for reading!

*Delrin is only $5/ft for 1" rod

Gah! I wish there was one around here in a junkyard... the shifter I bought for some reason didn't come with the rubber shift stop and I can't find any online.

You could still get your car done. It took me only a few hours to modify the shifter and I was taking my time and shooting the shit with the guys in the shop a lot too. Really the only thing you have to make is the bushings for the lower arm. If you wanted, you could whip those out in about 20 minutes and voila - short shifter.

something else to do is address the surround around the shifter by welding on a nut on the front and rear so you can have a adjustable stops. I've got pictures somewhere but probably easier to do a search under my name. I've built a few.

with adjustable stops you can toss the rubber piece and adjust after the shifter/trans is in the car ....that way when its engaged in gear your not over extending the shift forks.

Nice. SAE car in the BG?

You aren't taking into account labor though. I can do things cheaper as well because I don't have to pay myself...

It does feel great though. I would have left the top full length. The shortened ones feel great in a 1G, but IMO, are too low in the the Galant.

Curtis - The shifter you are talking about with the big rubber triangle is a DSM Style shifter. The JNZ ones, and this one, does have stops machined into the shifter itself. Not just the rubber hitting the shifter base.

I had the weighted 2G knob. My current EVO knob is even taller still. For me, it puts my arm at a perfect angle when resting on the center console.

I was looking for a leather one from a 1G, but I may just end up keeping the stock rubber accordion. I don't know why but it gives a certain 'this car is almost as old as I am' charm.

Quoting Whoodoo:

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I was looking for a leather one from a 1G, but I may just end up keeping the stock rubber accordion. I don't know why but it gives a certain 'this car is almost as old as I am' charm.

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I have a couple 1g boots in good shape. Send me a pm if you want one.

Make sure you have an e-clip on the shifter, otherwise 1g boot will just fall down.

I have a 3000gt shifter in the car (came installed, I just refined it a bit. I always kinda wondered exactly what it took to do.) w/ solid bushings on the shifter base and the trans. I don't notice any substantial vibrations.

Ok update time. The new shifter is amazing! The shorter height, shorter throw, and weighted shift knob give a really good feel. There was a few more modifications that needed to be done to make everything fit - it was tighter in the VR4 than in my buddy's 1g that I initially fit it in.

Here's the short shifter next to the stock VR4 piece. The new ratio looks to be around 1:1 as opposed to 2:1 for the stock one.





Sits a lot lower than stock. I like where it sits now







Shorter throw too! Here's the old one.



And the new one.



There were a few areas that were tight. The passenger side of the shift arm just barely hit, so I had to grind off a few millimeters of material to clear.



The very bottom of the shift arm hit the left/right shift stop on the base, so a couple millimeters had to be taken off that too.



The nut on the driver's side is a tight fit, but only just barely rubs the inside of the shift boot. Im not too worried about it. Note that this pic was taken before the right side was ground down.



I had to adjust the front/back cable in order to center everything up, but it was really pretty simple. I highly suggest this mod to anyone wanting a better shifter.

Thanks for the link, however, I don't think there is much play coming from the rod ends that are already on the cables. His apparently were made of plastic, but I couldn't see any plastic on mine . I think I followed what you were saying but pics would be a big help for those who haven't yet messed around inside the console.

As far as I can tell, the only play I have now is in the cables themselves, which is unavoidable. I heard good things about putting skateboard bearings in the trans-side of the cables but I am extremely happy with how this turned out. I find myself downshifting just because I like the way it feels