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KartBoy Short Shifter DIY and Review

Kartboy Short Shifter DIY and Review
Like Justin Timberlake, I'm back..

Now that there was some choices on the market for short shifters (BPS, TWM, Kartboy) it was time to make my choice.

I think short shifters are great to speed up your shifts by reducing travel, as well as make shifts more positive by beefing up bushings. Something right up my alley.

Let's start off with some product shots. Click for large. Then feedback.

Entire shipment. The Short Shifter Kit is the shifter itself and the rear shifter bushing. Tom@Kartboy threw in a transmission bushing insert for free! I guess that was because I was early to order. There was candy in the package too, which surprised me.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8111/8...47caf7f7_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-001 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8252/8...3f68aa63_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-002 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Karboy supplied a large syringe of permagrease and four #4 hex screws.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8522/8...c630a21c_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-003 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Fireball candy. I did not eat this
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8505/8...e3484bbd_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-004 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Shifter came in a box full of peanuts but was not wrapped in plastic. It was rubber banded to keep from rustling about.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8...ac005378_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-005 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Business end of the shifter. All the materials not called shifter collar was metal.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8242/8...e46c165e_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-006 by VictorN07, on Flickr

The linkage has two beefy polyurethane(?) bushings. Much better than the thin stock bushings.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/8...d9a25ff2_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-007 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Shifter Collar for reverse function comes pregreased. The spring is strong in this one, but is squishy rather than the pop and lock style of the stock collar. Nothing is wrong, just my preference.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8527/8...d9183840_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-008 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Kartboy sticker
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8...e74d814a_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-009 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Kartboy rear shifter bushing. Looks just like the Perrin one I installed. Too bad I won't be using this. It looks to be built very well!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8510/8...fd3a21f9_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-011 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8377/8...5ecafdf7_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-010 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Transmission mount insert. Looks just like the whiteline one I already installed but is less deep. Too bad I won't be using this. It is made out of polyurethane(?) or similar material.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8085/8...049df0c3_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-012 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8103/8...2d0fc5d8_c.jpg
20130317-KartboyShortShifter-013 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Feedback

-Choosing
It was difficult choosing between the three shifters.
BPS was the most inexpensive, but required cutting and extensive reuse of OEM parts. It also did not come with any extras like a rear shifter bushing.

TWM was the most expensive and advertised vibration dampening which appealed to me. They also claimed that it is a direct drop in with no reuse of parts and comes with a rear shifter bushing. Still interested. However one of my mates @cobrabyte had a bad experience with their customer service around the availability of the product and securing his refund in a timely manner. There is a thread on here about that. This pushed me away as good customer service is very important to me.

Kartboy was the last one. It does come with a rear shifter bushing and Kartboy has a long extensive history of success in the Subaru market. However that was about it. It was priced in between the competition, but the website was lacking photos and information, and there were no instructions available yet. There was some reuse of parts, but no cutting or modifications required. It was tough. I emailed Tom Deadrick @ Kartboy and he was pretty responsive to my questions and was upfront about the lack of instructions and what not. It was in stock and ready to ship. This shifter is that new! I felt good working in the car and good after our exchanges so I took a risk...

I think I chose right.

-In hand
Tom emailed me and threw in a transmission insert for free. That was very nice of him but in the back of my mind I wasn't going to use that insert or the rear shifter bushing. I already installed other vendor products and I wasn't going to remove them to go straight Kartboy.

He also messaged me to contact him when I get the shifter in so he can advise me on what to do since the instructions weren't ready. He was very professional in his messages.

It was mailed USPS and arrived in two days. However I wasn't home to get the package so it had to wait for Sunday. Today I sent him a message in hopes he might answer with instructions on how to install it. He did! I am very impressed with Tom and Kartboy's customer service as he didn't have to reply on a Sunday. Very nice.

-Installation Feedback
This is the easiest car I ever worked on to remove the interior panels.

This install can be done with the car on the ground. The OEM shifter comes out fairly easily. The only things that gave me trouble was with the rubber dust covers. You have to stretch them quite a bit to get them to go over the parts you are trying to reveal. My fingers hurt.

Tom also replied in a timely manner (on Sunday!) mid install when I had questions. Very specific and clear in his instructions. I am very pleased with Kartboy at this point. Tom said he had a goal to finish the instructions this week. For those who know me, I had something else in mind :)

As shown, all the parts were included. I had to grease the ball joint of the Kartboy and cried while slipping on the dust cover ring.

