[brainstorm] Adding a shifter gate for aesthetics?

[facultyofmusic]

I've been entertaining the idea of a gated shifter. Basically one of these:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=186412&d=1687837655

The gated shifter will be purely for aesthetics, not function. It would basically be a thick sheet of metal that I somehow get the right paths milled out and secured onto my trans tunnel cover. Before I go further down this path I'd like to get some feedback on ways this wouldn't work.

One of the issues I'd have to deal with is shifter vibration. My roadster has a T56 magnum. Unlike the Ferraris and R8s which have the gated shifter with cable-operated transmissions, my shifter sticks straight into the transmission and any drive-train movement will translate to the shifter as well. It wouldn't be good to have the shift-stick clanking around in the gates.

What do y'all think? Am I missing anything else?

[CABulldog]

I am sure my cnc could machine one out of aluminum, not sure if it is practical.

[Nigel Allen]

I've been entertaining the idea of a gated shifter. Basically one of these:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=186412&d=1687837655

The gated shifter will be purely for aesthetics, not function. It would basically be a thick sheet of metal that I somehow get the right paths milled out and secured onto my trans tunnel cover. Before I go further down this path I'd like to get some feedback on ways this wouldn't work.

One of the issues I'd have to deal with is shifter vibration. My roadster has a T56 magnum. Unlike the Ferraris and R8s which have the gated shifter with cable-operated transmissions, my shifter sticks straight into the transmission and any drive-train movement will translate to the shifter as well. It wouldn't be good to have the shift-stick clanking around in the gates.

What do y'all think? Am I missing anything else?

Great idea! If the gate assembly was secured to the top of the transmission, rather than the trans tunnel, I would not see problems with it working. Straight-forward winter project (at least for TKO600) that would definitely have a cool factor.

[JohnK]

Cool idea. I'd love to see what you come up with. The vibration issue would be the big question to me. You could experiment a bit by just placing a piece of aluminum on either side of the shifter and seeing how far apart they need to be to accommodate the vibration + rocking of the engine/trans while driving. It's possible that the required gap is wide enough that the resulting "fingers" between gears on the plate would just be tiny little slivers, and not particularly good-looking.

[dbo_texas]

Very cool idea and it looks pretty slick too. I have a T56 too so I'd be interested to see what you come up with. What if the shifter gate was "floating" on the trans tunnel (i.e. use small shoulder bolts with a small amount of X & Y clearance)? To prevent rattling, you could add a very small spring to take up the slop, but still allow movement. Typically you'd use a wave washer or light gauge Belville washer under the screw head). That way the vibration wouldn't be too much of an issue - the shifter gate is free to move just a tad in case it does touch. You would also want to make sure you have plenty of clearance on the hogged out aluminum to make sure the gate doesn't restrict the shifter path.

[Its Bruce]

I'm not sure my midshift T56 (or most internally gated transmissions?) has enough stroke vs the size of the shifter stem for this to work.

[lance corsi]

Two reasons why I did not attempt this;
1) I was concerned about the gate impeding my shifting
2) if you’ve noticed on Ferraris, the shifter stalk must be fairly small diameter to keep the slots separated. This could lead to a bent shifter stalk if one put too much force while shifting. Probably not an issue, but it is possible.
Otherwise I like the look, it’s just not a necessity. I have enough functional things adding weight and didn’t want another.

[lasse2]

I'm not sure my midshift T56 (or most internally gated transmissions?) has enough stroke vs the size of the shifter stem for this to work.

I arrived at the same conclusion as Bruce when toying with this idea for my build. I'm using a TKX with mid-shift and the shifter is so close to the top of the transmission tunnel that it doesn't have enough movement to create a traditional gate pattern. If it were raised up with a longer shift handle it is probably possible but might look a bit odd.

[FFRWRX]

I arrived at the same conclusion as Bruce when toying with this idea for my build. I'm using a TKX with mid-shift and the shifter is so close to the top of the transmission tunnel that it doesn't have enough movement to create a traditional gate pattern. If it were raised up with a longer shift handle it is probably possible but might look a bit odd.

Exactly. You end up with very wide slots and almost no material between them. Some Fiero guys do that and it just looks weird (see picture). The older Ferrari's had them because they needed them; no internal shifter gates in the tranny.

Looks just like a Ferrari shifter! :confused:

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