Platinum

What do you think about it? Worth it?

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85 Z/28
Mods: Flowmaster 80 ,Cam: 443 465 214 224 112,Comp Cams 981 springs& Retainers,Hypertech stage 2 chip, MSD 8.5 Super Conductors,Hypertech AFPR,F*rd 19# injectors,Ported plenum, K&N filters. And much more to come.

Macgyver

I have one in my 79, I really like it, of course I haven't tried the Hurst equivalent...

One complaint, could never keep the damn T-Handle on tight, I ended up JBWelding it in place, but now it WILL NOT come off. That's fine with me, but I dunno if it'd be ok for you...

lexussc94

Got one in my iroc and I wouldn't live without it! Mike

Superman

I would say they are well worth the money you pay for them.I've had mine in for about a year and a half and have had no problems with it.

Nitro Don

Ive had my B&M shifter for about 3 years now.Its great!
Ive had a problem with the T-handle too,but I crazy glued it.
Nitro Don

Jed

It works great as far as shifting goes, but if you think about it, the thing makes your car easier to steal. It has no provision for the steering column lock like the stock shifter does. So you can shift the shifter into neutral without the key being in the ignition. I never liked that.

Use locktite on the shifter handle threads.

CanadianBeast

Had mine for about two years and I love the ratchet action. Plus in installs so cleanly it looks great.

Jim85IROC

I've had one for a little over a year. It looks FANTASTIC in the box on my bedroom floor.

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The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

Todd91SS

First, this is just my opinion from the products I've used.

Anything B&M makes is junk.

I've been severely disappointed with all the B&M products. As for the shifter:
The rubber boot starts cracking after about a year and a half and fades very badly.
All the chrome flakes off the T-handle.
The T-handle won't tighten and strips out threads.
Installation is more of a pain than it should be. They could have easily made it to screw into the stock shifter holes but you have to drill all new holes instead. They could also have made an adapter to plug into your existing connector but instead you have to re-wire all the circuits.

The actual operation is fine but the fit and finish leaves much to be desired. I found myself taking the console apart at least 6 different times to adjust something internally that came loose or out of adjustment.

I have also found that their tranny coolers are cheap, their shift kits are worthless and the torque convertors are nothing more than cheap OEM reproduction units that love to let loose and send shrapnel through your otherwise fine 700R4.

Look into a hurst shifter IMO. I have seen three megashifters installed and they've all been a pain. Hurst, even though they may not look quite as good, actually engineers their products very well.

Todd

TomP

Hm... I didn't have any of those problems Todd mentioned. I did mess up my first shifter boot by putting Armor-All on it.. after a month or so it must've dried up because it left a bunch of little cracks! I bought a new one and haven't brought Armor-All close to it.

I installed it in a few hours. I had to cut my console top with a cutting tip on a soldering gun, and that took the longest to do out of the whole job.

-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

odin65

I have a hurst quarter stick in my 88 IROC, i did a custom install and it looks perfect. It fits the stock console, has no clearance problems, works perfectly(for nearly three years now), has provisions for the stock key lockout and neutral safety switch and reverse lights. I highly recommend it.

Reznor

2 questions... is it really easy to install & do you get any proformace difference from it or is it just for looks?

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You know what they say. Injection is great...but Id rather be blown!

CamaroZ_85

performance wise it all depends on your car i guess....whether or not you get an advantage from shifting manually. the good thing about these shifters is that no matter how hard u hit the stick, it only lets you upshift or downshift 1 gear at a time. as for the ease of installment, i havent done it...but my brother put a used one in his friends 3rd gen and he was a little stressed over the whole thing. ive been wanting one myself though...have to check it out

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350, Comp 262, Edelbrock Performer intake 600 cfm carb and exhaust, headers

Cosmik Debris

I put one in my car. It isn't a hard job but took me about half a day. You only need to drill two holes in the floor pan and cut out the original console cover a bit. Running and hooking up the cable took the most time. Oh and you are under the car a fair bit and you have to move the shift lever on the transmission so don't rely on "park" to stop your car from rolling.

