Aftermarket solid shifter?

Peregrinus

Well-Known Member
Wow this project really took off. Nice job everyone!

I’m still questioning keeping the reversing linkage at all. I got rid of them and go straight from shifter to cable. I’m guessing it’s not a problem for you guys?
I think the new shifter did away with alot the issues of the original shifter people tried. It looks to work well as intended now.
 
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Christopher Sanchez

Well-Known Member
Wow this project really took off. Nice job everyone!

I’m still questioning keeping the reversing linkage at all. I got rid of them and go straight from shifter to cable. I’m guessing it’s not a problem for you guys?
I agree, I personally feel that the current set up has a deadened feeling from all of the extra moving parts friction (reversers). While removing the sloppy plastic cobalt shifter there is no doubt you get a crisper feel but I’m worried that the main issue is still not addressed. That being said there is not another bolt on solution for the goblins shifter and the work that people have done to make it easy for the next builder is pretty epic and is really really hard to pass up. I have recently fitted another shifter assembly from an MR2 that removes the reversers entirely and looks and feels really promising.(required some crude cutting and welding to a stock mr2 shifter hopefully nothing to the goblin itself) Price range $100 all the way up to $700for a nice billet piece from HUX racing depending on how serious your build is. I’ll post more pictures of my $150-200 shifter once it is completed along with my opinion of the shift feel for any others that are interested in trying their own.. and I hope others will post their solutions and ideas to keep improving these cars
 

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SACTX

Well-Known Member
The problems I had with the original shifter are pretty well all addressed with this fix. There were times with the cobalt shifter that I would not even know that I made it into gear. There was no feedback. Add to that the sloppiness of the original ball joints....The stock shifter was horrible to begin with and the sloppiness of the original pivot hardware just made it worse.

Reversing the shift cables is not what caused the feeling to be lost. If everything is tight and moves on command, the same feeling would be there. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of accomplishing that with the tighter hardware on the pivot hardware.


Positive feedback and feel are as good as anything that I have driven.
 

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
I honestly can't wait til it's ready and installed. My stock shifter felt pretty tight but I am sure I will appreciate the upgrade, and I find myself looking forward to it, for sure.
 

Christopher Sanchez

Well-Known Member
The problems I had with the original shifter are pretty well all addressed with this fix. There were times with the cobalt shifter that I would not even know that I made it into gear. There was no feedback. Add to that the sloppiness of the original ball joints....The stock shifter was horrible to begin with and the sloppiness of the original pivot hardware just made it worse.

Reversing the shift cables is not what caused the feeling to be lost. If everything is tight and moves on command, the same feeling would be there. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of accomplishing that with the tighter hardware on the pivot hardware.


Positive feedback and feel are as good as anything that I have driven.
The feeling for me was quite different from a stock cobalt going to the cobalt shifter with DF reversers. Tightening up the reversers with different hardware probably helps a ton with it though. Good work man. If I’m unhappy with my attempt I’ll definitely be adding my name to your purchase now list..
 

SACTX

Well-Known Member
Another update, much colder but thawing out....

Coming back up here in Houston after some exciting days! Everything is good in my house, power back, no popped pipes, etc. We've been very lucky compared to others around here.

For the shifters, we're about a week behind because of the storm. TheNuker hasn't received his new machine yet (It was supposed to be delivered on the 16th) and it's now tentatively scheduled for delivery next Tuesday. All of the rest of the hardware and shifters are here and ready to go. I'll post another update next week, or once his machine finally arrives and gets set up.

Thank you all for your patience.
 

Christopher Sanchez

Well-Known Member
Finally got around to finishing the MR2 shifter today.. I ended up scraping the entire mr2 base as it was going to require modifications to mount to the DF shifter mount. I wanted to avoid modifying the tunnel cap for two reasons first I used rivets, secondly I like the idea of being able to put the stock stuff back in for whatever reason.. I used 0.25 in plate and drilled the DF mount pattern using the template they posted and also drilled and cut the patterns from the mr2 shifter. First time using a plasma cutter so it’s not the prettiest. I Welded a bracket for the shift cables slapped some paint on and it’s ready to be installed. I used some aluminum riser to clear the shift cup.. drove it around the block and it feels great! 5th gear seems to be the only tricky one to slam into gear but over very happy with the feel. I am hoping to knock a few 10ths off at 1/4 mile being able to no lift shift and stay in boost.
 

