PDA

View Full Version : Magna gear lever into 380 = budget short shifter.



Skapper
21-12-2015, 05:02 PM
I did this mod today. This is to reduce the throw, back and forth only, in the manual 380 gear lever.

It wasn't an easy mod one handed, I recommend you use both hands if you have them.

The results are as advertised - reduced throw - at the cost of having a much heavier action. Eat your Wheaties kids.

What you need;
- Magna gear stick.
- 2 x M10 Starlock washers
- 1 x M6 Starlock washer
- Dremel with both a cutting blade and a grinding tip.
- 3 x Cans of swear words.
- Vacuum cleaner (if you do this in the car)
- Punch
- Hammer
- Cleaning gear
- Grease

I'll assume you know how to pull apart your 380 to get to the shifter assembly. Also, the usual rules apply - do this mod at your own risk, no warranty or guarantee offered or implied and so on.

The starlock washers can be purchased from ANZOR (http://www.anzor.com.au/stainless-steel-washers/push-nuts-starlock-washers/product) - they dont have a minimum order quantity, their service is great and they post quick. I bought four of each washer and it cost me $12 delivered.

I'm writing this on my phone, but will edit later with links to videos of guys doing a similar mod to evo's (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yb-QbBtYvY). The deal is the same, cut the old starlocks off (using the dremel) and push the shafts out of the shifter housing. I did all of this with the shifter assembly still in the car, punching the two shafts out would have been easier with everything out of the car. The vacuum cleaner I used as I was cutting the old starlocks off - to catch the swarf.

Remove the upper shifter assembly + gear lever. Pull apart and fit the Magna gear lever. Clean everything and regrease on assembly.

The grinding tip comes into play when you cut away a portion of the nylon shifter housing - in the valley the shift cable runs in. I'll upload a (crappy) pic of my work (http://imgur.com/a/ZkTpm) - you can do better, no excuses. But, you need to remove a fair amount of material. Maybe 20mm - 25mm.

Once that's done, things will work without stressing the shift cable. I would not recommend doing the mod without cutting the material away, the shift cable will just flog out.

Getting the shafts back in requires force in the shape of a hammer. Pushing the starlock washers on needs the same hammer, just less force and a 14mm socket for the M10's and a 12mm socket for the M6 washer.

Attach cables. Check, check, and triple check everything before reassembling. Don't forget to put the centering spring back on the select cable arm like I did, because you have to cut the new shiny starlock off and repeat most of the steps.

Again, the results are a MUCH heavier shift.... at least when you only have half an arm. Shift action is notchy "chunk-chunk" on shifts, though I believe this is just because of my situation and you may not feel this. I'll update the numbers but you are going from a 3:1 lever to a 2:1 lever. The throws are much shorter.

http://imgur.com/k1S0vIt.jpg

Please note - in my pic's you'll see a tension spring and other hardware around the select cable/select cable arm. This is a mod I've done for myself to compensate for my short arms lack of strength. If you see this same mod in your car, you're probably missing an arm.

Skapper
21-12-2015, 05:24 PM
It's worth noting here, just incase somebody wants to try it, the cheap chinese short shiter kits for evo's WILL fit... but I wouldn't do it. For a start you will need to raise the shifter housing up to allow clearance. And, you would need to take a serious chunk out of the housing for shift cable clearance. And all of this for what I found to be a pretty poor quality shifter. Yes, I bought a $50 ebay shifter so you wouldn't have to. You're welcome.

The Chinese shifters, with two positions, are a 2:1 lever or 1.6:1 lever. The 380 gearbox and a 2:1 lever takes some effort. Not sure the chinese plasti-steel would cope.