How to make a short shifter

I made myself a short shifter last year and have tried several different variations since. I made another one last month and took pictures this time in case someone else wanted to try to make one too.

I first installed a Neuspeed SS and loved the reduced throw. While I had the OEM one out, I decided to experiment with it. So I took off the ball, drilled a hole closer to the shaft and drilled & tapped the new hole. I then died the ball so it would bolt up. This is how my original attempt turned out:

Here is the OEM shifter linkage:

Here is what mine looked like after the first attempt last year:


As you can see, it is basically just a homemade TT shifter. I just moved the ball closer to the center. I was able to weld up the old hole and drill a new one to tap out.


Because I moved the ball a little closer to the center than the TT, I had to make some room for the endlink, so I had to grind some material away from the weight:


The TT short shifter is said to have about a 20% reduction in throw. I estimate my homemade one to be a little more at about 25%?

So that was the one I made last year. The one I made last month I wanted to reduce the throw even more. The Neuspeed was about 35% reduction and I wanted it to be at least as short as that one. In order to reduce it that much, I had to remove the weight.

Here is where I started. Grind off the bottom of the ball:


This removed the peened end so I can punch the ball out of the hole:

Here is the ball punched out:


Then I had to drill and tap a new hole and die some threads on the ball I punched out:



As you can see, I used a couple of nuts to hold the ball while I died it. This prevents the ball from becomming damaged by being clamped in the vice. Originaly, I made a couple of flat sides so I could use a wrench on the ball, but it looks better if I just leave it looking original.

Now, ince the ball is obviously so close to the weight that the end link will not fit on, i had to cut it off. I also cut off the excess metal where the ball used to be so that it looked a little cleaner. This is the rough core:


I then cleaned it up a bit & painted it to look nicer. But I was in too much of a hurry to try it out that I did not take any pictures of the finished product. I am making another one this week, so I will take some more pictures and post them here.

Now this SS is almost the same as the Dieselgeek short shifter in the way it feels. It is quite notchy feeling, but I like it that way personally. It works great and cost me no money and about 1 hour of my weekend. It is not that hard to make if you have the tools.

EDIT: Here is a picture of the one I made today before paint:




I also took some measurments this time. The stock pivot point is 50mm from the center of the spline. The one I made today in 35mm away for a reduction of 30%.

You are a special person Wingnut

Stuff like this is why I tend to think diesel owners are just a tad bit more special than the average VW driver.... we seem to come up with our own solutions to little tiny things all in the quest to improve a well designed product just that little bit more. Good job Wingnut! Yet another awesome, informative how-to!

Gus

Someone I know has a little too much time on his hands!

Great work, Nigel. Pretty soon you'll have taken the whole car apart and have made your own adjustments to everything. Anyone want to take a bet when Nigel will start making his own nozzles?

Just kidding! Nigel, I think everyone in Southern Ontario is happy to have someone like you around. I know you have helped me out on many occasions, and these threads of yours help a lot of others out.

I guess this means your front to back is reduced, but not your side to side? Or how does the A4 shift kit work? I know with the A3, there were two parts to the kit, a front to back, and a side to side.

I guess this means your front to back is reduced, but not your side to side? Or how does the A4 shift kit work? I know with the A3, there were two parts to the kit, a front to back, and a side to side.

Click to expand...

Yep. No side to side reduction on this mod. But I am happy with the side to side travel, so I did not mess with that. But the principal is the same. Just remove the ball and move it closer to the fulcrum. It may require welding though as the side to side piece is much thinner and I don't think there is enough material to thread & tap. You wouls have to weld the ball in the new location. I will be trying it though on a future project for someone else.

One day working with Nigel will give you a whole new perspective on problem solving. Special parts and tools are a thing of the past. I feel blessed to have been touched by his wisdom.

Wingnut nice job!
I have 1 question when you did this did it shorten the throw forward and back? I ask because my tt piece only seems to make the shift shorter going into gears 1,3,5 .
Over the weekend i compared it to my bro in laws golf and we measured them both and only found a 1" difference when moving the shifter forward from neutral.
Thanks, Nate

Wingnut is like SVTWeb's alter ego...instead of using OEM parts that came on somebody else's car just as they are, he uses OEM parts that came on his own car and just mangles them

I had done something similar to this for my earlier A3 car. Reduced the throws by about 25% and it only cost me $11 for a part I bought at the dealer.

Yep. No side to side reduction on this mod. But I am happy with the side to side travel, so I did not mess with that. But the principal is the same. Just remove the ball and move it closer to the fulcrum. It may require welding though as the side to side piece is much thinner and I don't think there is enough material to thread & tap. You wouls have to weld the ball in the new location. I will be trying it though on a future project for someone else.

Click to expand...

Nigel, next time I see you at a GTG or whatever, remind me to take a look at my A3. I would assume that the mechanism is similar, and therefore a side to side reduction should be a walk in the park. (a bolt and a bunch of spacers basically)

And remind me to get that laptop of yours fixed up. LOL...keep on forgetting whenever we get together.

I made another one today. I took a good 'after' picture this time:


I will be getting some more cores this week, so expect to see some in the classifieds soon. I will also have the newer pin style for the 2001.5 and newer cars.

