Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior aluminum shift gate

yeah, yeah...I know its been tried before and there was some sort of gimmick in the way...I'm gonna get a cheap piece of aluminum from the hardware store and goive it a shot this weekend...there has got to be a way to make this work...jsut figured I'd post and see who's interested

go for it

i thought you had an auto???

you better get all the measurements on par with that shifter and how it goes into the gate, after that it should be simply just getting it to look flush with the dash

i definately want/need one.

i just installed my custom-shortened b&m this afternoon and theres no way i'm leaving my boot the way it is. i want a metal shift gate but i might have to settle for a spandex or lycra flat shift boot if i cant get my hands on a 6-speed version

anyone else think i need a metal shift gate besides me??

edit--dont mind the date...i just got the digicam yesterday and i havnt fooled with all the settings yet

Caleb that looks so funny!

caleb that shifter is so fucken small, isnt it too hard to shift quick?
wut happened to ur engine?
if azzkikr cant do it, ill try to do it myself. its not suppose to be that hard.

haha for real safieh...it should be better when i get another boot...the stock one is all squinched up

azzkikr, if i were u, i would make the shifter look like chrome and i would put a metal knob on the top. itll look more like a ferrari
good luck

i dunno how hard it is to shift yet because i just did it today and whenever you fool with the assembly it gets really stiff. lol and since i dont have an engine in it yet i won't be able to work the stiffness out for awhile.

but anyway about the engine: i just got back from atlanta on tuesday from seeing some guy who was selling a gts engine...which i bought it should be in in about a week, hopefully not more than 2 week after that i'll have it installed

damn man that sux. good luck getting a good and reliable engine. wuts the mileage on the engine, condition and price?
wuts that short shifter called?

^^ 55k miles, $1,000 flat (plus shipping). the engine is great...i even drove the car around for a little while (a tree or something had fallen on the roof and busted the roof frame, sunroof, windshield, & rear glass..so it was totalled out but the car otherwise was in great condition..so was the engine.

he's going to take the engine out over the wekend and then ship it here...everything should be as good as it can be

Good luck getting the aluminum shifter to work.

It's been tried before, and it doesn't work because the top of the shifter base is nearly flush with the top part of the console.

You'll also need to machine some strange slots, the GTS from 02+ has a weird pattern, and the GT has a notch in the shifter

yeah are you thinking about getting the aluminum one? if so that would look awesome. are you gonna have your car for the meet?

i doubt i'll have my car for the meet safieh...its going to be probably at least 3 weeks before anything comes of my car. the engine won't get here until next week and it's prob gonna take 2 or 3 weeks to install it. hopefully no tmuch longer than that but we'll just have to see.

i should get my body kit in about a week or two too, so thats also a welcome thought

one guy did it quite nicely..i might even have a pic of it. either way he won't do it for anyone else because he wants to be the only one with it (can't blame him)..but it can be done.

that's not a true shift gate..it's just a cover with tiny notches on it.

this is a REAL shift gate

well, duh...but you're not going to do much better than the pic i posted...at least with my '00 tiny shift gates

if you mapped out the movement, and machined the piece with a waterjet machine, you could do it.

It would look weird, and probably making shifting more difficult.

The gate works better on a shiter rod system, rather than linkage because of the play.

Nice idea, but to me it just looks like you are trying to have something you don't.

that's what im thinking. depends on if you can round out the endges into points that are sturdy enough to take some abuse from misshifits i would assume.