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Cosmik Debris

BretD 88GTA

I haven't put one in my GTA but I had a Star Shifter in my '69 El Camino. I loved it. In fact I still have it in my garage. The boot never faded or cracked. The chrome never flaked off.

I did have a problem with the T-handle staying tight. To remedy it I bought the B&M shift ball. No more problem.

91Bird305

I think Todd doesn't care for B&M...I may be wrong though. As for my 2 cents, my friend had it on his 92 RS and it looked pretty sweet and I never heard any complaints from him about it. I have a B&M supercooler 28,000 GVW and so far it hasn't turned to junk Todd. Lets hope it doesn't either cause that would suck.

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Eric Natzke
91 Firebird 305 TBI (dropping in a 355 summer of "01")
-Edelbrock TES Headers (coated)
-P265/50/R15 tires
-MSD 8.5mm superconducters
-TBI Spacer
-Accel Cap & rotor
-160 Thermostat
Hypertech Thermomaster
-TransGo ShiftKit
-B&M Supercooler 28,000 GVW
-March pulleys
Custom 3" exaust (not cat)
flowmaster 80 series -Smog pump and AIR pulled
-Edelbrock Strut Tower Brace
-3:42 GM Motive
-Auburn Posi Unit
-K&N open element

http://hometown.aol.com/J007Golden/index2.html

Jim85IROC

Well, I just put mine in this weekend. I'm not done yet because I broke the threaded end off of the shifting shaft that goes into the transmission. Frieking joy. Anyway, I'm not overly impressed with the shifter's quality. For one, it is stupid that they don't have a bracket that allows you to use the stock front shifter bolt holes. There is no reason for them to cheap-out and make you drill new holes. I drilled small, shallow holes that only went through the first piece of metal and not through the floor pan. I ground down my stock bolts and used them to fasten the shifter plate.

The shifter cable cracked as soon as I bent it. There are a half-dozen or more hair line cracks in the red sheath, and at the end of it near the trans, the red sheath broke and pulled back 1/8". Quality.

The position of the 194 bulb sucks. It's 99% useless.

The fact that they don't give you an adapter for the stock wiring harness sucks. They also don't give you the relay that you need. That sucks too. Here's a pic of my wiring:

I didn't want to hack up any of my stock wiring even though I don't ever plan to re-use the stock shifter. I got some male blade connectors and ground them down until they fit into the stock harness. For the 194 bulb, I used some T connectors.

When I ratchet it back toward me (downshift) my whole console lifts up. The base of the shifter isn't moving, so it must be just from the rubber boot pulling up on the console. I hope that stops after the rubber boot loosens up, because the whole radio and everything jiggles.

I haven't driven the car yet (cuz I gotta weld the shifter cable mount to the shaft that I broke) so I can't say how I like it performance-wise.

------------------
The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

[This message has been edited by Jim85IROC (edited September 24, 2000).]

TomP

Jim, you should call B&M and get yourself a new shifter cable... mine didn't crack like that (sheathing or end). Maybe yours was sitting in a warehouse for a few years?

-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

Jim85IROC

Yeah, maybe I will. I wanna get the fricking car to run first tho.

------------------
The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

chevymike

Jim, the problem I just had installing my shifter, in regards to the console lifting, was due to the shifter being to far forward. I found that when I would rachet back the shifter, a arm would come up higher then the edge of the console and would lift the plastic plate up. I ended up drilling and retapping the rear mounting plate, where the shifter mounts to the bracket, back 3/16". There was enough play in the front slots to allow it to slide back and use the new holes I made. Once I did this, it worked fine. I found this out by removing the boot and watching the movement of everything with the console screwed down. You might want to check this. I don't think it's the boot being to stiff. Yes, the damn shifter was a PITA as they could have made it much easier to install. I do like how it works so far. L8R

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Mike Schwartz aka chevymike
'92 Z28, 5.7, Teal Hardtop

"Don't Outlaw High Performance Cars,
Outlaw Low Performance Drivers!"
Mike's Camaro Z28

CanadianBeast

I had the same problem with the shifter hitting the console as well but it became obvios that it needed to be moved back a little and it worked perfectly. My shifter cable never cracked either. Only problem I had was the boot drying up and cracking beacause I used armol-all when you're not supposed to.

