Fitting a short shifter. (R33 GTR) - lots of pictures.

[PranK]

Fitting a short shifter in an R33 GTR.

The short shift kit that I used was a C's kit.

Tools used:

• Needle nose pliers
  
• Philips head screwdriver
  
• Allan Key (not sure what size - its in a regular allan key set).
  
• Knife
  
• small screwdriver (or something small that you can get things out with).
  

Time taken: 40mins.

Remove the trim over the transmission tunnel.

Remove the 4 screws holding down the metal bracket and rubber housings.

You should see this

Peel the rubber housing up over the gear shift.

Find the big circlamp (2 big ends with holes - you can see it in this picture).

You will either have to squeeze the ends together to take it out, or grab one end and feed it, bit by bit through the gap. You can now take the shifter out.

Now take out the 2nd circlamp style thing. I fed it through the gap, bit by bit. (You can see it in place on the pics above). This is where the small screwdriver came in handy - this with the pliers.

The plastic piece with the 2 metal rods should just pull straight out.

Take out the little metal gasket.

Seat the metal tubing that came with the C's shifter kit (might not be with the other ones) into the hole as an extension of the base.

Put the metal gasket from the bottom of the original shifter on top of the extension cylinder.

Place the plastic bit on top.

Put the new shifter in. This bit is a bit tricky - the plstic bit at the bottom has to fit perfectly inside the gearbox casing (you can see where it has to go in the pics) - this took me several minutes to do. It will be firmly seated once in properly.

This next bit is to hold it down (without the circlamps). You need to lightly screw the arms onto the base so they will swing. Then fit the base over the top and swing the arms around it and screw it together. The end result will look like this. (my camera got grease on the lense.. sorry about the bluriness)

Now you will need to cut a slit in the rubber housing to get it down and over the shifter. (I am not sure if this is neccassary, but i saw no other way of doing it).

Screw the top metal ring and rubber housings back over the rest.

Put the trim back on. ALL DONE. And Jaysons leather gear boot still fits beatifully over the new short shifter.

Done.

Christian.

Any q's - email me. I also have bigger pics available on request.

[GiJOr33]

i put oil on the shifter and the rubber bit and then just pulled it down over the top, then wiped off any excess at the end.

also i found that fitting the large metal spacer inside the shift casing didn't fit first time. I had to get a file out and file off some burred edges in the grooves of the gearbox shift housing. It is just from wear and tear. But the difficult thing is doing it with out letting the filings go into the gearbox. So what i did was put a bit of oil on the small file, and some on my finger... i'd give it a bit of a file and then wipe the inside clean and also wipe the file, then i'd put a bit more oil on the file again. This just helps the metal filings stick to the file so they don't drop into the gearbox.

Pictures 9 and 10, where you are putting the spacer in, show the gaps i'm talking about. Roughly halfway down where the metal splines from the plastic bit sit in those gaps were worn a little and stuck out just enough so the spacer wouldn't fit all the way down.

[DJ_L3ThAL]

sweet thanks mate it worked a treat, only problem is there's a gap betwen the boot and my momo gear knob, needs to he about 1.5-2cms shorer, doesnt need the threead so do you rekon i should angle grind the stick shorter in the car or take the shifter out again and do it outside thecar ? coz like will removing it and re-fitting it again wear the shifter or anything ? as i dont mind taking it out again just i dont wanna **** the shifter

oh also and in your tutorial u forgot all the gaskets

[AtomicBomberMan]

christian, cutting the slit in the boot is not necessary. just put some of the oil on your fingers (by this time they should be all greasy) onto the thick part of the shifter. and lube up the inside of the boot. a friend and some force should get it on quite easily. most of the nissans are pretty much the same if not exactly the same.

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Originally posted by AtomicBomberMan

christian, cutting the slit in the boot is not necessary. just put some of the oil on your fingers (by this time they should be all greasy) onto the thick part of the shifter. and lube up the inside of the boot. a friend and some force should get it on quite easily. most of the nissans are pretty much the same if not exactly the same.

i managed to get it over it by simply heating tyhe rubber with hot water for a couple seconds, drying it asnd then stretching it over, worked a treat

[justinfox]

I have a question guys. So how does it feel? Better or worse? Do you find you miss gears every now and then? Does the short shifter rattle at all?

I bought a TRD short shifter for my AE86 (now sold) and damn it was awesome. Very easy to install and the shifts felt 100 times more direct and very much like playing playstation!!! You basically shifted up and down. It was sometimes easier to miss 3rd gear and damn the shifter rattled like mad at high revs but the shift was so good I didn't mind.

Different story with my GT-R though and the stock shifter in my GT-R doesn't feel so bad but very curious to read your reviews of your shifters.

[BlockHead]

can ppl still get the c's or any other short throw shifter for the Rb25det tranny??

[slimjim]

For all you guys that have a C's shift kit, how has it held up? Because I put one in my car about 2 months ago, and the damn thing has broken. The big thick shifter (with the thread at the top) has come off the smaller bit that actually goes in the gearbox.

Seems like it is just moulded rubber on the inside of the shaft and it has simply come free of the smaller bit below it.

Has this happened to anyone else?

[Dirty32]

Good write up Christian. Im just waiting for some short shifters to come through to buy one for the R32 GTR.

Just a quick question, When i was installing my new gear knob boot, i undone the screws over the gear shifter to see what it looked like on the inside compared to the pics attached (being an R33). I removed the large rubber housing and took it off. There was grease everywhere as there were some splits in the furthest rubber housing (covering the actual internals, closest to the gearbox).

Is this going to be a problem in future?? If it is, i would replace it when i fit the short shifter...