You really misshift that often, you suck

I never once misshifted my GTS, I just beat the hell out of it and broke the linkage.

i misshifted probably 3 times..which probably contributed to my blown engine.

but anyway..what i was saying earlier about taking some abuse from misshifts is more of having a thin aluminum point getting jabbed with a rod will probably bend it...even if you only hit it once. we'd have to find a way to make it strong (or thick) enough so it won't bend. thats what i was talking about..not necessariliy complete misshifts..just those occasions (especially when your first getting used to it) when you hit the tip of the shift gate

the shift gate is supposed to PREVENT That from happening.

regardless that looks nice

you're not getting what im saying. im not talking about complete misshifts..im talking about hitting the edge (or beginning) or the shift gate itself...nothing to do with linkage, etc.

yes, and what do you think the shift gate is meant to do?

guide it into the slot. Look at the rounded edges on the Ferrari one.

ive never driven a 6 speed gts, is reverse to the left and up or is it in place of a traditional 5 speed?

its to the left and up (left-left up while first gear is left up) there is no gear or slot beneath reverse.

yea, it's kinda wierd being to the left because of that empty slot underneath--took me a while to get the hang of shifting into 2nd

with the acura's and honda's it's to the bottom right

...

no I have a 5 speed...

well aware brother...I'm working on that too

yeah...I'm looking for a ferrari-esque one...and if for some reason I can polish it to a chrome finish then I'll work on that too...but I've got to make it fit first...and get the travel lines of the shifter perfect first...If I can get it to work, I'll try to write an install guide or something for it...and try to get some of my friend's GTS's, and also try to get one of each model with a short shifter...

^^ sounds good bro, keep us updated on it.

btw, i was in atlanta the other day looking at another engine, which i bought

atlanta is so much bigger than new orleans...i'ts been years since i've been there and i had forgotten just how big it is and just how much traffic there is there

jezus there has been at elast 3 posts about this ... it will not work correctly (how a shift gate would normaly work for are cars.
yes i tried it i even posted directions on how to do it.

save your self some time walk down to your car and grab on to the boot around the shifter go to the base of the shifter where the pivot point is . ok now that your there look how close that point is to where the plastice is around the shifter theres like a millimeter of clearce thtere for the gates wouldn't be gates it would just be a piece of metal with a funny lookng hole in the middle

https://celicahobby.com/ubbthrea...#Post1953345398


and

https://celicahobby.com/ubbthrea...part=1&vc=1

UPDATE: I have the shifter travel lines figured, and traced into a pattern...and over the next couple of days (finals are this week), I'm gonna work on the piece of aluminum, and I think I may have a way around the whole pivot ball thing (yes, I'll post pics)...but we'll see when I go to mount the piece of aluminum...If it works I'm gonna take it to a trophy shop and have it engraved with the gears "1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - R"...I'll keep everyone updated as it comes along...just thought it would be a nice update

oh...and drkramm...I'm thinkin the GTS has the pivot ball problem...because I have around 3/4" of clearance between the mounting point I was going to use and the shifter base...the pivot ball is much lower in the GT 5 speed shifter base...so much so that you cant feel the shifter pivot ball as you slide your fingers down the shifter stick...I'll post pics for everyone when I get there...and we'll figure it out from there

ok...went over measurements, and the ferrari style gates cannot be done...not because of the pivot ball issue, but because the shaft doesn't travel enough left and right at the base where the gates would be to clear itself...the shifter shaft is just short of 1/2" in diameter near the base where the gates were going to go...and it doesn't travel enough between 1st, 3rd, and 5th...and 2nd, 4th, and reverse to provide room for a divider gate between each shift point...the one drkramm made wouldn't be hard at all to do...but we sadly cannot do the ferrari style one because it would need to be about 1" to 1 1/4" higher on the shaft...sorry everyone...but if there is enough interest I am going to make one for myself similar to what drkramm has

how bout if you refabricate the bend on the shifter somehow so you get more play?
i knew this would be a problem cz the gates are really closee to each other.

If you made one like his I'd be down for one. Although not quite useful, would add a nice touch.

I'd definately be in for one if it worked out

if you need a 6spd for a template i am in for that man you coudl make some good money of that. if the guy from germany woudl make more of his he woudl make a killing

ok...so I 'll go with those then...and as for getting more play out of the lever...its not gonna happen...the geometry won't allow for it...and definitely not for a short shifter...