has anyone ever thought of making an aluminum plate that would cover the base of the shifter rather than a shift boot? i made a quick drawing of what i'm talking about. would the path of the shifter leave enough room to even try this?

 

i think that would be really sweet, and it should be able to be done...the that needs to be done is figuring out the exact path in which the shifter needs to make proper shifts

 

In a race it would slow down your shift times because you would have to do an exact path around the path you made, and not a straight line to the next gear.

 

you don't really shift in a straight line anyway right? regardless of whether there's a plate or a boot there, you still have to take it out of gear, move over, and put it in the next gear. i don't know exactly though, that's part of the reason i asked.

 

It's been thought of, and it's been discussed here before. I thought of this a couple years ago and started exploring the capabilities to do it. Answer? The gates are too close. There's no room for metal between the slots. If you make a ferrari-style pencil thin shift rod, you might be able to get away with it.

 

that's what i figured, but i never really checked it out to really see.

btw jim, the quote in your sig about weekend projects is so true. my weekend project to swap a 350 into the camaro so far has evolved into a 4 month long process that includes ditching the camaro, buying the trans am, and now completely rebuilding my newly "rebuilt" 350 haha.

 

the gates are way to close, especially on my 4 speed, they are about a nut hair apart.

anyone that drives my car mistakes 1st for 3rd all the time.

 

Yea... i asked this question a few months back... basically, the gates are too close for it to work.