Should this be fixed urgently or is it not going to cause any troubles...

If i did need to replace it, where would i get one???

Thanks guys.

[blu3chip]

great write-up. just attempted installing it into my 33 gts-t and failed miserably and the only difference i can spot between the stock one and the one ive got is that the aftermarket one is longer in length at the part after the ball-like area. is this the same for other short shifter kits?

[Pal]

done mine not long ago but had to make up some more spacers to go between the top of the gearbox and under the plate as it was compressing the large nylon bush where the ball sits in and caused the shifter to get very tight and wouldnt spring back to the centre. I also cut my stock shifter below the rubber mounting and in the same place on my short shifter annd tig welded the stub of the short shifter onto the rubber mounted section (top half). this has eliminated the noisyness of the short shifter. still feels sharp and short but feels alot smoother.

[mak0]

Hi awesome write up =)

I have just bought a short shifter off dodgy ebay. Anyway, the shifter does not have that white cylinder on the ball bit at the end that goes into the gearbox.

I am reluctant to pull my existing shifter out without knowing whether or not I will be able to get this white cyclinder off the existing shifter and fit it to my short shifter. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Currently im in the process of abusing the ebay user and telling them I havent received all parts that were pictured in the sale... However worst case scenario is the user will just ignore me and I probably wont get the part i need.

Can anyone tell me if removing the cylindrical bit from the end of the stock shifter and plonking it onto the new shifter is possible and will work?

Im guessing yes but I dont like it when im not 100% sure.

Any help appreciated.

[CATKICKER]

Hey mate, if you are talking about the lower bush (cap) on the very bottom then I would try and get it from the seller... I attempted to reuse the one from the factory shifter and it busted off!

Are you talking about the seller 'nottieboy'? That is where I got mine, good quality kit (for the price) but had the upper ring on the shifter missing so I cut the factory shifter in half and used that one.

The instructions provided with the kit were COMPLETELY WRONG and basically had the setup upside down. Didn't work correctly and I was very unhappy. I took it up with the seller and was provided with a link to this thread so that was helpful!!

When removing the shifter to reinstall it as per these instructions, the lower bush (the cap) poped off the end of the shifter and got stuck in the box. I had to purchase one from Nissan which cost $4, it was a little smaller inside so I had to LIGHTLY file the end of the shifter (basically remove the chrome plating). I also purchased a new lower boot as mine had splt and had leaked oil everywhere, that cost about $14.

Now that it is installed correctly, it works beautifully! I love it! I do however have to knock it over to 5th a little but that is probably a combination of the short throw and a worn syncro...

I do have a couple of questions however...

How are you meant to fix/seal the bottom of the lower boot to the square plate? The little lip on it isn't enough and it is way to big to strech the boot over it...

Is it normal that if you screw it all the way up it is too tight/stiff? Or is that just a result of the cheaper 'universal' kit? I may have to do what Pal suggested and make a spacer for the top of the box.

Thanks and hope it helps.

Todd

[mak0]

Todd, no sorry it wasnt 'nottieboy'. My seller didnt even give instructions! Lol but it wasnt stated in the product description so theres nothing i can do about that. These instructions here are great anyway, so i doubt the supplied ones would be any better, especially judging from your experience with the supplied instructions u receved.

The 'lower bush (cap)' busting off your shifter doesnt sound to good so im not willing to take the chance of using the existing one. I am still to hear from the ebay seller, and im about to rage...

will be logding a 'Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described dispute' shortly if i do not get my part.

[CATKICKER]

Ah cool, well worst case $4 isn't too much to have to fork out but the time involved in ordering, paying, waiting for and then collecting it is a pain. Better than a useless shifter in the bottom of the draw!

Todd

[WhitePrincess]

great write up dude, thanks!

[Mid_Nite_R33]

hey,

currently installing a short shifter on my R33 gtst, having some trouble as the shifter is totally loose with nothing holding it down,

what do u do with the factory 2 circlips after putting in the new shifter??

Desperate for some advice guys..

[WhitePrincess]

hey,

currently installing a short shifter on my R33 gtst, having some trouble as the shifter is totally loose with nothing holding it down,

what do u do with the factory 2 circlips after putting in the new shifter??

Desperate for some advice guys..

there should be two banana looking flat bits of metal with threaded holes that came with the short shifter kit. you need to put them in a groove on the actual gearbox and use the bolts to secure the shifter with square metal piece with 4 holes... not very technical i know, but unless u are missing some parts you should be able to fit it no problem. i did it on my r33 s2 gtst.

[Mid_Nite_R33]

there should be two banana looking flat bits of metal with threaded holes that came with the short shifter kit. you need to put them in a groove on the actual gearbox and use the bolts to secure the shifter with square metal piece with 4 holes... not very technical i know, but unless u are missing some parts you should be able to fit it no problem. i did it on my r33 s2 gtst.

hey,

I have the 2 bannana bits and screws, i have the the square metail piece with 4 hole which is now unsecured, no idea how to use 2 bannana pieces with the square bit as it doesnt line up properly...

what do u mean by "put them in a groove on the actual gearbox??

[WhitePrincess]

hey,

I have the 2 bannana bits and screws, i have the the square metail piece with 4 hole which is now unsecured, no idea how to use 2 bannana pieces with the square bit as it doesnt line up properly...

what do u mean by "put them in a groove on the actual gearbox??

dude, have a look at the picture included... in red are your plates which will go just about 1cm down from that shiny piece of gearbox you see on the pic. both of them should seat nicely in the groove... then, put your short shifter in and on top of that, the square piece will sit (in blue on the pic), align the plates and top square piece, put the bolts in and tight them up and you are done.