I have been doing a bit of research as I want a better feel from the car when changing gear and a shorter throw. I see that a few have gone down the route of the ebay b and m style short shifter which is what I am thinking of buying:

Ebay B and M copy

I have seen in the other posts that it is a pain in the backside to fit but what I would like to know is exactly what is involved in the fitting and how long it takes to fit?

I am thinking of taking it to a local garage to fit.

Thanks

Chris

... Ebay B and M copy ... I am thinking of taking it to a local garage to fit ...

After hearing Oet's mission to fit, got the garage to mine, which requires the prop being dropped on the 4x4

Basically, it needs to fitted from the underside. Exhaust and heat shields block access. Even with a ramp, its not a five minute job.

The results are well worth it. Doesn't just give give shorter throw (forward to back & side to side), but also feels so much more solid and pleasant to use.

You'll need a gear knob. Richbrook screw-thread jobbies are good option for direct-fit

big pain mate,

you need to remove the DP from the turbo and then take the heat shield off.

then remove the stuff round the stick.

strip the stick box down and re fit all with the kit parts.

I just swapped the B&M stuff off the other car I had so didnt need to strip the selector box down and I wont be swapping back lol.

its a pain in the arse.

Once done tho its well worth it lol. gives you sooooo much more confidence changing gear.

Thanks for the reply guys I think it will definately be a garage job and not a diy on the drive.

I only live in north Manchester so will probably pop down to Awesome GTI as those guys know what they are doing!

Careful though as some of the copies lack the reverse lock out at the bottom of the lever and will swing straight over into reverse instead of first without pushing down etc.

must admit my B&M one has the collar on it, one thing tho, noone seems to be able to get it into gear lol

a few mechs and family members have had to get out and ask me lol.

i dont mean the collar, its the part at the bottom of the lever that stops it going into reverse

The fleabay and genuie B&M units do not push into get into reverse

Instead, you pull the collar up, which allows the stick to go into reverse ( thumb on top of gear knob, first two fingers to pull the collar up the gearstick - like on a current Ford iirc).

If the stick isn't fitted correctly, for example you leave the spring which pushes the collar back down off, the collar can be pushed up by the leather gaitor

you can do without removing the dp from the turbo.

as said tho, its a right pain, still well worth it, if you got the cash pay someone, i would if i had to do it again!

Careful though as some of the copies lack the reverse lock out at the bottom of the lever and will swing straight over into reverse instead of first without pushing down etc.

Remeber that one well lol.

this may sound silly but a common mod on fabia is to cut down existing gear stick which gives a similar feel. i did it on my fab vrs and it made a big diffrence, should be a thread somewhere

found link

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/65307-guide-diy-fabia-vrs-short-shifter-mod/

i have a mate with one of these for sale as he never got round to fitting it

Cheers mate but I bought the one off eBay last night!

Billy you have me worried now as I was hoping gear selection would be just as easy as standard and not harder to engage gears

mine shifts perfectly, no trouble engaging etc, just need to adjust manually the clips on the gearbox shifter to ensure its aligned properly.

goes in spot on mate, its just coz there is not much play in it anymore and no picture for where the gears are. Plus unless you know the colar is there you can't engage reverse that's all.

They are a lot more crisp and presise. Not as much slop in them. I wouldn't like to realign it tho. As there is no pin like there is on the std one to put them both into the neutral state to align the clips.

Wouldn't mind a guide for aligning them as I would like to do it to be spot on.

no guide as such billy, i just clamped mine with 2 big chippie style plastic clamp, one to the central tunnel and the other from the stick to the central tunnel to hold it straight and true in neutral, then took out the excess slack on the cable in the engine bay using the spring clips on the end.

Edited 13 September, 201114 yr by Oet

i'm also thinking of a short shifter. How is the forge one compared to this one? Similar pain in the arse to change? It looks different from the one on the fleabay.

forge much easier to fit, just from the engine bay in about 10mins if you know what you are doing, its not side to side shift though so feels different.

A cheaper option however as if you cant do the ebay one yourself, you will have to pay.

think compbrake do a copy of the forge one, might be wrong tho, might only be for the 6 speed, have a look.

Got my short shifter. What make/style of gearknob do you guys have? I am looking at richbrook slant top.

Also what grease did you guys use as no grease came with the kit.

Cheers

i used a cut down ally knob that had the right thread, it adds to the weighted setup, and high melting point grease in the ball socket