Reverse lockout, home made

I've looked for the right bracket for a while, and I found this marine stainless steel hinge for about $30

...

So the idea was to bolt it on the side and modify the part that flips over, so it locks out the reverse, but also guides the 1-2 shift.

Here it is WIP. Of course the flip over part doesn't need the bolt part so they had to go. And I would need to cut it. I as a test cut further out with an angle grinder, but that slightly discoloured the SS, so from then on it was a softer touch and a hacksaw.

Holes drilled to attach the non-moving part

Attempt #1. It came out exactly as I had imagined...

But...to my disappoint it didn't work. The 1-2 shift and especially the 2-1 shift can't happen in a angled line, it has to be up-right-up. So the flip over part had to be modified quite a bit, and at the same time my "faster 1-2 shifts" hope was killed

So here's the final version. It definitely helps avoid an accidental shift into reverse. But doesn't help help 1-2 or 2-1 shifts unfortunately.

The look itself? I'm happy with it, that SS hinge looks just like the gate. And, with a little (OK: a lot of!) imagination, it looks like a "D" and a "T", right?

Mikael -

That looks good, nice and clean.

Maybe you can put an Isis logo (the small round one from the top of the gear shift knob) on the "D" part (to the left).

Nice choice of hardware.

What a shame the ZF is "too precise" and doesn't allow a lot of slack in the Neutral area!

having your original shape work would have been great, but I can see where you must get the shifter foward to "N" before going right

quote:

What a shame the ZF is "too precise" and doesn't allow a lot of slack in the Neutral area!

Yes, damn Germans!

I've always seen the 1-2 shift as a three part exercise. Push straight up to neutral, release hand/grip pressure on shifter for a Nano second, then push forward. A properly adjusted ZF will self center very quickly. This is the first instruction that I provide anyone who I give an opportunity to drive my car. As we know the diagonal shift approach doesn't work. Despite this, I suspect we have all seen shift gates where an attempt has been made to improve shifting by angle grinding the gate between 1st and 2nd. Intentions may have been good, however, they didn't grasp the mechanics of the ZF.

besides blocking reverse, is there a "need" for a shifter "assist" between 1st and 2nd?

maybe a latching detent plunger device?

I didn't see JT's post...so it seems there is already detents in the shifter/ZF for that purpose

quote:

is there a "need" for a shifter "assist" between 1st and 2nd?

Not really if you have the time to do it properly. But as I saw testing my 0-60 in another posting, getting to 3.92, hence the numbers on my avatar, the 1-2 shift took forever, around half a second IIRC. I'd like to do that faster, but if the tranny is as it seems to be, it simply won't allow it. Our cars are not built to dragrace

On the IIRC, just checked, the shift took from 2.5 to 2.9 seconds, I'm pretty sure that would have been faster if the shifter was in a straight line:
http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/...562/m/3971096356/p/1

If you want the 0-60 bragging rights, build an engine that will run up to 7,000 rpm and use a 3.77 Ring & Pinion, then there's no shift until 65 mph.

This is the approach many Ultima owners have taken, mine will hit 60 in 2.9 seconds. The latest Ultima Evolution with 1,050 HP will do 2.3 seconds. By far the cheapest bang for the buck.

Shifting seems faster and with less interference if you do the 'Quella' modification and remove the second detent in the shifter. One set is inside the ZF and is vital but the second is in the shift-stick box in the console and actually interferes with shifting in many cases.

To remove the second detent, remove the gate and the upholstered surround. Behind the shift stick, there is a round disc held in place with a snap-ring. Remove the snap-ring and disc, exposing the hollow cylindrical detent with a coil spring inside. Fish the spring & detent out with your finger and bag everything for long-term storage. Plug the now-exposed hole with a plastic plug or even a cork or duct tape to keep dust & debris out on the shifter mechanism, and replace the upholstered surround and gate. NO adjustments needed- you're done. Enjoy far easier shifting. Many Pantera shops automatically do this no-charge on cars brought in for other work. Some owners then rave about the "shifter adjustment" while others don't notice....

Take the shift detents out. You'll love it.

IMHO a properly adjusted shifter/linkage will never need to go across the area occupied by the detents, so taking them out is only compensating for improperly adjusted shifter/linkage

quote:

Originally posted by No Quarter:
IMHO a properly adjusted shifter/linkage will never need to go across the area occupied by the detents, so taking them out is only compensating for improperly adjusted shifter/linkage

Even if your opinion is humble Michael, I suppose it would be worth a try? Perhaps you can decrease the numbers by a few hundreds of a second

The trouble is that sometimes we don't know what we don't know. One of the perks of being humble..............

Maybe. But I still doubt it. My shifter is perfectly centered, and when shifting fast I don't hit the detents. And I just proved (at least to myself) that the ZF does not allow short cuts.

Damn, being humble is hard...

quote:

Originally posted by No Quarter:...the ZF does not allow short cuts....

Another approach to speed shift from 1st to 2nd could be the addition of a torsional clutch in the linkage with the angled guided lockout, thus allowing the shifter to travel to the right while still pulling ZF rod out of 1st without roating, then the rod will snap rotate at "N" as pushing into 2nd.

only problem is it would not allow a down shift with the angled guide in place