197 replies to this topic

[polarisman14]

Hey guys,

I'm sure many of you are in the same boat that I was in Monday--sitting in traffic, going back and fourth from first to neutral to keep up with the cars in front of me when I felt something pop in the shifter and all of a sudden there was slop everywhere. Felt like I was shifting into shifter gates of mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, as the MK1 shifter ball is a different diameter than the stock shifter, the only option for replacement is the same nylon one that broke in the first place (I already inquired to confirm this). Mine only lasted ~2k miles with very few hard shifts mixed in there.

Long story short, put some CAD experience to use finally and designed a shifter bushing out of Delrin instead. Advantages of using Delrin are that it is more dimensionally stable and durable then Nylon, and less susceptible to wear and tear related to heat and chemical exposure. It should (though I make no guarantees on this) do a better job of dampening the vibration and rattle that people sometimes experience with the MK1 shifter and nylon bushing combination, as well.

I bought a friend's benchtop lathe so I am making these in my basement. Initially I was going to have these produced somewhere that has a CNC lathe but this should keep costs down for you guys and prevent needing a huge quantity of them to get the GP going.

Just in case it isn't implicit, this GB is for the bushing that press-fits on to the bottom of the shifter and fits into the circular sleeve on the end of the shifter linkage.

Installation is the same as the OEM or MK1 style ones--a dab of trans fluid/oil on the shifter ball for lubrication and press it on the chamfered side of the bushing. AS A RESULT OF THE FEEDBACK FROM MY FIRST FEW BUSHINGS DELIVERED, I HAVE ADDED A MARK ON THE SIDE TO BE PRESSED ON THE BALL WITH BLACK SHARPIE. THIS CHANGE WENT INTO EFFECT ON SHIPMENTS ON AND AFTER 8/24/2016.

I assume NO risk for damage caused during the installation process, etc. This is a wear item and as such there is no warranty expressed or implied. My hope is that it will outlast the nylon part it's replacing but there is no guarantee.

Pricing is $20 shipped to your door USPS First Class Mail with tracking for (1), $35 for (2), with higher quantity discounts available. The goal is for us to not have to replace these anymore or to have a much longer service interval at the very least.

I am making these to order so I need a week or so after payment is received to produce, and ship for arrival. First class usually takes 3 days.


Interested Parties (MK1/Mookeeh Shifter):

1. vbrad511 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
2. preludedude (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
3. psu_Crash (2pcs)--SHIPPED FOR BARTERING, THANK YOU!
4. Tim_C (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
5. bflann (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
6. lionking (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
7. Malykaii (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
8. Demonquest22 (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
9. Devilsfutbol17 (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
10. Jetspd150 (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
11. Kepico (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
12. Monkeyboylegend (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
13. CordiaGSR (2pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
14. Ono (2pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
15. Aero-R (3pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
16. Fuze (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
17. Facebook (2pc)--SHIPPED
18. Gst4g64 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
19. Spooled_Starion (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
20. TSI_SVT (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
21. newbie88 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
22. nightwalkerancestery--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!

Interested Parties (Stedebani/GNT/OEM/Bain):

1. jonboyb (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
2. BC_99 (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!!!
3. TexasQuest (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!!!
4. Tim_C (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
5. hopefull noob (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!!!
6. speedyquest (1pc)--SHIPPED, TESTER, THANK YOU!
7. Mach 5 (1pc)--SHIPPED, TESTER, THANK YOU!
8. Jetspd150 (4pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
9. Corellian Corvette (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
10. Smiley_roy (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
11. 4cylfury (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
12. Turbo Cary (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
13. Ono (2pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
14. Thx181 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
15. bluecollar (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
16. Hoosierquest (1pc)--SHIPPED THANK YOU!
17. Gst4g64 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
18. Vernon (2pcs)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
19. Croquest87 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
20. Ptracy262 (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!
21. 87redcat (1pc)--SHIPPED, THANK YOU!

Please check back on this thread for updates rather than the thread I started in Just Plain Old BS now that it's moving from idea to production.

Thanks!

Matt

Edited by polarisman14, 09 November 2018 - 04:00 PM.

[jonboyb]

Is the MK1 ball diameter different than GNT, Stedebani, and Bain shifters?  I always assumed the Mookeeh was a copy of someone else's shifter.  I know I have a Stedebani and Bain shifter in 2 of my cars....and always worried about the bushing failing on me.  If this bushing worked on either of those it would be awesome and I'd be first in line...LOL.  I may still have a Stedebani laying around to measure if anyone has one of the old Bain units they could measure?

[polarisman14]

Yeah I don't know if they are all proprietary or share some of the same dimensions. If it's the same diameter as the other aftermarket ones then have at it--I only have the Mookeeh one at my disposal for dimensions. I'll toss you down as being interested pending its ability to work for other shifters. If the ball diameter is the same I'll have the thread title changed to reflect that--should drum up more interest and get us to our production quantity much faster!

