Was looking around on here and couldn't find if anyone had tried to do this before. I know they aren't conducive for things like power shifting, but I have to say they look better than any shift boot. I think it's possible to fit one in, plus with the shift plates in the Camaro being flat, I think it would be somewhat easy to have one made. Here is an example what I'm talking about:



What do you think?

 

Very sharp. If there isn't one available then you could try to make one. Easy in theory maybe. Remove the current plate and use some cardboard or something to make a template with all the shifter positions then transfer it a piece of aluminum and cut to suit. Depends on your skills. And patience.

 

I often though of this too, nice touch....

 

After a little practice I think you could grab some serious gears with that setup.

 

I have a Pro 5.0 shifter it's a big improvement over stock... 2 to 3, it has a spring, basically you just guide it up and it aligns itself... gates shouldn't interfere.... ??

Rafael

 

The transmission has gates but they are internal...

One challenge is that as the motor torques over the transmission and shifter will move over (rotate). If the fake gates above are in a fixed position (attached to the console/body) the shifter may bind in them under hard acceleration. You could make them wider to try to prevent this but the fingers may get very thin and/or it may ruin the look. Polly mounts may help this by reducing rotation under torque.

Another option, attach your fake gates to the transmission (basically bolt it to the transmission and make sure the hole in the floor will not interfere), so it rotates with the transmission under torque. Then rig up the console to allow them to move or float above the transmission. Now under torque the fake gates will always be aligned with the real ones...

 

Exactly what I was thinking. It's been a while since I've driven a standard 3g, but I recall my sisters 86 2.8 shifter torquing around a lot when it was just off the showroom floor. Probably not a feasible mod.

 

I do think it is feasible (even given the challenges I noted above), the key really is to have the fake gate mounted to the transmission and the same point as the shifter (maybe a tube or other supports mounted to the trans at the shifter and to the fake gate in the car), that way it will move with the drive-train and not interfere with shifting (it will always be in perfect alignment with the internal gate and shifter).

What we may not like is that the gate moves around and there would need to be some sort design on the console to hide the fact that the fake gate floats above the console (when parked...).

Two idea for this, the console could just have a hole in it where the shifter goes and the fake gate floats above this. The fake gate needs to be large enough to cover the hole under all torque conditions. Even easier, a larger yet hole in the console with a leather or rubber boot that attaches to the smaller fake gate and the console with enough slack to accommodate the fake gate movement.

In theory, if done right the gate in the transmission could be removed and the fake gate becomes no longer fake... I would strongly recommended against doing that!!!!

 

I've thought about doing this as well, and decided against it for most of the reasons mentioned above. When I went to mock it up, the "fingers" ended up needing to be too thin for my taste. As for the floating idea, I like it, but would mount the plate to the underside of the console. That way you could just make the screw holes oversize with some washers between the plate and screw heads so it will float. No need to mess with trying to make a piece that is designed to float look like it is mounted in a fixed position. Also, you need to account for the shifter **** bouncing up and down, as well as torquing left and right as I've never seen a thirdgen shifter that didnt bounce up and down due to the action of the torque arm on the tailshaft of the trans.

 

I never considered the shifter movement, That would be the hardest issue to over come. I'm sure better mounts would help, and maybe design the gates as cylindrical fingers, and have the shift lever narrow where its in the gate. That may give enough play, but at that point, it's getting into some milling processes I don't have access to.

 

You really couldn't narrow it too much I would think. The shifter is hollow and the walls are only about 1/8" thick.

 

I have a pro 5.0 with my t56, its a solid piece of steel on the lever. It could be worked on a bit, but it's all talk at the moment. Once the weather warms up, and I have the car back out I am going to look into this further, at least get a template made up to see if it's even a feasible idea past that point.

 

In that case, I could see being able to take some material off. I was thinking you had the stock shifter.

 

Someone on here made a gated shifter...

Might have been pretty far back though. I recall them having some issues with fabrication, and I want to say they might have ditched the idea. But pretty sure they went as far as to have a nice gate made up, and had some nice "clickity-click" sounds as they rowed the gears.

Do some searching around...Im at least 60% it was on this site. If not here, then over on Tech.

J.

 

Ah nice, I'll dig a little deeper and see if I can find the post here when I have some more free time. Thanks for the heads up

 

The more I think about it, it may have been over on Tech. BUT...the cars are similar enough that the basic ideas would still apply.

I did some quick searching, and was coming up empty. I thought I found the thread, but the pictures were dead, and the info didnt seem the same. Ill keep digging a little. Pretty sure I posted in the thread so Im looking through my history.

J.

EDIT: Found it. User name was bdr_ws6, and it looks like his last activity was around 2009. I think I found him on youtube, and he's active there, so I messaged him. I will post his response. The pictures in his thread are long since dead. But here is the link anyway so you know Im not bs'ing you

http://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance...-interior.html

 

Got pics...I found the original person who did it. He mentioned some short comings for sure. Just kind of hard to do it with our shifters. But here was his design. I think he refined it some, but those were the only pics he had.

Quote from our convo:
"That was mine. I ended up abandoning the idea. The shift pattern is pretty close on the T56 and we didn't have the tools necessary to cut the metal pattern to get the required clearance for the shifter. I even had to make a smaller rod for the shifter to get it to even work, and it still was tight on a few gears. With the right tools, I think it could be done pretty well. I work for a guy that has a torchmate and I have even thought about revisiting the idea but, I just I got a new boot and called it a day..."








Enjoy!

J.

 

Ah, thanks for that, I still have the idea bouncing around in my head. I was looking at ways to reducing shifter movement, with a trans member with a torque arm mount, and maybe solid motor mounts. Also may be able to have my brother use his mill to get something cut out here during the summer. Right now I've been so swamped with work I haven't had time to do much of anything

 

If you run poly motor mounts and trans mount, you wont have much if any movement. Im making a reasonable amount of power and besides some vibration through the shifter at higher rpm, mine doesnt move at all.

You would DEF need some CNC action on this. Maybe something out of thicker stock. And you'd probably want it mounted lower towards the base than the pics I posted to reduce the spread of the pattern.

Its doable...but its going to take a good amount of fiddling with to make it work well and still look good.

Keep us posted if you tinker with it!

J.

 

Hello all, Maurizio here from Rome, Italy.
I am currently researching a way to create a gear shift gate.
Unlike the US where muscle cars are still V8 with RWD, in Europe it's a completely different story, with "hot hatches" developing 200+ hp on a 1½t (3000 lb.) body.

In my particular case, I have an Alfa Romeo sedan with a fwd V6, 245 hp. Video for example, not my own car.

I'm interested in a gear shift cage and have read about torque twisting the gearbox, hence, the lever itself.
In a fwd this actually means the engine and gearbox twisting fire and aft, so the gear lever would slightly move back and forth, not sideways.

Ant suggestions on how to create a gate?Thank you in advance.