KartBoy Short Shifter DIY and Review

[phatpanda]

I'm sold.

[tom@kartboy]

Originally Posted by FRSFirestorm

Installed mine today. This DIY is spot on. Went in flawlessly. Thanks to the OP.

Just took it for a spin around the block. Shifts are much more precise and I think it helped with second gear. Always has been a bit notchy.

Little more drive time. Has helped with the 1-2 shift. Little more effort required to change the gears. Overall I love it.

once everything settles in it'll be like butter.

[tom@kartboy]

Originally Posted by phatpanda

I'm sold.

Order up. Were back instock.

[roflitzjinno]

Great write up!

[phatpanda]

Big thanks goes out to Tom @ Kart3oy for getting the package to me so swiftly. After reading Victor's extensive review, I knew without a doubt this is the company I would support and I cannot wait to install this.

Enjoy the pics and I'll post my before/after thoughts shortly after.

-PP

[phatpanda]

Install time - 1hr (my interior panels were already off)

Difficulty level - Med

Fitment - better than OEM

Impression - it is much shorter over stock

Overall design/quality of shifter is amazing. The reverse lever is completely machined out of aluminum, unlike the plastic OEM version.

Road test - 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th is most noticeable with shortest travel. I absolutely recommend this to every owner that wants to feel more connected to car.

Even the white shift knob has great response even being much lighter than oem knob.

Kart3oy, great job!!!!

Next up, tranny and shifter bushings and lets see if this gets even better.

-PP

BTW, great write up Victor, surely helped and sped up our install process!

[phanguy]

did my install last night. i think the one thing i'd suggest in the instructions is maybe explaining removal of the dust boot a little better. i couldn't see it very well so had no idea where to pull from and i ended up tearing it open... but whatevs. other than that it went smoothly. i love how much shorter it is to shift. although a few things now:

1. overall it feels a bit tougher to shift into gears. not a huge deal since there are other parts i want to change and could probably use new fluids.

2. when shifted in second, if my hand is still on the shifter(because i am going to go to third almost immediately) then i get some kind of strange buzzing/vibration. it's an audible thing, i don't really feel anything. not a big deal, just interesting.

3. 6th gear seems to be a bit "crunchy" to shift into.

4. i'm going to dig back into it tonight because i think i didn't put my lockout piece all the way to the left. i think it's the cause of why i can't screw my trd knob all the way as tight as i want. just one more rotation and it'd be perfect, but when i screw that far then it no longer lifts enough to move over. so hopefully that'll fix it.

i think for the most part as long as it does get smoother to shift then the rest of my "issues" are kinda whatever, but overall i'm pretty happy with it.

[gonzo]

damn bro, thanks for the science :P

I'm jealous it doesn't rattle like my BPShit lol

Okay, that was uncalled for. But I'm pissed I haven't been sent a "fix" yet >_<

[gonzo]

Stock tran fluid? My shifting felt sooooooo much better after changing that shit out. It went back to the way it felt when I drove it off the lot.

I used the mt-85

http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?product=50504

Originally Posted by phanguy

did my install last night. i think the one thing i'd suggest in the instructions is maybe explaining removal of the dust boot a little better. i couldn't see it very well so had no idea where to pull from and i ended up tearing it open... but whatevs. other than that it went smoothly. i love how much shorter it is to shift. although a few things now:

1. overall it feels a bit tougher to shift into gears. not a huge deal since there are other parts i want to change and could probably use new fluids.

2. when shifted in second, if my hand is still on the shifter(because i am going to go to third almost immediately) then i get some kind of strange buzzing/vibration. it's an audible thing, i don't really feel anything. not a big deal, just interesting.

3. 6th gear seems to be a bit "crunchy" to shift into.

4. i'm going to dig back into it tonight because i think i didn't put my lockout piece all the way to the left. i think it's the cause of why i can't screw my trd knob all the way as tight as i want. just one more rotation and it'd be perfect, but when i screw that far then it no longer lifts enough to move over. so hopefully that'll fix it.

i think for the most part as long as it does get smoother to shift then the rest of my "issues" are kinda whatever, but overall i'm pretty happy with it.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by phatpanda

Overall design/quality of shifter is amazing. The reverse lever is completely machined out of aluminum, unlike the plastic OEM version.

The reverse lockout is actually machined copolymer; Delrin to be specific.

[FRSFirestorm]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

The reverse lockout is actually machined copolymer; Delrin to be specific.

Possibly Delrin. Delrin is a brand name for DuPont Acetal.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by FRSFirestorm

Possibly Delrin. Delrin is a brand name for DuPont Acetal.

Yes. It may not be DuPont, but do you refer to your Teflon as Teflon or PTFE since Teflon is a DuPont trademarked brand name? And if you refer to it as PTFE, you're either an engineer or a chemical dork and the minority of people. To us plebes, it's Teflon and Delrin.

[FRSFirestorm]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Yes. It may not be DuPont, but do you refer to your Teflon as Teflon or PTFE since Teflon is a DuPont trademarked brand name? And if you refer to it as PTFE, you're either an engineer or a chemical dork and the minority of people. To us plebes, it's Teflon and Delrin.

I fall under the engineer catagory. Sorry I'm being a fact nazi ... but you threw in specificlly at the end.

[tom@kartboy]

I just call it fancy black plastic that dosen't get hot.