Reinserting the locking pin on the shifter/control shaft linkage the way the factory did it was very difficult from inside the car. It is easier to do this with the car in the air. I chose to put the pin in the reverse way. As the pictures show later, this works as well.

Here are the reused parts:
Black washer used in the shifter/control shaft linkage
Dust boot on the bottom of the OEM shifter
Reverse lockout plate

-Driving Feedback
I have a rear shifter bushing and transmission insert already so I guess this feedback can be semi representative of using the full Kartboy kit.

Initial reaction was my goodness the shifting travel is short. It might be shorter than the BPS I quickly tested in @Chris@Phastek car. All of these percentages are silly. All we have to know that it is much shorter than stock. The shifter is also less tall than stock. I didn't really notice it though.

Shifting is very positive. It clicks into place with an authoritative thunk sound. I don't hear any noticeable NVH over the supercharger/exhaust so it is a great sign. almost zero vibration can be seen and felt in the knob. Guess the mass and/or those white poly bushings really helped!

It does what is advertised and comes from a company with a long standing good reputation and apparently great customer service. I don't think you can go wrong with this product.

I'm sure the product page will shore up with more information and official instructions will come soon. In the meantime here is my DIY guide. I hope it helps all who is curious about this platform.

Cheers!

Videos
Something I haven't seen before with videos is a top shot. I normally don't shift like this. Just wanted to keep the knob visible for easier tracking.

OEM Shifter Top View
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylq0QBfQL88"]Toyota 86 - Stock Shifter Top - YouTube[/ame]

Kartboy Short Shifter Top View
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ7NL5BER-s"]Toyota 86 - Kartboy Shifter Top - YouTube[/ame]

OEM Shifter Side View
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opCTmAUY8SM"]Toyota 86 - Stock Shifter Side - YouTube[/ame]

Kartboy Short Shifter Side View
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni2UW_KVc0o"]Toyota 86 - Kartboy Shifter Side - YouTube[/ame]

Comparison Stills
I was challenged about the shifter travel in the videos. I whipped up some science to compare travel in the OEM shifter and Kartboy Short Shifter

I had a tripod setup in my car and the top video was recorded from the exact same angle with maybe 1% movement between recordings. The reason the travel looks the same in 2,4,6 was because the neutral position of the Kartboy Short Shifter is different than OEM. It sits lower.

As you can see the neutral position of the Kartboy is further back than the OEM shifter.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8378/8...cfe1bbb3_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-001 by VictorN07, on Flickr

I have more science. Here is comparison shots of the OEM shifter vs Kartboy Short Shifter in their shifter travel. Concentrate on the overlap of the knob. You can see the travel of the Kartboy Short Shifter is much much less than OEM. (I apologize for hard to see):
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8520/8...42b7cd1a_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-002 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8099/8...37a86bd2_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-003 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8529/8...aa367a38_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-004 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8088/8...542e9e82_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-005 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8...4c87055c_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-006 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8...81592d6f_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-007 by VictorN07, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8...8567380b_c.jpg
20130318-KartboyShifterTravelComparison-009 by VictorN07, on Flickr

Excellent write up, glad you're happy with it. I'm torn between this short shifter and the one perrin is apparently releasing very soon ;D

you should have told them you'd do a install...might have given you the shifter at a discount..hahah you're posts are always awesome and very detailed

well done bro. Thanks for the info.

How's the actual shifter? do you feel like the labor/ shifter was worth the money?

High end review w/ alot of info. Video comparison was very clever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missourifornian (Post 800085)

How's the actual shifter? do you feel like the labor/ shifter was worth the money?

The shifter itself is great. It is very solid, I have no concerns about the shifter itself failing. I may amend my review above, but it is more difficult double clutching since the travel is so short. Easy to skip over neutral and go into the next gear. I'll see if time helps, probably just have to adjust my muscle memory.

Was it all worth the labor involved? It wasn't difficult to install, just a lot of trouble handling/stretching all the rubber bits. However all the learning made it worth it so yes!

I love that shift knob! Is it a flossy? Do you still have the pattern?

The Fireballs are a Kartboy (TM) trademark.

Late Edit: It's worth mentioning that this shifter comes with both the pivot bushings and rear stay bushing, which TWM wanted ~$70 for. Their shifter, at the current listed price on the website, is $270 plus another $70 for those bushings. $340 for a shifter? Eh, nty.