Edited by polarisman14, 14 July 2016 - 06:41 AM.

[jonboyb]

I'll measure up the Stedebani this weekend when I get back unless someone can beat me to it!

[techboy]

I believe GNT replied on your original thread and said their shifter ball was different. Don't know about the other 2 companies.

[polarisman14]

^^Yes, the GNT has been reported "straight from the horse's mouth" as being different so that's out. Jon, if you wouldn't mind taking the measurements of the Bain and Stedebani (you're the only person I know of that has both!) that would be huge in helping us get more parts available for the cars. I can design a different one for the Bain and Stedebani but I'm really hoping they are the same so there's a bigger market for this, keeps prices down etc.

[jonboyb]

My Bain shifter is installed in my Dad's old car, and in storage 2 hours away.  I'm not sure when I could get the time to drive up and remove it.  I bet there are VERY few of the Bain's even on the boards.  I can hopefully measure the Stedbani this weekend.

[BC_99]

I will take 2. If needed to fill your minimum order, I will purchase up to 5.
Providing that they are the same as the stedbani.
BC

Edited by BC_99, 14 July 2016 - 08:37 AM.

[duckheads]

polarisman14, on 14 July 2016 - 07:27 AM, said:

^^Yes, the GNT has been reported "straight from the horse's mouth" as being different so that's out. Jon, if you wouldn't mind taking the measurements of the Bain and Stedebani (you're the only person I know of that has both!) that would be huge in helping us get more parts available for the cars. I can design a different one for the Bain and Stedebani but I'm really hoping they are the same so there's a bigger market for this, keeps prices down etc.

The GNT is the Stedebani.  We couldn't use their name so we had to come up with our own.

http://www.starquest...howtopic=143914

[jonboyb]

Well that saves me some work...LOL.  I guess take me off the list for now.

Since we've cleared some issues, you want to see if a Mod can delete some of the chatter posts and clean up the thread.

[polarisman14]

BC_99, on 14 July 2016 - 08:35 AM, said:

I will take 2. If needed to fill your minimum order, I will purchase up to 5.
Providing that they are the same as the stedbani.
BC

Do you need 2 of them if they are MK1, or no? This is getting unfortunate really quickly, lol...If someone can take the dimensions of the stedebani one I can make up a bushing for that one too, though--may be able to rework one to make it fit the other anyway depending on how different the sizing is.

[BuGG]

Im pretty sure I have a Bain and a Stedabani laying around I can measure.

[polarisman14]

If you can that'd be much appreciated. So we've got GNT (same as Stedebani, rebranded), Bain, and Mookeeh/MK1. Any other short shifters available for our cars that anyone is aware of?

The other thing I can do is get a hold of the OEM mitsu part and make a reproduction of that one as well...Pretty sure it's NLA now so we'll need that in the future.

[TexasQuest]

I would be interested in a Stedebani shifter bushing as well.

[vbrad511]

Put me on the list, please.
My MK1 shifter doesn't have a ball though, it's a kindof sleeve that fits very loosely on the shifter.

[Preludedude]

I have a mookeh shifter...please put me down for 1

[polarisman14]

Thanks guys. And Brad, this is for the "sleeve"--that is the bushing I'll be having made for everyone. The shifter itself has the ball on the bottom, which the sleeve fits on to (this "ball" is a different size on all of these shifters and that's what makes organizing a decent quantity group buy for them).

[polarisman14]

The other option I have is that my buddy has a benchtop lathe that I know how to use--It's a small non-cnc unit and I can turn the bushings by hand and verify all dimensions with dial calipers. This would allow me to keep the same pricing I quoted previously and do away with the minimum order quantities for each type. I'll just be giving him a couple dollars from each sale to pay him for use of the lathe.

Quality may be marginally worse as it isn't being done professionally on a cnc'd lathe but it'll still be perfectly usable and the time to market will be reduced significantly. If you guys don't have a problem with that, I can buy some delrin rod and start experimenting with it.

I already have the CAD file up and ready to go for the Mookeeh unit and can still generate one for the OEM/Bain/GNT/Stedebani units once I receive dimensions, but it's going to take quite a while to garner enough attention in this GP to not have these things be astronomically expensive.

Let me know what you guys think.

Edited by polarisman14, 16 July 2016 - 05:43 AM.

[polarisman14]

OK. I ordered some Delrin so I can make a few samples and make sure I'm happy with their performance in the car before I bring them to market. Hoping to be able to sell these in a couple weeks after having some seat time installed in my car.

[importwarrior]

can you make it something like this with a shoulder on it?
yes it is upside down in the pic but you get the idea??
maybe the shoulder could help keep the bushing in place???

maybe not ...

just a thought.