One day I decided to unscrew the stock shift **** from my 03 WRX and noticed the **** was rather tall, so I decided to machine my own shift **** that sits about an inch lower on the shifter rod/linkage, effectively shortening the throw. The **** took me about 8 hrs. to fabricate. Spent 5 hrs. on the lathe turning it down, 1 hr. tapping that friggin huge 12mm hole with threads, and 2 hrs. sanding/polishing. The **** has a built-in boot retainer thingy at the bottom that takes the place of the plastic one on the stocker. Cost me a total of $17, which was the price of the 12mm x 1.25mm tap and tap wrench I needed. Hope y'all like it!

 

Sweet!

 

O my sickness. Good job

 

How much would you charge to make me one?

 

not bad

 

wow, you can really see all the hours you put into it, good job

 

very nice

 

sweet!

 

looks great. not to burst your bubble, but the throw is the same, just the height is reduced.

 

Wow - that looks good, man.
You should sell those!

 

looks pretty cool, i bet if you could even inscribe the shift pattern into the top it would make it even better

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback!! It really doesn't take much to make something like that. Just need to know how to use a lathe, not to mention have access to one.

LastLaugh, I would gladly make you one except for the fact that I'm a student at Cornell and I used the machine shop over there to make this. I am now at home in CA and I don't have a lathe in my garage! But hey, if you can wait until next fall, I'll be glad to make one for you at a low cost... say $30-40. I figure I could make one in 6 hrs. or less if I really perfected the process, so that's about $6-7 an hour. I used a piece of scrap aluminum to make this one, but if I bought the aluminum it would probably cost about $5. So, if you can gimme a lathe, I'll make it!

Jdepould, what is throw defined as? By making the height shorter, doesn't that mean your hand has to travel a shorter distance to engage each gear?

thebing, I was thinking about inscribing an STi logo on top or putting in a shift pattern but I actually kinda like the clean finish on top. I love the way it shimmers under the sun... it so purrty!

 

no, the shifter throw hasn't changed at all, to shorten the throw you'd have to alter/replace the shift lever, shift **** height is independent of throw.

 

Good job making the shifter.
Ferdie
www.southcoastperformance.com

 

nice....that must get really hot in the sun though.