Jim85IROC

I've already got the bracket as far back as it can go unless I remove the cross brace on the center console. I'll have to pull the boot off and check things out again, because I don't think it made the whole console move like this when I had the rubber boot off.

------------------
The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

chevymike

Jim, I ran into the same thing. I had the bracket as far as it would go back. It is touching the console cross brace. I still needed to move the shifter back further. That is why I drilled and retapped the holes back 3/16". I was looking at how GM mounted the cross brace and they have some room for adjustments when they install them. This may be why some don't have the problem and others do. L8R

jm91rs

man, it sounds like I got lucky. I bought my rs with the shifter already in it. The only problem that I had with it ended up costing me a lot though. I put the car in park one night at a party and when i jumped out, it started rolling foward and hit another car, that sucked. The shifter cable broke so I had to climb under the car to get into gear to go home. Now the paint on my front bumper is all cracked.

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91 rs convertible, K&N, Edelbrock open element cleaner, 3.73, B&M shifter

MikeH

I had the same problem with the red cable On my mega shifter. It was cracked and failed pretty quick. The red plastic on the outside of the cable becomes brittle with age. And wont shift when it does break. I went back to the stock shifter after I had to crawl under the car to shift it.

I might give them another try someday. But for now the stock one has worked flawless.

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Black 90 IROC, L98, A4, 323 gear. SuperRamed 406 in the works!

91redbird

I had the same problem with the shifter cable on my B@M. The actual install for my 91 bird was cake on the topside and bottomside. A dremel with a cutting wheel and slow cuts and alil grinding was all it took. I DO have two complaints tho. The wiring of the thing was a PITA!!! I found the directions to be lacking for a electrical idiot such as myself. It took about 2 hours BUT works great. The shift cable broke/split about a month after the install and left me on a hill. It was possible to get the car into gear but was mushy as hell to shift. I called Summit where i ordered it and they sent me a new cable no charge and that was about 3 months ago. I did wrap the top part of the cable (where it enters the shifter) with elecrical tape for about 1.5 feet down the cable this time as its a tight bend. It much better then the stock shifter. I like the rachet action, altho 1st gear is a hard pull back but i rarely manually shift into first. All in all i think its a somewhat easy install, 4 hours about. B@M can make it alil user friendly IMHO but hey, it looks killer. Oh one more thing, don't touch the t-handle after leaving the car in a parking lot on a 105 degree day ------- OUCH!!!!!




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David
91 Firebird

3.1L MPFI
Dynomax exhaust, cold air, 8mm wires, splitfires, shift kit, B&M Shifter.

On the table waiting to go in:

Ported/polished iron heads, 1.6:1 rockers, Lightly ported/Gasket matched Intake. Ported/Polished TB, Compucam 2030, 5" tach, duel pod w/oil temp, tranny temp gauges. Hood pod w/Fuel pressure, NOS pressure.

Coming Soon:
FastChip, 275 rears, 235 fronts, Ram air hood, suspension mods.

Anth's Iroc

I was wondering anyone have a hurst shifter
and how easy was the install.Cause from what im hearing its really not worth putting a B&M
in......

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1987 BLUE IROC
IT'S A DOG
BUT IT'S MY DOG
AND IT HAS A NASTY BITE......

noam

im interested in the hurt equivalent, or the hurst dualgate 2, i think the equivalent for hurst would be the v-matic 2, but i'm not sure, the dualgate2 looks really sweet though, anyone have any experience with either of these shifters?

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Jed

I really wanted the Hurst Vmatic but I went with the B&M shifter instead because B&M has that type of shifter specifically for our cars and Hurst doesn't. They have the kit for 2nd gens but as far as I know thats it. They do make the universal Vmatic available in a four speed aytomatic version, and I imagine that would work but would require fabrication. And I don't know what you'd use for a console plate if you didn't have a B&M plate. Hurst does make their dual-gate shifter for thirdgens, though.

Anyway, if anyone decides to try installing a V-matic in a thirdgen, I'd really like to hear about it.

mtx28

i love mine, its in my 74 z28, shifts like a champ, no complaints