I recently had the transmission out of the car. I had a dead slave cylinder on the clutch. When I did the work, I took advantage and swapped out the shifter. Since that has a ton of write ups and I did with the trans out of the car, I did not photograph it and document it. I did, however, get some before and after shots.
So I learned a couple of things in the process. First, the Hurst Shifter, once installed, is higher in the car than the stock unit. What I mean is, that the threaded portion of the shifter sticks up higher into the car than does the stock unit. To combat this, I used a new shifter knob as well. In the new knob, I even went so far as to eliminate some threads on it so as to have it go deeper. In essence, lowering the ball height even more. I gained about 3/4" doing this. In short, had I put the MGW knob on the shifter and did not cut it, the MGW would be taller in the car than it was when on the stock shifter.
The other thing I noticed is that the shifter body comes VERY close to the ashtray "box" in the floor pan tunnel. Close however is OK as it has not hit or made noise yet. I put in a poly trans mount as well. That actually lifted the trans a touch which made it closer. Bottom line, if I change the engine mounts to poly, it may hit. If it does, I will cut it out and tack in some steel to resolve it. For now, it is good.
The end results are below. The knob with the Viper logo is the before shots. This is the stock shifter and MGW shifter knob. The ball is the after. Hurst Shifter.
Height from the console in fourth gear.
Distance from radio bezel in fourth. That figure has no relevance, just nothing more than an idea of position.
Distance from the radio bezel in third.
The net travel is about 4.5 inches.
This is the height with all the mods. The net drop was about 1.75 inches. That's pretty significant and much more comfortable.
Fourth gear with the Hurst. Now, a note on the distance. This is a bit misleading. While it comes in 1.75 inches closer, please note the height of the final assembly being lower aides as well.
Third gear.
Now if you compare before and after throws, the distance dropped 44%. Again, part of this is the shifter, part is the lower position of the knob. I am not going to get into the, geometry, but let's just assume that the throw, if the knob was the same height as the stock, would be about 30 to 35% shorter. The rest I gain on the height of the knob. Having said that, there is much more to this than the shorter throw. The big difference I feel is the more precise shifts. It feels "tighter". The stock shifter felt more sloppy. Shifts from first to second and third to fourth are impeccable. The all important second to third is awesome. This is usually my guage for a good shifter. The springs have to be strong to make the shifter return to center but not so much that it will be a pain when holding it over for second of pushing for fifth.
Bottom line I recommend it. I have not tried the MGW but have on a Corvette. Since both are similar, I would tell you that the Hurst feels just as nice with the shortened knob. I have no complaints there. The only concern I may have is the clearance of the ashtray box. However, if needed, that can be resolved easily.
So I learned a couple of things in the process. First, the Hurst Shifter, once installed, is higher in the car than the stock unit. What I mean is, that the threaded portion of the shifter sticks up higher into the car than does the stock unit. To combat this, I used a new shifter knob as well. In the new knob, I even went so far as to eliminate some threads on it so as to have it go deeper. In essence, lowering the ball height even more. I gained about 3/4" doing this. In short, had I put the MGW knob on the shifter and did not cut it, the MGW would be taller in the car than it was when on the stock shifter.
The other thing I noticed is that the shifter body comes VERY close to the ashtray "box" in the floor pan tunnel. Close however is OK as it has not hit or made noise yet. I put in a poly trans mount as well. That actually lifted the trans a touch which made it closer. Bottom line, if I change the engine mounts to poly, it may hit. If it does, I will cut it out and tack in some steel to resolve it. For now, it is good.
The end results are below. The knob with the Viper logo is the before shots. This is the stock shifter and MGW shifter knob. The ball is the after. Hurst Shifter.
Height from the console in fourth gear.
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Distance from radio bezel in fourth. That figure has no relevance, just nothing more than an idea of position.
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Distance from the radio bezel in third.
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The net travel is about 4.5 inches.
This is the height with all the mods. The net drop was about 1.75 inches. That's pretty significant and much more comfortable.
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Fourth gear with the Hurst. Now, a note on the distance. This is a bit misleading. While it comes in 1.75 inches closer, please note the height of the final assembly being lower aides as well.
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Third gear.
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Now if you compare before and after throws, the distance dropped 44%. Again, part of this is the shifter, part is the lower position of the knob. I am not going to get into the, geometry, but let's just assume that the throw, if the knob was the same height as the stock, would be about 30 to 35% shorter. The rest I gain on the height of the knob. Having said that, there is much more to this than the shorter throw. The big difference I feel is the more precise shifts. It feels "tighter". The stock shifter felt more sloppy. Shifts from first to second and third to fourth are impeccable. The all important second to third is awesome. This is usually my guage for a good shifter. The springs have to be strong to make the shifter return to center but not so much that it will be a pain when holding it over for second of pushing for fifth.
Bottom line I recommend it. I have not tried the MGW but have on a Corvette. Since both are similar, I would tell you that the Hurst feels just as nice with the shortened knob. I have no complaints there. The only concern I may have is the clearance of the ashtray box. However, if needed, that can be resolved easily.