MPS6: TWM stage 1 short shifter installation

[kmh001]

I bought a TWM stage 1 short shifter and base bushings in the recent GB. Before ordering I checked with TWM that the SS would fit a RHD vehicle. They said the stage 2 would not fit, but the stage 1 would because it's a side plate adapter and even if the shifter shaft was bent to the opposite side it wouldn't matter.

That turned out to be wrong, because the difference between the LHD and RHD shifters is a lot more than just the bend in the shaft. I had to make some modifications to the adapter plate before it would fit. But the combination of the SS and base bushing transformed the shift quality. Despite the modification hassles, I highly recommend this mod.

Here's a summary of what I had to do so you can decide if it's worth the hassle:

From the TWM installation instructions, this is how the LHD shifter looks from behind. Note the bracket sits quite far out from the shaft.



The first indication there was a problem was this RH stamp in my RHD shifter.



Then it became apparent the RHD shifter bracket does not sit proud of the shaft, so the SS could not sit flush with the bracket.



A test fit of the SS showed that nothing lined up. The locating lug hole (red) was in the wrong place, the hole to match the existing threaded hole (green) was also in the wrong place and the lack of flush fit is also seen (blue).



First part of the solution was to hit the SS with the grinder and remove the material left of the red line. That gave me a flush fit.



Then I drilled a new hole for the locating lug, and elongated the bolt hole so it would line up. I was too lazy to remove the shifter to get accurate measurements, the result is an ugly hack job. But it's functional and with a large washer is strong enough.



After attaching the SS with the bottom bolt I returned to the TWM instructions and drilled the side hole as per the pilot hole using the supplied drill bit. The only catch here was that the bottom bolt was aligned with it and caught the drill bit when it came out the other side. The simple solution is to not push the drill further than it needs to go to make the hole.

Here's the end result. It's secure and perfectly functional.





Everything else was as per the instructions.

It really wasn't as difficult as it probably sounds. It took me about 90 minutes to install the SS and base bushing and that included figuring out what to do with the SS and making a number of trial and error modifications until it fit.

It's easily my favourite mod on this car. Before the SS, when selecting first gear, I used to feel all three synchro's as separate notches, now there's just one notch. The old bucket of bolts is a whole lot easier to stir. As I said, highly recommended.

[shinslinger66]

Great write up for our beasts- I will be trying this one.

[EQ]

Nice work KMH001...but thats a bit beyond me I think. Bummer, as this was on my mod list