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Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
Finally got around to finishing the MR2 shifter today.. I ended up scraping the entire mr2 base as it was going to require modifications to mount to the DF shifter mount. I wanted to avoid modifying the tunnel cap for two reasons first I used rivets, secondly I like the idea of being able to put the stock stuff back in for whatever reason.. I used 0.25 in plate and drilled the DF mount pattern using the template they posted and also drilled and cut the patterns from the mr2 shifter. First time using a plasma cutter so it’s not the prettiest. I Welded a bracket for the shift cables slapped some paint on and it’s ready to be installed. I used some aluminum riser to clear the shift cup.. drove it around the block and it feels great! 5th gear seems to be the only tricky one to slam into gear but over very happy with the feel. I am hoping to knock a few 10ths off at 1/4 mile being able to no lift shift and stay in boost.
Chris, you are forgoing the reverse linkage and connecting the cables to the shift mechanism from the front side of the transmission? Please be sure to post lots of pictures since I'm interested to see how this works out. :D
 

Christopher Sanchez

Well-Known Member
Chris, you are forgoing the reverse linkage and connecting the cables to the shift mechanism from the front side of the transmission? Please be sure to post lots of pictures since I'm interested to see how this works out. :D
The shift cables are unchanged they are routed they same way they would but with the stock shifter assembly. The mr2 shifter action is reversed from the cobalts so there is no need for the reversers or to reroute the cables The downside is that the shifter cables are a bit to long as you pull back the cable about one foot and they are close to dragging now. As a temporary fix I tied the cables up to the sway bar using a large hose clamp so I could take it for a rip.. You can shift it as fast as you want! Very happy with the results. If I could change one thing I’d bring the shifter mechanism back a few inches on the plate cause it’s a slight reach for me being so short. 5’6”.
 

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Christopher Sanchez

Well-Known Member
1993, The one I bought came with a factory short throw. The previous gen should work also I think the only difference is the the one I have has a shorter throw.
 

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
So, Scott wanted me to try out his shifter to make sure a random person could install it, before sending them out to all of y’all that preordered them. To be honest, I don’t “need” it. I have a short shifter and it works “fine”. I was going to order one from him though because I feel the plastic on the stock shifter could be a problem in the future and I wanted a backup. I am/was just meh about it.

So he dropped off everything yesterday, gave me a few incites and off I went. We are waiting on a aluminum base to be milled by my friend, so Scott gave me his prototype wood base Just to get it going.

I pulled all the screws in the shifter and blue loctite them in to be sure they don’t loosen. There are new joints for the cables, but I decided to not use them because I figured I would match the new shifter/rods to the existing cable setup that works fine. So I pulled the old shifter and installed the new one. everything works as designed. I made a shift knob out of an old motorcycle “frame slider”. Although it works, it’s a bit bulky.

First impressions it works. The shifting is much more solid, but my old shifter was pretty solid too. Then a friend came over that has never seen the goblin. I took him for a ride and that’s when the shifter shined. The shifts are very crisp and changing gears is more of a “glide” than “hunt”. This thing rocks. This is really a cool shifter.

It does take a little getting use to, with how it works, but it’s a short learning curve. This is much more solid than stock.
 

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Christopher Sanchez

Well-Known Member
So, Scott wanted me to try out his shifter to make sure a random person could install it, before sending them out to all of y’all that preordered them. To be honest, I don’t “need” it. I have a short shifter and it works “fine”. I was going to order one from him though because I feel the plastic on the stock shifter could be a problem in the future and I wanted a backup. I am/was just meh about it.

So he dropped off everything yesterday, gave me a few incites and off I went. We are waiting on a aluminum base to be milled by my friend, so Scott gave me his prototype wood base Just to get it going.

I pulled all the screws in the shifter and blue loctite them in to be sure they don’t loosen. There are new joints for the cables, but I decided to not use them because I figured I would match the new shifter/rods to the existing cable setup that works fine. So I pulled the old shifter and installed the new one. everything works as designed. I made a shift knob out of an old motorcycle “frame slider”. Although it works, it’s a bit bulky.

First impressions it works. The shifting is much more solid, but y old shifter was pretty solid too. Then a friend came over that has never seen the goblin. I took him for a ride and that’s when the shifter shined. The shifts are very crisp and changing gears is more of a “glide” than “hunt”. This is really a cool shifter.
The black and aluminum color combo is mean looking!
 

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
Just an idea or a note here: I added a “stiff leg” to the shifter. When moving it side to side, I could see the tower cap move a bit more than I like. I bent some flat plate and added it from the shift tower to my pass seat bolt. This really made everything solid.

I know no one else might have this mount point on the seat, so on the dr side, the tower is in line with the frame area that mounts the seat. A simple bolt with a sleeve should work here.
 

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