Vantage Gearknob / shifter location moved forwards

[TR-Spider]

One of the things that did not match well with my personal ergonomics was the location of the gearknob.
It was just too far back for perfectly comfortable shifting ergonomics.

So...I moved the gearknob forward by bending the shifter rod forward:


As I could not remove the plastic bearing shell, I "watercooled" it during heating the rod.
If one bends the rod directly above the fixation of the shiftcable, the gearknob still fits on without issue.

Off for a little drive now...

Thomas

edit:
...back from the drive.
Certainly the most cost effective modification possible.
The ergonomics feel more natural and thus shifting is much improved.

Edited by TR-Spider on Friday 2nd February 16:21

[Rappa]

Thomas,

Good stuff. Do you have a picture of it back in-situ?

Sean

[Big Ry]

Now that's proper old school engineering.....a clamp and a mallet no doubt........top work sir

[TR-Spider]

No mallet got hurt during this exercise - a blowtorch allows for more precise bending...

Sean
I tried a picture...be aware its a different gearknob as well
(dependent on the geometry of the gearknob the distance will vary).
the picture shows 1st gear position (reverse is slightly closer to the panel)
Distance to the panel is aprox 40mm, say 33mm when you push in the gear and remove the slack in the cable etc.
After driving I can confirm that the distance is just fine like it is now.

[TR-Spider]

Update:

As a consequence of my new shiftknob beiing ~23mm higher up, I effectively lengthend the throw by 13%.

So to correct that, I changed the ratio on the for/backwards selector on the gearlever.

Which in the end gives now this position of gearlever in 3rd gear:



So I moved the ball-bolt (??) where the fore/back cable is attached to the gearlever 14mm higher
by having a matching piece of sheetmetal welded on the gearlever (stock mounting point grinded off).

So in the end I now have ~10% shorter throw than the original, which locates all the shifting motions further forward .

I had to grind a little off the underside of the ashtray to clear the shift cable for sure.

And if one would be afraid to stretch/break the cable, you could additionally modify the
black plastic arrestor by applying some material to block excessive lever motion.
Like so:



When I looked at it last time, I remember there was quite a gap already in stock configuration
(between the point when the gear was in and the lewer would arrest).
Probably a good thing to do, when I'm in next time...


Thomas