I want one!!! How much do you think they'll be?

Would you be able to modify my shifter if I brought it by?

Ken

Nigel,

I upgraded mine to the pin-style bowden cable end so I'll need one of the newer style.

I'm ready to buy

Lito

Up until today, I only had the ball type cores, but I picked up a pin style core today, so I will make a few up this weekend. I am on call next week at work, so I might have lots of extra time to get these made.

Soooo.... by core you would mean the stock piece? I can box up mine in a jiffy if you want another one to mod... hell, I'll even include return shipping and whatever you want for your time.... PM me!

Gus

Once I get a few cores made up, I will post in the classifieds section. That way I can ship immediately. If yours is already out of the car, you can ship it to me and I can do it for you and save my cores for those who want to keep their OEM as a spare or backup in case they don't like the notchiness of the weightless one.

Here is my latest:



This is for a show car. So I blinged it up a bit. I also kept the weight so there would be more bling to see. So I wasn't able to shorten the shift as short as the weightless one, but this is a 25% reduction, so still better than the TT shifter. Again, I had to grind away some of the weight stem for clearance. I think I will make more with the weight as I have had reports from some testers that the weightless ones are too notchy for their liking. But some do like it. So I will offer both styles. A TT knockoff for 25% reduction and the weightless one with 30% reduction.

Very cool looking! What did you use to put the polish on it?

Ken

Wingnut is like SVTWeb's alter ego...instead of using OEM parts that came on somebody else's car just as they are, he uses OEM parts that came on his own car and just mangles them

Click to expand...

Yeah, but just look at the *way* he mangles them! I think I NEED one...

Mark

Very cool looking! What did you use to put the polish on it?

Ken

Click to expand...

See the box behind the levers? I just used some drum sanders on an electric drill. This took the rough casting marks off the lever. Then I used a finer grit drum to remove the scratches from the coarse drums and finally, a good wire wheel and buffing with a buffing wheel. I will have to clearcoat it though to keep it nice and shiny

All in all, it took me 3 hours to make the polished one. But it will look nice under the hood of a blinged out car. He lost points at his last competition because he didn't have a short shifter

Hmmmmmmmm...wondering if Nigel is planning on a roadtrip to the Virginia area anytime soon...

I'll take a TT knock off with the balace weight please. I'll polish it myself using metal polish.

Take a look at Deception's valve cover!



Thread

I'll take a TT knock off with the balace weight please. I'll polish it myself using metal polish.

Click to expand...

I will be honest with you Lito, you won't notice too much difference between one of my weighted ones and the TT you already have. Its only about 5% more reduction. Thats why I was chopping off the weight to get more clearance and more reduction. Since the TT shifter is already only about $40 from the dealer, I can't really compete with those prices. Thats why I was offering the 30% weightless ones since it is similar to a DG one without the side to side reduction, but cheaper. If you want to try it anyway, I will send you one.

As for the polishing, it takes more than just polish to get the shifter to look like that. It has a very rough casting. I removed the casting marks with a grinder. I then used various sanding drums to remove the grinding marks. Then I was able to polish it with a high speed buffing wheel. It took about 3 hours to make that one.

Got ya. I'd like to at least try the chopped off one

Wingnut,
are these the same type of shifter reducers that would fit the '05 beetle TDI?

if not, do you make those? Wanna try one?

Dear Santa (read Nigel)

I know this letter is arriving in the north a bit late for Christmas, but I am curious if the elfs are still making this nice Mod? It seems well thought out and almost as good as the DG version, but at a much lower cost ($195 compared to......)

So, bottom line, what are you charging for this mod if I were to send you my core upon receipt of new version from you??

Thanks.

Jeff

Finally getting around to installing mine....

.... that I got from Nigel about 8 months ago, but I'm having a helluva time getting the "cup" off the ball on my stock shifter.

The Bentley says to put a 13mm open-end wrench underneath and pry it off; getting the "other one" off was about 10 seconds, but after 20 minutes, I'm baffled as to how I can pry off the one on the piece that I'll be replacing.

I've managed to get a stubby 13mm wrench underneath, but there's just no room to pry at it. I have the airbox out, so I have pretty good access, but there's some hydraulic line in the way, as well as (what looks like) a brace.

As well, how does one go about popping off the actual shifter piece. I removed that 12mm (or was it 13mm?) nut, but that's not budging either.

Any help would be appreciated.

Oh, one other thing: the Bentley says the "cups" are to be replaced each time they're taken off the ball. Is this necessary?

Cheers,
Mike

OK, crisis averted

Took out the battery and things went much easier - shifter popped right off the splined thingy no problem as well.

Got Nigel's shifter in there no problem; just wondering now: do I/should I/do I need to adjust the cable tension?

I'm assuming this is all done right near where the shifter linkage is. As it is, I can shift through all five gears and get into reverse, although it feels a big "chunky" - not that I really mind at all (I love the short throws!); just want to make sure I'm not doing anything that's hurting the tranny.

Thanks,
mike

If your looking for donations of stock shifters I'll be glad to send you mine.
Canuck to Canuck

dave