I wanted to get a short shifter just for fun, and cause you use it every time you're in the car. Plus it's fun having nice, clean, solid shifts instead of loose and sloppy all the time. The bushings definitely make this short shift kit (SSK). When we put my buddy's Kartboy in a bunch of months back, (where my two tutorials came from) we got lazy and put them in at separate times. One day we did the shifter, and months later, the front and rear bushings. The shifter itself is definitely a nice piece, giving your shifts reduced throw for sure (I believe Kartboy said it was 40%). But the feel of the shifting was still kind of sloppy and not very precise.
Months later when we put the bushings in, OMG, so much better. The shifts were solid and precise, plus the short throw. You definitely know which gear you're in and you can't be lazy or a wuss when you're shifting. That will lead to some nice metal shavings in your tranny fluid if you know what I mean.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend buying the shifter and the bushings. Don't cheap out and just buy the shifter. The two combined create a great combo for short, precise shifting. The set only cost me a little under $200 shipped. Pretty cheap in terms of aftermarket car parts. If you're feeling cheap and don't want to spend that much, I'd recommend just getting the front and rear bushings. It's way cheaper than buying just and stick, and they make more difference in terms of feel. Who knew pieces of polyurethane that have very little flex would provide so much positive feedback!
Ok, now the install part. I'm just going to highlight it because I already have Youtube tutorials (I'll link them in this post) on how to do both installs, so there's no point telling you how to do them here too. But I did say at the top it was a pain right? Haha. You'd think doing this for the second time, it'd be easier right? Wrong. What a pain. I think every step this time was just not fun. Trying to get the reverse lockout pin out of the stick, pain. Trying to get the c-clip out, pain. Since this was the first install on this car, there was plenty of dirt and debris under the car, so anything you touched under there, a nice chunk of dirt was falling on your face. Pain. We already knew trying to get the bolts lined up for the rear bushing was going to be a pain, so double pain! Those bolts are really hard to get lined up to seat correctly so you don't strip the bolts. Just beware if you're going to do this install. And what makes it worse is the cat and driveshaft make space a pretty big issue too. I don't even know how many times the reverse lockout pin fell out trying to hammer that back through the cable. Almost lost it one time, as it fell under the little sub under the drivers seat. But after all those hassles, the installs were finally done. Nice, solid, clean shifting as a result, so I'll say it was worth it, just would've been nice if there were less hassles! Haha.
So go get it! It's a good first mod that's small and not too expensive. Just be ready to deal with some issues with those bushings. Happy modding!
And as promised, below are the two tutorials to help you out!
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