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Benn, Boags and I have set up group buys for "generic" short shifters that are a direct copy of the Mazdaspeed design.
Even though they are $75 instead of $200+, they still work great.
The best I have tried is Novice1 one, which is from IL Motorsport. Expensive, but you get what you pay for.

That plastic cup will wear our over time, but I think you will get well over 100,000 before it starts to fail. I replaced mine with the OEM one and its still good.

1red5 wrote:The best I have tried is Novice1 one, which is from IL Motorsport. Expensive, but you get what you pay for.

How do you know its IL Motorsports
I'm pretty sure hes not 100% sure if it is

AZNTieN wrote:

1red5 wrote:The best I have tried is Novice1 one, which is from IL Motorsport. Expensive, but you get what you pay for.

How do you know its IL Motorsports
I'm pretty sure hes not 100% sure if it is

And I am pretty sure that your posts sure is confusing

will the brass bearing fit on that short shifter?

AZNTieN wrote:How do you know its IL Motorsports
I'm pretty sure hes not 100% sure if it is

I'm 100% sure I don't know what you're talking about. Ya sure?

result of a hard days of working at work *cough cough*

How do you know its an IL Motorsports
I'm pretty sure Novice1 isn't 100% sure its an IL Motorsports

sliq wrote:will the brass bearing fit on that short shifter?

it should cause its a replacement of the plastic one which with the IL Motorsports you use the one which was originally on your stock shifter

I'm not sure how to remove it so don't ask
I made sure i ordered myself a new one of them because its not expensive at all

http://www.miata.net/garage/shortshifter/index.html

that's the install with photos. enjoy!

Apparently there are 2 sizes of bushings. Someone mentioned it, I think bigdog, in Caffeine's original GB thread.

Does anyone have any views on the ones they advertise on e-bay for $100 buy it now?

Right, just put my IL motorsports one in today. Works a real treat. Is a tad stiff, but I don't have any gear problems other than the general increased stiffness. Throw wise, it's ridiculously short now, which is great. I'm using the factory knob, but if I had something heavier like a skunk (which I also tried on the lever), it'd be a lot easier to change gears. Although the shift wouldn't be quite as short.

I do have one question for those of you who also have an IL short shift. Did you manage to get the last big metal ring on? I'm talking about the one that is essentially two cylinders, with one radius being larger than the other. How did you guys fit this? I found that if I used it, air would come through the gap since the ring didn't seal over the lever properly (the boots would spring it back off the lever). In the end, the solution I used was to stretch the upper boot over the gear lever boot and cable tie around that to hold them together to prevent the air coming through. I'd much prefer to use the metal ring though if someone knows how to fit it without it sliding out of position.

Theres a black nylon ring with a "spring like" thing on it that you need to pry out of the shift well/tunnel/hole.
With that ring out the finish should be flush.

oongie wrote:Theres a black nylon ring with a "spring like" thing on it that you need to pry out of the shift well/tunnel/hole.
With that ring out the finish should be flush.

I pried that out when I did it. Managed to work that one out from the pictures with a little help from babelfish. I'm talking about this ring:



It's upside down in the picture so I could demonstrate which part it was exactly. I'm aware it's supposed to go on the other way.

I'm tempted to try putting it on over the weekend. At the moment, with the bit boot sitting over the little boot, I'm getting a slight rush of air through the rubber somewhere. Maybe the metal being there will stop it without causing any rattles.

I have a IL one on my 6sp and it is excellent. If you wanted a short, short shift kit I would recommend it highly.